Commemorating the Anniversaries!

For many years I have been involved in the creative celebration of Holy Days.  I have dragged my husband, who is good with sound, lighting, set design, fabric hanging, and video editing, into various productions and involved other friends and cohorts.  We've staged programs that have had elaborate sets, creative aspects such as music, dance, costumes, sound effects, visual projections, and the like.  The photos below are from a 2016 Ridván program in Austin.

Now, with the inspired guidance of the Universal House of Justice and the application of the Badi calendar system, we are all encouraged to increase our creativity in our commemorations of the Twin Holy Days associated with the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh--particularly in 2017 and 2019, 200 years after their respective births.

In its letter of July 12, 2016, the NSA reminds us that the House of Justice stated that “these Holy Days should be viewed as special opportunities for the friends to reach out to the widest possible cross-section of society and to all those with whom they share a connection―whether through a family tie or common interest, an occupation or field of study, neighbourly relations or merely chance acquaintance―so that all may rejoice in the appearance, exactly two hundred years before, of One Who was to be the Bearer of a new Message for humankind.”

The House of Justice continued: “The locus of activity for the bicentenaries is to be at the local level. The House of Justice anticipates that in countless places across the world, both rural settings and urban centres, the friends will find creative ways to honour the Twin Manifestations Whose lives and sacred missions will be recalled on Their anniversaries. . . .

“At the heart of these festivities must be a concerted effort to convey a sense of what it means for humanity that these two Luminaries rose successively above the horizon of the world. Of course, this will take different forms in different contexts, extending to a myriad artistic and cultural expressions, including songs, audio-visual presentations, publications and books. Such initiatives, coupled with widespread celebrations that are both uplifting and reverent, are also sure to spark the curiosity and wonder of many who may as yet be unfamiliar with the names of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. However, the real transformative power of the Faith is likely to be perceived more readily still if people experience how worship and meaningful service are being woven into the fabric of the lives of Bahá’ís everywhere. Indeed, from the community-building activities of the Five Year Plan emerges a pattern of collective life within which anyone can discern the vivifying influence of the divine teachings brought by God’s Manifestations.”  (US NSA, To the American Bahá’í community for the Feast of Kalimát, 7/12/16)

I would like to offer various ideas and resources that others may draw from, during the next five years. 
And so, not knowing how to create an instant website and maintain it, I have simply begun a blog. It is awkward because I can't attach WORD or PDF files, but easy because I can efficiently post things. (If anyone wishes to collaborate by creating and maintaining a website, please let me know!)