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Jailed Bahá’í leaders set to stand trial in Iran on July 11

01:02 pm on Jun 24th 2009 OEA

The trial of seven Iranian Bahá’í leaders, arrested in the spring of 2008, is scheduled to be held at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court on July 11, 2009. American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi was recently convicted of espionage in Branch 28 of this Court and sentenced to eight years imprisonment. She was eventually released, but only after an international outcry at the clear politicization of the case and manifestly unjust legal procedures.

News of the July 11 trial date was conveyed only orally to the family members by authorities at Evin prison, where the seven Bahá’í leaders are being held. As information conveyed by officials concerning the judicial process has often proved unreliable, it is possible that the Iranian authorities may find some reason to change the trial date.

The seven Bahá’í leaders have been held for over a year without formal charges or access to their attorneys. Official Iranian news reports have said the Bahá’ís will be accused of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” The charge of “espionage for Israel” is punishable by death.

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I Love Yous Are For White People, Lac Su, published 2009 Harper Perennial (www.harperperennial.com) Incredible new memoir about man who as a young child made a harrowing escape from Communists in Vietnam. Came to West Los angeles, not the West Los Angeles of falafel shops; glitzy films, UCLA students galore, writing groups on every corner, but one where living conditions so horrific, and the every day street world eclipsed the soul. Lac Su was poor; his father abusive; he experienced gangs, and yet he made it through with a tremendous awareness of all the light and dark forces surrounding him. He received a master's degree and Ph.D.,A.B.D., in industrial organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology (good school). He's working on another book.

I found I Love Yous Are For White People over the weekend, well Friday, checked it out of library and couldn't put it down, profound, insightful, authentic, good writing, wonderful; hard to say wonderful to hardships, but if it produces a book like this, it's all grist for the mill.

HOUSE WAS TENTED; JUST our pool house not big one. Bill and I have been really tired from settling a friend's estate, and we took a two day respite at a local motel, shades of the 30s; rested, read; ate healthy; walked a little; i swam in the pool; and I discovered some new books.

I LOVE YOUS ARE FOR WHITE PEOPLE, a Memoir by Lac Su a must; THE PLAN (big Ideas for Change in America) Rahm Emanual and Bruce Reed, looks well written, easily digestible and informative. Read first few pages; Bill interested too. Two more memoirs beckoned Oliver Poole's Red Zone, Five Bloody Years in Baghdad, and A Comrade Lost and Found (A Beijing Story) by Jan Wong

House moved back into; pipe broken, exterminator people sent their own plumber; nice guy starting his own business; hope it goes well; gas people cam by; nice to have services; i remember in Ukraine if something went wrong, you had to just wait until Monday for someone to fix, like the plumbing went out because the workers were drunk; oh my; a friend sent his poetry; it's astounding; has a book; lovely; am going to have a cup of decaf, crash, hopefully walk later. Good to be home!

SCAM ALERT, SCAM ALERT

A friend put this more succinctly than I could-i am busy right now telling 900 people on my lists about this horrible Tagged email that whipped through Pasadena and the like. Ugh to Tagged, and Kudos to friends trying to fix it. IT IS NOT A VIRUS, but it's a violation!

I thought you might like to know that I received the following invitation, apparently from you, but sent through www.taggedmail.com. Since I've been receiving the same message from other Baha'i friends, I suspect that this is one of the practices of www.tagged.com, a social networking site that Snopes.com states:

"[Tagged.com's] current registration process asks applicants to supply an e-mail address and a password for accessing the corresponding e-mail account so Tagged can 'match you up with your friends,' information which the company apparently uses to traverse address books (or other e-mail contacts) and send e-mailed invitations to the addresses found there — invitations like the ones noted above, which deceptively appear to have been sent by the Tagged members themselves and claim that the recipients have been 'added as a friend,' 'sent photos' or 'sent a private message' on Tagged (even though no deliberate 'adding' has taken place, nor have any photos or private messages for the recipients been posted for viewing)."

You can read more about this deceptive practice at: http://www.snopes.com/computer/internet/tagged.asp

Recommending some books:

Drawn to the Rhythm, Sara Hall, a gripping, and exceedingly well-written memoir of a woman at 40 or so married, affluent, with children and a verbally abusive husband, who discovers sculling (single kayak type of boat); i am not skilled in naming appropriately some sports stuff; but this was a fabulous book which I found in my favorite used book store in Chico, California. Chico is about 2 hours beyond Sacramento. Also I read Life's That Way, by Jim Beaver, of his marriage to Cecily Adams (daughter of Don Adams-Get Smart fame) and her incurring lung cancer; about their daughter Maddie, and also well written, insightful and just reflective of so many of the anonymous amongst us facing their Herculean tasks and soldiering on. One more; was another woman and boating; this was A Pearl in the Storm, Tori Murden McClure; rowing across the Atlantic. Yes, you heard that correctly. rowing across the Atlantic, and incredible gripper; what a fierce and wonderful soul.

We are back in Pasadena; think house in Chico selling-it belongs to Ralph who passed, the Ralph of "I'm dying as fast as I can," at 91 fame; and we are settling his stuff as all kids pitch in and are gigantic help; it's wonderful to see the Baha'i community, and for me, I am having a lot of healing work done. One is NAET which deals with allergies, and is terrific, my friend Vicki is a Practitioner.

I feel on a newly waxed bathroom floor a week or so ago, and now back in Pasadena, I go to the Altadena Healing Arts center-see Marilyn -last name escapes me at moment, and she is incredible, incredible. She does DNFT - nonforce. com stuff; and more than that. The Altadena Center - healing center is not new in my mind. Friends have raved about it for years.

When you first go in, the flowers in their small garden, seem to burst towards you in profusion of color, health and the whole place has an incredible sense of quiet beauty, knowledge, love, amazing.

So we will probably drive up to Chico Sunday; bill hurt his hand, and we were in emergency care Sunday at Kaiser-great people; we think while cleaning out our garage, dust from 1945 fell on an open cut on his hand; and he has had an extremely painful skin infection. I Googled it, and came up with the symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis, but his hands were not twisted, and his other hand wasn't injured; so in my brilliant medical diagnosis by Google, I missed the mark. I've done this twice with my own stuff and half to laugh at myself.

He's getting better; taking a nap; and that's the story morning glories!

from John Kavelin's blog on health - his health-good news

John and I want to share with you a truly amazing new development, due in no small part to the prayers and positive thoughts you continue to send. Please don't stop!

John says: I have been wrestling for some time with this feeling of being between two worlds. The medical prognosis seems to have been incorrect. We have been told since the beginning that I just don't have a lot of time left. So, I told Linda that treading water and holding my breath is exhausting. She asked me "What do you need?" I said "To move forward." When we explored what that meant, it was to finish the design for a new Virtues Project website that began before my diagnosis. So, we went back to work!!!! We have been consulting with the web designer to finalize my part of the project, which is the design template. Then of course it will take Linda and Dan some time to complete the content.

My sight is better. My energy is more consistent. Linda says I'm sharper than ever in discerning the decisions being made now.
Brother Tommy and his wife Farahnaz are coming tomorrow and we look forward to fully enjoying their visit and doing lots of walking.

I have a keen awareness that healing takes many forms. At this point my physical and mental condition is surprising all of us, and especially the palliative care medical team!

It is wonderful hearing from all of you! It's regrettable that I simply don't have the capacity to write to each of you what my heart is feeling when I read your loving messages.

If I could define the three virtues most prominent in my life right now, they are Joy, Awe and Wonder.
Much love to you all from John, Dan and Linda

From The Seven Mysteries of Life, chapter, "The Ultimate Mystery: Divinity, pp. 624-625, Author Guy Murchie. This is a book I've had for 30 years, and I dip into it. It is out of print, but I believe, and have run into many a biologist or scientist, that it is an exceedingly valuable book. Bill and I are settling someones house in Chico; he passed on, and I was given another copy. I gave it to my son, Nicholas, for his 40th. We had a great combo of his birthday, mother's day, and seeing Jessica, his daughter, our grandchild and Nick and Laura, O frabjous Day! contents include The Body, the Animal Kingdom, Realm of the Vegetable, World of Little, the Body, The complement called Sex, Secret Language of the Gene, the Mind, eleven senses of radiation and feeling, twenty-one senses of chemistry, mind and spirit, Emergence of Mind, the Body-Mind Relation, Memory, Intelligence and States of Mind, then Part Three-The Seven Mysteries of Life: First Mystery-The abstract Nature of the Universe; Second Mystery, The Interrelatedness of All Creatures, Third Mystery: The omnipresence of Life, Life's Analogies on Land, Sea and Sky, Doornail and Crystal Essence, Living Geometry and Order; Fourth Mystery: the Polarity Principle, Fifth Mystery: Transcendence; The change Named Death, Evolution of Earth, Sixth Mystery: the Germination of Worlds, and the Seventh and Ultimate Mystery: Divinity,

Postlude the Meaning and the Melody

Summary-the Seven Mysteries of life.

It's about a 700 page book including index, and I think is in softback too; try Amazon or Alibris if interested or Google title or author's name. Forgive typing, not properly punctuated, etc., in haste, Esther

"There are many people on Earth still of a mind to follow blindly the ancient superstition that all misfortune in life is meted out by God in His anger over the sins of man. But that is an error, says Baha'u'llah, for 'tests in life are not punishment but rather serve to reveal the soul to itself. . .Neither need we dread the disasters that come to each individual life . . . according to station. For the earth in essence is a workshop, a crucible for the molding and refining of character." It is definitely not a global art gallery, nor a playground nor a torture chamber, though it may show temporary elements of all of these. Instead it is a Soul School, the perfection of which paradoxically is hidden within its imperfection."

"I've heard it said that man's body needs the pig, as does his soul the eagle. If so, the Soul School is where he will find out how to reconcile the two. for this is a serious establishment in a venerable cosmos where we learn by trying and doing. Despite local appearances, ours i not a world composed entirely of neat three-acre lots, each sheltering a contented, well-fed, well-adjusted family that has never experienced mud, cancer, bugs, accidents, poverty, wars or rumors of wars. No, this is the place where a step is taken every day from thinking, "Someone ought to do it but why should I?" to "Someone ought to do it so why not I?" This is the planet where the bowel that issues entropy shares blood and nourishment with its neighbor, the womb, that issues negentropy. It is Saint Augustine's epic meeting ground between 'Brother ass, the body, and his rider, the soul.' It is where many a good man persists in denying his soul by telling himself it would be inhuman to deny his body -- all because he has not yet discovered it is actually only his outdated animal body that is holding back the vast potential of his evolving human soul."

"As spirit thus distributes itself through the world, obviously it will not treat all souls alike. For, in the service of justice, the Soul School must deal with us as individuals, making full allowance for the fact that the trials and lessons of one soul are rarely exactly appropriate for another. Thus arises the familiar and often puzzling disparities in life's fortunes, like the exploding bombshell in a battlefield that inflicts cruel suffering upon one soldier, bestows heavenly relief in a hospital on another and grants a third his mystic release from life altogether. In a similar way Earth's approaching catastrophe of adjustment to germination may, for some souls, turn out instead to be a metastrophe of hope, a sort of musical beyond-beat or spiritual purge that will clear the way for general and joyous recognition of spiritual values, an aspect of the Soul School that I cannot hope to explain in any reasonable way because, quite simply, it is a matter of faith.

Faith of course is mystical and often a key in the struggles of mind and spirit--as when Jesus said to the father of the epileptic, "If thou canst beli8eve: all things are possible to him that believeth." To which, paradoxically, the tearful man replied, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9: 23-24)

For faith means more than holding something to be true. It requires action. It says: "I decide to do it. I stake my existence on it." Columbus did not just think he was right. He laid his life on the line. So did Lindbergh and Neil Armstrong.

Faith is likewise a spiritual form of vision. The Arabs said as much in their ancient proverb: "the eye is blind to what the mind does not see." Which really means: "Believing is seeing."