Happy Ridvan!

Ridvan has always been a special holy day for me -- although once it was kind of bogged down by elections. Nevertheless, the story of Ridvan has, for me, a kind of mythic quality -- something that transcends actual historical events. There are a lot of memories associated with it:

*The song a dear friend wrote about it, that when you listen to it, you could practically see Baha'u'llah strolling the streets of Baghdad. "Beside the Tigris River, before the daystar rose . . ."

*The friend, now inactive, who declared on this day -- twenty years ago now, I guess. His favorite verse was "The beginning of all things is the knowledge of God . . ."

*How, on the ninth day, our community would have a storytime, each of us telling a story from one of the great world religions.

*In 1992, my daughter was born just hours before Ridvan, about 3:00 on the 20th.

*When I had the money, I would bring roses in honor of the day.

*Juan's article about how Ridvan is really a peace festival.

Rejoice with exceeding gladness, O People of Baha, as ye call to remembrance the Day of supreme felicity . . .