Bahá'í Center in Urbana

09/16/2023

The petunias in the flower beds at the Bahá'í Center are having a wonderful summer!

02/20/2022

“Say: Spirit, mind, soul, and the powers of sight and hearing are but one single reality which hath manifold expressions owing to the diversity of its instruments. As thou dost observe, man’s power to comprehend, move, speak, hear, and see all derive from this sign of his Lord within him. It is single in its essence, yet manifold through the diversity of its instruments.”

The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, Author: Bahá’u’lláh, Source: Bahá’í World Centre, 2002 edition, Page: 154, excerpt from Súriy-i-Ra’ís.

12/09/2020

“From the exalted source, and out of the essence of His favor and bounty He hath entrusted every created thing with a sign of His knowledge, so that none of His creatures may be deprived of its share in expressing, each according to its capacity and rank, this knowledge. This sign is the mirror of His beauty in the world of creation.”

Bahá’u’lláh

11/22/2020

There are continental, national, and local Bahá’í Houses of Worship around the world. They all have nine sides, beautiful gardens, and unique architecture. Anyone and everyone is welcome to enter. Here’s a link to see them. Note that a couple are still in the planning/building stages at this time. We love them all! Bahá’í Temples are built using money from the Bahá’í Funds, and only Bahá’ís can contribute to those funds.

A collection of collages, exterior and interior images of Baháʼí Houses of Worship constructed, under construction, or planned worldwide.

11/15/2020

What Can We Do Now?
A statement from the Bahá'í community

Our nation has reached a crossroad concerning racism and has started in a new direction. The history of America will reflect a coming-to-terms with long-standing, unequal treatment of people. Inequity and injustice have fragmented people’s relationships with one another. We must not go backward into denial, but instead must go forward into healing by championing the inherent dignity of all people. Awareness of the past coupled with action in the present will guide us in building new patterns of community life based on equality and fairness. Bahá'u'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, says, “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.”

The Bahá’is applaud and are thankful for the efforts that people are making locally for the betterment of society. Bahá'ís are only a small part of our community. We embrace a posture of learning and reflect carefully upon where our energies are most useful, and then join in as many forward-looking activities as we can. We’d like to share our reflections here.

In Champaign County, individual and social action group efforts focused on anti-racism have resurged since 2009. Concerted efforts to engage in meaningful conversations about improving education, housing, the business environment, and leisure by eliminating the pernicious effects of racism are leading us toward better lives for all who live, work, and visit our county. We name a few representative endeavors here to celebrate their range and variety. Multiple showings of the film Racial Taboo, followed by discussions and sharing of experiences, have stimulated deep examination of our collective spiritual and emotional health. People’s activity reports at the monthly Champaign County Community Coalition meetings reflect deeply-rooted concerns about fairness and justice. Book study groups in homes, faith-based spaces, and libraries are fostering discussions on dozens of titles such as Where Do We Go From Here by Martin Luther King, Jr., The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Waking Up White by Debby Irving. The NAACP is actively challenging unfair practices in the public schools and in the justice system. The local Bend the Arc Jewish Action chapter has partnered with other groups to fight prejudice in all forms. Bethel AME Church is host to First Followers, a locally envisioned and supported re-entry program. The Unitarian-Universalist Church, home to the Racial Justice Project, is showing films such as 13th and The Hate You Give as well as hosting discussions and workshops about institutional racism. The Bahá'í community hosts Second Sunday programs and discussions on the oneness of humankind. UIUC instructors conduct participatory workshops on the mechanics of white privilege. Seminars and workshops on trauma resiliency and restorative circles provide support for traumatized people to learn and to heal. Interfaith groups gather in unity and with mutual respect to discuss common tenets, including the Interfaith Day of Gratitude (observed each May), the Ministerial Alliance, the Interfaith Alliance of Champaign County, the Sisters in Faith Leadership, and the Religious Workers Association at UIUC. This is not an exhaustive list of such efforts.

Recently, youth are arising everywhere in the world to transform our communities. Locally, youth have formed Paign for Peace to actively fight racism by supporting changes in policing, education, and justice. They work with the 40 Days of Peace and Community Building Initiative against violence to form strong positive, connections among people. Midnight Basketball continues to draw middle and high school youth together to pray and play to build healthy relationships. The Housing Authority of Champaign County has implemented a local Youth Build program which includes construction work on housing and educational certifications for participants helping the whole community.

Recognizing and working against racism has become a worldwide movement that our African American friends, neighbors, and family members have long hoped for. Solutions call for strong and unending support from every person. This movement will not, and should not, go away. We are being forged, at long last, into one human family. A new pattern of community life is generating hope as “countless citizens have arisen to proclaim the truth that we are one nation, and to demand specific actions to address the pervasive inequities.”* We are determined to make this change for the better.

What can we do now? Contact the Coalition https://www.champaigncommunitycoalition.org to ask where your energies are needed or to get contact information for the above efforts. Join groups that you are interested in. Initiate community projects with friends and neighbors to support education and fairness in Champaign County. Form new personal and family relationships with people of diverse races, cultures, and backgrounds. Actions that we each take in our daily lives affect everyone.

"We have come to a moment of great public awareness and rejection of injustice. Let us not lose this opportunity. Will we commit to the process of forming 'a more perfect union'? ... Let us then join hands with each other in commitment to the path of justice. Together we can surely achieve this."*

*From a letter released on June 19, 2020, by the Baha'is of the United States
https://www.bahai.us/path-to-racial-justice/

Signed by
The Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Champaign
The Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Urbana
The Bahá'í Community of Mahomet
https://cu-bahai.org

10/31/2020

Good news for the wave of reframing and community building which is moving the world!

The Bahá’ís of Chile have been creating spaces for exploration of the spiritual dimensions of human life as part of conversations about the future of the country.

10/11/2020

A beautiful quote from the Bahá’í Writings with graphic art by Joe Paczkowski, a Bahá’í living in Finland.

For it is indeed within the power of Him Who changeth the earth into another earth to transform all that dwell and move thereon. Wherefore marvel not at how He turneth darkness into light, light into darkness, ignorance into knowledge, error into guidance, death into life, and life into death. It is in this station that the law of transformation taketh effect. Ponder thereon, if thou be of them that tread this path, that all thou didst ask of this lowly One may be made plain unto thee and that thou mayest abide within the tabernacle of this guidance. For He doeth whatsoever He willeth and ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth. Nor shall He be asked of His doings, whilst all men will be asked of their every deed.

(Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 61)

09/27/2020

God has given us eyes, that we may look about us at the world, and lay hold of whatsoever will further civilization and the arts of living. He has given us ears, that we may hear and profit by the wisdom of scholars and philosophers and arise to promote and practice it. Senses and faculties have been bestowed upon us, to be devoted to the service of the general good; so that we, distinguished above all other forms of life for perceptiveness and reason, should labor at all times and along all lines, whether the occasion be great or small, ordinary or extraordinary, until all mankind are safely gathered into the impregnable stronghold of knowledge. We should continually be establishing new bases for human happiness and creating and promoting new instrumentalities toward this end. How excellent, how honorable is man if he arises to fulfill his responsibilities; how wretched and contemptible, if he shuts his eyes to the welfare of society and wastes his precious life in pursuing his own selfish interests and personal advantages. Supreme happiness is man’s, and he beholds the signs of God in the world and in the human soul, if he urges on the steed of high endeavor in the arena of civilization and justice.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization

06/23/2020

A Message from the Bahá’ís of the United States

The Bahá’ís of the United States join our fellow-citizens in heartfelt grief at the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others whose lives were suddenly taken by appalling acts of violence. These heartbreaking violations against fellow human beings, due only to the color of their skin, have deepened the dismay caused by a pandemic whose consequences to the health and livelihoods of people of color have been disproportionately severe. This has come to pass against a backdrop of longstanding racial injustice in virtually every aspect of American life. It is clear that racial prejudice is the most vital and challenging issue we face as a country.

Yet, amidst these tragedies, there are also signs of hope. Countless citizens have arisen to proclaim the truth that we are one nation, and to demand specific actions to address the pervasive inequities that for too long have shaped our society. We have remembered who we aspire to be as a people, and are determined to make a change for the better. This moment beckons us to a renewed commitment to realize the ideal of E Pluribus Unum—out of many, one—the very ideal upon which America was founded.

To create a just society begins with recognition of the fundamental truth that humanity is one. But it is not enough simply to believe this in our hearts. It creates the moral imperative to act, and to view all aspects of our personal, social, and institutional lives through the lens of justice. It implies a reordering of our society more profound than anything we have yet achieved. And it requires the participation of Americans of every race and background, for it is only through such inclusive participation that new moral and social directions can emerge.

Whatever immediate results might come from the current demonstrations, the elimination of racism will require a sustained and concerted effort. It is one thing to protest against particular forms of injustice. It is a far more profound challenge to create a new framework for justice. Our efforts can only succeed when we learn to build relationships with each other based on sincere friendship, regard, and trust, which, in turn, become pillars for the activities of our institutions and communities.

It is essential for us to join hands in a process of learning how to create models of what we want to see in every dimension of American life, as we learn to apply the principle of oneness through practical engagement and experience. To this end, we offer the following thoughts.

An essential element of the process will be honest and truthful discourse about current conditions and their causes, and understanding, in particular, the deeply entrenched notions of anti-Blackness that pervade our society. We must build the capacity to truly hear and acknowledge the voices of those who have directly suffered from the effects of racism. This capacity should manifest itself in our schools, the media, and other civic arenas, as well as in our work and personal relations. This should not end with words, but lead to meaningful, constructive action.

There are already significant efforts underway to learn how to create models of unity in neighborhoods and communities throughout the nation. Bahá’ís have been persistently engaged in such efforts for many years. The aim is not unity in sameness—it is unity in diversity. It is the recognition that everyone in this land has a part to play in contributing to the betterment of society, and that true prosperity, material and spiritual, will be available to us all to the degree that we live up to this standard. We should earnestly discover what is being done, what truly helps to make a difference, and why. We should share this knowledge throughout the country as a means of inspiring and assisting the work of others. If we do this, we could soon find ourselves in the midst of a mass transition toward racial justice.

Religion, an enduring source of insight concerning human purpose and action, has a key role to play in this process. All faith communities recognize that we are essentially spiritual beings. All proclaim some version of the “Golden Rule”—to love others as we do ourselves. Take, for example, the following passage from the Bahá’í Scriptures in which God addresses humankind:

"Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest."

To understand and firmly believe that we are all children of God provides us with access to vast spiritual resources, motivating us to see beyond ourselves and to work steadily and sacrificially in the face of all obstacles. It helps to ensure that the process is consistent with the goal to create communities characterized by justice. It gives us the faith, strength, and creativity to transform our own hearts, as we also work for the transformation of society.

We believe that the tribulations now encompassing much of the world are the symptoms of humanity’s failure to understand and embrace our essential oneness. The interrelated threats of climate change, gender
discrimination, extreme wealth and poverty, unfair distribution of resources, and the like, all stem from this deficiency and can never be resolved if we do not awaken to our dependence upon each other. The world has contracted to a neighborhood, and it is important to appreciate that what we do in America impacts not only our own country, but the entire planet.

We should also never forget that the richness of our diversity, and our founding ideals of liberty and justice, attract the eyes of the world to us. They will be influenced by what we achieve, or fail to achieve, in this regard. It is not an exaggeration to say that the cause of world peace is linked to our success in resolving the issue of racial injustice.

The oneness of humanity is the foundation of our future. Its realization is the inevitable next stage in our life on this planet. We will replace a world society based upon competition and conflict, and driven by rampant materialism, with one founded upon our higher potential for collaboration and reciprocity. This achievement will mark the universal coming of age of the human race. How soon we achieve this, and how easily, will depend upon the commitment we demonstrate to this cardinal principle.

We have come to a moment of great public awareness and rejection of injustice. Let us not lose this opportunity. Will we commit to the process of forming “a more perfect union”? Will we be guided by “the better angels of our nature” to choose the course of wisdom, of courage, and of unity? Will we choose to truly become that “city upon a hill” to serve as inspiration to all humanity? Let us then join hands with each other in commitment to the path of justice. Together we can surely achieve this.

Bahá’u’lláh said: “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” May that light grow brighter with every passing day.

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF

THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES

02/26/2020

Happy Ayyám-i-Há! ❤️

“Let the days in excess of the months be placed before the month of fasting. We have ordained that these, amid all nights and days, shall be the manifestations of the letter Há, and thus they have not been bounded by the limits of the year and its months. It behoveth the people of Bahá, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name; and when they end - these days of giving that precede the season of restraint - let them enter upon the Fast”. ~ Bahá’u’lláh

(Artwork by Joe Paczkowski)

02/16/2020

“Know thou that, according to what thy Lord, the Lord of all men, hath decreed in His Book, the favors vouchsafed by Him unto mankind have been, and will ever remain, limitless in their range. First and foremost among these favors, which the Almighty hath conferred upon man, is the gift of understanding. His purpose in conferring such a gift is none other except to enable His creature to know and recognize the one true God—exalted be His glory. This gift giveth man the power to discern the truth in all things, leadeth him to that which is right, and helpeth him to discover the secrets of creation. Next in rank, is the power of vision, the chief instrument whereby his understanding can function. The senses of hearing, of the heart, and the like, are similarly to be reckoned among the gifts with which the human body is endowed. Immeasurably exalted is the Almighty Who hath created these powers, and revealed them in the body of man."

~ Bahá’u’lláh ~