Reading the news these days can be very depressing.  It seems that every corner of the globe is being battered by economic problems, environmental problems, social problems…  And even all the experts and leaders, who used to talk with such conviction, all throw up their hands and say they don’t know what to do!  But as a Baha’i I believe this is part of the process of the birth of a new kind of world, one global in scope and fundamentally spiritual in nature.  These tests and this suffering is necessary so that we begin to think less about ourselves and more about others, and less about the material and more about the spiritual.  Baha’u'llah says that the “world is in travail”, but also tells us that out of the process a new world will be born.  The process won’t be easy, but I believe this is the time that we must begin to look at the world with new eyes, with the eyes of faith, and work for this goal.  It is also a time when we can look within ourselves to see how we can create positive change.  For my part I wanted to share a gift of a song, Should Prosperity Befall Thee, which seems particularly appropriate for this time (the guitar is performed by Jason Cohen and produced by Jarome Matthew).  The words come from the Hidden Words of Baha’u'llah and say “Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more.”

Click here for your free download.

Please feel free to share the link with your friends.  I hope you enjoy it.

One of my highlights last week was having Phil and Keith over to our home.  They are both such talented, sweet, charming and humble gentleman!  It is truly hard to find musicians of such caliber who remain down to earth, friendly and so open to working with other musicians.

Before they came over, Phil had encouraged me to find some jazz songs that I wanted to learn and sing so I started searching for my favorites to rehearse together.  When they arrived, we spent several hours singing, rehearsing and enjoying one another’s company.  Phil kindly wrote down the chords for the songs as Keith played them so fluidly on the piano.  They wanted to enable me to sing these songs wherever I have the opportunity in the future.  Such kindness and thoughtfulness!  I was amazed at how Keith so naturally transposed the keys to suit my vocal range.  We practised three of my favorite songs, I’ve never been in love before, Unforgettable and Autumn Leaves.  Phil and Keith also taught me one of Phil’s original songs called The Martyr’s Rose which is on their CD, China Skies.   It is such a beautiful song with a lovely melody and moving lyrics.

Phil gave me a treasured gift - a huge book of all the songs he has composed (some of Keith’s are in there too as well as a few other musicians).  I was amazed at how many songs are in there.  At the end of the book are some articles of Keith and Phil performing in different places around the world.  I was excited to learn that Phil and Keith had performed with Dizzy Gillespie in South Carolina in 1989 and Phil even composed a song about Dizzy called Remembering Dizzy.  I am very touched by their humility.  What is so unique about their music is that they take the sounds of a jazz combo and smooth vocals and blend it with traditional music instruments of China and Japan.  Truly inspiring and extremely creative!

Yesterday evening I had another treasured opportunity to watch Phil, Keith and Viva perform at the Hilton Hotel in Beijing.  I sang the three songs above that we had practised and it was such a joy to be accompanied by such accomplished and talented musicians.  Phil and Keith, we are honored that you are here in Beijing and look forward to many more opportunities to hear your wonderful music.  Thank you for sharing your talents with the world.  For more information about their beautiful music, please click here.

What a moving experience watching the Paralympics in the Birds Nest this morning! I wasn’t expecting to be so touched by the athletic games. We watched several events - the discuss throw, shot put, 200m mens and womens wheelchair tricycle races were among several of the events (by the way, China won all the races I just mentioned)! What brought me to tears was watching the men’s 400m running race. All the competitors had to run with guides by their sides as they were all blind. Being a witness to how far they have come and what they were achieving was so inspiring.

We arrived at the Bird’s Nest at 9am this morning. What a stunning site seeing it in person and up close. By the time we got through the security lines and up to our seats, it was about 9:30am. The stadium was half empty but by 11am, most of the 160,000 seats were occupied. Hearing the whole crowd cheering was so energizing and amazing!

We watched several of the medal award ceremonies but the most moving of all was observing the 100m men gold finalist from Canada. The men all ran with one prosthetic leg in that particular race. As the National Anthem was played and the flag raised, the Canadian athlete was sobbing and covering his face and many in the crowd wept with him. In that moment I realized that receiving a gold medal in the Paralympics meant even more than any other medal because of all the loss, struggle and hardship they have had to endure. It was a joy to witness the triumph of the human spirit.

Thought of the Day: “In all things God loveth the highest excellence.” - Baha’u'llah

“Good luck Beijing!” is the title of one of the 30 songs chosen for the Beijing Olympics. It is a song written by two talented and professional musicians from Georgia, USA - Phil Morrison and Keith Williams. They are now performing almost nightly at the Hilton Hotel Wangfujing in Beijing and are a definite must-see! Phil and Keith were inverviewed by a news agency about their song for the Olympics. You can view the video below.

I had been in touch with Phil before he came to Beijing and was so looking forward to meeting the gifted duo. So a few nights ago I invited some friends to watch them perform and what a delightful evening it was! From the moment we met, there was such a warm connection! Phil was playing bass and Keith played a beautiful grand piano. They make such a wonderful combination. Viva, their vocalist, also a very talented musician, charmed us with her voice. Before the start of the performance, Keith and Phil had encouraged me to sing a song with them but I felt completely unprepared as we hadn’t rehearsed anything together. But after listening to Viva sing and watching them perform in such unison and spirit, I couldn’t help but acquiesce when Viva requested that I sing! I’m so glad that I did because it was one of the highlights of my evening. Performing with such talent is not a common occurrence in my life so I’m thrilled that I seized that opportunity.

At the end of the evening, the three of us agreed that we should definitely get together and perform again. I look forward to learning some new songs and exploring this new side of music that I haven’t experienced too much of before. I know I will love it!

What an exhilerating experience watching the Olympic hockey game a few days ago!! The first game was China vs South Africa. The energy among the crowd was contagious! Within the first 5-10 minutes, South Africa scored a goal, but the Chinese team soon caught up. The game was absolutely riveting! China was ahead 3-1 but in the last 10 minutes, South Africa scored 2 goals to equalize! Just in the last 30 seconds of overtime, China scored in a penalty corner to win. The crowd erupted! It truly was an unforgettable moment being a witness to the pride and extreme joy of everyone in the stadium! (I don’t usually use so many exclamation points - but a blog of this nature necessitates them)!

During the game, there was lots of sporadic cheering. One of the volunteers among the spectators would lead the crowd shouting “ZHONG GUO DUI!!” (Team China!!) and the crowd would all yell “JIA YOU!!” (Go for it)!! In my enthusiasm, at one point I also mustered some courage and tried to rally the group to cheer and shouted, “Zhong guo dui!!” but those around me were more amused that a foreigner was cheering for China and in Chinese! I got a few smiles and chuckles instead!

The field hockey match brought many wonderful memories of my time playing field hockey in elementary and high school in Kenya. It made me feel very nostalgic for it as it was one of the highlights of growing up there. It brought memories of all the competative games we played and of my hockey coach who was on the Kenyan Olympic team at that time! If I had had the chance I would have jumped straight onto the Olympic field, grabbed a hockey stick and started to play!

For all you hockey lovers out there, here are some photos of the game (with my new camera) and some of the spectators (I especially love the photo of the gentleman in front of us who so creatively used a paperbag as a hat)!

Yesterday I had a conversation with a dear friend of mine who shared her experiences of meeting one of her relatives who had come from Iran for a reunion with their family. Her relative had recounted some of the stories of hardship, suffering and persecution that the Baha’is had endured in prison. I came away feeling deeply moved by the strength, courage and attitude through all they have endured. Their steadfastness in their beliefs and their faith are such wonderful examples of courage and sacrifice.

So last night I felt very inspired to write a song about the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran. Writing lyrics doesn’t come easily to me, but for some reason, the words flowed quickly and some of them were truly inspired! When it came to singing the vocals for the demo, I was overcome with emotion halfway through the song as it was a reminder of the suffering my own family has endured in Iran. My grandparents were also imprisoned for being Baha’is and on many occasions were pressured to recant their faith. They were steadfast and were fortunate that they were finally released after several years in prison. My great uncle suffered a different fate - he was tortured, blinded in one eye, beaten and finally martyred for his beliefs.

Sadly, this pattern of persecution still continues. Just a few months ago 7 Baha’i leaders were suddenly taken captive and imprisoned in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, yet another part of the on-going campaign to attempt to eliminate the Baha’i community. Their current condition is unknown.

I plan to dedicate this new song to all those in Iran who have suffered and are suffering as a result of such persecution. The current draft of the chorus goes:

“Why do you think you can stop the world from knowing, prevent the truth from showing? You can’t block the sun from shining.” I’m very excited about how the song is developing.

I am attaching a moving video that was made by The Muslim Network for Baha’i Rights regarding the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran.

I came across this video that has an important message of peace. It is from the website Voices for Peace. Enjoy!

Our world has been violently shaken in the last couple of weeks.  Thousands have suffered and countless lives have been lost in China and in Myanmar.  So many are suffering and many others are looking for explanations and trying to make sense of these catastrophes.

From the wise counsels of Abdu’l-Baha I have gleaned the following: 

In times of tragedy we are reminded that we are one human family, all with the same needs and all suffering from the same pain.  We also see how tragedy brings out the most noble side of humanity: strangers and friends alike arise to offer help, to contribute money and material goods, and to pray for their fellow human beings who are grieving and who are suffering. 

While we try to do our best to assist in whatever ways we can, ‘Abdu’l-Baha also reminds that we must remember that this physical existence is just the beginning of our eternal journey towards God.  Those who have died are not gone, they have simply gone on ahead of us to the spiritual realms.  It is as if God has taken a potted plant out of its small pot and replanted it in a vast garden where it can grow much better.  Physical death is not the end but it’s the beginning of their growth in the spiritual life, as our souls are immortal.

Physical disasters also remind us that this mortal life is inherently unstable and unpredictable.  It reminds us that what is important is the development of our souls because that’s what is everlasting.  Everything else is temporary.  We realize that we must seize every opportunity to show love, to be of service, and to help others.  If we do this, then every moment we’re alive has true meaning. When we leave this world, all that we take with us are what we have made of our souls and our good deeds.  And as a society, if we don’t learn from these disasters and make safety more important than profit, then that in itself is a second tragedy. 

As an offering, in memory of all those who have lost their lives in the recent natural disasters, I would like to share the ‘Prayer for the departed’ from my recent CD, ‘Fire and Gold’.  I hope you will use it in meetings and memorial gatherings that you have to remember all those who are suffering around the world.  

 Click here to download ‘The Prayer for the Departed’.