Members of National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world have elected nine members to the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith, at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa.

Lisa Blecker’s Blessed Is the Spot: A First Prayer Book with animated DVD transforms a much-loved prayer by Baha’u’llah into a multimedia experience that sends souls and hearts soaring no matter what your beliefs.

On April 29, approximately 1,200 delegates from 170 nations will elect individuals to the nine-member Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith. The election is held every five years at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel.

Try to imagine, if you can in this age of contention, a style of group decision-making in which participants arrive at a decision that everyone accepts with grace. No “owning” your ideas. No hurt feelings. No battling, blame or sour grapes.

Ten years ago, Michael O’Neal started a program to help dispel racial tension in the Savannah public schools. Called Parent University, the Baha'i-inspired program has attracted more than 4,000 participants and earned numerous awards. Recently the city of Savannah hired Mr. O’Neal and his staff to help 100 at-risk families.

What makes the Festival of Ridvan, celebrated April 21 to May 2, the holiest of days for Baha'is? It commemorates the anniversary of Baha’u’llah’s declaration in 1863 that He was the Promised One of all earlier religions.

Ed LaBonte
Athol, Massachusetts
Baha'i since November 2007

After being an atheist my whole life, I decided, as part of a midlife crisis, that there had to be something out there that was better than nothing. Secular humanists say you have to make your own meaning, but when you’re faced with a gigantic universe that doesn’t care about you, it’s hard to do.

Mr. Kenneth E. Bowers, Secretary General of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, was among a small group of selected religious leaders invited to serve as ecumenical representatives at the arrival ceremony honoring His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at the White House on April 16, 2008.

For Baha’is, the New Year comes at a perfect time – March 21 --the vernal equinox, which marks the first day of spring and the end of the Baha'i Faith’s annual Nineteen Day Fast.

Marta Gomez, a Baha'i in Irmo, S.C., started out making a simple calendar to put on the refrigerator so her daughters, Alma, 9, and Maya, 5, could keep track of days in Baha'i and Gregorian time. But the project grew in scope and intricacy, and by the time she was done, Ms. Gomez had created an elaborate 30-inch-by-30-inch work of art in watercolor and ink.

Celia Taghdiri says she’s been fascinated by Tahirih since childhood.

Throughout the United States Baha’is are inviting spiritual seekers to enrich their spiritual and community life through such activities as prayer gatherings, weekly study of the Baha'i scriptures and classes for the spiritual education and training of children.