"Arise ye, under all conditions, to render service to the Cause, for God will assuredly assist you through the power of His sovereignty which overshadoweth the worlds."
~Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, 74
I was speaking with my mother yesterday, about how I need to be more bold in the ways that I extend love, without restriction to every human being. It is limiting when I put my own restrictions on who may be deserving of such attention and affection. I believe that in the pursuit of justice for our families, neighbourhood, communities and nations that we need to do so through the powerful force of love. We have to truly tap into its transformative potency. To do so requires that in my interactions with my family, neighbours, colleagues and friends - both those whom I have had the pleasure to meet and those I have yet to meet, need to be characterised with a sense of originality and creativity. We are in the process of building structures in our world that we want to be accepting of all of mankind. In order to bring this newness and change requires of me to behave in a manner that does not include the elements of colonialism that served only to divide and separate us, ensuring that we remain in competition with one another not taking the time to appreciate the valuable and diverse gifts we all possess. We rush into situations believing that we are minded to provide a solution but we are not cognizant of the nuanced feelings of those we wish to help. Our ideas are implanted on others from the standpoint of our own experiences that we are not really understanding the problem that we are tackling. I have felt this keenly recently as I learn more about the aboriginal community in Canada. I belong to a group that is anxious to do something to make things right. They charge in with their colonial views and values to assuage the suffering of others. The result is actually fueling the fire. Initiative requires me to find my voice, despite the fact that it may not even be heard, to share this view with my group and offer them another way to view the problem and perhaps temper our anxiousness to act with how it may be that learning about the problem may be a more appropriate step. I have shared with them a recording that caused me to be more thoughtful about potential action. As a result of viewing it, I learned important facts I was unaware of, and heard views that made me realise that mass activism is not what is required. I believe that with a sincere heart and conscious effort to make friends with this community is what is required. Again this is simply one view and I may be completely wrong but I am following a strong sense of intuition and am sharing an idea. Drawing the initiative prompted me to share this recording. I have jumped and who knows where initiative will have me land!