The Founding Fathers warned against the two party system we now have. They said it would divide us. 9/11 taught us we are not all of these polarizing labels (white verses black, Republican verses Democrat, Liberal verses Conservative, Christian verses Muslim verses Jewish) as much as we are Americans. I believe that the most important thing we can do is education (the truth) through respectful communication that will finally unite us. http://liberalcommonsense.blogspot.com/2005/05/perils-of-two-party-system.html
Someone very dear to me often used insults to "win" discussions because it was more important for him to win then it was to reveal truth and to unite in a common cause...result eventually no one valued his opinion either.
Showing posts with label respectful communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label respectful communication. Show all posts
Friday, July 3, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
***Nadar Shares More On His Faith
Roma Writes: Thank you Nadar for sharing your faith with us. In this community we have a very diverse (but caring) group in many aspects. By each person's willingness to share what is important to them we come to love and respect, not fear, differences. Like the 3 women who wrote the book called "The Faith Club", respectfully communicating and listening helps us to discover that we do not always have to agree to love one another. May this ability found in this community spread itself over this Nation and World.
A message from Nadar:
On Faith" panelist Kenneth E. Bowers is the Secretary General of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith. Prior to being elected to the National Assembly, he served as an appointed member of the National Teaching Committee, the principal arm of the National Assembly, acting as its Secretary for nearly 10 years. Until 1991, Mr. Bowers owned and operated a business in Atlanta. He is the author of "God Speaks Again," an introductory book about the Bahá'í Faith. Together with their children, Mojdeh and Ford, Ken and his wife Mojgan make their home in Wilmette, Ill. in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Close.
Kenneth E. Bowers
Secretary General, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith.
"On Faith" panelist Kenneth E. Bowers is the Secretary General of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith, the nine-member elected governing body of the Bahá'ís Faith.
A Duty and Privilege to Investigate Truth
Both individual and group study of sacred scriptures are essential aspects of living a life of spiritual advancement and service to humanity. The Word of God has a dynamic effect on the mind and spirit when approached in a spirit of regular study, action and reflection. Bahá'ís consider the scriptures of the major religions of the world--including the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Qur'an, the Old and New Testaments, and Buddhist and Hindu scriptures--as repositories of the Word of God and treasure houses of profound insights to be discovered and applied over a lifetime.
The Bahá'í Faith has no clergy, and the Founder of our Faith, Bahá'u'lláh, enjoined all believers to study the scriptures daily and reflect on their meaning and application to their daily lives. Bahá'u'lláh wrote: "Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths." By interacting with the Word of God, believers not only reach greater depths of understanding, but bring the scriptures to life by expressing them in their daily actions and moral choices.Regular group study of the scriptures is also beneficial and complementary. Throughout the world, Bahá'ís host study circles for in-depth and systematic study of the scriptures. These study circles are facilitated by volunteer tutors, and participants learn together in a spirit of mutual support and respect. The group setting provides a network of support for taking the lessons gleaned from the scriptures and applying them to the challenges and opportunities that surround us each day--in our family life and parenting, in our work or professions, and in our service to our neighborhoods and communities.
The Bahá'í approach to studying scriptures is thus flexible and emphasizes both personal and collective interaction with the Word of God. We each have the duty and privilege of independent investigation of truth using the faculties of discernment and understanding that each soul has been endowed with by God. Different insights and perspectives on the scriptures enrich the community, but no one's interpretation is considered authoritative or binding on others. Within the Bahá'í community, a diversity of understandings can flourish under a framework of elected Assemblies in which differences are resolved through consultation.
Engaging with the Word of God is a source of illumination, of gladness and comfort for the soul. Ultimately this is the touchstone for the proper study of scripture. Bahá'u'lláh wrote: "Should a person recite but a single verse from the Holy Writings in a spirit of joy and radiance, this would be better for him than reciting wearily all the Scriptures of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Recite ye the verses of God in such measure that ye be not overtaken with fatigue or boredom. Burden not your souls so as to cause exhaustion and weigh them down, but rather endeavour to lighten them, that they may soar on the wings of revealed Verses unto the dawning-place of His signs. This is conducive to nearer access unto God, were ye to comprehend."
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/kenneth_e_bowers/2009/02/all_can_engage_with_the_word_o.html
A message from Nadar:
On Faith" panelist Kenneth E. Bowers is the Secretary General of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith. Prior to being elected to the National Assembly, he served as an appointed member of the National Teaching Committee, the principal arm of the National Assembly, acting as its Secretary for nearly 10 years. Until 1991, Mr. Bowers owned and operated a business in Atlanta. He is the author of "God Speaks Again," an introductory book about the Bahá'í Faith. Together with their children, Mojdeh and Ford, Ken and his wife Mojgan make their home in Wilmette, Ill. in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Close.
Kenneth E. Bowers
Secretary General, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith.
"On Faith" panelist Kenneth E. Bowers is the Secretary General of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'í Faith, the nine-member elected governing body of the Bahá'ís Faith.
A Duty and Privilege to Investigate Truth
Both individual and group study of sacred scriptures are essential aspects of living a life of spiritual advancement and service to humanity. The Word of God has a dynamic effect on the mind and spirit when approached in a spirit of regular study, action and reflection. Bahá'ís consider the scriptures of the major religions of the world--including the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Qur'an, the Old and New Testaments, and Buddhist and Hindu scriptures--as repositories of the Word of God and treasure houses of profound insights to be discovered and applied over a lifetime.
The Bahá'í Faith has no clergy, and the Founder of our Faith, Bahá'u'lláh, enjoined all believers to study the scriptures daily and reflect on their meaning and application to their daily lives. Bahá'u'lláh wrote: "Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths." By interacting with the Word of God, believers not only reach greater depths of understanding, but bring the scriptures to life by expressing them in their daily actions and moral choices.Regular group study of the scriptures is also beneficial and complementary. Throughout the world, Bahá'ís host study circles for in-depth and systematic study of the scriptures. These study circles are facilitated by volunteer tutors, and participants learn together in a spirit of mutual support and respect. The group setting provides a network of support for taking the lessons gleaned from the scriptures and applying them to the challenges and opportunities that surround us each day--in our family life and parenting, in our work or professions, and in our service to our neighborhoods and communities.
The Bahá'í approach to studying scriptures is thus flexible and emphasizes both personal and collective interaction with the Word of God. We each have the duty and privilege of independent investigation of truth using the faculties of discernment and understanding that each soul has been endowed with by God. Different insights and perspectives on the scriptures enrich the community, but no one's interpretation is considered authoritative or binding on others. Within the Bahá'í community, a diversity of understandings can flourish under a framework of elected Assemblies in which differences are resolved through consultation.
Engaging with the Word of God is a source of illumination, of gladness and comfort for the soul. Ultimately this is the touchstone for the proper study of scripture. Bahá'u'lláh wrote: "Should a person recite but a single verse from the Holy Writings in a spirit of joy and radiance, this would be better for him than reciting wearily all the Scriptures of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Recite ye the verses of God in such measure that ye be not overtaken with fatigue or boredom. Burden not your souls so as to cause exhaustion and weigh them down, but rather endeavour to lighten them, that they may soar on the wings of revealed Verses unto the dawning-place of His signs. This is conducive to nearer access unto God, were ye to comprehend."
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/kenneth_e_bowers/2009/02/all_can_engage_with_the_word_o.html
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