A new wind

"A new life is, in this age, stirring within all the peoples of the earth . . ."

(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 195)

Recommended listening:

New Wind Blowin' (Phil Lucas)

"There's a new wind blowing,
calling me.
There's a new wind blowing gonna set
mankind free.

It makes you strong as a mountain makes you move like the sea
gives you wings like a bird so you fly
through eternity,
through eternity."

Una Paloma Blanca (George Baker)

"It's a new day, it's a new way,
and I fly up to the sun."

"Over the mountains I fly.
No one can take
my freedom away."

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Fifth Dimension)

"Mystic crystal revelation
and the mind's true liberation"

As I understand it, a new spirit came into the world with Baha'u'llah. Looking back, I see that spirit stirring in the music of the sixties. Looking beyond the contention in the dialogue/Talisman chronicles, I see it stirring in the Talisman movement.

I'm imagining that the new spirit can not be captured in any organization, or in any program, or in any ideology. If we can't capture it, maybe we can ride on the new wind, like birds sailing on currents of air. One way I've learned to ride the new wind is by learning to trust Baha'u'llah. That's why I want to promote more trust in Baha'u'llah among Baha'is.

Those thoughts came to me after reading "Baha'i Leads Out of the Labyrinth," by Ruth White. I was reading it because a friend of mine had a traumatic experience with a Baha'i institution after he decided to promote some of the ideas he got from it. I thought that experience might still be disabling him, and that it might help for me to read it.

Ruth White argued that according to Abdu'l-Baha the Baha'i Faith can not be organized. When she saw Shoghi Effendi organizing it, she turned against him and tried to prove that the Will and Testament of Abdu'l-Baha was a forgery. In her writings there are some words attributed to Abdu'l-Baha saying that no one can organize the Baha'i movement, or bottle up its spirit.

Sometimes I see something I've always known in a new light, and it takes on a new life. Of course I've always known that the spirit of God can not be bottled up, but reading those words gave that understanding a whole new life. It revived precious memories of the peace movements and the music of the sixties, and brought up joyful visions of riding the new wind.

I see some wonderful possibilities in the Talisman movement. The conflicts, and the responses of the House of Justice, might have scared some people away from the adventure. I have some ideas about how the spirit I see stirring in the movement might be freed from its shackles.

1. More awareness of our responsibilities to "look into all things with a searching eye," to discuss our ideas with others in "frank and unfettered consultation," and to share our findings with others.

2. More awareness that encountering opposition from members of Baha'i institutions, or seeing contrary views in Baha'i writings, does not relieve us of those responsibilities.

3. More awareness of other responsibilities associated with those. For example:

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