YOUNG AT HEART
Bahá'í Newsletter
November 2001


Mission Statement

To facilitate seasoned Bahá'ís to utilize their life 
and professional experiences, talents and resources, 
knowledge and skills in continued service to Baha'u'llah.

Announcement

For those of you who have a change of snail-mail 
or e-mail address, please notify us so that we can 
continue sending you the Young At Heart newsletter. 
Thank you. 

News

As you are all aware, our beloved Pat Locke ascended 
to the Abha Kingdom this past October 20. What you might 
not be aware of is how much service Pat provided. The 
following is quoted from the Office of Public Information 
of the Bahá'ís of the United States: Patricia Locke, an 
American Indian of Lakota and Chippewa heritage, was 
recognized by some as one of the most influential 
Indian people of the 20th century. Mrs. Locke was a 
leader in the movement toward better education of 
Native people. She published numerous articles through 
her regular column in the Lakota Times and other various 
venues focusing on American Indian cultural issues.  
In 1993, she was the first Indian woman elected to the 
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United 
States and at the time of her passing, she served as 
vice-chairman, the first Native American to do so. She was 
recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1991 
recognizing her work in preserving American Indian tribal 
languages and culture. She also held numerous appointments 
and advisory posts related to Indian affairs. Patricia Locke 
lived on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota and 
her tribal affiliation was Standing Rock Sioux-Hunkpapa 
Lakota and White Earth Chippewa-Mississippi Band. Her Indian 
name was Tawacin Waste Win (She has a good consciousness, 
compassionate woman). Her life is an example of outstanding 
service to the Bahá'í Faith and to Native Americans.  

Some of you have asked me to write about my trip to Poland, 
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that I completed this fall. I 
left the United States on September 5 and returned on October 
8. Frankly, it took me nearly three weeks to get my head back 
in the right time zone after returning. Most of where I was is 
seven hours ahead of the central time zone. 

What started out to be a rather ordinary travel-teaching trip 
turned out to be rather extraordinary due to the events of 
September 11. On that day I was in Lublin, Poland, and had 
spent the day shopping with a girlfriend. Upon our return to 
her apartment around five in the afternoon, she received a 
call from a neighbor telling her to turn on her TV. Like all 
of you, we were stunned at what we saw. We could not get CNN 
so we watched CNBC and other German programs about the unfolding 
of destiny. My friend got down her copy of Citadel of Faith and 
we started referencing that. 

After a few days I went to Warsaw in order to fly to Tallinn, 
Estonia. The family I stayed with in Warsaw had CNN and was 
able to watch more of the happenings. He worked at the American 
Embassy and he told me that people had come to the embassy and 
left many flowers and candles. On the way to the airport the 
next morning he drove me by to see this. Later I found out 
that all the American Embassies in countries I was to visit 
had received flowers on their doorsteps as tokens of grief 
and condolence. 

When traveling around and when people discovered I was an 
American they would come up to me - perfect strangers - and 
offer their sympathy. I was asked at firesides what kind of 
retribution the Bahá'í Faith offered for the acts perpetrated 
on the United States. I always referred them to the Hidden 
Words Arabic #2 about Justice and had it read in the appropriate 
language. I moved around a lot and gave many firesides mostly on 
the topic of Building the Kingdom of God on Earth. Very appropriate 
considering current events. 

Many people where I traveled did not have TV so my exposure to 
the events unfolding was quite limited. There are two rather 
treasured memories I will share. In Liepaja, Latvia, I was 
witness to a very magical evening. A Bahá'í youth had organized 
an evening at a library for the purpose of music, dance and poetry 
reading. Most of the people who attended the event where not 
Bahá'ís but knew of the Faith. A young woman who performed in 
all three venues was absolutely extraordinary. She was so very 
talented that when she sang I thought I was listening to Barbara 
Streisand 30 years ago, and when she recited poetry there was 
no need for translation as her voice said it all. And the dance 
she performed was remarkable. Such wonderful talent in such a 
remote part of the world and all in Russian. 

In Lithuania, I was taken all over the country - literally - 
by pioneers there from Alaska. We went from one place to another 
every day and it was a great experience to meet all the Bahá'ís 
and friends there. After an all night train trip from Vilnius, 
Lithuania, to Warsaw, Poland, I began my return home. The trip 
was by way of Warsaw to London (Heathrow) and then to Chicago 
and then on to Waterloo, Iowa. The security in London was VERY 
tight. I happened to fly United flights all the way to Waterloo 
from London and frankly I was not a bit afraid to fly. The trip 
was exhausting but quite exhilarating. It is interesting to note 
that so many of the National Spiritual Assemblies in Eastern 
Europe are in their infancy and to note also how much guidance 
they need. There is a tremendous need for pioneers and travel 
teachers in these areas, and I must add that the cost of living 
in these countries is NOT high. If you are interested, contact 
our pioneer office in Evanston. 

An e-mail was received recently from Tobey Hampson of the Desert 
Rose Bahá'í Institute in Eloy, Arizona. Friends from all over the 
country have responded to the invitation to come and participate 
in this venture. At the moment it is in its finishing stages and 
is comprised of four buildings built in a rectangle with a gazebo 
in the center of the courtyard. The tenants are renting their 
apartments and over two-thirds of the units are taken. Individuals 
interested are invited to write for information regarding this 
exciting venture. The Desert Rose Institute is the Bahá'í Faith 
moving its spiritual principles into the social and economic 
development of the world of today. Contact Tobey at: 5688 
Tweedy Rd., Eloy, AZ 85231 or e-mail: rthampso@casagrande.com. 

For those of you who were at the Kingdom Conference in Milwaukee 
this past summer, and for those of you who were not, I am pleased 
to announce that there is now a web site accessible to browse. It 
has a lot of information on it including the workshops given then, 
and that includes the Young At Heart workshop. Just go to: 
www.kingdomconference.org and click on Workshop Information 
Exchange. Scroll down to Practical Applications of Spirituality 
under Topics and there you will find us.

A reminder to all of you to make plans to join us at Bosch Bahá'í 
School next May for a weekend of fellowship and spiritual love 
and inspiration. The dates are May 10-12. In addition to Jack 
McCants, Dr Homayoun Mahmoudi will be joining us. For those of 
you old enough to remember, Dr. Mahmoudi spoke at the Desert 
Rose meetings over Thanksgiving when they were held in Tucson. 
I last heard him ten years ago while Bill Sears was still with 
us and he is very good. Of course, we all know and love to hear 
Jack speak and we look forward to being with you and them next May.

Your editor is leaving for Houston for the month of December 
so the next newsletter will be scheduled for January 2002. Do 
keep in touch and send us some news.

Warmest Bahá'í love to all of you! 

Judith Griffin                                                 Virginia Harden
Judithgrif95@hotmail.com                             vharden@mail.rlrnews.com
319-476-3522                                                  620-449-8955