Baha’u’llah, I Finally Found You!

Baha’u’llah, I Finally Found You!

For many years I searched for You,
not knowing it was You I was looking for
For many years I fought against racism and injustice
not knowing it was You I was searching for

Wandering up and down many paths
that promised to improve society
I promoted and fought for those paths
that proclaimed justice and equality

Responding with heart and action to these struggles
that sought to transform the world
I gave my time and spilled my blood in those struggles
but without seeing the birth to that new world

During a night of dark and tumultuous dreams
suffering nightmare after nightmare
lost in a cave with endless tunnels
I found a garden bright with light and guidance

There, brimming with red roses of profound beauty
surrounding a fountain of undreamed elegance
I woke up from the dream sobbing with joy
Not knowing – yet – the meaning of those roses

For months, memories of that dream flashed within
filling my heart with joyous peace, but still not knowing, why
Then came the warm invitation to celebrate Naw Ruz
I asked myself, could this be the answer to my “why?”

That March night, at the San Francisco Bahá’í Center
The stage curtain opened, my heart suddenly racing
As beautiful red roses came into view, like those in my dream!
What a dramatic, joyous answer to my “why?”!

And now, it is with boundless joy and a spirit of hope
That I join all of you in celebrating the bicentennial of
The birth of Bahá’u’lláh signaling, in turn, the beginning of
The birthing of a new world order of unity, peace and happiness.

Oh yes, for many years I searched for you
Not knowing it was You I was looking for.
But thanks to those dreams and roses I found you, Bahá’u’lláh
– The springtime I had been searching for!

In a Rush of Heartbeats

As I took out the trash during an early October night,
The Oregon clouds mysteriously cleared, skies turning bright.
I looked up, my eyes captured by the unceasing twinkling above
When suddenly, in a rush of heartbeats, I could feel the Creator’s love
Engulfing my consciousness, the core of my being, igniting my heart,
As I sensed the Glory of God in this immensity of which I’m a tiny part.

With time seeming to stand still in the face of a vastness of this scope,
Images came to mind captured recently by humanity’s Hubble Telescope
Images that were birthed from galaxies an incredible 13 billion years ago,
Expanding the estimated size of the universe to 100 billion galaxies all aglow
Sustained in their existence second by second as I stood there spellbound,
By the Power and Glory at Whose behest we are all loved and bound.

Ever since I took out the trash during that unforgettable October night
I strive through word and deed to keep the love in my heart burning bright.
Though I am but a minuscule piece of dust, the Creator made me aware,
That across endless expanses of time and space flows his unceasing care
Teaching us that eon after eon, material reality signifies His loving embrace
Calling us to love Him by loving each other regardless of what faith and race.