Letters from the American Desert: Signposts of a Journey, A Vision.
Frederick Glaysher.
ISBN: 9780967042114. 0967042119. Hardcover. Preface. Earthrise Press,
2008. 172 pages. $19.99.
Frederick Glaysher invokes a global vision beyond the prevailing
conceptions entrenched in postmodernism and postmodernity.
In Letters from the American Desert, Glaysher reflects on the cultural,
political, and religious history of Western and non-Western
civilizations, pondering the dilemmas of postmodernity, in a compelling
struggle for spiritual knowledge and truth. Fully cognizant
of the relativism and nihilism of modern life, Glaysher finds a deeper
meaning and purpose for the individual and the world
community in the writings and global vision of Baha'u'llah, as expressed
in the Reform Bahai Faith. Confronting the antinomies of
the soul, grounded in the dialectic, Glaysher charts a path beyond the
postmodern desert.
Alluding to Martin Luther and W. B. Yeats at All Souls Chapel, Glaysher
calls Reform Bahais and others to embrace the universal,
moderate form of the Bahai Teachings as interpreted by Abdu'l-Baha,
Baha'u'llah's son, who had spoken throughout the West in Europe,
England, and the United States from 1911 to 1913. Abdu'l-Baha's message of
the oneness of God, all religions, and humankind holds
out a new hope and vision for a world in spiritual and global crisis. Far
from a theocracy, the Reform Bahai Faith envisions a
modest separation of church and state as the will of God, in harmony and
balance with universal peace, in a global age of pluralism.
In addition to the letters written to Mrs. Elinor Gaines, an older Bahai
from Glaysher's hometown of Rochester, Michigan, during the
late 1980s to mid '90s, reflecting on literary and cultural matters, as
well as Bahai, the book includes the 95 Theses, On Bahai
Liberty,
the Reform Bahai Articles, Abdu'l-Baha's Covenant, and book reviews of
Juan Cole, William Garlington, and Sen McGlinn, along
with other writings relevant to the Reform Bahai Faith.
Available throughout much of the world on most of the same websites as The
Universal Principles of the Reform Bahai Faith.
Link from, http://www.reformbahai.org/reform%20bahai%20press.htm
or check
your favorite online bookseller.
http://www.amazon.com/Letters-American-Desert-Signposts-Journey/dp/0967042119/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207658187&sr=1-1
The Reform Bahai Press
www.ReformBahai.org
--
Available from the Reform Bahai Press:
The Universal Principles of the Reform Bahai Faith.
Baha'u'llah & Abdu'l-Baha. Edited by Frederick Glaysher,
with a new Introduction and the original 1912 Foreword. 148 pages.
Reform Bahai Press, 2008.
Paperback: ISBN-13: 9780967042107 - ISBN-10: 0967042100. 148 pages.
$11.99.
Hardcover: ISBN-13: 9780967042138 - ISBN-10: 0967042135. 148 pages.
$19.99.
http://www.reformbahai.org/reform%20bahai%20press.htm
Order through Amazon.com and other online booksellers.
Worldwide Distribution - See the Reform Bahai Press webpage:
http://www.reformbahai.org/reform%20bahai%20press.htm
The Universal Principles of the Reform Bahai Faith collects many of the
early writings
of Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha, published in the West, seeking to restore
and preserve
their vision of the oneness of God, humanity, and all religions.
In addition to all of the 1912 Universal Principles of the Bahai Movement,
the book
includes Baha'u'llah's Arabic Hidden Words, selections known as the Spirit
of the Age,
an address by Abdu'l-Baha at the Friends' Meeting House in London in 1913,
and many Bahai
prayers for community and individual worship and meditation.
Though beginning in 2004, the Reform Bahai Faith traces its origin to the
early Bahais
Ruth White, Mirza Ahmad Sohrab, and Julie Chanler, who sought to preserve
the Teachings
of Abdu'l-Baha after his passing in 1921. They and other early American
Bahais understood
the Bahai Faith was being turned into an oppressive organization, under
what the British
Museum document expert Dr. C. Ainsworth Mitchell judged to be a fraudulent
will and
testament. Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Bahai Faith, believed in and
taught a moderate,
universal religion, grounded in a separation of church and state, not a
theocracy, and
members of the Reform Bahai Faith seek to recover and renew that saving
vision for all
humanity.
The newcomer to the Bahai Teachings will find here a brief but eloquent
and inspiring
introduction to the Faith of Baha'u'llah, while people already familiar
with it will find a
refreshing breeze has returned to revivify and uplift the spirit.
This book marks the first publication of the Reform Bahai Press, which
will publish
several more titles during the next few years.
--
The Reform Bahai Press
www.ReformBahai.org
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