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Sunday, October 23, 2011

The Shepherd’s Voice – a poem by Shahnaz Waite

In Palestine the shepherds still
   Watch o’er their sheep as they of old,
Each has his call, and this is known
   Alone by sheep of his fold;
And though throughout the day they roam
When evening comes he calls them home.

Though many sheep of different folds
   May mingle on the hills as one,
Yet each will answer but one voice,
   His shepherd's voice when day is done;
And if a sheep lose the track
No hireling can call it back.

God's Shepherds come into this world,
   And give their Call –amidst earth’s din,
And only those who know His Call,
   Arise with joy and follow Him;
“My sheep shall know My Voice” Christ said,
"By it alone will they be led.”

Unless we know the Voice of Truth,
   It's tender tones we do not hear;
All unfamiliar, strange are they;
   E'en though the Shepherd doth appear
We know Him not, and onward roam,
When He has come to call us Home.

Open our ears we pray O God!
   That we may hear the Voice Divine,
And know the Shepherd when He calls,
   And follow – for His Voice is Truth;
Our souls shall then each day be fed
And into pastures green be led.
(Star of the West, vol. 17, no.5, August, 1926)

Friday, October 7, 2011

Orientation – a poem by May Maxwell

O thou divine Bird
From gardens of light!
Thy heart-piercing song
Hath shattered the night,
Dispelling the gloom
And flooding the air!
The world hath not seen
But felt thou wert there.

O thou divine Rose
From gardens of love!
Thy form of substance,
Thy breath from above,
Exhales to the world
A perfume so rare,
That tho' still unseen
We know thou art there.

O thou divine Star
From the realms on high!
Thy radiant beams
Fill earth, air, and sky!
Bereaved of the Sun
The world unaware
Now turns to Its Glory
And sees -- Thou art there!
(Star of the West, Vol. 15, No. 4, July, 1924)

Sunday, September 11, 2011

O Baha’u’llah

O Baha’u’llah (repeat 3 times)
Bring us together in unity (O ya!)
Bring us together as one family

We are all waves of one sea
We are all leaves of one tree
We are flowers of one garden

Chorus:
Bring us together in unity
Bring us together as one family
Singing:  O Baha’u’llah (repeat 3 times)
Bring us together in unity (O ya!)
Bring us together as one family

Darkness has fallen upon land
Evil tries to force our hand
United in God together we stand

Chorus:
Bring us together in unity
Bring us together as one family
Singing:  O Baha’u’llah (repeat 3 times)
Bring us together in unity (O ya!)
Bring us together as one family

We are angles of fire and snow
We see the light and way we go
Spreading the message to one and all

Chorus:
Bring us together in unity
Bring us together as one family
Singing:  O Baha’u’llah (repeat 3 times)
Bring us together in unity (O ya!)
Bring us together as one family

Chorus:
Bring us together in unity
Bring us together as one family
Singing:  O Baha’u’llah (repeat 3 times)
Bring us together in unity (O ya!)
Bring us together as one family

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Baha'u'llah -- a poem by Thornton Chase



I.
O Light Divine Invisible!
   Immeasurable Light!
Eternal as Divinity!
   lmpenetrably Bright!
The living universe bows down
   And veils its face before Thee.
All angels and archangels bend
   And happily adore Thee.

II.
O Shining Spirit! Light of Light!
   All-flooding, radiant beam,
Eternally proceeding
   Forth from Him, the Lord Supreme;
To all immensity of life,
   Himself Thou art revealing;
With Thine intensity of light,
   Himself Thou art concealing.

III.
He is the Essence, Thou the Power,
   The Glory, Majesty.
The Omnipresence. He, Unknown
   And Nameless, save for Thee!
Above all height and depth is He,
   In His own SELF abiding;
Through Thee all depth and height He fills.
   Through Thee Creation guiding.

IV.
As light from flame, Thou art from Him;
   As fragrance from the flower;
As colors from the prism'd light;
   As rainbow from the shower;
As thought from mind; or word from thought;
   As deed by vision guided.
So He and Thou art only ONE.
   Not dual, nor divided.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I Have Found Baha'u'llah

Words by Baha'is of Botswana
Arrangement by Conrad Lambert


I have found Baha’u’llah
In the early days of my life
I will keep Him in my heart
And stay with Him for ever

Re-monye Baha’u’llah
Mo molatsing a ho hola
Retla sala naye

Allah’u’Abha, Allah’u’Abha
Allah’u’Abha, Allah’u’Abha

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Recognition – a poem by George Townshend

Hail to Thee, Scion of Glory, Whose utterance
poureth abroad
The joy of the heavenly knowledge and the light
of the greatest of days!
Poet of mysteries chanting in rapture the beauty of
God,
   Unto Thee be thanksgiving and praise!

Child of the darkness that wandered in gloom but
dreamed of the light,
Lo! I have seen Thy splendour ablaze in the heavens
afar
Showering gladness and glory and shattering the
shadows of night,
   And see no other star.

Thy words are to me as fragrances borne from the
garden of heaven,
Beams of a lamp that is hid in the height of a holier
world,
Arrows of fire that pierce and destroy with the might
of the levin
   Into our darkness hurled.

Sword of the Father! none other can rend the dark
veil from my eyes,
None other can beat from my limbs with the shearing
blade of God's might
The sins I am fettered withal and give me the power
to rise
   And come forth to the fulness of light.

Lo! Thou hast breathed on my sorrow the sweetness
of faith and of hope,
Thou hast chanted high paeans of joy that my heart's
echoes ever repeat
And the path to the knowledge of God begins to
glimmer and ope
   Before my faltering feet.

Weak and unworthy my praise. Yet, as from its
throbbing throat
Some lone bird pours its song to the flaming infinite
sky,
So unto Thee in the zenith I lift from a depth remote
   This broken human cry.

(The Baha’i World, 1930-1932)

Sunday, February 27, 2011

World, World, World

English:

World, World, World, World,
Why do you reject your Lord?
When will you receive your Savior.
Baha’u’llah?

Peace, Peace, Peace, Peace,
This is what we're waiting for,
Love shall conquer all the hatred,
Baha’u’llah!

Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy,
Inside of every man
If he only would discover
Baha’u’llah!

Love, love, love, love
People please hear the call
Love your neighbor as yourself
For God loves us all.

Spanish:

Mundo, Mundo, Mundo, Mundo,
Porque rechaza a tu Senor?
Cuando recibira a tu salvador,
Baha’u’llah?

Paz, Paz, Paz, Paz,
Todos esperamos al la paz,
El amor conquista mejor,
Baha’u’llah!

Fe-li-ci-dad,
Dentro de cada quien,
Si solo descubriera,
Baha’u’llah!

Mundo, Mundo, Mundo, Mundo,
Todo ya se cumplio.
El Principe de Paz ya llego,
Baha’u’llah, Baha’u’llah.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Happy Ayyám-i-Há Album – side 2




Contains:
1. God Loves the Best of Us
2. Khanum
3. The Abha Kingdom
4. Oh ‘Abdu’l-Baha
5. Blesses is the Spot


God Loves the Best of Us
Music & Lyrics by Jody King
Performed by Joshua Seals

God loves the best of us
God loves the worst of us
God loves the rest of us
no matter who you are

Hello teacher, hello clerk
hello lawyer and soda jerk
hello teacher of
   nursery rhymes
we gotta get busy
   and serve mankind

God loves the best of us
God loves the worst of us
God loves the rest of us
no matter who you are

When we're loving,
   when we share
it makes us happy
   because we care
so spread God's Love
   and obey His will
we all have a cup to fill

God loves the best of us
God loves the worst of us
God loves the rest of us
no matter who you are

Hello England, hello Greece
hello America,
   we wish you peace
hello Guam and Mexico
we all have a long way to grow

God loves the best of us
God loves the worst of us
God loves the rest of us
no matter who you are
Yeah

Friday, February 18, 2011

Happy Ayyám-i-Há Album -- side 1



Contains:
1. O God! Educate These Children
2. The Ayyám-i-Há Song
3. Here Am I
4. The Báb

The Ayyám-i-Há Song
Music and Lyrics by Daniel Deardorff
Performed by Naimeh Heath & Daniel Deardorff

I will buy you a present,
you will bake me a pie
then we'll open the presents
and all get starry-eyed.
Then we’ll stand around the
ring all holding hands
for Ayyám-i-Há’s the gift
of God to man.

I will bake you some cookies,
you will paint them bright
to celebrate spring's coming,
to melt the snow and ice.
Then we'll stand around the
ring all holding hands
for Ayyám-i-Há’s the gift
of God to man.

A yyám-i-Há’s the gift
of God to man
and in the spirit of His giving
we try to understand
Ayyám-i-Há
the gift of God to man.

Then we'll stand around the
ring all holding hands
for Ayyám-i-Há’s the gift
of God to man.

Ayyám-i-Há’s the gift
of God to man
and in the spirit of His giving
we try to understand
Ayyám-i-Há
The gift of God to man.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Fort Tabarsí


Fort Tabarsí they rode, they rode
From Fort Tabarsí they rode

Chorus:
They raised the clarion-call
Yá Sá'hibuz-Zamán, Yá Sá'hibuz-Zamán!
For the glory of God, they raised the cry
Yá Alí'u'l-Alláh, Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá!

Zanján they rode, they rode, they rode
From Zanján they rode, they rode

Chorus:
They raised the clarion-call
Yá Sá'hibuz-Zamán, Yá Sá'hibuz-Zamán!
For the glory of God, they raised the cry
Yá Alí'u'l-Alláh, Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá!

Nayríz they rode, they rode, they rode
From Nayríz they rode, they rode

Chorus:
They raised the clarion-call
Yá Sá'hibuz-Zamán, Yá Sá'hibuz-Zamán!
For the glory of God, they raised the cry
Yá Alí'u'l-Alláh, Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá!

Mount your steeds, O heroes of God!
Mount your steeds, O men!
And raise the clarion-call
Yá Sá'hibuz-Zamán, Yá Sá'hibuz-Zamán!
For the glory of God, they raised the cry
Yá Alí'u'l-Alláh, Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá!
Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá, Yá Bahá'u'l-Abhá!