Writing in Snow

Motavational Monday: The Fourth Day of Fast

Kamál (Perfection ), 4 ‘Alá’ (Loftiness) 174 B.E. - Monday, March 5, 2018
Fourth Day of Fast

"The Fast is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in his soul."

Shoghi Effendi12

Every day, since March 1, I've checked the website BahaiTeachings.org3, and each day, since March 2, there were articles about the fast. One of this morning's articles is part of a series written by David Langness titled "Fasting with the Baha'is"4. This article attracted me because it discussed relationship between meditation, fasting, transcendence, and transformation. Before becoming a Baha'i (in the twentieth century), I encountered the spiritual experience of transcendence a few time. Most often, those times were associated with reading the King James Version of the Christian bible. When I encountered the Baha'i Faith, I again experienced transcendence when reading the scriptures reveal by Baha'u'llah. That was one of the reasons I declared my faith in Baha'u'llah, the other reason concerned two dream I had about Christ Returning (I'll go into the dreams in a later entry).

Meditation has become especially important to me, because I'm no longer required to fast. A Baha'i, unless physically or medically unable to Fast, is required to fast between the ages of 15 (which according to the scriptures of Baha'u'llah is the age of maturity) and 70 years old. I'm over 70, so I'm no longer required to fast, but that doesn't mean I can't pray and meditate after saying one of the prayer revealed for the Fast. This year, I'm focusing on meditation instead of giving up coffee (I've did this ever since I was diagnosed with an illness that prevented me from fasting). Meditation is much better because it focuses on speaking with my own spirit, while prayer focuses on speaking with God.

Goals for the Week of March 5-9, 2018
Posted on "Weekly Goals" 

Review, at least, 4 items each day.
Submit to "I Write in 2018"  for Week 10.
Read items on this month's reading list.
Submit article/poem/essay/story to "Invalid Item"  for Week 31.
Sort item in laundry basket under computer desk.
Post a, at least, 3 days to offsite blog.
Work on article/essay for "Project Write World" .
Participate in each blogging groups, at least, 3 times this week.

Poem Written on the Fourth Day of Fast.

I am a pebble
Glorifying the Beauty
Of the All-Knowing

I am an atom
Energized by the Charm of
the All-Merciful

Themes used so far are Splendor, Glory, Beauty, and Will. Theme waiting to be used are Grandeur, Light, Mercy, Words, Perfection, Names, Might, Knowledge, Power, Speech, Questions, Honor, Sovereignty, Dominion, and Loftiness.

Footnotes
1  Directives from the Guardian, pp. 28-29.
2  Quoted in "Meditation and Fasting: the Breath of Heaven" by David Langness, http://bahaiteachings.org/meditation-fasting-breath-heaven.
3  http://bahaiteachings.org/
4  http://bahaiteachings.org/series/fasting-with-the-bahais