[Arktwo] This Night

[Bruce Beach]

Last night as I began this newsletter -
I wrote:

This night is different.

And now this day also has become different
from other days that we have been watching
for the last few weeks.

A MAJOR US fleet sailed through
the Straits of Hormuz
during the daytime hours there
(which was our night time).

Before,
such movements have always been during the night.
They must have been in an awful hurry -
not to wait until night.
They also landed 2500 Marines.

http://tinyurl.com/3dcdyo

http://tinyurl.com/2ha5ck

What is all this about?
Well, for one thing -
the US may be getting ready to attack Iran -
or not.

One hears all sorts of speculation -
but here is a story
from six days ago
that would give a VERY STRANGE explanation.

http://tinyurl.com/2nw4jz

It is too long to print here in its entirety.
But here are a few quotes.
[with a few comments of mine]

WASHINGTON - Admiral William Fallon, ... expressed strong opposition ... and
vowed privately that there would be no war against Iran as long as he was
chief of CENTCOM, according to sources with access to his thinking.

[I have written before
about the revolt of the generals.]

The plan to add a third carrier strike group in the Gulf had been a key
element ... to intimidate Iran.

[For many newsletters
I was so excited
about whether first the Enterprise
would head home -
and then later the same for the Ike.]

Fallon's resistance to a further buildup of naval striking power in the Gulf
apparently took the Bush administration by surprise.

[They thought him a Team player
which is why they appointed him.]

Explaining why he recommended Fallon, Gates said, "As you look at the range
of options available to the United States, the use of naval and air power,
potentially, it made sense to me for all those reasons for Fallon to have
the job."

Bush administration officials had just leaked .. that the USS John C Stennis
and its associated warships would be sent to the Gulf to "send a message to
Tehran".

The plan was for the USS Nimitz and its associated vessels... to overlap
with the other two carrier strike groups for a period of months, so that all
three would be in the Gulf simultaneously.

[This was not stated publically -
but now you can see why
I was so excited.]

Fallon's refusal ... reflected his firm opposition to an attack on Iran and
an apparent readiness to put his career on the line to prevent it. A source
who met privately ... and who insists on anonymity quoted Fallon as saying
that an attack on Iran "will not happen on my watch".

Fallon's opposition ...represented a major obstacle to the plan.

The defeat of the plan for a third carrier task group appears to have
weakened the position of Vice President Dick Cheney and other hawks in the
administration who had succeeded in selling Bush on the idea of a strategy
of coercive threat against Iran.

Despite Cheney's invocation of the military option from the deck of the USS
John C Stennis in the Persian Gulf last week, the strategy of escalating a
threat of war to influence Iran has been put on the shelf, at least for now.

[But -
that was a week ago -
and until yesterday.
Today is today.
In the face of
that slap in the face
from Fallon -
a direct order may have been given
by Bush, Cheney, Gates -
but anyway
you can look at what we have now TODAY.
Think this unimportant -
if you wish.]

-------------
So began -
my night of nights last night.

"Why (or How) is this night different from all other nights?"
is the question asked at the beginning
of the Jewish Passover.
The celebration of that night
was also the Christian night of the 'Last Supper',
because it was in observation of that celebration
that Jesus held that feast.

Later that night -
Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane:

Mark 14:32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane:
and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.

And so all that night -
Jesus spent the night in prayer -

Therefore,
in the Christian tradition
there is also found the night of prayer.
It was particularly commended to Knights
as in the story of Don Quixote.

Muslims likewise have a night of prayer -
called
"The Night of Power".

"We have indeed revealed this (message)
in the Night of Power.
And what will explain to thee what the Night of Power is?
The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
Therein come down the angels and the spirit
by God's permission,
on every errand:
Peace! This until the rise of Morn." (97:1-5)

As I wrote this last night -
I said:

This Night!
too is such a night,
as I shall explain.

We measure days -
from evening until morning
and morning until evening.
>From sunset
(or six in the evening -
particularly in extreme latitudes)
until six in the morning.
And from sunrise to sunset.

Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day,
 and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.

It is from this scripture
and many others
that we measure the day -
beginning in the evening.

So at 6:00 p.m. I had began an observation
of the night -
intending to spend the entire night in prayer.

For the evening's celebration -
my wife prepared us a special meal
of asparagus and Hollandaise sauce.
Marvelous nourishment for the body -
and marvelous nourishment for the soul
to have such a loving companion -
and it is for such reasons as this
that married men live longer.

Our specific hour of observation
is actually starts one hour after sunset.
The reason for this is that it was
at this hour
that the Báb revealed / declared Himself
unto Mulla Husayn, the first to believe in the Báb,
and who is called the "Gate of the Gate".

Báb means 'gate' -
and that is the title of the 'Forerunner'
that preceded the coming of Bahá'u'lláh.
To Muslims -
His role was the coming of the Mahdi,
identified by the Shi'ihs as being
the return of the 12th Imam.

The Báb and Bahá'u'lláh are regarded as
the Twin Manifestations of the Bahá'í Faith,
and are considered to be the
Return of Christ
and the Manifestations of God
to all the previous religions.

This momentous announcement
by the Báb, as to Who He was,
and the nature of His Mission
to prepare the way for Bahá'u'lláh,
took place one hour after sunset
on May 22nd, 1844.

It was the day that changed the world.
On the next day,
May 24th,
(remember this is after sunset on the 22nd -
so actually it is the 23rd),
anyway on the 24th,
Samuel Morse sent the
telegram transmission of -
"What hath God wrought?".

It was the beginning of the New Age
of communication beyond line of sight.
The beginning of the digital age -
because the meassage was sent digitally -
and the beginning of the electronic age.
Thus -
in that night - this night -
in 1844,
was God's Power unleashed upon the world
and the fulfillment of the Day -
awaited by all the Prophets of old -
had begun.

'Abdu'l-Bahá was also born on that night -
but He told the Baha'is that they must
not celebrate that fact.

Someone, somewhere once reported
of the Guardian
that he said:

"He wishes also to stress the fact that,
according to the Bahá'í laws,
work is forbidden on our nine Holy Days."

	(Shoghi Effendi,
	Directives from the Guardian,
	p. 37)

This is quoted and repeated
numerous times throughout the Baha'i Writings -
but there is no quote available -
that I know of -
directly from the Guardian himself.

On the other hand -
Baha'u'llah set out four days
on which Baha'is are not to work.

"On other than these four consummate days,
engage ye in your daily occupations,
and withhold yourselves not
from the pursuit of your trades and crafts."

	(Baha'u'llah,
	The Summons of the Lord of Hosts,
	p. 80)

In either case -
this is one of those days
on which I am writing to you.

Last night -
at the appointed hour
Jean and I read the
Alwah Laylat al-Quds -
which has been translated as

'The Tablet of the Sacred Night.'

http://tinyurl.com/yntud2

Twice within the Tablet -
those who stay awake and in prayer
throughout the Sacred Night -
are commended.

It was my intention -
to spend the entire night in prayer.

CLXXII
How can I choose to sleep,
O God, my God,
when the eyes of them that long for Thee
are wakeful because of their separation from Thee;
and how can I lie down to rest
whilst the souls of Thy lovers
are sore vexed in their remoteness
from Thy presence?

	(Bahá'u'lláh,
	Prayers and Meditations
	p. 263)

It had also been my intention
to get a nap during the previous day.
But -
so many emails that I couldn't do it.
Requests for shelter consultation -
and phone calls into two cases -
one from an architect designing for a client.

Not making excuses -
but it has been a bit of a traumatic week.
We had to take Chyna

www.webpal.org/chyna.jpg

the service dog in training
back for breeding evaluation
and we don't know that she will return.

And then I was to Emergency -
three times
and am still wearing the wristband.

All in all -
I only made it a couple of hours past
my regular bedtime -
and only about a third of the way
through the night,
although as noted above
I was up a couple of times
during the night to follow the above story.

Mark 14:37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping,
and saith unto Peter,
Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?

14:38 Watch ye and pray,
lest ye enter into temptation.
The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

14:39 And again he went away,
and prayed, and spake the same words.

14:40 And when he returned,
he found them asleep again,
(for their eyes were heavy,)
neither wist they what to answer him.

14:41 And he cometh the third time,
and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest:
it is enough, the hour is come;
behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Nope,
I wouldn't have done any better -
there in the garden with Jesus.

A poor watchman it is -
that you have, Bahá'u'lláh.

But here we are -
on THIS DAY -
watching these events -
in Baghdad,
in Gaza,
in Lebanon,
and many more that I could mention.

The events of the universe
swirl about us and intermingle -
and how little do we small creatures
comprehend of their significance.

Peace and love,
Bruce
DawnSayer@webpal.org