Dear Earth,

you have always moved in devout rotation around the Sun.

Yet, scientists once affirmed that this process was absolutely reversed.

Exceptional men delivered exceptional speeches

and well-informed dissertations

about how you

are the center of the universe,

the daily inspiration;

how the Sun moved enraptured by the vibrancy of your beauty,

and this It does.

For how can One not adore that which was created by the fire of Its love?

Dear Earth,

the Sun is shining brightly;

It will burn.

It will burn.

It will burn.

It will give light,

and warmth,

and light.

All that remains

is for you to take your turn.

At the Shrine of Baha’u’llah in Bajhi (Israel) 

Hosted my first Fireside on Joy and Pain. We talked and painted about the misconception that bad things shouldn’t happen to good people. Pain is vital for growth. “Something greater than forgiveness she had shown in meeting the cruelties and strictures in her own life. To be hurt and to forgive is saintly, but far beyond this is the power to comprehend and not be hurt.” Painting started as a seed and grew.  

(Source: bahaiquotes.blogspot.com)

performed @ Bosch Baha’i School. copyright Dec 2009

(Source: youtube.com)

Performed at the Portland Baha’i Center in honor of the Declaration of the Báb

The Gate- by andrea hope

We stand at His Gate and await passage to a Kingdom we’ve only dreamed of

to a Presence worthy of peasants

for we are all peasants

and peasants know that freedom is free from earthly chains

that spirit carries not the weight

and so we wait, at His Gate

with our fingers intertwined like our souls long to be

and we shall be set free by our Master’s Decree

for what is a Gate?

but a soft mercy to the fence pleading to let the neighbors come in

to let us live, and live abundantly

to let us shelter under the Bayan Tree

upon its roots and its branch

amidst its boughs and its leaves

and of its fruit, give us to eat

and of its scent, give us to breathe

and of its crystal-pure waters, give us to drink

Let us in to the garden

Let the rocks that have hardened find their place in the soil

Let us in to the garden

to find the Guiding Light that awaits

is shining right beyond the Gate. *

* There are several references to the writings of the Baha’i Faith in this poem, as follows; The Gate refers to The Báb, references to the Bayan Tree, its roots and branch, its boughs… are inspired by Selections from the Writings of the Bab, and the garden refers to the Garden of Ridván, where prophet Bahá’u’lláh made His declaration.

(Source: bahai.us)

So I came across this poem I wrote circa de 1999 (I would have been 11 or 12).

If your kids are into poetry, have them write in journals and keep their poems. I don’t have a great memory so it’s nice to capture moments of myself as a Baha’i child, and to see how much I’ve stayed the same in all my growth.

Blind Men by [young] Andrea Hope 

If the world were full of blind men,

what a beautiful sight it would be

Yes, if the world were full of blind men,

we’d be forced to feel not see. 

For there would be no color, no prejudice would remain

and the fewer prejudice, the lesser would be pain.

We’d have to look beyond sight and feel those around,

we’d treasure each and everything, from the sky to ground.

We could not judge for beauty, nor could we judge for race.

We could see each others souls and look beyond the face.

For having sight among us, there is so much we don’t see

If the world were full of blind men,

how happy I would be.

below- a [young] photo of my sister and I

(Source: bahai.us)

Poem I am working on for two artist friends who are getting married!

I think He pictured it.
A boy and girl in black and white whose lives were meant to collide with the deepest reds and blues and hues that only God could perfect
and He, I can only imagine that He posed them in Polaroids on grandparents’ laps of optical illusions that they’d soon overlap

when they understood the beauty that pictures could snap
that hearts could shutter
and lenses only shake with the anticipation of filling just one space in their memory books

and He pictured it
that they would turn glossy in His light, two depicted in pixels that enlarge like billboards to illumine the path of God
and lose no depth as prophetic postcards  
and they would also strive in dark rooms together
to leave those in awe who have forgotten just what a little dark room can develop

and I can only imagine that the angels sing a joyous song today
when the scraps that were sent to them
the pieces of picture puzzles meant for them

find frame
in the rapture of captured love
so we gaze these snapshots high above
a handmaiden and servant whose fingers leak with the pigments of heavenly signs

and we can only shutter
when we pause to picture the flash of mastepieces
that they have yet to design

© Andrea Hope. All Rights Reserved. January 2011

(Source: bahai.us)