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O ye sons and daughters
of the Kingdom! Thankful, the birds of the spirit seek only to fly in
the high heavens and to sing out their songs with wondrous art. But the
pitiable earthworms love only to tunnel into the ground, and what a mighty
struggle they make to get themselves down into its depths! Even so are
the sons of earth. Their highest aim is to augment their means of continuing
on, in this vanishing world, this death in life; and this despite the
fact that they are bound hand and foot by a thousand cares and sorrows,
and never safe from danger, not even for the twinkling of an eye; never
at any time secure, even from sudden death. Wherefore, after a brief span,
are they utterly effaced, and no sign remaineth to tell of them, and no
word of them is ever heard again.
A page of historical photographs in "The Bahá'í World 2003-2004."
Then let you engage
in the praise of Baháulláh, for it is through
His grace and succour that ye have become sons and daughters of the Kingdom;
it is thanks to Him that ye are now songsters in the meadows of truth,
and have soared upward to the heights of the glory that abideth forever.
Ye have found your place in the world that dieth not; the breaths of the
Holy Spirit have blown upon you; ye have taken on another life, ye have
gained access to the Threshold of God.
('Abdu'l-Bahá,
Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 175)
   
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ACRE, Israel — Followers of Bahá’u’lláh from more than 150 countries gathered yesterday at what for them is the holiest spot on earth – the tomb of Bahá’u’lláh – to celebrate Ridván, their most important festival.
This year’s celebration at Bahjí, outside Acre in northern Israel, was special because it came during the 10th International Bahá’í Convention, currently under way in nearby Haifa.
A thousand delegates from around the world – a true representation of the global community of five million Bahá’ís – joined with nearly a thousand other Bahá’ís for a program of prayers and readings and to circumambulate together the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.
With 2,000 people in attendance, the stream of Bahá’ís making their way through the beautiful gardens of Bahjí stretched more than half a kilometer as they walked together around the sacred tomb, where in 1892 the earthly remains of Bahá’u’lláh were laid to rest.
Read the entire story.
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