Arriving in Kigali City, Rwanda

The preparations were finally done with (but I can’t say they were “completed”!), the long flight is over, and we are in Rwanda.  We were met at the airport by a wonderful group of people.  The “leader” of the group was Callixte, the caretaker at the home owned by Vianney and Cairn where we are staying for our first few days (maybe weeks) in Rwanda.  With him was the driver for the house, Gaston, and three men who had been hired to help with our baggage using their pickup truck and a van. We had been joined by one of the other members of the HRH (Human Resources for Health) program while at O’Hare, and by three others during our layover in Amsterdam.  Between the six of us, we had around 20 large checked bags, and ten or so smaller bags, all of which were loaded onto the pickup truck, the van, and the trunk of the 1994 Mercedes.

The house where we are staying is quite large, with a big living room and dining room, five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a lovely veranda.  The veranda has a flat roof which has a great view of the northern portion of the city, which is built on a number of hills.  (This is, after all, “The Land of a Thousand Hills.”)  Right now, we are living in a degree of luxury that very few of the people of Rwanda ever experience, but this will not last long. 

In the house with Anne and me are three other members of the HRH project: one midwife from the Chicago area, a midwife from up-state New York, and one woman in Adult Nursing who is originally from Uganda, but lately from Eastern U.S.A.  We are a lively bunch!  All excited by the adventure which we are beginning, all jet-lagged and somewhat giddy.  The house also has a staff which includes Calixte, who acts as caretaker and translator, Gaston, the driver and a cleaning woman who goes by "Mama Chic".  We are thankful to have such good people around us as we begin our journey.

Departing for Africa on August 3rd

As I write this on July 27th, I note that one week from now we will be on a plane headed for Amsterdam, from whence we will proceed to Kigali in Rwanda.  A few weeks ago we moved from our garden apartment to a room in the house of a friend.  Most of our stuff is gone, and we are near to completing the process of winnowing our possessions to what we will be packing. 

While it seems, from one perspective, that we are moving to another continent with much less "stuff" than we have had in the past, I am reminded of the many refuges that have fled from one country to another with no more than they can carry on their backs.  Some of what we will be bringing could be classified as "tools for service," including text books, computers, pens and pencils, and the like, but most are things for our own use, including clothing (how many outfits does one really need?), some things for the kitchen (we hear that a good set of kitchen knives is hard to come by) and a year's supply of our vitamins, prescriptions, and toiletries (also hard to obtain in Rwanda.) There is a Yahoo Group for the participants in the health project for which Anne will be working, and the posts therein include lists of "things I wish I had brought," and, "things I am glad I brought." Some of the items listed seem to be mere personal preference, but others have caused us to take notice and plan to make room.  I don't recall any list of "things I should have left behind!" 

In the last several weeks we have undergone other transformations besides the reduction in our material possessions.  Some have been occurring in our relationships:  both between Anne and me and between each of us and the rest of reality.  We have been working on being more unified through improved communication, greater patience, and more practice at teamwork.  I have particularly become aware of the times when I have a choice of how to respond to situations: either with a "knee jerk" emotional response, or with a more detached and rational response.  (The latter usually has a better outcome, while the former is more likely when I have not been on stage for a long time.  Theater of some sort is definitely on my list of things to do in Rwanda.) 

We have said many farewells, and are grateful for so many good friends and close family.  Soon, we will have new friends and a new Baha'i family in a whole new part of the world. 

Preparing to go to Rwanda

Last February my wife, Anne, and I moved from a loft apartment near downtown Aurora to a garden apartment on the east side of Aurora, near Naperville.  Because we were moving to an  apartment that is smaller and has less storage space than the previous one, we got rid of a lot of our stuff.  Papers, photos, books, clothing, toys, even some furniture were sold, given away, recycled, or trashed.  When we had moved everything in, I suggested to Anne, "Let's pretend that we are getting ready to move to another country.  What things would we actually bring with us?  What is important enough to us that we would store it in Aurora?  What would we sell, give away,  recycle, or trash from the stuff that we still have?"  We didn't actually do this exercise, but the thought of it did help to prepare us for where we are now:

It came up suddenly last Friday when Anne received an email telling her that she had been accepted to a program in the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and had been given an appointment in a hospital in Rwanda mentoring midwives.  She had applied many months ago and had thought that she was not going to hear anything back.  Now it looks like she is expected to arrive in time for orientation beginning on August 1st.  We have lots of stuff to go through and divest ourselves of!

We have begun to count down the days and list all of the things that we need to do to prepare.  The program will also pay to fly me out and the salary and per Diem are sufficient for both of us.  I will likely find work teaching English, as Rwanda is moving towards all its citizens learning English.  in the meantime, I will probably have to drop out of the play I was just cast in (Egeon in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors) which is a downer for me, since I haven't been on stage since last summer and working with Midsummer Theater Troupe was one of the most enjoyable gigs I have had in a long time.  But I have hopes of doing some sort of acting in Rwanda.  Mostly, I am excited (and nervous) about experiencing a whole new cultural reality.

A final  thought for this evening:  Monday I went to work after getting too little sleep.  I found that I was irritable and prone to being critical of anyone or anything that inconvenienced me.  "Whoa!" I thought, "If a little sleep deprivation can put me out of sorts this much, how do I expect to deal with culture shock and all that I will face in Rwanda?"  So now I am working on a more spiritual way of being:  What ever another person does, I need to refrain from judging them or their actions.  Instead of responding out of my criticism of their actions or of them, I need practice following the principles that I have been striving to learn:  patience, empathy, loving-kindness, and a willingness to learn from whatever life throws at me. 

Some thoughts on "The fear of God"

There are many references in the Bahá’í writings and in the scriptures of other faiths to the fear of God. All of them either say or imply that the fear of God is a good thing.

“Adorn ye the temple of dominion with the ornament of justice and of the fear of God...”  
Kitab-i-Aqdas, Paragraph 88

 “...lay not aside the fear of God and be not of the negligent.”
Kitab-i-Aqdas, paragraph 151

“Walk ye in the fear of God, and be ye of them that lead a godly life.”  
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, CXVIII

 “In this Revelation the hosts that can render it victorious are the hosts of praiseworthy deeds and upright character. The leader and commander of these hosts hath ever been the fear of God, a fear that encompasseth all things and reigneth over all things.”
 The fourth Ishráq from the Tablet ISHRÁQÁT (Splendours)

 “The essence of wisdom is the fear of God, the dread of His scourge and punishment, and the apprehension of His justice and decree.”
 From the Tablet of Wisdom

I have recently heard much discussion of this concept of the fear of God: Some reject the idea of fearing God as a motivation, “I don't want to go through life afraid that if I don't do this good thing or if I do that bad thing that God will punish me. I would rather behave well out of love for God, or because I know that it is the right thing to do as a member of a civilized society!” When one looks at God as a sort of super-powerful person, or as “a loving Father,” it makes sense to me to reject this concept. One might go through life afraid of an abusive and unpredictable father, but respectful of a just and loving father. I tend to think that what is meant by “fear” in this context is more like a healthy respect.

On the other hand, if one looks at God more as the ultimate Force of Nature, perhaps another analogy would apply: I don't go through life afraid of gravity, but I do take care to not fall, to make sure that I don't put delicate objects in danger of falling, and to be aware of what I must do and not do so that I am not harmed by gravity. Likewise, I am not afraid of fire, but I have a fear of fire in the sense that I do my best to use the power of fire in ways that are beneficial, while avoiding actions that would lead to the “punishment and scourge” of fire, that is, of being burnt or having my home burn down, etc.

The physical laws regarding things like gravity, fire, water, chemicals, radiation, light and darkness, hygiene, etc. are all learned due to their being evident in this physical plane of existence. They are not all obvious, however: Fear of bacterial contamination is a fairly recent wisdom, and the actions – the do's and don'ts - needed to prevent the spread of disease are still being discovered. The value of such spiritual laws as prayer, the golden rule, truthfulness, justice, sacrifice (another concept worthy of discussion, but not here), and oneness are not as easily verified as physical laws are by personal experience or scientific experimentation. When these laws are followed in a society by the majority of people, however, they lead to an improvement in the quality of life for everyone.

In the short run, an individual might acquire wealth and power by acts which God forbids. If the individual acts out of the sort of fear of God and the laws that He has revealed that is equivalent to his fear of fire and the laws which are readily evident in the world, that individual, in the short run, may actually be put at a material disadvantage, but the example set, and the adoption of such “God fearing” behavior by others will, in the long run, lead to a better world for all: People will be able to trust one another and work together for the common good. There also seems to be a spiritual recognition of the truth of God's laws which helps promulgate obedience to them. (What does not help the world is the focus some people put on a few laws, like that of chastity, so that they can point fingers at others and/or gain points with pious people for political reasons. God's law against backbiting is eternal and paramount:

 “O SON OF MAN! Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner. Shouldst thou transgress this command, accursed wouldst thou be, and to this I bear witness.”
 The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic #27.

"In formulating the principles and laws a part hath been devoted to penalties which form an effective instrument for the security and protection of men. However, dread of the penalties maketh people desist only outwardly from committing vile and contemptible deeds, while that which guardeth and restraineth man both outwardly and inwardly hath been and still is the fear of God.”
 From The Tablet of the World

 In the quotation above, we see that both a comparison and a distinction is made between fear of the penalties of the civil law and fear of God: Both lead to restraint, but the fear of the penalties of the law causes outward restraint only, while fear of God, “guardeth and restraineth man both outwardly and inwardly.” In this country we see that laws have been put into place to prevent discrimination due to race, gender, etc. While people may follow these laws because they fear the legal consequences of being caught in disobedience, this does not effect how they feel about people because of their inner prejudices about race, gender, etc. God's law for this day is clear and evident: we are to eliminate all such prejudices from our hearts. Does one follow this law because one is afraid of God in the same way that one might be afraid of a stranger in a dark alley? I think, rather, one follows the law because one is afraid of God in the same way that one might be afraid of jumping off a cliff. The consequences come due to God loving all of us enough that He wants us to learn to get along and actually love one another. It takes a leap of faith to be one of the few to truly embody divine law in ones inner and outer being, but it seems that people recognize the goodness of one who has committed their life to following this law.

O CHILDREN OF MEN! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory. The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, Arabic #68

The Source Of All Good (Words of Wisdom 1}

In the book “Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh” there is a Tablet entitled “Words of Wisdom”. This tablet consists mainly of [what I see as] definitions of certain words that often appear in scripture. I have been studying this tablet, and would like to share some of the ideas that have occurred to me regarding various passages therein. As always, these are only my personal opinions, and you are invited to share your own insights.

The first “definition” reads, “The source of all good is trust in God, submission unto His command, and contentment with His holy will and pleasure.” When I read this to a dear Christian friend of mine, he responded saying, “The source of all good is God!” In the way he said it, it seemed he saw his point as a refutation of the passage from the tablet. Any Bahá’í, indeed most any monotheist, would agree that God is the ultimate source of all good and of all the virtues. So what might this passage be saying?

In the context of this passage, I see that God, in His Bounty and Grace, showers His good (or goodness) upon us all, but we have to be willing to receive it. After all, the veils that shut us out from God are in front of each of our eyes, and we pray (in the Long Obligatory Prayer) “... make of my prayer a fire that will burn away the veils which have shut me out from Thy Beauty...” So, God tells us in this passage what we have to do and how we should be in order to receive His goodness:

We must trust in God. In this earthly life, there are many things that we tend to put our trust in: our parents, our school teachers, our government, our instincts, strategies and responses that have “worked” for us in the past, etc. What God asks of us can be counter to popular advice or what we would otherwise trust. “Love your enemies.” “Read the Divine Verses every morn and eve.” If we trust God, we not only follow His commandments, but we turn to Him for strength, for guidance, and to define the very purpose of our lives.
We must live and act in submission unto His command. God is the source of all good, but we are only good insofar as we follow His command. I believe that we should actively seek to better understand His command, and that we should embrace that command whatever it is, whatever apparent hardships may come from it.
We must find contentment with His holy will and pleasure. Everything that comes to us in our lives, I believe, can serve to teach us. I also am of the opinion that whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, it is God’s will and pleasure that we be in that situation. This point has seen much debate, but my feeling is that if we are sufficiently awake, present, and mindful we will be content that the circumstances we find ourselves in accord with God’s will. Then we can let go of our fear and resentment (or our pleasure and vanity) and follow the promptings of our higher, spiritual nature (see 1 and 2 above). Being content does not imply that we do not feel any impetus to change our circumstances. Rather, it means that we can see our circumstances with sufficient detachment to allow us to effect positive change while trusting in God and being submissive to His command.

Creationism VS. Darwinism debate II

After I posted the first portion of this article in a forum (I love Philosophy.com), a fellow philosopher responded:

"The theory of Evolution, on the other hand, gives scientific support to the belief that we are all related. That is, all humans come from the same pair, and all of life comes from the same primordial seed."

Until that hi-lited word becomes "absolute proof", I doubt the possibility of being on the same page about our existence will come to fruition. The word 'theory' leaves room for doubt just as the word 'faith' leaves doubt in the mind of the secular community for different religious affectations.

Unless both factions seriously explore the other's beliefs with equal interest and intent, it is doubtful the twain shall meld. For as both contend they are qualifiably viable in their own right, contentiousness make them polar to one another.

I replied:
I have studied both sides objectively, and as regards this contention, I see a crucial difference between the two sides:

The Creationist side begins with a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 & 2; an interpretation which many (perhaps most) well respected and well grounded theologians (such as Augustine) reject; an interpretation which is, in itself, a theory about what the Creator intended to communicate through those chapters. While you refer to your belief in this theoretical interpretation as Faith, it seems to be really more of a commitment to agree with the doctrine which your particular denomination promulgates. From the basis of that predetermined, theoretical interpretation of scripture, only that portion of the scientific evidence and deduction which supports that interpretation is accepted, while other evidence and the implications thereof is ignored.

The Evolution side begins with evidence, painstakingly accumulated and recorded. Observations of God's creation were made in detail by Darwin, an ordained minister himself, and those observations led him inevitably to the conclusion that the physical characteristics of earthly organisms came to be through the God-given process of natural selection. This theory was the only logical framework that could explain his data and observations. His faith in God was not shattered by this revelation, rather his awe and astonishment at the subtlety of God's creation was increased. His understanding of human foibles and failings, however, prevented him from publishing his work until another scientist (Wallace) made an new set of observations and came, independently, to the same conclusions.

Regarding the theologians of Creationism: Read Mathew 7: 15 - 20 which has as its theme "You shall know them by their fruits." If the fruits of Creationism are discord amongst Christians, the rejection of Christianity by the Scientific community, the rejection of science by a large potion of the Christian community, the atheists making a plaything of religion, and the followers of Creationism becoming blindly loyal followers of their clergy and tithers of their church to the detriment of their willingness to reason, then who will say that these are good fruits?

Creationism VS. Darwinism debate

I have been researching the history of the Creationism VS. Darwinism debate, and it appears that one strong impetus for opposition to Darwinian theory in general was the rise of Social Darwinism. One particular force for the development of this controversy in the U.S. was William Jennings Brian, who opposed the theory of evolution, and actively campaigned against, it for two reasons. First, he believed that what he considered a materialistic account of the descent of man through evolution undermined the Bible. (One might assume that he preferred a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 & 2.) Second, he saw neo-Darwinism or Social Darwinism, which tends to support forcefulness and aggressiveness over loving kindness and meekness, as a great evil force in the world promoting hatreds and conflicts, especially the World War.*

In The Literal Meaning of Genesis Saint Augustine argued that Genesis should be interpreted as God forming the Earth and life from pre-existing matter and allowed for an allegorical interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis. He argues that the six-day structure of creation presented in the book of Genesis represents a logical framework, rather than the passage of time in a physical way. Augustine recognizes that the interpretation of the creation story is difficult, and remarks that Christians should be willing to change their minds about it as new information comes up. He also warned believers not to rashly interpret things literally that might be allegorical, as it would discredit the faith. *

The entire Creationism vs. Evolution debate has been a real source of contention and conflict in this country. It has polarized the scientific community in opposition to the religious community to the extent that scientists have become embarrassed to confess their belief in religion and many Christians have come to distrust science. (There is even some thought that the distrust engendered by this debate has been used by greedy industrialists in their efforts to discredit scientific evidence for global warming.) There is evidence in the arguments made on the Creationist side that ignorance of the nature of scientific research and theory-building is not only prevalent but valued. There is also evidence that atheists see this vocal Creationism movement as representative of all religion and use it as a strong argument for their position.

It seems a great pity that such a destructive controversy as this might have arisen from a mistaken belief that the biological/historical theory of The Evolution of Species by Natural Selection leads inevitably to disbelief in God or to a belief that “might makes right.” The theory of evolution works both as an explanation for the known data about the nature of life and as a means for predicting other observations and forming testable hypotheses. Theories of social Darwinism, while predicting that a better armed country will win a war and that a bully will get his way on the playground, do not provide any basis for morality. Indeed, moral decisions that come from such theories could lead to the destruction of civilization and the end of life on Earth. The theory of Evolution, on the other hand, gives scientific support to the belief that we are all related. That is, all humans come from the same pair, and all of life comes from the same primordial seed. It would be better for Christianity if all Christians would graciously accept Evolution of Species, just as the Christian community finally accepted that the earth revolved around the sun.

*[Paragraph contains quotes from articles in Wikipedia]