Books I'm loving right now: Diary of Juliet Thompson, Divine Art of Living, Advent of Divine Justice, all from different recommendations or quotes that have popped in my head. These are three very different but very wonderful accounts. The diary is of the namesake of my wonderful sister, and I read it during my year of service and absolutely loved it. I think one reason I loved it so much while I was there is because half of it happened right where I was, doing many of the same things I was doing (I would read it on the sherut on the way to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, and read of her travelling from Haifa to Akka to visit the Shrine with Abdu'l-Baha, and it would be such a wonderful thing to imagine them travelling 95 years before me to that same spot). But also, it's because it's honest. This amazing woman struggled. She struggled with love and service and wanting to constantly be better, wanting to please Abdu'l-Baha, wanting to use her talents and learning how to use them. Now these are distant memories, but this is what I got out of the book. We hear about these amazing Baha'is that lived in America at the beginning of the twentieth century, but we hear the watered down version, rather than their own personal accounts. And this book gives you just that. It's wonderful.
The other two books are power books. Books that when you just need a little something can give it to you immediately. Books that when you're looking for something, you can usually find it. And they're small and portable, but contain so much. Books to always come back to and remind yourselves of things. There's a paragraph to the Baha'i youth of America in Advent that I absolutely love.
Last night I was trying to remember the qualities of the members of the Baha'i Spiritual Assemblies. It's a quote that's listed on all the Columbia by-election or election notices so that we can keep it fresh in our minds while voting. Tonight, I will be voting for the first time in Ithaca, since we have two members that are leaving. I love that these are the qualities that are sought in Baha'i administrators:
If we but turn our gaze to the high qualifications of the members of Bahá'í Assemblies ... we are filled with feelings of unworthiness and dismay, and would feel truly disheartened but for the comforting thought that if we rise to play nobly our part every deficiency in our lives will be more than compensated by the all-conquering spirit of His grace and power. Hence it is incumbent upon the chosen delegates to consider without the least trace of passion and prejudice, and irrespective of any material consideration, the names of only those who can best combine the necessary qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience.... (From a letter dated 3 June 1925 written by Shoghi Effendi)
Every time I read the Baha'i Writings, I think, wow I have so far to go. But then every time I pray, I feel reassured that I'll make it if I keep striving. I love the honesty I feel in prayer. It's been a really awesome experience praying since I moved to Ithaca. There's a different feeling to prayer for me now. And I thank God for that.
Today is one of the CU math girl's birthdays, and it will be celebrated with color and ice cream today and dinner tomorrow. I do love birthdays. Maybe we'll even make it a birthweek. Since all celebration cannot be put into one day.
This week in topology we have been reviewing group theory, since we're doing topological group theory. And I just want to leave a tribute to my math girls and chalkboarding it.
"The subgroups of a cyclic group are cyclic."
"Better chalkboard it."
"So phi is a ho-mom."
"I've got colors coming out of my ears."
and...... "Diophantine!"
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