My Prayer Box

15 Kalimat 163 B.E. – July 27, 2006 A.D.

My prayer box isn’t really a box, rather it is bank with a cork in the top and you remove the cork to put in the dollar bills. It is round and looks like a little earthenware jug. On the side, are the words, “My Harley fund”. It sets on a bookcase in my bedroom with other Harley-Davidson collectables. It was a birthday gift from my brother several years ago.

Instead of putting money in, I put in the names of people on my prayer list. I write a name on a piece of paper and beside the name the number of the page in my prayer book of the prayer, I’m saying for that person. Then at each prayer session, I draw a name and say the prayer for the person. If the person is ill, I say a prayer of healing, if the person has died, I say a prayer for the dead, if the person is having problems; I say a prayer of assistance, etc. After I say the prayer, I fold the paper up and put it back into the “prayer box”. I leave their prayer in the prayer box for, at least, nineteen day. I’m thinking of moving the prayer box to my bedside, that way it is easier for me to get.

Poetry for the Spirit

12 Kalimat 163 B.E. – July 24, 2006 A.D.

I’ve went through my library and found several poetry books. Actually, many poetry books, but the name of one of the books is Poetry for the Spirit edited by Alan Jacobs. This is a thick book, with spiritual or mystic poetry. I’ve started this book, but haven’t finished reading it, I don’t read a poetry book all the way through at one time. What I do is pick it up, read, and then put it down for a while. Poets’ write poetry, especially mystic poetry; to give comfort and to give comfort it one reads it slowly. Meditates on the lines, consumes them and chew them slowly, sips them as is if drinking a cup of Sumatran coffee. That is how I read this book. Anyway, I picked the book up again; I am reading it, nibbling at its verses.

This is how I read Poetry for the Spirit. I open the book, look at the author, find the first poem by the author and read. This time the author is Thomas Traherne. He is one of the poets in Part 5: Seventeenth Century the years from 1601 B.C. to 1700 B.C. I don’t know in which part of the Seventeenth Century Traherne live, I’ll have to do a little be of research and see, but right now I’ll just read his poems and make journal entries without doing any research. After I written what I’ve gotten out of his poems, written what they mean to me, then I’ll do the research and find out more about him. That’s the beautiful thing about reading poetry and having access to the internet. You can read the poet and then latter do the research and then read the poems again. Or you can do it the other way around.

I’ll finish Mr. Traherne’s poems and then do the research on him. The next poet I choose I’ll do the research first and then read. I’m not sure which way is the best. I don’t think it really matters, as long as eventually I learn more about the poet and his poetry. Writing about poetry in a personal journal or your own blog is writing about your feelings and not giving critical review. Don’t get me wrong, I like writing critical reviews of poetry, but it takes research to write a critical review. There are just times when the only thing a person wants to do is read, read the poem and write about how it makes one feel.

How God Speaks To Me

1 Kalimat 163 B.E. – July 13, 2006 A.D.

I hear the voice of God’s Pen in tables of revelation.
The Holy Spirit’s echoes flow through the verses of His Books.
I how could I not have found love’s goal,
when the knowledge floods the world.

God speaks to me every day
in the tests and difficulties I face;
in the whisper of the morning wind
carrying the echoes of bird call.

God speaks
in a multitude of scriptures,
the revelations of His word.

God speaks,
God whispers,
God shouts,
the world moves,
the planet evolves,
civilization advances,
while humanity learns to know and love God.

God speaks to me
in moments of silent refection,
whispers of love flow across my soul.

God speaks to me
shouting over the mundane of daily life,
calling me back to peace and serenity,
when I memorize the prayers
and scriptures
revealed by the Pen of Glory.

Morning Thoughts on Poetry

16 Rahmat 163 B.E. – July 9, 2006 A.D.

Today a new class started. The name of the class is EDU660 Curriculum Design and Evaluation and the book for the course is Curriculum Alternative Approaches, Ongoing Issues by Colin J. Marsh and George Willis. This doesn’t appear to have much to do with spiritual poetry or even poetry in general, unless one is designing an curriculum for a class on poetry. However, the book gives several definitions for curriculum and asks the reader to construct an “encompassing” and “eclectic” definition for curriculum using the definitions in the book and personal viewpoints.

In considering my personal definition of curriculum, I find that it’s based on both my spiritual beliefs and my concept of a poet’s duty. I believe a poet has the duty to write about not only the world in its present condition, but also the future world as the poet envisions it. I believe a poet needs to point out both what is right and wrong about the world. I believe is the soul of humanity, helping to guide and giving encouragement.

Spiritually I believe that humanity is a single species. I believe there is only one divine creator, which is an unknowable essence, made know to humanity through various prophets sent to earth by the creator. These divine prophets, messengers, or manifestations reflect the attributes of God to humanity. They came at different times in history to help us carry forward “an ever advancing civilization” and assist the individual "to know and love God". I believe that all divine religions are gifts from God and that the reason the Creator sent different manifestations, which is the reason we have different religions, at different times in history is because humanity is growing, moving through developmental stages and that as a results the messengers come to instruct us on the next stage of development.

Today we look at the external trappings of religions, history of the era when the revelation occurred, the different manifestations who revealed them, the way various sects and leaders of those religions interpret their faith, and the way our own heritages and cultural sees other religions. We look at the differences and not the commonalities, as consequences we see those differences being important rather than what is in common among the various faiths.

I’m not going to write my personal definition of curriculum at this point. If I did that it would ramble on and on, without getting to a point. Give me a few days to focus my thoughts and consider all the components of the definition more thoroughly. I’ll post my personal definition on or before next Sunday.

Name of this Blog

I've decided to call this blog My Thoughts on Spiritual Poetry, because I'm putting other things beside spiritual poetry. Everything I write here has something to do with mystic or spiritual poetry, but some of it isn't poetry.

Upcoming Holy Day

9 Rahmat 163 B.E. – July 2, 2006 A.D.

On July 9, 2006 at noon, Baha’is around the world will commemorate the Martyrdom of the Bab. This is one of the nine Holy Days Baha’is commemorate during the year. At noon on the Ninth prayers will be said and the story of the Bab’s death will be told. I will write a poem about this event, but I’m not sure what form the poem will take. One of the poems I wrote about the Bab is set to music and I have a copy of the music in a framed picture.

Some items I want to include in the poem.

The Bab
The Gate of God
Forerunner of God’s Glory

What else do I want to include? Perhaps, this year I’ll take a different route in writing, I’ve included the above aspects in earlier poems about the Bab. Maybe I’ll write about the events around His death. Maybe from the point of view of one of the members of the firing squads or perhaps the disciple who died with the Blessed Bab that day? I seem to be in a rut lately when it comes to writing mystic poems. I think I need to take a different angle when writing this poem.

I’m just not sure how to approach the poem this year. Usually I don’t have a problem writing about a Holy Day, the events that commemorate it, or the events that engendered the remembrance of the day. This year, however, I get the feeling that I need to write from a different point of view then in the past. I get the feeling I need to stretch myself and get out of my comfort zone. I think I’ll do more research this year than I’ve did in the past.