The way I understand the Bahá’í Writing, we are created in the image of God, and we can understand Him better by working on the various aspects of our spiritual selves. I also understand that we are told that one of the main purposes of marriage is to have children. It makes sense to me… Read More The Life of a Parent: Gaining Insight into a Different Kind of Love
As a writer and blogger, I have always been told to write about my passions and what I know. What I am at my core is a Bahá’í who believes that this world is transitory, a preparatory phase for the next world, much like our mother’s womb was transitory and meant to prepare us for… Read More Taking the Plunge: The Launch of Product Reviews on Sahar’s Blog
As discussed last week, France is considering banning super skinny models from its runways in light of the link between high fashion, body image, and eating disorders. While this conversation is an advance in itself, the proposed solution will cause another problem: the marginalization of super skinny women. Oh, what a tangled web we weave.… Read More The Beauty Issue: From Symptoms to Root Cause
Last June, I came across an article by John Haltiwanger in which he explained why optimists are always late. While articles such as his do help understand how people—ourselves or others—think and function, the way Haltiwanger went about excusing lateness as a natural consequence of a virtue didn’t jive well with me. I felt that… Read More Developing Virtues: Never One At the Expense of Another
Your phone is not often the first thing you think of when you’re looking for spiritual guidance, especially since there are several preliminary studies that show a positive correlation between the use of technology and stress levels. But like Dr. David Shanley explained, “Clearly a cause-and-effect relationship cannot be concluded from such limited data.” It’s… Read More Three Apps That Promote Inner Peace and Spirituality
The scope of the community building process is so large that there is a space for everyone to contribute their talents, whatever this talent might be. One can imagine my relief to know that my love for writing can be used for this same purpose. The question of course then becomes how. There is always… Read More Writing about the Normal Rather than the Abnormal: Youth Can Move the World
Faith is a powerful ideological force in American politics, and God in the Obama Era gives readers a better understanding of its influence on the way nineteen presidents of the United States performed their duties, as well as how it might influence the current president. Helping readers navigate the tricky waters of the role of… Read More Book Review: God in the Obama Era: Presidents’ Religion and Ethics from George Washington to Barack Obama by Niels C. Nielsen
Just like with anything else, reflection is an instrument that has to be used with great wisdom, for it can both fulfill its higher purpose, or lead us astray. Need I point out that the road to hell is paved with good intentions? Our purpose in life is to know and worship God, which means… Read More Reflecting on Reflection: How to Make the Good even Better
The culture of backbiting and gossip is clearly an unhealthy one, and while it is (relatively) easy to stop talking about people, it often does not mean that we are not thinking about other people in a negative light. I have seen, in the last couple of months, how poisonous these thoughts has been to… Read More Refusing to Undermine One’s Integrity: The Role of Dwelling and Self-Doubt
Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never even watched a single one of its episodes, and was already horrified by its central concept: TLC’s show Toddlers and Tiaras documents pageants in which little girls, some as young as one, dress up (or down, at times) and, their faces caked with makeup and bodies… Read More These are Not the Tiaras You Would Want Your Toddler to Wear: Why the Sparkle of TLC’s Toddlers and Tiaras Worries Me