Dear Friends,

That means I am in the library in Dravograd, Slovenia!

I left on pilgrimage on 1st July and have to be in Haifa for my 9 days on 23rd October.

So far I have managed to land up at the Earthing the Spirit festival at Burnlaw; Netherlands International Summer School; the House of Worship at Langenhain, where I did a few days of service gardening and will be going to the Bulgarian Summer School next week.

These have all been most uplifting experiences in their own way but Langenhain was something very special of course.

I walked a fair bit after leaving Dumfries and again on Hadrian’s Wall, also Rotterdam to Niemegen.

I do plan to write about the journey - which is turning out to be less physical than spiritual! - on return, so will send you a ‘proper’ piece then, plus pix.

Loving greetings!

As ever

Dear Chris,

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy the Scottish Bahá’í. Our family are home-front pioneering on the southern shores of Georgian Bay in Ontario Canada with the nearest Assembly about 45 min away. It is such a joy to read the articles and see the pictures. My father was born in Aberdeen and emigrated to Canada just after the first WW. He managed to get back once in his lifetime when he was in his late seventies and was apparently just like a kid in a candy shop He even went to the store where he worked making up the bags of sugar during the war. As it turned out it was now owned by the son of the man who had employed him and he was invited to make himself at home and go down into the cellar where he used to work. For my part, alas, I have never been to Scotland despite having been to London on several occasions. Thanks to your newsletter it has now become evident how much I have been missing. God willing, this will be corrected and I will have the joy of meeting with members of the Scottish community.

Dear Friends,
The Bahá’í wedding of Martin Kerr to Tara Rout in Duncan, Vancouver Island, Canada this summer (17 July) had a certain Scottish flavour and brought together many friends with a Scottish connection. Elena Kerr and 2 year old Caelan made the trip from Scotland joined by proud parents Gordon and Maureen Kerr now in Macau.(Caelan AKA “Frodo”} was the kilted ring bearer at the ceremony. Martin also proudly wore the three generation Kerr family kilt first sported by his grandfather. Tara, a Scots Canadian on her Mother side (Mackay)was raised for a time in New Zealand and their family sang a traditional Maori greeting to welcome the guests to the occasion. The Kerrs responded by singing a Gaelic rendition of one of Bahá’u’lláh’s Hidden Words, with a melody composed by Edinburgh friends and accompanied by a Celtic harp. The international gathering also celebrated this special day of love and unity with circle dances and blessings from Greece and Israel and, of course, there was a strong Chinese influence which you may see from some of the photos. Martin and Tara met while studying in China.

Other friends sharing in the festivities included Janet and Ned Cundall, (West Linton) and Tony and Jill Henderson (Orkney and Shetland)who now all live in the nearby Shawnigan Lake area – home to the Maxwell Bahá’í school. Martin and Tara have now settled in Edmonton, Alberta where their next door neighbours is none other than our much loved adopted Scotsman Ridvan “McBell” who sends his greetings to all. Martin and Tara hope to make a trip to Scotland next year and look forward to meeting friends old and new. Meanwhile anyone wanting to send greetings to Martin and Tara can reach them at martinrosskerr@gmail.com.

Dear Friends,
Moffat Dear Friends, A recent article in the Guardian Weekly about the very serious situation the world now finds itself environmentally has given me much food for thought. When I first became a Bahá’í in 1992, Agenda 21 was very prominent, both within the Bahá’í community and in the community at large. However, over recent years it seems to have receded as a topic of real urgency, despite the constant warnings from science that the situation is worsening by the day. I am aware that many people in the wider community feel this issue to be something which we all should be addressing, but most of them feel disempowered, as we all do. I have been thinking of the new Bahá’í term, ‘community of interest’, and I wonder if we as Bahá’ís should address the environmental problem 1) as a means of reaching the communities we live amongst, and 2) as a subject of mounting importance; the consequences of not being more aware and interactive are surely too dire to ignore? If other Bahá’ís in the Scottish community feel that this issue is something we should address, please contact me, in the hope that perhaps we can consult on a way forward. With Bahá’í greetings. Carolyn Fox (email Carolyn Fox carolynjeremy@onetel.com)