We’re on the roof of a building in the Abdullah Pasha compound in ‘Akká.  It’s 7:00 PM and the sun is setting over the Mediterranean, painting sky and sea.  Viewed through the chain link fence bordering the roof, it becomes a gleaming mosaic.   A mosaic in a Mosaic land.  If I had brought my camera, I would have indulged in some shutterbugging, but I try to take “photos with my brain” instead.  Although I could really use a better memory card.

At least someone remembered their camera!

So we’re on the roof for our weekly reflection program, a change of habitat from our usual multipurpose room.  The group is singing the song we always sing, “Unite the hearts,” when the call to prayer rings out from the nearby mosque.  I find myself wishing church bells would start tolling and the worshippers at a synagogue would start harmonizing in an interfaith mashup.

The previous week, a member of the Universal House of Justice talked with our group about the spiritual prerequisites for success.  I had the (nerve-wracking) honor of introducing him (I cut the word “prerequisite” out of my intro after its multiple R’s proved hostile to my pronunciation) and sitting beside him for the duration.  The scent of his attar of rose permeated the air.

I made a card to thank him for joining us.  It was the first time I’ve painted in quite a while, and losing myself in the watercolors for a few hours reminded me why I love making art.  The line written in the lower left corner comes from the 28 December 2010 message of the UHJ to the Continental Board of Counsellors, which discusses upholding Bahá’í values and nurturing good habits of thought:

May every one of them [youth] come to know the bounties of a life adorned with purity and learn to draw on the powers that flow through pure channels.

I can’t help but notice a resemblance to an earlier painting…

Five years have elapsed, and my muse remains the same.