The Sounds of Relative Silence

Well, the heat is off with a fragile truce declared and still holding! Now, a different kind of heat is upon us: “wet” heat – Haifa at its hottest and most humid! What a marvelous thing air-conditioning is, and it is great to spend most of the day at work where it is nice and cool; the flat is very hot when we get back in the evenings, but by then the worst is over and it cools down fairly quickly. May be 2 or 3 more weeks of sauna conditions before we can think of autumn!

We are both really well, busy at work (the day just flies by) and then there are other happenings in the evenings: Allan is kept busy with deepenings on the Right of God (small groups of 8-12) held in participants’ flats somewhere fairly central.














I have sessions with kids who attend Arabic schools (their parents don’t speak Arabic) and we read and study Arabic prayers and Writings; discuss the issues that they raise and have stories about some eminent believers – all in Arabic! These four kids range in age from 8 – 15 and belong to 2 families that live very near to each other; I often go home with one of the mum’s and share a meal with them before the “lesson”, and then Allan picks me up after he finishes his deepening session (perfect!). Another 2 girls join me for lunch, on Wednesdays, at the Dining Room and we do a similar thing – they are really lovely kids who have had a miserable summer holiday this year because of the conflict and they’ll start school on September 4th.

Everyone working here at the Baha'i World Centre are volunteers, and the length of service varies from 12 months to many years. Two youth who recently left haifa used to bring a lot of joy to morning tea and here they are with Allan. One returned to South Africa, the other to Australia.














On a more international level, we have just had the International Board of Trustees of Huqúqu’lláh meeting here for a few days (the 3 members live in different parts of the world!); they have just finished their discussions this morning and are returning home. It was a joy and a privilege to have such delightful and devoted souls for dinner at our home on Saturday night in an informal Aussie-style! This photo includes the Chief Financial Officer, Doug Henck.














Before the International Board came to town Allan and the office staff went to the Shrine of the Bab to pray for a fruitful meeting and took this photo. In this photo the young woman on the left is moving to another section and the young lady second from the right is serving in her place - Claire (from the USA of Korean/Chinese parents) started her first day of orientation in the bomb shelter on the first day of the conflict: she is still smiling!



This afternoon, Allan and I accompanied Dr. Ramin Khadem (who is staying one day longer than the other 2 members) to Bahji. What a blessing to be able to visit the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh after nearly 5 months absence!

The olive trees are heavy with ripening olives and the air was sweet with the smell of cut grass and hedges; it was great to see the gardeners busy at their tasks once again after a few weeks of inactivity due to the war.
















This is the summer period when pilgrimage is usually suspended for “deep cleaning” and maintenance work. Today, we found the volunteer Carpet Expert from Canada, Mr. Khurrami (here for a month or so for the very delicate and specialized task of washing the carpets of the Holy places) with his 2 assistants at Bahji on their lunch break and they very kindly posed for us!














Muna's niece Sahba (from Sydney) has just arrived arrived for a 3-day visit (her first time in the Holy Land!) and we are planning to show her around Haifa, ‘Akka and surrounds (God willing!). More on her visit next time.

So, more about those exploits at a later date; Oh! by the way, to quote our dear Grant Hindin Miller: “there is still honey in the gardens on Carmel……and the air is full of song; yes, the air is full of song, I can tell you….I can tell you”.














Our hearts overflow with thankfulness to a merciful Providence for keeping these precious places safe from harm. Bye for now! Muna and Allan