I Caught Wind and Hit the Road Runnin'

(This was originally supposed to be posted before the Bicentenary, but I got sick. I think there are still some good thoughts in here, though, so I am still posting it.)

In just a few short hours, I will be on vacation for 10 whole days. I'm super excited, and not just because it's a chance to step away from work for a little bit and reset my batteries, but because my time off is going to be FULL of adventures.

If you're not aware, next week marks a pretty big event in the Baha'i world - it's the Twin Holy Birthdays! We get to celebrate the birth of the Bab AND the birth of Baha'u'llah, one day after each other. That in and of itself is pretty cool, but on top of that, this year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Bab, so it's extra super special.

There are SO many things going on in my community in the coming days. We've got celebrations large and small (and trust me, if you have some free time and want to celebrate with us? There's lots of ways we can do that together, no matter if you're a Baha'i or not. We're excited, and we want to share that with everyone!) and it's going to be a time of joy and reverence and celebration and excitement and deep, deep faith. (Also snacks, because you gotta feed body AND soul. It's important.)

I've been thinking a lot lately about my place in all of that - how can I serve? How can I make my mark on this momentous occasion? What does service even look like?

Part of me REALLY wants it to be a big fancy thing. Bright lights, neon signs, big impact. Name goes down in history for doing huge things, changing the world. But...that's not really what I'm good at. If this was a video game, I'd be a support character. The healer, not the hero. The character with one or two moves that aren't useful except for like super specific circumstances when they shine, or one of a pile of minions that aren't super great on their own, but stick a bunch of them together and magic happens.

Is there room for me? Is that enough? Not just right now, as we move into the Bicentenary period, but other times, when there's not this great momentum moving us to this amazing moment? How can I serve Baha'u'llah, my community, the world...when I am just one me?

(image courtesy of besw515@gmail.com, used with permission)

I think about this idea a lot - that anything I do in the spirit of service, is worship. So it doesn't matter if it is a big thing or a small thing, if I do it in the right mindset, it's an act of worship. 

This has helped me reframe a lot of things in my life - I don't have to be necessarily the most bestest and brightest shining-est Baha'i who everyone knows is going out and doing the stuff in the best perfect-est way - I can keep living my life of small joys and small moments, of noticing and breathing into the quiet. 

It's like how I do the newsletter every Baha'i month for my community. It's a small thing - just a page or two on what's going on locally and around the world, events that are coming up, stuff we want to celebrate, things we want to be aware of, anything that we want to share with the community as a whole. I love it because it's something I can do from my house, so no matter where my brain is at, I can get it done. And it's something that is helping my community be better connected to each other, and helping me be better connected to it. It's been changing my community in small subtle ways, and it's been really fun to see. 

So I might not be at every event (my work schedule makes that tricky), I might not be out there teaching children's classes or working in obvious ways in my community, but this is my small way of sharing my skills with my Baha'i community. 

And it's not just about doing "Baha'i" things either - anything counts! So hey, if you make REALLY GOOD bread and you put your whole self into that, and into sharing that with people? That's worship. Checking in on your friends who just had a baby and bringing them soup or other needed things? Totally counts. Do you make sure you show up at your job every day and do your best to do whatever it is you're asked to do? You've got it, that's worship too, if you do it all in a spirit of honest service.

To me, that's the hard bit - it's easy to do good things, but to do them as honest acts of service, instead of waiting for the praise and pat on the head or whatever sort of reward...that takes a bit more work. But, I'm trying my best, and every day, I try to do it a little better than the day before.

So I don't know what the bicentenary will look like. I don't know what my service will look like. But I will go in with my best most honest heart, and do whatever I can to show the love of Baha'u'llah to the world around me. It's all I can do.