Monthly Reflection: Izzat (Might) – On Emerging

This month the Australian Baha’i Community released a 24-minute documentary titled Emerging from Obscurity. It tells the story of a fledgling Baha’i community in 1950s Australia as it undertook the herculean task of raising the first Baha’i House of Worship in the region, on Sydney’s northern shores. The crises and victories depicted moved me to tears. The archival footage shared of Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum’s visit for the inauguration of the Temple, as well as recollections from friends who were present or who remembered when the Temple was being built are inspiring to behold.

Not that long ago, I dedicated a newsletter to resources about the Mother Temple of the Antipodes in Sydney but in honour of this film, I thought I would highlight some other materials we have on Baha’i Blog that are tangentially related to this documentary.

For example, some of the memories offered by Aaron Blomeley are also captured in his article “My Recollections of the 1958 Intercontinental Baha’i Conference in Sydney”. He also appears in our Deck of Questions video series to share his personal thoughts on life’s wisdom. We were honoured to publish a poem he wrote about Mother and Father Dunn, who first brought the teachings of the Baha’i Faith to Australia and who are so lovingly referred to at the end of the film. (Another wonderful artistic expression of love to the Dunns is Tom Francis’ song “Mother, Father”.)

Some of the people whose historical photographs or whose voices I believe are glimpsed in the film include:

• Collis Featherstone
• Ethel Dawe
• Fred Murray
• Effie Baker
• Peter Khan

The beauty of the choir who sang in the Temple is also mentioned, and that made me think of the choral festival that occurred at the House of Worship in 2023 and which was the subject of a short film called A Ladder for the Soul.

And then, of course, there’s Amatu’l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum. How glorious to see video footage of her and to hear her voice!

Those are some resources from the past. Looking ahead, not that far away on the horizon are the Twin Holy Days. You might it helpful to check out our special collections dedicated to Personages of the Bab and to Baha’u’llah, as well as our curated library associated with the Birth of the Bab and the Birth of Baha’u’llah.

Cherie has also created three invitation templates for these celebrations:

Birth of the Bab celebration invitation

Birth of Baha'ullah celebration invitation

Twin Holy Days celebrations invitation

As always, you can find these (and so much more!) on our free downloadable page!

Happy Month of Might!

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.