Recently I came back from visiting friends in Nicaragua. During that trip I learned a lot and since I’ve been reflecting on the friendships made, my spiritual journey, and what I want to do with my life. Sometimes I feel like the concourse on high and divine inspiration help make things happen. Like you only need to take one step in the right direction and they carry you five more. To explain what I mean, let’s take the trip to Nica as an example. My friends there are two Baha’is whom I love very much as they have been there for me and are just such wonderful, warm, giving people. The woman I traveled with was a casual friend I met through them. In August, at the going away part we talked briefly about visiting Nica in January. I hadn’t talked with her again until I received a call in late December asking if I still wanted to go. Now people often idlely talk about taking trips places together, and until that phone call I hadn’t been sure how serious she had been. It would have been easy at that point to be close minded, blow her off, and say it was too late to plan it. But I thought that would look badly on both me and the faith since I would be going back on my word. Afterall, “Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues” ~Abdu’l Baha. So I said I’d still be interested and we looked for fares. We found something affordable, I called my friends in Nica and they said they’d be delighted to have us, even if it was last minute, and we went. And everything went right. The flights were on time, we had beautiful weather, and the casual friend became a good friend. And on the last night she told me that it meant a lot to her that I had kept my word because, other than her boyfriend, she’s never had someone who followed through on travel plans before.

And the thing is, before I was a Baha’i I might not have either, even though I love traveling, because of fear. Traveling to a foreign country, especially a ‘third world’ one where the travel is more adventurous due to different infrastructure, when one does not know the language, with someone you barely know is enough to scare most people off. But since becoming a Baha’i I’ve worked harder to keep my word and not to backbite as both are virtues highly valued in the faith. Also, since there are so few Baha’is, I hate making mistakes because it’s as if I am an ambassador of the faith and an example to people. I may be the only Baha’i people know so if I gossip, or lie, it makes the faith look bad. So the point I was trying to make was, that when I make a step in the right direction (i.e. trying to keep my word) I feel like the concourse on high supports that and helps bring the other pieces together, and that is a wonderful feeling.

And that gets me onto the topic of the spiritual journey. In college I looked all over to find my place. I took philosophy classes, eastern religion classes, went to church, and mass, and Hillel, joined a fratenity, and a psychology of spirituality class. And all of those were important. Heck, I met a good friend and roommate in the Eastern religion class. But when I finally accepted the Baha’i faith, I found my place. And the thing is, that was just the beginning. The faith was a path I stepped onto. And that path led me all over, and finally to Nicaragua where I felt at home in my friends’ house in San Ramon. It was the first time I lived in the house where the majority of people were Baha’i, which meant small things like respect for prayer. At home it’s almost like I have the pray in secret. I mean, prayer is a deeply personal act anyway, but at home I fear interuption. In Nica, it was understood. That, and the house was simple. Since my friends are only living there a year, they decided to be minimal so they wouldn’t have to transport crap all over. And that was refreshing since I don’t think I’ve ever lived in a place that wasn’t full of clutter. It’s like I attract it, am too attached to the material, and it was nice to be free from it.

And in Nica, I learned something else that was meaningful. I learned the true meaning of “The earth is but one country, and mankind is it’s citizens” ~Baha’u'llah. I was able to transcend the language barrier and make friends with Nicaraguans through butchered Spanglish, and lots of smiles and laughs. And it really inspired me to learn Spanish now that I am stateside again. I’ve never had a desire to until this year. I chose German in middle school because everyone said Spanish was easy and German was hard. But now I’m glad that I’ve been given another chance. And next year I would love to spend it in a Spanish speaking country, doing a year of service for the faith, helping to make the world a little bit better, being humbled, and learning Spanish. But more on that in another post.

And to end, I have a quote that I read today that I feel broaches many of the topics I talked about today, from seeking truth to the power of your word:

“He must never seek to exalt himself above any one, must wash away from the tablet of his heart every trace of pride and vain-glory, must cling unto patience and resignation, observe silence and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. Material fire consumeth the body, whereas the fire of the tongue devoureth both heart and soul. The force of the former lasteth but for a time, whilst the effects of the latter endureth a century.”

(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 264)