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Posted on May 27th, 2007 by JonathanLIVE.
Categories: Jonathans Photos.
Back in 1994, or maybe it was 1995, I went to visit the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette Illinois with local Baha’i friend Walter and his son David. It was the first time I had ever visited any Baha’i House of Worship in my lifetime. There is only one on every contenant around the world, and up until then, I was living on the far West coast. Once I moved to Oshawa back then, the trip was only a slightly gruelling 10 hour drive. 
It was a great few days and I was extremely impressed by the detail of the architecture, and the peaceful atmosphere. Then again, I have found when stepping into Baha’i locations, it was often like stepping into a different world. As though the rest of the world surrounding it just doesn’t exist anymore.
Posted on May 20th, 2007 by JonathanLIVE.
Categories: Jonathans Photos.
Looking at my photo gallery there are a lot of stories to be told. I thought it would be appropriate to share a memory or two to go with each picture so that all of you wonderful people got some idea of what it is you are looking at. Hope you like the new addition. In case you haven’t Looked at it yet, You can visit my gallery here: Jonathans Photo Gallery
Posted on April 29th, 2007 by JonathanLIVE.
Categories: Faith, Stories.
The Republic of Kiribati is situated on the Equator in the Western Pacific Ocean, roughly halfway between Hawaii and New Guinea. It used to be known as the Gilbert Islands and it is remembered for the epic battle that took place at Tarawa atoll in World War II. More recently, Kiribati made television news when it became the first nation to welcome the dawn of the year 2000. For Bahá’ís, Tarawa remains forever tied to the memory of Samuel and Lynde Tranter, their complete devotion to Bahá’u’lláh, and their great compassion for their fellow men.
It was the future Hand of the Cause John Robarts, who was so impressed by Sam’s unfailing courtesy and trustworthiness at his service station in downtown Toronto, that he persuaded Sam to switch careers and to join his group of insurance consultants. Next, he urged Sam to study the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, and then he invited him to join the Bahá’í Community.
Sam and his wife Lynde soon became pillars of the Ontario home front, frequently to the point of exhaustion. When Sam “retired”, they decided to pioneer to the Pacific and live among islanders who seemed forgotten by the rest of the planet. Plagued by a severe lack of education and surrounded by poverty and decay, these people clung to a meager and often precarious existence on barren atolls that surrounded shallow lagoons.
Lynde settled in as a schoolteacher and Sam went to work with practical help, while both prayed for the region’s progress. We have all seen places where wrecked cars are simply dumped and left to rust. But here it was not at all unusual to discover dead persons who had been abandoned without funeral. Sam was regarded with high esteem, almost with awe, when he made it his business to gently collect the dead and give them a decent burial in the hard coral.
Amid such conditions, disease could be of epidemic proportions. Sam once caught a terrible virus while on a visit to a neighboring island. His life was saved when a priest who traveled on the same boat happened to carry with him the only medicine that could have helped.
After struggling and praying for five long years, Sam and Lynde began at last to notice promising change. They had firmly made up their minds to live out their lives in Kiribati to help her people until their energies were spent. Just one more year and they would be given permanent residency status. But God had willed otherwise. Their permit to stay that crucial extra year was denied and they eventually returned to Ontario’s Haliburton. There, in quiet moments, they would converse in Gilbertese as their prayers took them back to their beloved islands.
Samuel Tranter passed to the Abhá Kingdom on November 15, 1999 in Lindsay, Ontario, not far from where he was born 82 years earlier almost to the day. Sam and his cheerful, stalwart, and ever-loving companion Lynde, shall always be remembered for having belonged to that small band of truly great Canadians who had set out to conquer the world with the love of Bahá’u’lláh.
- Harry Liedtke, Central Okanagan G, January 6, 2000
Posted on April 14th, 2007 by JonathanLIVE.
Categories: Stories.
While doing all this cleanup around my office, I happened across some fortune cookie fortunes that I had kept. I cannot recall exactly when I got these, but I think it must have been in the last year or so, since the mess I was cleaning up pretty much took formation around that time… hahaha :)… My fortunes read as follows:
Your present plans are going to succeed.
Happiness is around the next corner, wealth down the street.
If you have a cool fortune cookie fortune to share, feel free to comment on it below.
Posted on March 30th, 2007 by JonathanLIVE.
Categories: Stories.
Check it out! After 5 weeks here is what has grown inside Tanya’s uterus after 5 weeks. It already has a beating heart and the brain is forming as you can see. Pretty cool. I remember we went out for tea not to long ago and she told me about being pregnant. So far everything is going well. Glad to know she is getting good support from everyone too. I hope she keeps sharing these photos with me… would love to share them and see how it progresses till birth!
