Course: Carrying Forward an Ever-Advancing Civilization (2021)
Faculty Mentor: Kim Naqvi
Editor’s Note: Virginia Breen returned to studying with the Wilmette Institute with enthusiasm this year. Carrying Forward an Ever-Advancing Civilization is her third course for 2021. She also took Promoting Moral Excellence in Business, and Economics and Community Building. We are very pleased to note that she has been so inspired by our courses.
by Virginia Breen
During the eight weeks I was studying the course Carrying Forward an Ever-Advancing Civilization, I felt both gloom and a sense of hope. So many disasters have occurred just since the beginning of this course: wildfires in the American West, hurricanes and flooding in the East. Hurricane Ida, while it was expected in Louisiana, hit the northeast with such suddenness and fury that people were caught off guard. I was saddened to hear of the many people in New York City who drowned in their basement apartments, unable to flee.
However, reading Paul Hanley’s book, 11 (Eleven), provided me with hope. First, it informed me of the “state of our present reality” and the pervasive culture of consumerism; then, it explained the way our “inscapes” influence our society and our ecosystem.
The book offered extensive examples of how the Ruhi Institute system is changing people’s lives. Through reading the writings of the Faith, they are choosing a lifestyle based on spirituality rather than materialism. As a result of learning this information, I have signed up for a training program to prepare mentors for Ruhi Book 1 that will be starting in my local area in a few weeks.
If we believe in Bahá’u’lláh and His healing message for humankind, we can’t help but feel inspired that, over time, a new world order—one based on spiritual principles—will emerge.
