The beauty of nature

And at whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the standards of Thine omnipotence. -- Bahá’u’lláh


LAUDATE (Eilat, Israel, Oct '93)

Ragged edges, grand growth
Your marvellous massiveness of
Rock
Stands
Imposing your strength
With peaceful stateliness
And static power

With dominant ascendance
Your patient peaks
Protrude repeatedly
Extending far, far, far.
With calm and silence
You claim the space of vastness
Entrancing your beholders,
Enraptured and belittled
As they sift into
Near nothingness
While your scabrous slopes

Stand
Imposing your bedrock
While men submit
To your hold on land
While they capitulate
By contouring, overpassing
Your impregnable demesne,
Yielding yet delineating,
Disposing of you as they please
To Jordan, Egypt, Arabia and Israel

With foolishness they attempt
To divide your invincible substance
For while they perish by thousands
Your power is proven
As centuries surrender
To the serene eternity
Of your salient station

For within you lies
The impenetrable mystery
Of His mounting Kingdom.

Please God, He may enable thee to inhale the sweet fragrance of His Day, to partake of the limitless effusions of His grace, to quaff thy fill, through His gracious favor, from the most great Ocean that surgeth in this Day in the name of the Ancient King, and to remain firm and immovable as the mountain in His Cause. -- Bahá’u’lláh

loving diversity

Diversity is wonderful. In the world of music, this is a known fact. There is nothing more boring than music that would always sound the same. In the world of nature as well, diversity is not only welcomed but sought out. Why is it then, that in the world of human beings, some believe that diversity is something to be avoided at all costs? To prefer people who are "like us", who think "like us" and who dress "like us", is a phenomenon that is strange when one thinks it. Any composer will never write a symphony for the violins only or he would put the audience to sleep. There is nothing more gorgeous than the diversity of musical instruments. And the tuba is not better than the violin, just different.

Similarly, to build a house, one needs all types of professional people, the architect, the mason, the plubmer, the electrician. Without every one of them, the house will not be perfect. Yet, for some reason, there is still prejudice in the world, praising those who are "educated" and putting down those who are not. But what is to be "educated" in reality?

But some humans like to form clans, the us versus them, we are the same, you are different. We are "educated", you are not. Learning better can really start in the family. Children can be discouraged from saying "my father is better than your father", and later on in life, we continue the same thought process by saying "my religion is better than your religion" or "my university is better than your university" which, at the international level just translates into "my country is better than your country".

In music, all notes are equal and all notes are beautiful. But if you play the same note over and over, nobody would want to hear your composition. What makes music beautiful is contrast and diversity. It's the different note, the unexpected one, that pleases the ear. It's the fast rhythms followed by slow, it's long notes followed by short ones. Diversity and difference are key to a good piece of music. Let's also make it the key to living in our beautiful world.