Writing in Snow

Midweek Reflections on Thirteenth Day Of Fast

‘Idál (Justice), 13 ‘Alá’ (Loftiness) 174 B.E. - Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Thirteenth Day of Fast

"Every heart should radiate unity, so that the Light of the one Divine Source of all may shine forth bright and luminous. We must not consider the separate waves alone, but the entire sea. We should rise from the individual to the whole. The spirit is as one great ocean and the waves thereof are the souls of men."

‘Abdu’l-Baha 12

Poem Written for the Thirteenth Day of Fast

I contemplate the excellence
of material
and spiritual creation.

The perfection
of the love
of the Almighty
reflected through
the luminous ocean
of the sacred scriptures.

This is the age of the maturity of humanity,
the age of unity,
when the fullness of the fruits
of the human world
will ripen
and the consummation
of the divine prophecies
is witnessed.

Themes for Poems Written During the 19-Day Fast

Baha'i month or days of week names for the theme used in Poems: Splendor "First Day of the 19-Day Fast" , Glory "Second Day of Fast" , Will "Third Day of Fast" , Beauty "Motavational Monday: The Fourth Day of Fast" , Knowledge "Fifth Day of Fast" , Justice "Midweek Reflections on Justice" , Grandeur "Thankful Thursday: Gratitude List" , Light "Eighth Day of Fast" , Mercy "Ninth Day of Fast" , Words "Tenth Day of Fast" , Power "Motivational Monday: Eleventh Day of Fast" , Grace "Twelfth Day of Fast" , and Perfection "Midweek Reflections on Thirteenth Day Of Fast"  .
Virtues Used: compassion "Silent Compassion" , unity "Spheres of Influence" , and detachment "Detachment" .
Baha'i month names for the themes to use in Poems: Names, Might, Speech, Questions, Honor, Sovereignty, Dominion, and Loftiness.
Week Day names for the themes to use in poems: Beauty, Perfection, , Majesty, Independence, and Glory.
Virtues to Use: assertiveness, caring, cleanliness, commitment, assertiveness, caring, cleanliness, commitment, confidence, consideration, cooperation, courage, courtesy, creativity, determination, diligence, enthusiasm, excellence, flexibility, forgiveness, friendliness, generosity, gentleness, helpfulness, honesty, honor, humility, idealism, integrity, joyfulness, justice, kindness, love, loyalty, moderation, modesty, orderliness, patience, peacefulness, perseverance, purposefulness, reliability, respect, responsibility, self-discipline, service, tact, thankfulness, tolerance, trust, trustworthiness, truthfulness, understanding, and unity.confidence, consideration, cooperation, courage, courtesy, creativity, detachment, determination, diligence, enthusiasm, excellence, flexibility, forgiveness, friendliness, generosity, gentleness, helpfulness, honesty, honor, humility, idealism, integrity, joyfulness, justice, kindness, love, loyalty, moderation, modesty, orderliness, patience, peacefulness, perseverance, purposefulness, reliability, respect, responsibility, self-discipline, service, tact, thankfulness, tolerance, trust, trustworthiness, truthfulness, and understanding.

There are six more days left in the nineteen-day fast, at sunset on March 20 the Fast for and 174 B.E. end. So far, in 'Ala' I have written thirteen poems about the divine attributes, and three about the virtues. Whatever I have left to write, I will carry into the New Year. I will finish these poem before starting the themes over again (if I use them again). I have changed my on-line reading list to include four serials on bahaiteachings.org3, which are (1) Figuring Out Prophecy4, (2) Native American Messengers of God5, (3) The Purpose of Physical Reality6, and (4) The Death of Tahirih: The Women’s Rights Martyr7. The only other thing I want to read on-line is the e*lix*ir Journal8. Right now, my offline reading lists is (1) The Summons of the Lord of Hosts and (2) The American Baha'i for March/April 2018. And last, there are three poetry forms I want to use (1) Ghazal9, (2) Pantoum10, and (3) Pi-Archimedes11.

Footnotes
1  From a talk, Nov. 9, 1911, Paris Talks
2  Counsels and Explanations by 'Abdu'l-Baha -- Daily Readings for March 13, 2018.
3  http://bahaiteachings.org/
4  http://bahaiteachings.org/series/figuring-out-prophecy
5  http://bahaiteachings.org/series/native-american-messengers-of-god
6  http://bahaiteachings.org/series/the-purpose-of-physical-reality
7  http://bahaiteachings.org/series/the-death-of-tahirih-the-womens-rights-martyr
8  http://www.elixir-journal.org/
9  http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/ghazal.html
10  http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/pantoum.html
11  http://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/pi-archimedes/