Visit to Bahá’í shrines highlights spiritual quest

By James Heintz
FROM HEART TO HEART for The Register-Guard
August 21, 2004

I began the search for my spiritual path before I took my first step. My father taught me about God, and my big sister walked me to church when Dad couldn't attend.

I cannot remember any time in my life when I did not love God, but I didn't find my own path to God until I was in my 20s. That was when I discovered the Bahá’í Faith.

I've spent the past 37 years of my spiritual path experiencing growth, tests and endless blessings.

My faith has powerfully impacted my life - both my view of myself as a world citizen and my understanding of my purpose are entirely based upon its teachings.

As my appreciation of my faith grew, I longed to travel to Haifa, Israel, where beautiful shrines have been built to hold the remains of Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith, as well as the Bab, the one who came to prepare his way.

The pride of Haifa is the Bahá’í Gardens, which cover sun-bleached Mount Carmel like an ornate blanket of lush green grass bejeweled with white marble buildings that bring to mind the beauty of Greece when its ancient buildings were new and unweathered.

The centerpiece of the garden is the gold-domed Shrine of the Bab, which captures your eye as you absorb the beauty of the terraces and fountains that climb from city streets to the mountaintop that blends into the Mediterranean blue sky.

I first saw the gardens as my tour bus rounded a corner, and suddenly, as if a magician had quickly pulled away his cape, I saw the point of my adoration. I crossed my chest with my hands and gasped.

"It's the shrine! Oh sweet God, how beautiful it is."

Before entering the shrine and drawing even closer to this most holy spot, I chose to slowly circumnavigate the building. Beneath the massive arches that extended across my path to the tall smooth columns, I walked and savored the coolness it gave feet and soul. An apron of marble enveloped the shrine like a welcome, and I slipped off my shoes and placed them against the wall before stepping over the threshold into the hushed atmosphere of the inner chamber.

I found myself separated from the problems of the world as I prayed and thanked God for the many gifts he has granted me. I filled myself with his love, which has been continually draped over me, and remembered when I learned to love him at my father's knees.

Bahá’ís fully appreciate that the Messengers of God - Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Mohammad, the Bab and Bahá’u’lláh - are the one and only channel God has given us to know and love him, and that they all suffered in delivering God's message.

I love them all for their gift. To walk on the holy ground that held the remains of one of the most recent manifestations was a bounty beyond belief or understanding.

James Heintz, formerly of Eugene, now serves on the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Florence. This column is coordinated by Two Rivers Interfaith Ministries, a network of more than 35 religious and spiritual traditions in the Eugene-Springfield area. For more information, call 344-5693.