Thoughts along the path . . .

For the Healing of Our Nation

This may sound odd, but I’m going to begin by asking some questions: When you learn about something that disturbs you, what do you do? What if it saddens you, angers you, outrages you? What if it puzzles you? What if it surprises you? These sorts of questions invite many possible answers, all of them deeply personal.

At this point, you might wonder what prompted these question since there is more than one event in the news that these kinds of questions could be about. Just to list a few, I might be referring to COVID or climate change or local zoning practices or watering bylaws or any of a long list of other situations to think and feel about.

As I write this, my own heart and mind are focused on the recent discovery of the burial of 215 Indigenous children at a residential school in Kamloops, BC. So sad, so tragic, and probably the entire story is unknown and might remain unknown.

One of my own reactions is to respond — to take some tangible action, however small, toward healing. Since the same reaction is shared by all of the local Baha’is, we have been coming together to pray for the healing of our nation. We are guided by quotations such as this one: “When such a crisis sweeps over the world no person should hope to remain intact. We belong to an organic unit and when one part of the organism suffers all the rest of the body will feel its consequence.”

We now want to invite you, the readers of the Ayr News, to join us Friday 18 June at 7:30pm for a Zoom-based gathering. The program will include prayers, inspirational thoughts, and music. That might not seem like enough to make a difference, but it is a start. Perhaps you also believe that the pain and suffering of one person is felt by all and that every individual can help to create an atmosphere of love and healing. The results will not be immediate, but people coming together to pray or meditate for the wellbeing of humanity, for the uplifting of our nation, can help to elevate the moral tone of our community, our region and province, our nation, and even the world.

I know this is short notice, but sometimes we have to move quickly, to respond to surprises, to express emotion, to do something about something. If you would like to join us, please request the Zoom link by email lsa.northdumfries@gmail.com . If you would like to contribute a prayer or inspirational quotation, please let us know that, too. If there is enough time we will be happy to include you in the program. In any case, we hope to see you on Friday evening.

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Submitted to Ayr News by Jaellayna Palmer, June 2021