I realized yesterday that I had spent the better part of a week dreading the early advent of daylight savings when I should have been thinking about how easy my life is and how easy it is for me to be a Baha'i (relative to my country of birth) and how I should be spending more time in prayer, reflection and action. Now is not the time to rest.
Reading the letter from the Baha'i International Community (working from the United Nations in New York City) to the Prosecutor General in Iran (link below) reminds me of how freedom of religious expression is a luxury many others lack. Even as I think of my fasting until 7:30pm as a difficult personal challenge, I remember that our Baha'i sisters and brothers in prison in Iran are themselves fasting, even in those torturous conditions.
http://bic.org/areas-of-work/persecution/prosecutor-general-iran-en.pdf
The Universal House of Justice has asked us to hold our own prayer gatherings; they've asked us to hold community prayer gatherings open to the press; and they've asked us to write our Congressional Representatives both in the House and Senate. This is the least we can do.
On March 6, 2009, the House of Justice said, "The heroic steadfastness of the Bahá’ís in the Cradle of the Faith has released mighty spiritual forces into the world." We would do well to remember this during Fast and rearrange our lives accordingly so as to take full advantage of these bounties.
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