Bermuda Baháʼí
Community

“ … The eventful first day of August 1834, a period looked for in all the British West Indian Colonies with the excited feelings of hope and fear – hope by those in bondage for a relief from thraldom; fear, on the part of the owners lest that liberty which was to become general would be the means of leading the newly emancipated, to acts unbecoming Men and Christians.

Every year in the month of December, numerous jurisdictions worldwide observe “Human Rights Day”. This coming year marks the 75th anniversary of Human Rights Day. History shows that the first mention and attempt to secure one’s rights can be traced back to the year 2300 BC, more than 4,000 years ago!

This month, as part of our ongoing series of faith features, we look at the Bahá'í Faith. Here is a simple, but hopefully interesting, overview of their origin and beliefs. Less well known than most other world religions, the Bahá'í Faith was formally founded in the 1800s in Iraq, by the prophet Bahá'u'lláh.

It is a monotheistic Abrahamic faith, which means that Bahá'ís believe in one God and also acknowledge the Biblical prophet Abraham and his sons as important spiritual figures and influences.

Seventy-three years have passed since the first World Religion Day was celebrated in 1950. An annual observance marked on the third Sunday of each January, this year’s date- occurrence number 74- falls on Sunday, January 21st. What is World Religion Day? Why did it start? And why should it mean anything to us now?

Bermuda’s Baha’i community joined with thousands of others to host a conference intended to improve the conditions that face society.

The conference, held on Friday and Saturday at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, was one of many organised around the world as part of a wider initiative to “apply the society-building principles of the Baha’i faith to achieve more just, unified and peaceful communities”.

A spokeswoman for the Bermuda Baha’i community said that more than 70 people representing multiple sectors of the community took part in the conference.

The local Baha’i community has been hosting a series of presentations sharing the teachings of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá and how they relate to the current world crisis.
The public presentations are held weekly and hosted by Oswald Hinds, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Baha’is in Bermuda, and are designed to bring awareness to the life of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his ascension in November 1921.

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Bermuda travelled to Haifa, Israel this week for the International Bahá’í Convention.
More than 1,500 national spiritual assemblies from over 176 countries and territories met at the Bahá’í World Centre to consult on ways to promote the world’s social and spiritual wellbeing, and to uphold the sacred duty of electing the nine-member Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body for the worldwide Bahá’í community.

Bahá’ís last year observed the 100th anniversary of the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, who is the son of their founder, Bahá’u’lláh.
Two members of the local National Spiritual Assembly travelled to Haifa, Israel, to attend the centenary services. Read Currelly and Shyama Ezekiel-Fagundo were selected to represent Bermuda for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“The governing body of the Bahá’í Faith – the Universal House of Justice – communicated to each National Spiritual Assembly that two representatives, a male and female, should be selected to attend the centenary,” Mr Currelly explained.

How do we decide what makes a hero? Heroism is not just found in fanfare and acts of daring, but also in the quiet moments, the spaces in between breaths when normal people seek change. Each of us can exercise and manifest change, and inspire others to do better, to be better. This is just as big a part of heroism as flashy parades and bombastic stories.