Monthly Reflection: Baha (Splendour) – Fasting & Family

Hi friends!

I’m left speechless by the incredible Naw-Ruz gift we’ve received from the Universal House of Justice! If you haven’t already seen it, you can find the full 19 March 2025 message on family life and marriage on the Baha’i Reference Library. We’ve also created an audio reading of the message, in case it helps you in your study of it:

I’m also left somewhat speechless by the intensity of the Fast as it relates to what we created and shared over the last 19 days. Because we publish content over several platforms, I’d like to recap what we produced, in case you missed some of it.

Melodies of the Kingdom by Mazra’ih

During the course of the Fast, we released a stunning musical series by Mazra’ih, a group from Queensland. I can’t speak for others, but these melodies were enchanting and so easy to learn and sing aloud–I found they truly carried me through during my day, from sunrise to sunset and the quiet moments in between.

You can find all the songs on a variety of music platforms but most notably we released a playlist of all the music videos on YouTube.

As explained on Horizons, these songs were the fruit of a songwriting workshop that explored the blending of “earth and heaven”. We are truly grateful to Lachlan for having recorded the four songs, and to Mazra’ih for giving them to us to share.

Audio Readings of Quotations

To kick off the Fast and to hopefully provide some spiritual nourishment, we released 5 videos of quotations from the Baha’i Writings read aloud on YouTube or on our social media channels:

• The Wisdom of Fasting: Words of Abdu’l-Baha

• The Wisdom of Prayer: Words of Abdu’l-Baha

• “Blessed is the one who through the heat generated by the Fast increaseth his love, and who, with joy and radiance, ariseth to perform worthy deeds. Verily, He guideth whomsoever He willeth to the straight path.”

• “Thou hast endowed every hour of these days with a special virtue, inscrutable to all except Thee, Whose knowledge embraceth all created things.”

• Dew to the Soil of the Human Heart

Several of these quotations were read by Nava Revalk, and we’re truly grateful to her for her assistance.

Collaboration with Dr Daniela Koppold

Dr Daniela Koppold of Germany loves the Fast so much that it has been the guiding light of her studies and professional medical career. Every day, Daniela shared a video with us which was posted on Instagram and TikTok where she spoke about various physical and spiritual aspects of the Fast. Her insights were engaging, enlightening and enriching. There were several days when I was surprised to hear her talk about scientifically-proven aspects of fasting that articulated my own experiences–it was wonderful to learn others felt the same way too! Daniela’s videos, in addition to sharing truly marvellous scientific information about fasting and posing thought provoking questions, demonstrated a sense of wonder and excitement about this unique time of year. Here’s a little proverbial taste of what Daniela spoke about when she addressed the topic of spiritual and biological purification:

Daniela also called in other experts to talk about the general as well as dental health benefits of fasting and positive psychology. And every day she shared an inspiring quotation as well as some personal questions to ponder and reflect on based on her theme of the day.

I am deeply grateful to Daniela for being so generous with her knowledge and her time, for her enthusiasm and radiant smile.

In addition to the above mentioned initiatives, over the course of the Fast we also shared Studio Sessions, articles, videos and audio. For my perspective in the editorial hot seat, the last Baha’i month was truly bountiful and the online landscape was rich with Baha’i-inspired offerings!

I hope you had a wonderful month of fasting and–although I am a little late–I wish you many blessings in this new year. Happy and joyous Naw-Ruz!

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Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.