A Kwakwaka'wakw girl

 

A Kwakwaka'wakw girl wearing abalone earrings 

and a cedar bark cloak, circa 1914.

Nativity

Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw Nativity Scene

 

 

“One day as the Blessed Beauty was Walking, a certain government officer approached Him and reported that one of His (Baha'u'llah's) followers had been killed and his body thrown on the river bank. The Tongue of Power and Might replied, 'No one has killed him. Through seventy thousand Veils of light We showed him the glory of God to an extent smaller than a needle’s eye; therefore, he could not more bear the burden of his life and has offered himself as a sacrifice.'" 

--From 'A Flame of Fire' by A. Faizi

Holly

 

The Manger

 

'The Manger' by Mike Moyers

"We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.

Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, his God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.  

Baha'u'llah  (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah)  

Coletown

 

Cole builds a town from his uncle's master plan.

Stone Menorah

 

Modern stone menorah

First Class Mail

The sweetest post card sits right in the middle of everything on a tray that belonged to my grandfather.

The Day the Clown Cried

 

The world is on fire.  We do what we can regardless of how it looks.

Associated press photo of Emmett Kelly, in his costume and makeup as "Weary Willie", carrying a bucket of water in the aftermath of the Hartford circus fire of July 6, 1944, in which 167 people died. The tragedy is often called "the day the clown cried".

The 'Golden Gate'

 

Sal and Nino Alioto's classic Monterey 'Golden Gate'

Ghosts of Harrison Street

 

Ghosts of Harrison Street

Koba Sounds Photography

Unstoppable Unification

 

"...Thus do the forces of disintegration regroup and gain ground. So be it. The unification of humanity is unstoppable by any human force; the promises made by the prophets of old and by the Author of the Cause of God Himself testify to this truth. Yet the course humanity takes to achieve its destiny may very well be tortuous. The tumult raised by the contending peoples of the earth threatens to drown out the voices of those noble-minded souls in every society who call for an end to conflict and struggle. As long as that call goes unheeded, there is no reason to doubt that the world’s current state of disorder and confusion will worsen—possibly with catastrophic consequences—until a chastened humanity sees fit to take another significant step, perhaps this time decisive, towards enduring peace...”

- The Universal House of Justice (Excerpt from Letter of January 18th, 2019)

Moonlight (лунный свет) Cup and Saucer

 

Vintage Brochure

Vintage Brochure

Glen Campbell - If You Go Away

If you go away on this summer day then you might as well take the sun away

All the birds that flew in the summer sky

When our love was new and our hearts were high

When the day was young and the nights were long

And the moon stood still to the night bird's song

If you go away if you go away if you go away

But if you'll stay I'll make you a day like no day has been nor will be again

We'll sail the sun we'll glide on the rain we'll talk to the trees and worship the wind

Then if you go I'll understand leave me just enough love to fill my hand

If you go away if you go away if you go away

If you go away as I know you will you must tell the world to stop turning

Till you return again if you ever do for what good is love without loving you

Can I tell you now as you turn to go I'll be dying slowly to the next hello

If you go away if you go away if you go away

If you go away as I know you must there'll be nothing left in this world to trust

Just an empty room full of empty space like the empty look I see on your face

I'd have been the shadow of your shadow

If I thought it might have kept me by your side

If you go away if you go away if you go away

But if you'll stay I'll make you a night like no night has been or will be again

I'll sail on your smile I'll glide on your touch I'll talk to your eyes that I love so much

But if you go then I will cry 'till the good is gone from the word goodbye

If you go away if you go away if you go away please don't go away

Peasant burning Weeds

 

"Peasant burning Weeds can be dated from one of Vincent’s letters, which included a small sketch of the picture. On 22 October 1883 he wrote to his brother Theo: 'I’m still working on that weed burner, whom I’ve caught better than before in a painted study as far as the tone is concerned, so that it conveys more of the vastness of the plain and the gathering dusk, and the small fire with the wisp of smoke is the only point of light.' At this stage he had only been painting in oils for just under two years."  LINK

post 10

 

post 10 has the time of his life serving his community by unclogging drains along its streets and highways.

If you don't watch the entire video, at least skip to @16:16 and watch the end.

The Grave of Shoghi Effendi

 

Shoghí Effendí Rabbání (March 1, 1897 - November 4, 1957) was the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith from 1921 until his death in 1957.

After the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921, the leadership of the Bahá’í community entered a new phase, evolving from that of a single individual to an administrative order founded on the "twin pillars" of the Guardianship and the Universal House of Justice, being the executive and legislative branches.

Shoghi Effendi is not regarded as one of the Central Figures of the Bahá’í Faith. Whereas the works of the three Central Figures constitute the source of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi's writings are effectively limited to commentaries on the works of the Central Figures. LINK

 The final resting place of Shoghi Effendi is in London, England.

"After (Shoghi Effendi) passed away - and I was driving away from his grave - of course there was nothing but flowers there - in front of my eyes, I saw the whole thing - I saw the foundation and the column, and the globe and the eagle just like that, and I made a little sketch, I remember, in the car."    --Ruhiyyih Khanum (Wife of Shoghi Effendi)

LINK

Charles Bridge

 

Charles Bridge ( German die Karlsbrücke , originally the Stone Bridge ) is the oldest standing bridge over the Vltava River in  Prague and the second oldest surviving bridge in the  Czech Republic . 

Construction of the bridge began in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV. and was completed in 1402 . Thanks to the stone bridge, Prague became an important stop on European trade routes .

   WIKI

A Man of His Word

 

A reporter asked a 120 year old man the secret of his long life.

Old man:  "I didn't argue with anyone."

Reporter:  "Can you really say that?"

Old man: "You're right, you can't."

Elena Likhatskaya

 

"Akka. Israel"

"Acre, Old Town. Israel"

"World Baha'i Center, Haifa, Israel"

"Haifa theater"

"Haifa, The Evening"

"Haifa, we go to the sea"

"Haifa, Night Walk"

The Harvest of Force is Turmoil and Ruin

 

“Man reacheth perfection through good deeds, voluntarily performed, not through good deeds the doing of which was forced upon him. And sharing is a personally chosen righteous act: that is, the rich should extend assistance to the poor, they should expend their substance for the poor, but of their own free will, and not because the poor have gained this end by force. For the harvest of force is turmoil and the ruin of the social order. On the other hand voluntary sharing, the freely chosen expending of one’s substance, leadeth to society’s comfort and peace. It lighteth up the world; it bestoweth honor upon humankind." --Abdu’l-Baha

Early Morning

 

Wishram Man Fishing

 

Wishram man fishing with a dip net on the Columbia River, March 11th, 1910.

The Wishram are known as the Tlakluit and Echeloot. They traditionally settled in permanent villages along the north banks of the Columbia River. In the 1700s, the estimated Wishram population was 1,500.

Photograph by Edward S. Curtis.

(Steve Renfro)