I Blog Poetry and Prose

The pandemic is occurring to demonstrate that Earth is like a single nation, what occurs in one of its nation-states will move into another nation-state. Another reason for the pandemic is to show the oneness of humanity. The human race is a single multicolored species, in order for human kind to survive any crisis--no matter if the crisis is man-made or natural--we have to cooperate with each other. We have to help each other, it does not matter if the other person we are helping is of a different color, a different gender, a different cultural origin, a different religion, a different national origin, or a different sexual orientation. Humanity will not survive unless it starts to work together as a single species.

On the wings of prayer
I fly through this storm tossed life,
moving ever forward
praising the Glory of God.

On the last Friday in June 2020,
I want to cry
and don't know why;
therefore I write
and pray to see the light
penetrate the darkness
of my night.

I'm thankful for 2020! I know it sounds odd to be thankful for a year that "the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are riding away from at breakneck speeds"6. Twenty-twenty is a watershed year! The year that is moving humanity and nations into a new reality. This is the year that international non-cooperation is showing the danger of unbridled nationalism. This is the year that the oneness of the human species is becoming more acceptable to the human consciousness. This is the year that prejudices--whether they are religious, national, or racial--are being shown for the demons they are. This is the year conscious individuals begin to look into their own thoughts and beliefs, in order to purge themselves of the superstitions of the past.

This is the year of change,
of transformation,
and of moving forward
into what?

Roses and honeysuckles
decorate the Table of Divine Mercy
scattering the perfume of pink joy
across the soul's of those gathered
to celebrate the Supper of the Lord.

On June 19, 1865, federal troops enter Galveston, Texas, to make sure that all the slaves in America were freed. This was two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation10 was signed. It was on Juneteenth (June 19, 1865) that U.S. General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”11 This day should be a national holiday, that is celebrated with parades, fireworks, picnics, and education about the effects of slaver, which America is still dealing with today.

There are a couple of pieces of good news on this Thankful Thursday, June 18, 2020. The first piece of good newx concerns two Baha'i Temples in Africa: In Africa: As one temple rises, anticipation builds for another  . Second, Supreme Court blocks Trump’s bid to end DACA, a win for undocumented ‘Dreamers’   by Robert Barnes. Good news is always welcome because it reveals that the world is making progress, moving toward a new normal of unity, justice, and world peace.

Four days to Father's Day and counting down. Every where you look on the internet or in the stores (if you go out of the house to go shopping) you find ads for the perfect Father's Day gift. When I was growing up the perfect Father's Day gift was a tie or a fishing rod, depending on what Dad did for a living or liked to do on the weekends. I don't remember any of my school friends asking me what are you getting your grandfather for Father's Day. Most of my friends knew that my parents were divorced, that my mother was the breadwinner in the family, and that the only Father figure I had was Grandpa Frank.

The "Invalid Item"  discussion topic for the week of June 14, 2020 is "Let's start with something easy! How are you coping with 2020? Are you watching a lot of news? Distracting yourself with other things? Hiding under the blankets? How are you feeling about everything? Aside from everything going on in the world, how are YOU doing? What's going on in your personal bubble? How many years long has 2020 felt so far? "

It's Motivational Monday, June 15, the day a new blog group begins. The name of the group is "Space Blog Group" , the forum is located at "Space Blog" , and the first prompt is "Name ten things you would put on your bucket." It should be easy to write a bucket list because I wrote (or think I wrote) one before. I can't find the bucket list I wrote. The only thing I can find is a poem I wrote in 2013, "Bucket Lists: Two Related Poems" , a few months after my mother died in 2012. The name of the new blog is "Snow's Space Blog" , and the first entry is "Ten Things on My Bucket List" .

It's time for America
to reset its destiny to
E pluribus unum:
Out of Many, One!

Sometimes I have difficulty deciding on my favorite quote, because there are so many quotes from the Sacred Writings of The Bab, Baha'u'llah, and 'Abdu'l-Baha that I like. Today I didn't have any problems deciding on my favorite quotes for this month. When I logged into Facebook, the first quote was posted with a picture, containing the Spanish translation, and the English translation above the picture. After reading and meditating on the first quote, I thought of another quote. The second quote I had to look up on Baha'i Reference Library  . Both quotes can be found in Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah.