An eastern suburbs community outing to the Baha’i Temple 

In this personal reflection, Collis Ta’eed explores the meaning of a vibrant community, and how visits to the Baha’i House of Worship can further enrich that sense of vibrancy and unity. 

Earlier this year, like many Baha’i communities, we had a festive Naw Ruz party. Ours was held at a little community hall next to a large oval, together with our neighbouring Eastern Suburbs communities. During the party, we had a collective art project, where everyone expressed their idea of ‘what makes a vibrant community’? (Mine was a weird lego sculpture, but it meant something to me!) 
 
As the party wound up, I found myself standing at the edge of the field watching one of my children on a hijacked Lime Bike chasing other kids around while still more squealed and yelped in delight. A friend of mine who’d come along for the party, standing next to me, suddenly said “You know, to me this is ‘vibrant community’. I don’t have anything like this in my life.” 
 
I think sometimes we forget how lucky we are as Baha’is that we’re part of this amazing community. In my case, not only did I have ready access to a beautiful, fun, eccentric community, but I’d actually only moved in three months prior! Who else in the world knows they can move basically anywhere and have an instant, extended family? 
 
This sense of community is what inspired us last Saturday to organise a little 21-seater commuter bus and take a day trip up to the Baha’i House of Worship. The timing felt important. With the Temple soon to close for renovations, we realised this would be one of our last opportunities to see it in its present form. Communities like Lane Cove and Mt Druitt have been making wonderful use of the House of Worship, and that inspired us to say: why not us too?

On arrival some of the long-standing Baha’is visited the nearby Mona Vale Cemetery, where the first Australian Baha’i woman, Effie Baker, as well as loved ones are buried. It was a touching moment of remembrance before joining the wider group, with more community members having arrived in cars in the meantime.
 
At the Visitor Centre we watched Emerging from Obscurity, a new film about the dedication of the Temple in 1961. To make the moment even more special, one of our own, Eva Grant, shared her personal memories of being at that dedication more than sixty years ago! Her recollections brought history to life and reminded us that our own communities are part of this larger story. 
 
Afterwards, we gathered for prayers inside the House of Worship. It was beautiful to hear voices rise in reading and chanting. My favourite part of the day was watching three little brothers, who got up to read prayers. First came the eldest, then both the older boys helped the littlest say his prayer, and finally the middle one confidently launched into a prayer he’d chosen — it turned out to be the Long Healing Prayer. That pretty much summed up community for me – lots of love, devotion to one another and God, and space for a little giggle. And since the House of Worship is the spiritual centre of our community, what better place to be for it? 
 
Oh and my friend who’d admired our vibrant community? He came too – and brought two enormous trays of bakery delights for everyone.