Bicentenary Celebrations

A couple of weeks ago Baha'is around the world celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah. The way this Holy Day was celebrated looked different in each community. Where we live there are two cities right beside each other, as well as several smaller surrounding communities, so a taskforce was set up to plan a big celebration bringing everyone together.

In the weeks leading up to the celebration I had the chance to talk to a couple of the members of the taskforce. One in particular was also responsible for our community's Birth of the Bab celebration being held the same weekend. I was helping with that event so I was able to hear a bit more about the planning process. I must say, the responsibility they had was huge. When I start to think about how many of these events were taking place around the world, and what efforts people were putting in behind the scenes to make it all happen, my head starts to spin. Hats off to all the organizers out there.

When my husband and I walked into the celebration we were blown away by the sheer number of people in attendance. There were clearly far, far more people there than actually belonged to the Baha'i communities themselves. Of course we knew in advance that there would be, since we'd been encouraged for many months at feast to invite friends and neighbors, but our minds hadn't really wrapped around the magnitude of what that would look like. It turned out to be so big that we couldn't even find other family members who had come in a separate car.

The program itself was thoughtfully planned, joyfully presented and full of delight. It included music from both an adult and a children's choir, devotions, junior youth presentations, stories from the life of Baha'u'llah, and a variety of dancers from different cultures. It was followed by refreshments and socializing though, as I mentioned, the numbers made it challenging if you wanted to say hello to specific people.

In two years it will be time to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the Bab. This is quite an exciting time to be a Baha'i. It will be interesting to see what takes place in those two years.

The adult choir performing at the bicentenary celebration.

Not Celebrating Naw Ruz

We celebrated Naw Ruz a little over a week ago. Or, rather, we didn't celebrate. It is normally one of the few days per year when we close our business but this year there was a change that prevented that. We sell games and some of the publishers require tournaments to be run on specific dates when new products come out. Normally it doesn't conflict with Naw Ruz but this year it did. Closing would have been not only bad for business but also extremely disappointing to a couple of hundred gamers who had looked forward to this for months.

When we first realized we would have to stay open I was pretty upset. My involvement with Baha'i community activities has been going down hill for a while and I didn't want to skip another Holy Day. When the actually day rolled around I realized I felt a bit different though. Other people were benefiting from us sacrificing a day off and making other people's lives happier is a big part of what being a Baha'i is about. I decided I was okay with that.

I kept mulling it over though. When I thought about it, I realized that over the past year I've come to enjoy going to work more and more. I've also become worse and worse at doing Baha'i things. I wasn't sure I should be as okay as I was about not observing Naw Ruz given how much we're slacking the rest of the time.

Then last night one of our regulars stopped in to make a last minute purchase before closing time. I was working alone and had had a long, difficult day. He got what he needed then chatted with me a bit, mentioning that he might be moving away in a few months and that he was really going to miss us. Then he went on to say how amazed he was that we spent so much time talking to our customers, even the ones who were really annoying. He said it made everyone feel very at home and included and that he'd come to be able to talk to us about a lot more than just our business. As he talked he became very emotional.

We've always tried to build a sense of community with our customers, and as Baha'is striving to be inclusive and welcoming is something we consider mandatory, but we don't always know if anyone is noticing. (But of course we try anyway.) After seeing how much this meant to this one fellow I've decided not to worry anymore. Apparently giving people a little extra of our time pays off more than we know.

Closing for Holy Days

We've just finished Easter weekend but of course in our house it was business as usual. Being Baha'i we don't celebrate and keep our business open on Christian holidays. Our customers love that we do this as they usually have time off to go shopping those days but I don't feel like I've gotten good at explaining the reason we do it or the flip-side of us closing for Naw Ruz. I think most people figure we are just die hard capitalists.

This year closing for Naw Ruz drew more attention than last year. The timing probably has something to do with it - March 21st fell on a quieter day last year - but we've also become more established and have a larger customer base. The majority of people responded with a friendly "happy new year" afterwards but one person gave me a hard time. He suggested that we hire "heathens" to keep things running while we took the day off and made sure to send the message that this a big inconvenience.

For the record, I know what business he had with us and it was not urgent.

I explained that it was not a matter of us taking a day off but that we are actually supposed to close for the day. I don't think this sunk in. I also explained that there are other holidays we are supposed to close for too.  

This is sadly an example of both why we aren't closing for all the Holy Days that we should and why we really should be. When we started our business we were scared that if we closed at all we would ruin our relationship with the public and drive away business. Closing for one Holy Day was an act of bravery for us but we did it out of dedication to the Faith. It has worked out for the one day a year that we do it. We tell our customers why we are closing well in advance and the results are often wonderful opportunities for discussion. But I don't know how many Baha'i business owners make efforts to obey this law and I wonder if not doing so diminishes the impact we can have on society. We, as a community, have been given the task of distinguishing ourselves from the social decay around us through our words and actions. We also hope to elevate and deepen the lives of those around us to be more meaningful regardless of their beliefs. While working hard is by no means the most harmful offence (we in fact view work as equal to worship) how are we supposed to distinguish ourselves when we do exactly what everyone else is doing?

I felt rattled after that encounter. It threw me back to the awkward feeling from childhood of being something other people don't understand. I try to remind myself that others experience far worse but I feel disappointed  that I'm not better at articulating what I am. In spite of the Faith being woven so deeply into my identity I am so often at a loss for words when explaining these things.