The goals of the seminar were to increase the quality of the institute and disseminate learning. This was accomplished by studying the contents of the new version of Reflections on the Life of the Spirit, especially the “A Few Thoughts for the Tutor” introduction, and through rich practical experience of applying the themes in the three parts of Book One during home visits in the greater Houston community.

“A culture of regular home visits needs to be strengthened to support the development of true friendship.”

An expanding series of seminars organized in Waves

The Training Institute for the South Central region has embarked on a series of seminars, grouped into “Waves.” These seminars have the objective to strengthen the quality of the training institute in the South Central region.

• Wave 1: 5-1/2 day regional training seminar hosted in Dallas in August.
• Wave 2: 3 -day sub-regional training seminar hosted in San Antonio, Arlington, Fort Smith, Houston, and Austin during the months of September through October.
• Wave 3: Many local seminars to be hosted in clusters across the South Central region over the coming months.

Houston Wave 2 seminar activities
The three-day seminar in Houston included morning devotions and study sessions focused on the three parts of Book One Reflections on the Life of the Spirit: Understanding the Baha’i Writings; Prayer; and Life and Death. These sessions analyzed the material in each part of Book One as it relates to the corresponding paragraphs in the “A Few Thoughts for the Tutor” introduction. Attendees discussed how the tutor endeavors to walk with participants through the development of insights that can lead to advancing their understanding of our twofold moral purpose: “to attend to one’s own spiritual and intellectual growth and to contribute to the transformation of society.”

After these study sessions, the seminar attendees were assigned to teams, who then went out into the community to make home visits. They were encouraged to share their learning and enthusiasm from the seminar space, to practice the capacities built in Book One, and to be flexible in listening to the needs and interests of the people they would visit. They also were encouraged to invite the people they visited to join in walking the path of service, to connect with the transforming power of the Revelation, to grow in capacity, to find joy in service, and to learn to assist others in a widening circle of unity.

Many kinds of home visit encounters

The spiritual intentions for all home visits were a humble posture of learning, connecting hearts; showing love, concern and support; taking insights into our local communities; serving; and relying on the Word of God. The field component of seminars also serve as a way to prepare tutors so when they facilitate their own Book One  they can accompany their participants based on their practical experience from the seminar.

• Visits to Baha’is to invite them to take part in a community service that they would be most interested in
  
• Visits with parents of children and Jr. youth who are engaged in children’s classes and Jr. youth programs
  
• Visits with friends of the Faith who are already in a study circle or who might be invited to join a Book One study circle
  
• Visits with families in neighborhoods where Baha’is are involved in reaching a receptive population
  

A few home visit stories

One team visited a couple with one Baha’i and one Christian:

• “We engaged in a discussion of many topics, often with different perspectives presented. Our challenge was to ‘agree to disagree’ while maintaining a loving and tactful discussion with multiple perspectives  having a hearing, and listening with respect if not agreement. We had been assigned to address the themes in Part 1 of Book One, which is ‘Understanding the Baha’i Writings.’ To address our assignment, we read several passages from The Hidden Words, and we talked about the prophecy of Christ regarding, ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ We felt privileged to have this experience, and were pleased when we departed from the visit as joyful friends.”

Another visit was to a family, all of whom have been Baha’is all their lives:

• “The sons are in the Jr. youth program. They served us water and shared the cupcakes that we had brought for them. Our assignment was to discuss the obligatory prayers, so we asked the boys if they had started to memorize this prayer in the Jr. youth sessions. When they shook their heads ‘no’, we invited them to say one of the prayers that they were working on. They each complied, and then we said the short obligatory prayer together. We talked about the timing, which is to say the prayer between noon and sundown. We mentioned that we wash our hands and face first, and turn to the east. Their father asked them, ‘Where is east?’ We looked around to find the sun in the late afternoon, and then realized that east is on the front side of their house. After an admiring examination of their micro-Lego architecture project, we said goodbye and headed to our car with joy in our hearts.”

Another team visit included a lively discussion with a Hindu couple in their gracious living room:

• “We sat down with this radiant couple and asked them about their life since they moved to Houston from India, after a stay as students in Haifa, Israel. They told us that they had visited the Baha’i gardens in Haifa several times, but learned that the gardens are a Baha’i holy place only after they had come to Houston. They are involved in a Book One study circle currently, and they complimented the Baha’is who have included them warmly into their lives. They were very clear that they prefer to spend their time in meaningful conversations, and do not like ‘small talk.’ They shared some of their Hindu beliefs, which they agree align with Baha’i beliefs in many ways. Our assigned task for the visit was to focus on the third part of Book One, which is ‘Life and Death.’ This topic fit very naturally into our discussion and all enjoyed the sharing of knowledge and insights. At the end of the visit, the wife shared a Hindu prayer in her language, and we said the beautiful Baha’i prayer that opens with the line, ‘From the sweet-scented streams of Thine eternity give me to drink, O my God…’ As we were leaving, the wife told us that her study circle would convene again during the coming week, and they would be starting Part 3 of Book One, which is ‘Life and Death.’ The synergy of this moment was truly beautiful.”

Home Visit Learnings

• Some tutors are waiting until the end of Book One to introduce the practice of home visits and devotional meetings, but introducing them near the beginning of the study circle experience may be more effective.
  
• Home visits themselves are just the beginning of deeper relationships. Key to their success will be to arrange follow-on activities to meet the needs of the people who were visited, and to invite them to step closer to becoming an active participant in the community building efforts.
  
• An important aspect of the visit is to listen mindfully, and to encourage and support everyone.
  
• When youth and children are at home, music, prayers, art, playing a game, and meaningful conversations can enhance the visits.
  
• The visits are best undertaken in teams of at least two, but usually not more than three, so as not to overpower the people being visited.
  
• When possible, bring a small attractive gift such as a prayer book, flowers, or a snack to share. Think about whom you will visit, and tailor the gift to them, if possible. For example, in a home with children, perhaps a coloring page and crayons. For Jr. youth, a game or healthy snack.
  
• After several home visits have taken place, getting back together to share the experiences can provide a valuable evaluation of what we are learning.
  

Wave 3 – Expanding the learning to local communities

Seminar attendees will be returning to their local communities, where they can offer seminars to widely share the seminar experience with other tutors and those who want to tutor, and to stimulate establishing a growing number of Book One and Book Two study circles throughout the South Central region. Home visits will become an important practical component of these grassroots endeavors to advance the development of vibrant community life.

A few quotations for further study

“The Book of God is wide open, and His Word is summoning mankind unto Him. No more than a mere handful, however, hath been found willing to cleave to His Cause, or to become the instruments for its promotion. These few have been endued with the Divine Elixir that can, alone, transmute into purest gold the dross of the world, and have been empowered to administer the infallible remedy for all the ills that afflict the children of men. No man can obtain everlasting life, unless he embraceth the truth of this inestimable, this wondrous, and sublime Revelation.”
Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 183

“… A critical requirement is to enable all those contributing to the work of the institute to progressively advance their understanding of the educational content: its objectives, its structure, its pedagogical principles, its methodology, its central concepts, its interconnections. … Counsellors have arranged for institutes to be organized into groupings of varying sizes to enable the lessons that are being learned by the most experienced institutes to be shared more widely, increasingly through the means of formal seminars. All these arrangements will need to be strengthened during the next Plan. …”
Paragraph 23 of the 30 December letter