Showing photographs … learning photography (CC / BY-NC-SA 2.0 Nexus 6)

Last night we talked a lot about building capacity, and the necessity of being in a humble posture of learning. (This all in preparation for Northeast Massachusetts’ upcoming cluster reflection meeting!) We talked about the value of questions, and the interplay between anecdotes and questions as an overarching approach to building capacity.

As a side benefit, participants in the reflection meeting may not realize that they can ask questions. If we’re all constantly in a posture of nodding sagaciously and saying, “Yes, yes — I understand,” then we rob ourselves of an opportunity to learn. Mired in ego and the illusory self-image of “one who knows,” we propagate the idea that knowledge is a commodity to be collected and possessed. Better by far to write down a question as you listen to the story, to see yourself as a learner — as being in that humble posture of learning rather than in an all-knowing posture of ego.

“To optimize the use of these capacities, the individual draws upon…the transformative forces that operate upon his soul as he strives to behave in accordance with the divine laws and principles.” (From the 1996 Ridvan message, published in The Four Year Plan: Messages of the Universal House of Justice.)

Day 3 of the Baha’i Fast begins!