on springtime
"If we are not happy and joyous at this season, for what other season shall we wait and for what other time shall we look?" A
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One Report is spiritually-minded content for people of all beliefs and backgrounds. This publication is borne from a reflection of the teachings of the Baha’i Faith but our contributors are from varied faith backgrounds. The goal is for One Report to offer space for people from all perspectives to discuss and reflect on topics of faith and spirituality. In a time of turmoil, One Report hopes is a source of unity and collaboration. It is an opportunity for people to learn from one another and share in ways that feel relevant, pressing, stirring, and elevated. Thank you.
One Report is edited by Anisa Tavangar with Maya Mansour. Images in this issue are by Nneanata Echetebu, Phoebe Jones, Kosta Karakashyan, Felicia Sobhani, Briana SoltaniFlynn, Oomung Varma, & Yasmin Wilkinson-Smith. Special thanks to Phoebe for her series of compost flowers.
to be given new life Written by M.D.
“O God, give me a new life at every instant and bestow upon me the breaths of the Holy spirit at every moment...” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Moments of joy like a balm to our fight, moments of complete surrender tearing our heart. They all pass us by. One by one. Slowly. By the will of our Creator. Give me a new life at every instant. A springtime after every breath. To allow every moment to fly away. Every image your thoughts draw, every sigh, every misstep on your journey, every spark, every tunnel, every wave. They are the path to a new life at every instant. Pause. This moment in history is our chance for rebirth. For you and for me. For our earth to be loved again. For our homes to be lit with resilience. For our compassion to burn away the fear. For us to build a pure civilization. We are coming home. All of us have been given a new life at this very instant. Will you paint it anew?
O Mariner! Teach them that are within the ark that which we have taught thee behind the mystic veil, Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious! Perchance they may not tarry in the sacred snow-white spot, Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious! But may soar upon the wings of the spirit unto that station which the Lord hath exalted above all mention in the worlds below, Glorified be my Lord, the All-Glorious!
Excerpt from the Tablet of the Holy Mariner by Baha’u’llah.
what the birds know Written by Sophie Crump
the birds know that it is spring. for us it lacks the usual trappings but still the birds sing. and if you open the window reach out from your solitude the earth knows that it is spring too. a new day has dawned a new year begins things will not be as they were but still – we have spring.
“This Spirit is adorned with all the divine perfections. Whensoever it appears, the world is revived, a new cycle is ushered in, and the body of humanity is clothed in a fresh attire. It is like the spring: When it arrives, it transports the world from one condition to another. For at the advent of springtide the black earth, the fields, and the meadows become green and verdant; flowers and sweet-scented herbs of every kind spring forth; trees are endowed with a new life; wondrous fruits are produced; and a new cycle is inaugurated.” A
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behind the stained glass Written by Angela Mestre
I was raised in a Catholic family by atheist parents. I’m not sure if they knew they were atheists when we were young or if life’s later events revealed their disbelief; in any case, we rarely missed Sunday church. We were the family that always came in ten minutes late, never quietly, and found a way to make four chairs seat six. Every night at dinner, we held hands around the table and recited the same prayer, which was originally two unique prayers that time and impatience had woven into one.
Thank you, Lord, for our daily food We give our thanks, O Lord A-a-ah-men Dale pan a los que tienen hambre [Lord, give bread to those who hunger] Y hambre de ti a los que tienen pan [And hunger for You to those who have bread] A-a-ah-men Every meal began like this, a grounding mantra of gratitude and, as I began to discover, longing.
It was Easter not long ago. I only realized it scrolling through Instagram that lazy mid-morning, past pictures of estranged friends and friendly strangers rejoicing at the good day, past videos of giddy children searching for candy-filled eggs hidden in bushes. I cried softly into my pillow. I’m not a Catholic and I don’t believe in God. While I like to think I’ve made peace with my evolving faith, Catholic holidays make me morose. I often feel like I’m watching a party from the outside through a stained glass window, swaying alone to the faint sound of a song I once knew but have since forgotten. Thou shalt not covet, but I do. I do! Belief is a warm caress of the cheek, the fresh air of Spring. I want to stay in the sun, but every day I bite the apple. And I sway, alone, I sway.
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Quaff from the tongue of the merciful the stream of divine mystery, and behold from the dayspring of divine utterance the unveiled splendor of the daystar of wisdom. Sow the seeds of My divine wisdom in the pure soil of the heart, and water them with the waters of certitude, that the hyacinths of knowledge and wisdom may spring up fresh and green from the holy city of the heart. B
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Daylight Written by Nneanata Echetebu
The daylight encased in Times hands is where I lay my dreams to grow. The new springs that come will water my nest of hopes seeded to rise tomorrow. The midst of the night gifts peace as my vitality is made anew I wake with a freedom where my tranquility streams as I reap my morning dew A fellowship will call for us to hold hands When the hummingbirds tunes will make us dance A new day a new year more instance of chance Time for us great; to God’s eye a glance Swaying together, our heads nestled in God’s chest This daylight encased in Times hands, we lay our prayers to rest Flavor our lives with springs fruitful zest To embrace the sweet life of which we are blessed The seasons will leap so much as they will last And still we will be still with each new year that will pass
"Oh you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you many learn piety and righteousness" (Quran
2:183)
Dispatch from new spAring Written by Suraiya Ali
The moon has moved into Taurus as I write this, and we have entered the holy month of Ramadan in the Islamic year of 1441. My mother sent me a video from a Muslim cleric, who declares in khas Urdu that on May 12th, the brightest and highest star in the Taurus Constellation, Sorayya, will be its most visible on May 12th. That day all suffering will begin to be eradicated from the earth. The cleric continues, saying that after the 12th, the most blessed days of Ramadan will occur, and as they do every year, the angels will come down from heaven to supplicate our fears and take our prayers to God on Laylat-ul-Qadr. My mom tells me to watch out for the 12th but remains skeptical on all suffering being eradicated. Even a divine quick fix seems too good to be true. This season has come with the holidays it usually brings: Easter, Nowroz, Passover, Rivdan, Holi, and now even Ramadan. They do look different now, however. This is the dawn of a New Spring, one where we still watch out for days like May 12th, but struggle to find a way to see the bull made of stars in the sky from the homes we are currently locked in. I won’t attempt to describe the New Spring we have entered, because it’s definition will not be made now. It will be made in 15, 20 years when we retell this story at Spring offering tables, surrounded by more than ten loved ones. This age of the New Spring will not wait for us humans to find the right rhetoric to pen down something
so much larger than us. It will certainly continue to defy our ideas of the immediate future. While we will grieve what it takes from us, we will celebrate what it allows us to gain. This New Spring is telling us to be patient and prudent and kind. For on the 12th, when the bull’s head shines in the sky, you too should come to the conclusion that it’s okay to have no conclusions to come to, and that in this New Spring, one can grow without definitions. As I finish typing this, it is 11:11 pm, I think even the divine is giving me a sign, that it agrees.
speaking hope into the air Written by Dennique Graham
Noise turns into whispers and gives way to silence, Mother earth spares a few breaths and responds: As if by magic dolphins swim through venice and skylines reappear. Like a prodigal son returned, Humankind finds it is still loved. On the brink of bankruptcy and bodies ailing, We sing from our figurative balconies canzioni di speranza Speaking hope into the air we take our life giving breath from. Breaking it back in and spending it back out multiplied. Resurrecting our souls 6 feet under at the depth of loneliness, And letting them embrace those 6 feet from our corporeal selves and beyond. We pick up the pieces from our broken hearts; sharing them until we are whole. No longer strangers but blood relatives sharing the life vein of humanity. We tap into the universal ether bandwidth: The frequency, the pulse of humankind. And the beat goes b-bump bumping between brains burned ablaze by being blessed before Beneficence.
"When you pass through water, I am with you, and in rivers, they shall not overflow you; when you go amidst fire, you shall not be burnt, neither shall a flame burn amongst you." [Isaiah
43:2]
over the midst of the night Written by Nneanata Echetebu
The calm before the storm lingers To give a glimpse of what can be; So, during the storm the Treachery remembers The time when there was peace. It seems just over the midst of the night the world was broken pieces To make it new; Yet it is our understanding in days of confusion our levels of being at peace That is reformed and reshaped each morning dew. Our spiritual growth can mirror the knowledge the physical destruction brings, And humanity’s strife can yield a fruitfulness in the coming of springs.
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” [John
11:25-26]
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