Fire and Gold

This morning I was pondering how I could get something out of all this time in bed, and about the fact that I've found it hard to pray and read the Baha'i writings while sick - I just don't have the concentration it seems. I came up with a plan - a systematization if you will ;). I'm going to read through the whole of Fire and Gold: Benefitting from Life's Tests.
Today, I read the very first section. A couple of quotes really struck me:
1. "For the people of faith, trials and disasters and tribulations lead to spiritual progress, that is, if one bears them with patience and detachment from all save God.... The longer you leave gold in red-hot fire, the purer it will be." - Attributed to Abdu'l-Baha

The importance of going through your tests with patience and detachment is certainly something I need to work on. I'm still grappling (and maybe focusing too much) on how unfair it feels that I have to deal with this. And I think I am slowly getting better at enduring with patience and reliance on God.

2. The troubles of this world pass, and what we have left is what we have made of our souls, so it is to this we must look - to becoming more spiritual, drawing nearer to God, no matter what our human minds and bodies go through. " - Attributed to Shoghi Effendi

It's interesting for me to separate my mind from my soul. I knew that it was in the Writings of the Baha'i Faith that even if you are physically sick, your soul is still healthy, but it was interesting for me to be reminded that even my mind is separate from my soul, from the part of me that will carry on after my physical death. I think it's very common for us to connect our minds with who we are (e.g., I think, therefore I am), but really it's our soul is our real identity. Even though my mind is struggling with being sick and the limitations it's put on me, if I can keep my soul healthy and strong, and develop it even more, that's what matters. That's really how I think of "Armed with the power of Thy name, nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart, all the world's afflictions can in no wise alarm me. (For an amazing, yet tear-jerking video, see here.)

I keep having the song "Prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God, let Your mercy rain down upon me. I know that You have risen up with healing in Your wings, I open my heart to receive.... I want You to hold me, mold me, make me, shape me into what you want me to be. I open my heart to receive." This song, performed by the One Human Family Choir, led by Eric Dozier, was performed at the national Baha'i conference in Milwaukee in 2001. I can't find a recording of it anywhere, but it's still one of my favorites.