On the Road Again

Day 1 - Wednesday

We're off on a 10 day or so trip.  Today we leave Peoria and head for Desert Rose Baha'i Institute in Eloy, Arizona, halfway between Phoenix and Tucson.  It's not a long drive but it's the day before Thanksgiving so there's a lot of traffic on the road, and we have to go through the middle of Phoenix.  We take I-17, the so-called truck bypass, but it's still stop and go traffic and it takes us 2.5 hours to reach our destination, which we do safely.

A pleasant surprise is getting re-acquainted with John and Susanna, who we first met in Macau when we had just arrived for our time in China.  They were very welcoming then, and now is no different.  They help us get the RV set up and we settle in for our stay.

Day 2 - Thanksgiving

We've volunteered to help with the preparation and serving of Thanksgiving dinner here at Desert Rose, so we head over and meet some new people and some old friends.  Preparations are well in hand and they won't need us until it's time to serve dinner after 4pm, so we make a trip to fill up the car with gas and check out a new route to I-8, which will save us some time when we leave.  It turns out to be OK for the RV.

Later we attend a devotional program, then get to serve, and later enjoy a traditional dinner of turkey with cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, vegetable and gravy followed by a choice of pies.  It's good to spend time with Baha'is, especially Polly and Rex, our friends from Sun City who have also come down for the weekend.

Days 3 and 4 - Winter School

We've really come for the special program held every year at the Baha'i Institute on Thanksgiving weekend.  This year's speaker is Dr. Steven Phelps, a Baha'i who is a physicist specializing in cosmology as well as a scholar who has translated some of the Baha'i writings from Persian and Arabic into English.

Over the 2 days he challenges us, sharing quotes from the writings of Baha'u'llah and The Bab, the twin Manifestations of God who were the Founders of the Baha'i Faith.  Some of these quotations are new to us, and make us rethink the purpose - and practice - of prayer.

Steven also draws parallels between some of the concepts of modern physics, s[specifically relativity, complementarity and symmetry, and the principles of religion.  Everything he says makes sense, but it will take some time to realize the full implications.

In addition to the talks, we're able to get to know more Baha'is, and enjoy the atmosphere of friendship and mutual service.  The program ends before dinner on Saturday.  We head into the nearest town (Casa Grande) to stock up with groceries ready for our next journey, which will take us into California again.