Splendour (Baha) 172 B.E.

Vancouver, Canada

“O SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.”
-Baha’u’llah
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St Petersburg, USA

“None else besides Him hath ever been able to sing adequately His praise, nor will any man succeed at any time in describing the full measure of His glory. Who is it that can claim to have attained the heights of His exalted Essence, and what mind can measure the depths of His unfathomable mystery? From each and every revelation emanating from the Source of His glory, holy and never-ending evidences of unimaginable splendor have appeared, and out of every manifestation of His invincible power oceans of eternal light have outpoured. How immensely exalted are the wondrous testimonies of His almighty sovereignty, a glimmer of which, if it but touched them, would utterly consume all that are in the heavens and in the earth! How indescribably lofty are the tokens of His consummate power, a single sign of which, however inconsiderable, must transcend the comprehension of whatsoever hath, from the beginning that hath no beginning, been brought into being, or will be created in the future till the end that hath no end. All the Embodiments of His Names wander in the wilderness of search, athirst and eager to discover His Essence, and all the Manifestations of His Attributes implore Him, from the Sinai of Holiness, to unravel His mystery.”
-Baha’u’llah, Gleanings From the Writings of Baha’u’llah
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Tampere, Finland

“O SON OF MAN! For everything there is a sign. The sign of love is fortitude under My decree and patience under My trials.”
-Baha’u’llah
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Miami, USA

Especially after the spiritual batteries are recharged, the Baha’i new year is like a door that is waiting to be unlocked and opened to new beginnings, new adventures, and new splendor to explore.
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Murray Upper, Australia

“This is a new Day, and this hour is a new Hour in which we have come together. Surely the Sun of Reality with its full effulgence will illumine us, and the darkness of disagreements will disappear.”
-Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace
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Portland, USA

“The setting of the sun on 20 March 2015 will signalize the end of the year 171, the close of the ninth Vaḥid of the first Kull-i-Shay’ of the Baha’i Era. We call upon the Baha’is of the East and West to adopt, on that auspicious occasion, the provisions that will unite them in the common implementation of the Badi‘ calendar.”
-The Universal House of Justice, 10 July 2014 message to the Bahá’ís of the world
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Danang, Vietnam

“I hope that each and all of you may become like unto verdant and green trees so that through the breezes of the divine spring, the outpouring of heaven, the heat of the Sun of Truth, you may become eternally refreshed; that you may bear blossoms and become fruitful; that you may not be as fruitless trees. Fruitless trees do not bring forth fruits or flowers. I hope that all of you may become friends of the paradise of Abhá, appearing with the utmost freshness and spiritual beauty.”
-Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace
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Acadia National Park, USA

“He Who is the Day Star of Truth beareth Me witness! So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth. The one true God, He Who knoweth all things, Himself testifieth to the truth of these words.”
-Baha’u’llah
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Adelaide, Australia

“MAGNIFIED, O Lord my God, be Thy Name, whereby the trees of the garden of Thy Revelation have been clad with verdure, and been made to yield the fruits of holiness during this Springtime when the sweet savors of Thy favors and blessings have been wafted over all things, and caused them to bring forth whatsoever had been preordained for them in the Kingdom of Thine irrevocable decree and the Heaven of Thine immutable purpose. I beseech Thee by this very Name not to suffer me to be far from the court of Thy holiness, nor debarred from the exalted sanctuary of Thy unity and oneness.”
-Baha’u’llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah, XCVI
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Oakland, USA

I have been thinking a lot lately about how important it is to be present in the moment and appreciate the world around us. Nature is such a powerful reminder of how beauty is ever-present if we just stop to examine and appreciate.

“All these endless beings which inhabit the world, whether man, animal, vegetable, mineral – whatever they may be – are surely, each one of them, composed of elements. There is no doubt that this perfection which is in all beings, is caused by the creation of God from the composing elements, by their appropriate mingling and proportionate quantities, the mode of their composition, and the influence of other beings. For all beings are connected together like a chain, and reciprocal help, assistance, and influence belonging to the properties of things, are the causes of the existence, development and growth of created beings.”
-‘Abdu’l-Baha
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Victoria, Canada

Sunrise Sunset
“Time with us is measured by the sun. When there is no more sunrise, and no more sunset, that kind of time does not exist for man. Those who have ascended have different attributes from those who are still on earth, yet there is no real separation.”
-Abdu’l-Baha, Abdu’l-Baha in London
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Zion National Park, USA

“‘Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendour is revealed. Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favoured of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels.”
-Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah Revealed After the Kitab-i-Aqdas