To begin the month of February with a refreshed spirit, you are welcomed to Devoting the Night – a devotional which will begin later in the evening, after dinner in Rosslyn. On Saturday January 31st, after filling up at Red Hot & Blue at 8:00pm, we will then venture to fill our souls with the devotional at the nearby River Place apartments. The devotional is expected to begin around 10:00pm. If you would like more information, please contact the Baha’is of Arlington.
Month: January 2009
Come Offer a Prayer for America, and for Racial Unity!
What nurtures your soul? What makes your heart tender? Prayer, music, fellowship, cake, tea? Whatever the answer might be, sharing devotions with friends gets us all closer to the Creator.
As we approach two important and uniquely American (yet global in impact) celebrations — that of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day and the 44th Presidential inauguration — let us gather in an atmosphere of fellowship and offer a prayer for America, and for racial unity!
Please join us for interfaith devotions, prayers, music, fellowship, cake and tea (and few other surprises) that will take place on Monday, Jan 19th at 7:00 pm. The building is metro-accessible via the Orange line, between the Virginia Square and Ballston stations, and is right across from Arlington Central Library. Please contact the Baha’is of Arlington and find out more about this devotional gathering.
Interpretation of Scripture
“Should they say: “These words are indeed from God, and have no interpretation other than their outward meaning”, then what objection can they raise against the unbelievers among the people of the Book? For when the latter saw the aforementioned passages in their Scriptures and heard the literal interpretations of their divines, they refused to recognize God in those who are the Manifestations of His unity, the Exponents of His singleness, and the Embodiments of His sanctity, and failed to believe in them and submit to their authority. The reason was that they did not see the sun darken, or the stars of heaven fall to the ground, or the angels visibly descend upon the earth, and hence they contended with the Prophets and Messengers of God. Nay, inasmuch as they found them at variance with their own faith and creed, they hurled against them such accusations of imposture, folly, waywardness, and misbelief as I am ashamed to recount.”
(Bahá’u’lláh, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 11)
If you are interested in dialoguing more on the topic of “Interpretation of Scripture” we invite you to join the Arlington Bahá’í Community on this Friday January 16, 2009 at 7:30pm. There will be a short introduction of the Bahá’í Faith followed by a lively discussion and some light refreshments. For more information or directions, please contact the Bahá’ís of Arlington.
From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility.
(Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 284)