Twenty Choices for Deepening: Web Talks on Elevated Conversations, History, and Deep Reflection on the Creative Words

Are you are looking for a topic on which you want to deepen? Or is your community wanting to deepen on something that will help it join elevated conversations. If so, now is the time to scour the Wilmette Institute’s YouTube site for talks on a variety of topics that are sure to engage you personally or that will provide a jumping-off place for discussions for meaningful conversations. For Web Talks that will inspire you and your friends to “realize how society” around you “can be refashioned” (The Universal House of Justice, December 29, 2015, par. 24), check out 2015 talks by Susanne Alexander on marriage as a service to humanity; Arthur Lyon Dahl on the transition to sustainability; Sovaida Maani Ewing on a world federation; and Steve Friberg on science and religion. Also consider 2016 talks by Brian Aull on consultation, a revolutionary model of democratic governance; Vasu Mohan on revolutionary Bahá’í teachings about gender equality; Trip Barthel on creative consultation; and Roshan Danesh on Bahá’í law. If history is your passion, look at the 2015 talks by Moojan Moman on Shoghi Effendi and Bahá’í history (a look at why the Guardian translated The Dawn-Breakers) and Baharieh Routhani Maani on the leaves of the Twin Divine trees and the 2016 talks by Julio Savi on the beginning of the Bahá’í Faith on the European Continent and by Lois Venters on the history of the South Carolina Bahá’í community (this one is scheduled for December 4, 2016). If one of your goals is, as the Universal House of Justice wrote in its December 29, 2015, letter, par. 14, cultivating “the habit of study and deep reflection upon the Creative Words” to effect “transformation” in yourself and to gain the “ability to express” your “understanding of profound concepts and to explore spirituality in conversations of significance,” choices of Wilmette Institute Web Talks are many. From 2015 Web Talks, choose from these: John Hatcher on the face of God among us; Anne Perry on the intersection of art and spirit; and Sandra Lynn Hutchison on one method of studying the Bahá’í writings. From 2016 Web Talks consider these: Shahrokh Monjazeb on Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation in the Siyah Chal; Stephen Phelps on the nature of the Manifestation in the Bahá’í writings; Todd Lawson on Bahá’u’lláh, the return of Joseph; and Shahrokh Monjazeb on Bahá’ulláh’ s first epistle to the kings and rulers of His time. Of course, categories are fluid. The Web Talks on history and on preparing yourself to participate in elevated conversations are grounded in the Bahá’í writings. Each Web Talk web page has links to:

• A short description of the talk and biographical information about the speaker.
• The Web Talk itself.
• A longer review article about the talk.

October 16, 2016 Roshan Danesh “Imagining Baha’i Law” September 25, 2016 Todd Lawson “Baha’u’llah, The Return of Joseph” August 28, 2016 Julio Savi “The Dawning of the Bahá’í Faith on the European Continent” June 6, 2016 Trip Barthel “Creativity in Consultation” May 8, 2016 Stephen Phelps “‘I Am the Mystic Fane’: The Nature of the Manifestation in the Baha’i Writings” March 26, 2016 Vasu Mohan “Six Revolutionary Teachings about Gender Equality in the Bahá’í Faith” February 14, 2016 Brian Aull “Consultation: A Revolutionary Model of Democratic Governance” January 17, 2016 Shahrokh Monjazeb “Veiled and Concealed in the Hidden Habitation of His Inner Being: Revelation in the Síyah Chal” November 15, 2015 Steve Friberg “Science and Religion” October 25, 2015 Sovaida Maani Ewing “Building a World Federation: The Key to Solving Our Global Crises” September 27, 2015 Baharieh Rouhani Maani “The Leaves of the Twin Divine Trees” September 6, 2015 Arthur Lyon Dahl “Navigating the Storm: The Transition to Sustainability” August 30, 2015 Susanne Alexander “Healthy, Unified Marriages as Service to Humanity” June 7, 2015 Sandra Lynn Hutchison “Windows on Divine Wisdom: Accessing the Meaning of the Bahá’í Revelation” May 9, 2015 Moojan Momen “The Re‑Creation and Utilization of a Community’s Memories: Shoghi Effendi and Baha’i History” May 3, 2015 Christopher Buck “God and Apple Pie: Religious Myths and Visions of America” March 1, 2015 Anne Perry “Where Spirit Intersects Art” February 1, 2015 Ian Kluge “The Baha’i Proofs for God” January 18, 2015 John Hatcher “The Face of God Among Us”