Bicentenary Poems and Prose

Pondering the Bicentenary Celebration of Baha'u'llah's Birth

Pondering the Bicentenary Celebration of Baha'u'llah's Birth

"In reality all are members of one human family -- children of one Heavenly Father. Humanity may be likened unto the varicolored flowers of one garden. There is unity in diversity. Each sets off and enhances the other's beauty."

Baha'i Writings

Let You Vision Be World-Embracing

I look at the program from the bicentenary celebration that took place here in Las Vegas. The program and the audience revealed the diversity of the local and the worldwide Baha'i community. It was a joy to see people from various religious, national, racial, and political backgrounds coming together in peace and unity to celebrate the Birth of Baha'u'llah, the Glory of God. When I juxtaposition the celebration against the present chaos engulfing Earth, I see a ray of sunshine penetrating the smoke of Armageddon.

Baha'u'llah wanted us to see the Earth as one country and humanity as its citizens. The celebrations of His birthday revealed this as possible. Across the planet, in every nation, Baha'i celebrated and proclaimed the birth of the Blessed Beauty (one of Baha'u'llah's titles). The celebrations showed that humanity is a single race, a single species, and that the world is one country.

Leading up to the celebrations Beyond Foreignness1 published 200 articles to celebrate the bicentenary, and I wrote 200 poems dedicated to the Blessed Beauty. Each of those goals were accomplished, now I have to begin reading more of the Beyond Foreignness articles. I also have to decide if I am going to edit any of the poems I wrote. I think I will start at the beginning of the articles, and read a few of those before rereading any of the poems I wrote. I know the articles will give me ideas for more poems, but I think they will help me decided about editing the poems I have written.

Footnotes
1  http://beyondforeignness.org