Pencils And Prayerful Commitment -- Baha'i Faith Finds Oneness In All Work

Can making a pencil be a meaningful worship experience?

Yes, if it's done the right way, says Cleven Ticeson, chairman of the Seattle Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i Faith.

It's not that Ticeson and Western Washington's 2,500 Baha'is worship pencils. Far from it. It's what underlies that activity that helps define this growing religion that stresses world peace and the oneness of humankind.

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

"We understand that for this world to be all that it can be, the individual has to take responsibility," said Ticeson. "Baha'is believe, and are taught, that whatever it is that you do - if you make pencils for a living - if you do it to the best of your ability and you do it with service in mind, you've elevated that to a position of worship."

Nancy Griffith, who chairs the public-relations committee of the Bellevue Baha'i Community, said the faith's founder, the prophet Baha'u'llah, taught that a person who performed work in the spirit of service to humanity was considered to have a worshipful attitude, on the same level as prayer, and that to do one's best work was to honor God.

SPREADING RELIGION

In a world beset by war and other conflicts, Baha'is are spreading out around the globe, showing by example and deed their belief in one God, "unity with diversity," cooperation, equality, education, strong family bonds, the elimination of prejudice and the advancement of civilization.

The Baha'i Faith claims 5.5 million adherents in 205 countries and territories, according to Robert Parrish, secretary for the Central King County Spiritual Assembly, the governing body for Baha'is in unincorporated King County outside Bellevue and Issaquah.

Some 500 to 700 Baha'is from throughout the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia will meet in Bellevue today and tomorrow for a regional conference sponsored by the Bellevue Baha'i Community.

The conference is a celebration of the covenant of unity brought by Baha'u'llah, who lived from 1817 to 1892, said conference sponsors.

NINE IS THE NUMBER

To quickly and visually understand the Baha'is, you might think of the number 9.

It is a symbol frequently found in the Baha'i Faith, from the number of people who serve on local spiritual assemblies to the number of arches a Baha'i house of worship may have.

Harold Javid, chairman of the Central King County Spiritual Assembly, explained that 9 is the largest one-digit number. It is the symbol of unity for Baha'is, who believe all humanity is one creation, one family, one race and that each person has special abilities and qualities that are unique.

The Baha'is believe there is one God, and that religious figures from Moses to Jesus to Mohammed to Buddha to Krishna were revealers of God's word. Baha'u'llah, who spent years in prison in the Middle East because of his religious beliefs, was the latest messenger, said Javid.

`DIVINE PHYSICIANS'

"Every time in which a messenger or revealer of God comes, they understand the situation of humankind. These are like divine physicians. They understand the problems of the world at the time or the time following when they'll appear. And they prescribe a remedy for humanity's needs.

"In the 1800s, you find Baha'u'lla talking about the equality of men and women, the need for universal education - education in morality, how to think, how to work together in groups. We see this concept of unity in diversity," said Javid.

On a global level, Baha'is may work in villages in South America or Africa helping people to learn to read and write. Or, as they did in Chicago, they may work with city officials to see how different racial groups can live and work in harmony, accepting the value of diversity rather than seeing it as something to put up with. And the Baha'is maintain an office at the United Nations in New York, sharing their beliefs and teachings with U.N. delegates.

Baha'u'llah's teachings also extend to family life.

FOCUS ON FAMILY

One of the principles of the Baha'i Faith is unity in the family. Parrish, a salesman for a Seattle car dealership, said that when he was growing up, children for the most part lived with both parents. Nowadays, many live with only one parent. Contact with grandparents is not as great as it used to be either, he added.

To promote family unity, the Baha'is have various customs. If two people want to get married, for example, consent of both sets of parents is required, no matter how old the spouses-to-be are, said Parrish.

Conversely, in cultures where marriages are arranged, the parents must have the consent of the children they are arranging the marriage for.

Javid, a manager with Boeing Computer Services, said the world is shrinking with technological advances. In this smaller arena, centuries-old cultural and governmental institutions are pressing together and clashing.

"The Baha'is' view of how they can help the world is not just through saying lots of prayers, but by providing examples in society in every part of the world," he said. Baha'is in various countries might be consulted about women's rights, or how to work together to protect the environment, Javid noted.

In the Seattle area, Baha'is worship in people's homes or in rented meeting spaces. In Seattle's University District, they meet at the Baha'i bookstore, 5049 Brooklyn Ave. N.E.

PATTERN OF PRAYER

Baha'is are urged to pray individually in the morning and the evening. "This prayer and this sense of putting ourselves in relationship to God early in the day really creates a pattern for the day. In the evening, along with our prayers, we are to consider how our day has gone," said Javid.

Then once each 19 days, at the beginning of the month in the Baha'i calendar, Baha'is meet in a community worship called the "Feast."

They say prayers and read holy writings of Baha'u'llah and his sons, consult about community affairs, such as children's and family education, and then share in light refreshments.

Baha'u'llah died 100 years ago last year. He was expelled from what today is Iran. He was exiled to Iraq, Turkey and what was then Palestine, all part of the Ottoman Empire. The Baha'i Faith's world headquarters today is in Haifa, Israel. --------------------------------------------------------------- To learn more

For more information about the Baha'i Faith, call the Baha'i bookstore and information center in Seattle at 526-7121, or the Eastside Baha'i information line at 451-1213. A public meeting for those interested in the Baha'i Faith is scheduled for March 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the HUB auditorium of the University of Washington. David Hofman, a former member of the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith, is to speak on "Race Unity." Hofman will speak on "Unity and Diversity" March 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center in Seattle's Discovery Park.