Paradigm Shift Part Two (Sept 22nd)

One of my happiest days was when, after five weeks of hospitalization (Ramin totally incapacitated in his bed, my sitting next to him in a hard plastic chair, reading, praying and singing to him, in the same stiflingly hot room), I was able to take Ramin outside in the fresh air in a wheelchair and buy an ice cream for us from the hospital café. We both felt like it was our birthdays and we had been given this huge, amazing and longed for present.

Perhaps sometime we need to have things taken away from us to realize what we really need and desire. Maybe I needed to have Ramin’s capacity to be, well…Ramin, taken swiftly away from me so that I could see that I didn’t need fame and fortune, I just needed and wanted Ramin. Loving him and being loved by him made me happy. What a gift to be given to us, so soon on our path together!

A definition of madness is when someone does the same thing over and over again and expects a different same result. If money doesn’t bring us long lasting happiness, if fame isn’t creating deep love and personal contentment, if success is short lived or even long lived, but never enough – then  why continue searching through these swirling mists of nothingness on the hunt for the glorious wonderful future that we hope to live in, one day, someday? That’s a description of idealism, if you ask me, rather than people believing in the power of spiritual forces to overcome dark ones.

Happiness can be a daily occurrence, a daily feeling, a daily knowing you are doing a good thing (a spiritual action!), especially when you serve someone else or you rest in order to be able to continue caring for your loved one. 

I would like to share with you a Baha’i prayer that I regularly say and which gives me the strength to keep going through the challenges I meet. I hope it can assist you too.  

“O God! O God! This is a broken-winged bird and his flight is very slow- assist him so that he may fly toward the apex of prosperity and salvation, wing his way with the utmost joy and happiness throughout the illimitable space, raise his melody in Thy Supreme Name in all the regions, exhilarate the ears with this call, and brighten the eyes by beholding the signs of guidance.

O Lord! I am single, alone and lowly. For me there is no support save Thee, no helper except Thee and no sustainer besides thee. Confirm me in Thy service, assist me with the cohorts of Thyangels, amke me victorious in the promotion of Thy Word and suffer me to speak out Thy wisdom amongst Thy creatures.

Verily, Thou art the helper of the weak and the defender of the little ones, and verily THou art the Powerful, the Mighty and the Unconstrained.”

-’Abdu’l-Baha.