Baha’i Perspectives

Interview Series June 6th, 2008

The Interview Series aims to reflect the unity in diversity of the Baha’i Faith through a series of informal interviews with people from various cultures and backgrounds, touching on their personal experiences and insights. In our first interview, we chat with John from the United Kingdom.

Where are you from?

I’m from a small village in rural Suffolk, England.

How long have you been a Baha’i?

10 years, 1 month and 14 days.

When did you first hear or see the word?

I had a friend who lived in a neighboring village. When his family moved, a Bahá’í family moved into his home. I grew up with their son and we went to school up to the end of high school together. He would be there when we would go out and drink sometimes but he wouldn’t drink. I had heard the word Bahá’í somewhere during this period of time.

Why does one need faith?

I was totally anti-God. At the age of twelve I came to the conclusion that God was all a bunch of hokus pokus. When my dad had a heart attack I was certain there wasn’t a God, so I entered into a bargain with God something to the effect of ‘if you let him live I will believe in you’ - he lived, not sure that God bought into my bargain though or not! I was always into philosophy, and I came to the conclusion that all these religions in the world cannot be wrong and I wanted to know what it was that united them, what the truth was in all of them. I went to a gathering to find out more about the Baha’is and that’s where the last jigsaw piece was put in. It was pretty instant when I heard about progressive revelation - that was the key!

What about the Bahá’í Faith gives you hope?

The Faith gives me a very specific certainty in some things - faith in the human race, it gives a person confidence to contribute to society and it gives meaning to the things I do in life. To genuinely believe that there will be a better world, to truly believe it, to have a conviction, that I, as an individual, can do something. Anyone who has faith believes that something can be done which enables a solution (to the problems of the world) to be found.

What virtue do you esteem most highly or try to adhere to most often?

Sincerity. To be sincere with those around you.

What do you consider your greatest achievement in life, to date?

Getting married! (His wife was sitting next to him when he answered this question )  

Being able to adapt and live in any country (John has lived in 5 countries/territories.) The more places you go and see, the less strange the world becomes, and the world truly becomes your home!

What life lesson do you wish you had known earlier?

I wish I had been a Bahá’í earlier! If you grew up in it, it would be easier to apply the teachings to your life.

The relevance of religion, especially to the day in which we live in now, which for a long time I didn’t believe in. That God provides the tools we need in life.

Your favorite passage from the Writings?

Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.

(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 213)

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