"The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female." #bahai (painting by @jmart1844)

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How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization

How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I'm a little bit disappointed after reading this book. While there are good connections between football (yes, I choose to call it that) and events in societies and countries around the world, there doesn't seem to be much of an explanation but rather correlation or at best causation. The style of writing is good and capturing, but each section and chapter just left me waiting for the real punchline or some sort of pointer on how/where things were going, but there were no predictions or anything there. Good read, but still slightly disappointing.



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I love my view at breakfast

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Ruhi Book 8, Unit 1, Section 26, memorization exercise

Another exercise to help memorize/recall the following quote:

O my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the Aghsán (Branches), the Afnán (Twigs) of the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the Abhá Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi—the youthful branch branched from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from the union of the two offshoots of the Tree of Holiness,—as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the Aghsán, the Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn. He is the expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.

The following PDF file contains a page with two copies of the quote. I cut the quote up into small pieces, split the participants in small groups, and had them try to reorder it again. It took some 10-15 minutes, and was a fun exercise. Great success!

yupps, fall is here!

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Ruhi Book 8, Unit 1, Section 14 memorization help

Here is a simple memorization aid tool for section 14 of Book 8, Unit 1. It has the following quotations which we are encouraged to memorize:

Verily I say unto thee the truth, that I am with you in spirit and in heart, that I rejoice by your joy and am happy by your happiness; and hear with the ear of spirit your calling and scent with the spiritual nostrils the fragrances of your garden.


Verily, I implore God to gaze upon you with the eye of His mercy, to raise you through a godlike power, to move you by the breezes of His glory, to make you fluent in irrefutable and divine proofs and arguments, to sever you from the world and all therein, to purify and sanctify you from every material grade, and enable you to diffuse the bounties of the Divine Worlds.


At all times do I speak of you and call you to mind. I pray unto the Lord, and with tears I implore Him to rain down all these blessings upon you, and gladden your hearts, and make blissful your souls, and grant you exceeding joy and heavenly delights.


Ye live, all of you, within the heart of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and with every breath do I turn my face toward the Threshold of Oneness and call down blessings upon you, each and all.


O ye who have turned your faces toward the Exalted Beauty! By night, by day, at morningtide and sunset, when darkness draweth on, and at early light I remember, and ever have remembered, in the realms of my mind and heart, the loved ones of the Lord.

The simple Powerpoint contains each quotation in a series of four slides, where a couple of words get removed each time. Going forward then comes progressively more difficult, and aids in memorization of the quote. Enjoy!

Fast Food Nation

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Spoiler alert: reading this book will make you want to avoid fast food and some other types of food for quite some time, potentially forever. Eric Schlosser's book is seemingly well researched, and explains things very well in stories that are both capturing and engaging. The story unfolds together with the growth of the fast food industry, and the practices that follow with it. Unfortunately there is a lot that is being done purely for profit, without much regard for the needs of the human beings who are actually meant to eat the food.
What I particularly enjoyed was the epilogue, where Schlosser not only points out what needs to be done, but also by whom. This is not simply a critique of practices and processes in the industry, but concrete suggestions for steps that can be taken to improve the current situations. Well worth the read, even though you might want to shy away from some type of food for some time!



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Bahá'í Prayers on your Windows 8 laptop/tablet

After working on this project for more than two years, I have finally been able to release a Bahá'í Prayer book app for Windows 8. This app contains all the prayers in the prayer book, with pictures from the Holy Places in Israel and elsewhere chosen specifically for each category. A screenshot of the start page:

In addition there is a search functionality which makes it easier to find the prayer you are looking for. It is sufficient to remember a word from it and you can find it. You can download the app here!

Ruhi Book 8, Unit 1, crossword sections 1-7

I recently started tutoring Ruhi book 8, Unit 1, on the The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh. To aid our understanding and recollection, I created a crossword puzzle that summarized sections 1-7. It worked pretty well, and our participants enjoyed trying to solve it on their own before we did it in the group together. I figured I should make it available to anyone else that wants to use it, so go ahead and download the crossword here!

#breakfast #crepes with strawberries 🍓, #chocolate 🍫 and exquisite #british #cream

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