work , worship , and identity

All research or scholarship questions
onepence
Posts: 473
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:44 pm
Location: Longwood, FL, USA

work , worship , and identity

Postby onepence » Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:30 am

God is Most Glorious !

*smile*

Dear Friends,

A long time ago i read a book{?}/article{?}

which basically was about what the author felt was a method
that people with good mental health had.

He proposed {stated} that individuals with good mental health
had three distinct endevours that should be given equal time
{oppurtunities and resources to develop} which are

work , worship , and identity

*smile*

yes ... i wish i could remember the name of the book ...

anybody have any clue as to the name of this book ?

it was actually pretty good and i think i pretty much agree with the premise

wish i could remember the book and review its contents again ...

hmm

one of the reasons i have been thinking about this book is our discussion on selflessness ... and what a selfless society looks like ... *smile*

so ... naturally it got me thinking about identity ...

hmmm

my old foe , my old friend , {my} identity

*smile*

when i first read the above mentioned unnammed book
i was like ... hmm ... ok ... i will give it a try

*smile*

work and worship {at least for me} was easy

it was identity that just absolutely confussed and floored me

you know ... identity is not something that is talked about in public schools
{insert whole discourse on "blank slates" at another date ... Smile}

so ... for many a days ... perhaps even months ...
i slaved trying to figure out identity

hmmm ... it was very very difficult ...
the author of the nameless book {imho} did not give a good discourse on identity ... or ... at least if he did i sure did not understand it ...

when i was thinking of personal identity
... i primarily stuck with what i had heard in the past
... i am the son of so & so ... smile ... born such and such ... lived at there and here

it was very unsatisfying to me
my inner dialogue for identity never took root
no matter how hard i tried to define myself ...
it seems like ... well ... boring ...
lol
and ... eventually i pretty much gave up on thinking about identity

now i realize that i was simply repeating certain things over and over again

hmmm

yes

identity

anybody ever struggle with that ?

anyway ... would love to hear other stories/comments about identity

for now though ... back to my story ...

so ... here i was caught between identity and selfless

it has been only in the past few days ...
i have started thinking {again} of identity

and

this time

i was able to focus less on the material {self}
and focus on the spiritual

things/thoughts like

i am one that wants to know that Baha'u'llah would approve of ...
*smile*

hmmm

yes

anybody have any thoughts on identity ...

anybody ever struggle with this ...

care to share your thoughts ?

oneness,
dh

note : ... some excellent points about mature identity by Dr. Farzam Arbab

http://bahai-library.com/talks/arbab.2001.html

... This maturity has several dimensions. Most fundamentally, it is reflected in your sense of identity. It is natural, of course, that the various aspects of our background — national, social, ethnic, cultural, educational, professional, and so on — should influence our patterns of thought and behavior. But a mature Bahá'í has learned to put these factors in the right perspective, never losing sight of the truth that the reality of his or her existence is his or her soul which is passing through this world to acquire the attributes it needs for the eternal and glorious journey towards God. Thus you are fully aware that the real source of your identity is servitude to Bahá'u'lláh. When you are asked "Who are you?", the first answer that springs to your mind is not "man," "woman," "white," "black," "Latin," "Persian," "American," "doctor," "engineer," "professor," "artist." Your highest aspiration is to be able to answer the question, at least within yourself, by such phrases as "The one who loves Baháāuālláh," "The one who obeys the commands of Baháāuālláh," "The one who serves Baháāuālláh." And having the example of 'Abdu'l-Bahá always before you, you realize that this servitude has to translate into service to the loved ones of God.

Another aspect of our identity emerges from ...






[/list][/list]

onepence
Posts: 473
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:44 pm
Location: Longwood, FL, USA

Postby onepence » Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:30 pm

yes ...

i think the author of the book i am looking for used the word
accomplishment ...

that is accomplishment was used instead of work ...
but ... in my brain ... work/accomplishment ... is about the same ...
perhaps even work is more exact/meaningful ...

but ...

in essence i am still looking for this book / author

hmmm

richards comment about

"It has been said, and rightly so i think, that we become more like that which we worship"

is worthy of further thought and comment ... was reading last night ... at this site ... where ... { i think } Abdu'l Baha said

"Nearness is Likeness"

it was {for me} like yeah ... that makes sense ... birds of a feather etc ... Hidden Words {etc} ...

so ... richards comments makes sense ...

"It has been said, and rightly so i think, that we become more like that which we worship"

in short
"Nearness is Likeness"
*smile*

which begs all sorts of questions about nearness ... smile ...

but ... i suppose i shall study this concept on my own ... unless others have some comment ... smile

and yet ... this identity issue does reflect back directly upon one's understanding and concept of God ...

interesting ... very interesting ... and it does take serious work to reflect upon God ....

{and}

{what He would have {me/us} do }

i tell ya ... identity is definately the hardest struggle for me ...
... and ... for me ... what is sad and fustrating ... is ... imho ...

identity should be the easiest thing ...

I am Baha'i

*smile*

i wonder if that is all i need to know ...

{lol}

or more the humble approach

I seek to be a Baha'i ...

{smile ... yes ... i like that a little better}
{and perhaps that is all I need to know}

oneness
dh

onepence
Posts: 473
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:44 pm
Location: Longwood, FL, USA

Postby onepence » Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:13 am

yes ... identity i struggle with ... because , well , for all sorts of reasons.

I asked my mom & dad about this last night ...

and ... if you have never had a conversation with people about their identity ... it is worth an attempt to ... although very difficult ...
one might be surprised as to what will learn.

i guess i struggle with what is identity ...

and i struggle with why identity is not taught ..

about identity ... my mom said it was very hard for her to not say she was a teacher during the year she had not had a teaching job

{most people associate identity with work} {and sometimes possessions}

she also said in a pyschology class she had it was hard to come up with ten nouns that describe yourself .... nouns not adjectives ...

my dad commented ... after much discussion ...
that perhaps identity can not be taught but instead can be found

which ... along with other factors about identity lead into thoughts of predestinated and fate within our lives ...

identity also is very unique ... there is only one richard ... etc ...

so ... i been trying to understand / define identity ...

and came up with a small understanding
which may or may not be true / helpful

Identity is truth.
Truth is good.
Good is absolute.
Absolute is God.
God is unknowable.
Unknowable is myself.
Myself is ....
.... is known

*smile*

a lot in that list ... but ... i think a pretty basic describtion of where i view identity at this time in my life

myself is truth
for myself
Truth

*smiling at silly circular logic*

oneness
dh

onepence
Posts: 473
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:44 pm
Location: Longwood, FL, USA

Postby onepence » Sun Feb 17, 2008 7:07 pm

yes ... i like this discussion ... thank you ...

a little busy these next few days ...

will be looking forward to rejoining joining our discussion at a later date

thanks again

and whatever you want to call me is fine

onepence/dean/heyu

*smile*

onepence
Posts: 473
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:44 pm
Location: Longwood, FL, USA

Postby onepence » Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:04 am

*smile*

Dean of the Scene

i shall treausre it for ever




with the weight of the world upon ones' shoulder
it is nice to find one laughing while helping to remove a small boulder

*smile*

thank you

....

there is no i in team

........


yes ... had a small break through will trying to understand identity
and specifically my identity

one of the ideas i was troubled by was how to be selfless
and yet still have an identity

it seems as if the the two thoughts were/are at polar extremes from each other

yet ... Abdu'l Baha managed to have an identity and still be selfless

so ... what is this identity that i am to strive for
{at least according to this one author ... i should strive for}

and why was this quest for identity so hard for me ... ???

hmmm ... then it sort of occured to me ... the idea of unity

on all sorts of levels ... the use of plural noun {?} WE makes sense

yes ... we can say/write/read "we" instead of i
with feelings of joy, not shame or regret

we love you
we went to the store today
we would like to build a new heaven and a new earth

*smile*

yes ... we can coinciously chose to replace i with we ...
*smile* - *awesome*

in fact ... we {soft chuckle} can easily see that our new race of man
won't even have to chose to replace we with i because the concept of we
will be so common place
in fact our new race of men will have to think very very hard
if to ever replace we with i ... and God willing it should be never

wow

i {soft chuckle} am so glad we {yes} were able to make this small breakthrough in our identity

this replacement of the ego{i} with the more inclusive {society of} we
was intially noticed when thinking of our parents

that none of us were born into this world alone
even Adam had direct relationship with Him

and surely our Messiah, His Holiness Christ,
may our lives be a sacrifice unto His servants,
was born unto Mary

*smile*

none of us was born alone into this world

thus ... if we remain true to our bonds ...
we exist ... even if certain egos attempt to overshadow ...
there can be no denying we exist

but ... our mind naturally wandered ...
what gave rise to this great egotistical struggle

where, in this servants contemporay world, I is always heard

hmmm ... this one has a partially theory ...

will perhaps explore more at a later

we are tired ...

please feel free to contribute any thoughts to this thread

thanks

oneness
dh

onepence
Posts: 473
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:44 pm
Location: Longwood, FL, USA

Postby onepence » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:15 pm

"Let not man glory in this that he loveth his country, let him rather glory in this that he loveth his kind."

yes ... we like the study of oneness ... much more than the study of singleness ....

fascinating that Baha'u'llah Himself was born into this world,
in much the same way that all childern are born into this world
and , therefore showing to us , that we too must die from this world

intense it is to marry
to be blessed with one to branch out from you
to know that Baha'u'llah did this too

*smile*

stunning it is to know
that all men love roses
all women are angels
and childern can be taught to be God fearin individuals

yes ... the river must widen to met the sea

onepence
Posts: 473
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 2:44 pm
Location: Longwood, FL, USA

Postby onepence » Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:11 pm

"Is not our One & Only Perfect God---our Perfect Heavenly Father, Whom we love, worship, and serve, the Absolute Pinnacle of our Collective Identity?"

yea ... verily

The Kingdom of God on earth, is , at long last , within the reach of mankind ...

yes ... it is a daily struggle to remember we are servants to the Almighty,
but it is a struggle well worth engaging in ...

thank you for helping us in our daily struggles

in remembrance

oneness,
dh


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