I had no intentions of making an entry today. Honestly, I’m worn out. I gave two talks today at two colleges about Project Conversion and my Zoroastrian month begins in a little under three hours.<\/p>\n
But something amazing happened this evening at the last talk–in my Intro to World Religions class–that made this whole month worth the effort.<\/p>\n
My Baha’i Mentor is the only Baha’i that we know of within many, many miles. She is a diaspora all to herself. In fact, I have been her sole\u00a0Baha’i companion for the whole month. She lit up when I arrived every week at her home for Study Circle, ready to share the wisdom of her faith. We laughed over tea and delved into the teachings of Baha’u’llah. I could tell there was something missing every time we visited the Baha’i community in “Triangle” one and half hours north of us; the way she interacted with her Baha’i family, it was like a family reunion with gatherings too rare for comfort.<\/p>\n
I wanted to do something for her to repay her for the kindness and dedication she showed for me and Project Conversion. I wanted to give her a Baha’i community of her own.<\/p>\n
But this is near to impossible. How can a non-Baha’i (though my Baha’i friends call me otherwise) help someone come–or at least become interested–in the faith? Turns out, all I have to do is teach. The message does the rest.<\/p>\n
So tonight, as I finished giving my last talk about the Baha’i Faith\u00a0in the last hours of the last days of the month, I showed the class the Baha’i Declaration Card and a registration card\u00a0asking for more information\u00a0about the faith. One woman approached me and asked to fill out the card, and if possible, to speak to my Mentor. I was floored.\u00a0This was the spark I was looking for. The spark that could become a new Baha’i. She filled out the card and I will personally hand it to my Mentor tomorrow afternoon.\u00a0I called my Mentor about what had happened and I could feel the joy\u00a0flowing off her\u00a0voice.\u00a0Not because she might get the chance to “convert” someone, but because she gets the chance to share her faith.<\/p>\n
So, looks like I have been the best Baha’i I can be to the end. It’s been a wonderful month, an insightful month, and folks…we are only\u00a0two months in. Who knows what’s around the corner. When I wake up, I’ll be a Zoroastrian. Until then,<\/p>\n
Allah-u-Abha!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had no intentions of making an entry today. Honestly, I’m worn out. I gave two talks today at two colleges about Project Conversion and my Zoroastrian month begins in a little under three hours. But something amazing happened this evening at the last talk–in my Intro to World Religions class–that made this whole month…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":437,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[16,785,113,186,233],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bahai","tag-andrew-bowen","tag-bahai","tag-gift","tag-mentor","tag-project-conversion"],"yoast_head":"\n