Baha’i Blogcast with Rainn Wilson – Episode 55: Anisa & Doug White

Hello and welcome to the Baha’i Blogcast with me your host, Rainn Wilson.

In this series of podcasts I interview members of the Baha’i Faith and friends from all over the world about their hearts, and minds, and souls, their spiritual journeys, what they’re interested in, and what makes them tick.

In this episode, I’m joined by Anisa and Doug White, a wonderful and dynamic indigenous Canadian couple who both work in the field of law. We discuss indigenous culture in North America and some of the challenges and experiences of their people. They tell me how they found the Baha’i Faith, how they found each other, and Doug tells me what it was like being a chief for his people. We talk about raising children, and explore what’s needed to foster love and understanding amongst all peoples. I hope you enjoy the conversation!

To find out more about some of the things we covered in this episode, check out the following links:

• Anisa mentions Baha’i Pilgrimage.
• Anisa mentions the Yerrinbool Baha’i Centre of Learning.
• Anisa mentions a ‘youth year of service’ which you can learn more about here: Youth: Give a Year of Service to Humanity!
• Doug mentions Baha’i Firesides.
• Doug mentions Baha’i Study Circles.
• Doug talks about Dr. Hossain Danesh, who sadly passed away this year. Baha’i Blog has featured a number of Dr. Danesh’s talks which you can find here.
• Doug shares a prayer for newborn babies: “I have come by God’s command, have been made manifest for His remembrance and been created for the service of Him Who is the Almighty, the Well-Beloved.” -Baha’u’llah (Quoted by Martha Root, ‘Star of the West [The Baha’i Magazine], Vol. 23, no. 3, June 1932)
• Here are a couple of Baha’i-inspired links related to Truth and Reconciliation in Canada:
  – The Path Home: Reflections on Truth and Reconciliation
  – Re-Telling Reconciliation – A Talk by Roshan Danesh
• Learn more about The Highway of Tears.
• Doug mentions the book ‘Love, Power, and Justice’ by William S. Hatcher.
• Doug shares this quote by Baha’u’llah: “O SON OF SPIRIT! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.”
• Doug mentions the book ‘Obasan’ by Joy Kogawa.
• Doug mentions the book ‘Medicine Walk’ by Richard Wagamese.
• Doug mentions the movie ‘Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner’.
• Anisa talks about the Canadian TV show for kids ‘Coyote Science’.
• Anisa mentions Children’s Classes.
• Anisa mentions the Tahirih Justice Center founded by Layli Miller-Muro, who was also a guest on the Baha’i Blogcast with Rainn Wilson: Episode 4: Layli Miller-Muro
• I share an excerpt from a letter from the Universal House of Justice to the Baha’is of the United States (Read the letter here, and listen to an audio version of it here):

  “Ultimately, the power to transform the world is effected by love, love originating from the relationship with the divine, love ablaze among members of a community, love extended without restriction to every human being. This divine love, ignited by the Word of God, is disseminated by enkindled souls through intimate conversations that create new susceptibilities in human hearts, open minds to moral persuasion, and loosen the hold of biased norms and social systems so that they can gradually take on a new form in keeping with the requirements of humanity’s age of maturity. You are channels for this divine love; let it flow through you to all who cross your path. Infuse it into every neighborhood and social space in which you move to build capacity to canalize the society-building power of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation.”

You can find all of our episodes here on the Baha’i Blogcast page, and be sure to ‘subscribe’ to the Baha’i Blogcast for more upcoming episodes on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and Soundcloud.

Thanks for listening!

-Rainn Wilson

Posted by

Naysan Naraqi

Naysan is passionate about using the arts and media to explore the teachings of the Baha’i Faith. Back in 2011, Naysan started up the Baha’i Blog project, channeling his experiences in both media and technology companies to help create a hub for Baha’i-inspired content online.