Planet Bahá'í

The second Glad-Tidings It is permitted that the peoples and kindreds of the world associate with one another with joy and radiance. O people! Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. Thus hath the day-star of His sanction and authority shone forth above the horizon of the decree of God, the Lord of the worlds.

(Bahá'u'lláh, "Bishárát", ["Glad-Tidings"], Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 21)

Simply having a wonderful Christmastime.

(Paul McCartney, "Wonderful Christmastime", released as a single in 1979 by Parlophone/EMI)

Anyone else find themselves in this quandary this time of year?  I like to send holiday cards.  I've sent them every year of our married life.  One year I mailed them on St. Stephen's Day (December 26), but sent they were!  Every year I go to the card store and search through the boxed Christmas cards for the perfect card.  Then I go to the next card store and repeat the process.  Then I go to the next card store. . . .

I've bought cards in the oddest places.  For a few years I chose them from the  Unicef catalog.  Ditto for the National Wildlife Federation.  I picked them up at Barnes & Noble a couple of years.  Twice, in desperation, I bought blank cards and hand-lettered them.  Once I got them at the grocery store!  Rarely do I patronize the same establishment two years running.

Why?

Well, when you're Bahá'í, you're in an unusual situation.  You have your own gift-giving and partying holiday, but it's in February, two months out of step from most other folks here in the West.  On the other hand, you're likely to have friends and family who are celebrating in December.  What to do?

Well, following the spirit of consorting with the followers of all religions etc., I do try to greet the folks who are celebrating when they're celebrating.  Trouble is—and here's another characteristically Bahá'í thing—we have friends and family spread wide across the religious spectrum.  I have to find a card suitable for Christians (both Catholic and Protestant), Buddhists, Jews, and Pagans.

Nobody writes that kind of card!

It would be nice if they did.  I usually begin by scanning the "Season's Greetings" section, but most of them are as bland as plain white rice.  At worst they sound corporate (and of course, many of them probably are geared to be sent by businesses or to coworkers whose religious affiliation is uncertain).  "Peace" is a frequent theme.  I have no problem with wishing peace to someone—after all, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you." (John 14:27, KJV)  But somehow even that seems lacking—as though one wishes peace for a friend because one can't think of anything else to wish for them.  And the "may the quiet beauty of the season fill your heart with happiness" sorts of cards, although winter is just as beautiful as the other three seasons, frequently seem an insipid attempt to say something, anything, when one can't bring oneself to mention God or even His peace.

One of the best cards we ever saw, sold at Wal-Mart last year, expressed the "season's greetings" idea in a whimsical way that made both Dale and me laugh.  At the top it said in bold, bright letters, the simple word "Happy".  This was followed by a list of checkboxes, including Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, and so forth.  The perfect non-sectarian card!  It pointed out humorously what humankind is hopefully beginning to learn—that we practice diverse variations on a theme, and reconciliation is better than exclusion.

Each year as I set forth upon my mission, in my heart of hearts I'm hoping for a card that somehow acknowledges the faith of all my friends in a benevolent, loving Creator Who watches over all of us.  So far I haven't found it.  Perhaps someday someone will design the perfect Christmas card.  It will have stars on the front, maybe, or a peaceful winter scene, or the Earth from space.  Inside the greeting will say something like "May the One Who created and loves us all bless you richly this season and through the coming year."

Not too much to ask.  Maybe the card companies are listening?  In the meantime, though, whatever holiday or holy day you celebrate, may it be blessed, and a happy New Year to all!

He ['Abdu'l-Bahá] also spoke from the pulpit of a Congregational Church in the East End of London, in response to the request of its Pastor; addressed gatherings in Caxton Hall and Westminster Hall, the latter under the chairmanship of Sir Thomas Berkeley, and witnessed a performance of "Eager Heart," a Christmas mystery play at the Church House, Westminster, the first dramatic performance He had ever beheld, and which in its graphic depiction of the life and sufferings of Jesus Christ moved Him to tears.

(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 284)