Baha'i is a way of life

Inside a sacred wooden box on a high shelf in Gena Kuester's living room, the Kitab-I-Aqdas, and a set of prayer beads rest atop one another.

The Kitab-I-Aqdas, or the book of laws written by the Baha'i faith's founder, Baha'u'llah, is meant to be stored in a special place, Kuester said as she gently takes it down from the shelf.

The retired Victoria educator has been practicing Baha'i since the 1960s, she said.

Though brought up Catholic, she was introduced to Baha'i at Texas A&I Kingsville by one of her professors.

"It felt like it just fit. It felt comfortable," she said, mentioning her husband, then-boyfriend, also decided to follow the faith at the same time. "I could live with it and make it a way of life."

Baha'is understand world religions as being part of the same organization of thought.

"We look at all of them as religions of one God but because of different cultures and nationalities, we have different ways of worshiping," said Kuester.

She also explained all religions have equal importance and value, and they believe their holy messenger and writer of the sacred text, Baha'u'llah - the founder of Baha'i - is the most recent messenger of God. He died in Israel in 1892.

Baha'is believe he was the long-awaited second coming of Christ, prophesized in Islam, Christianity and other major religions.

Some Baha'is believe he is in general terms, the return of Jesus and that the Messiah has already come and gone in the form of Baha'u'llah.

Kuester describes Baha'i as peaceful religion, honoring the equity and unity in all mankind.

"It is spreading very fast in some countries. When people accept it, we will have world peace," she said.

Kuester currently serves as secretary of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Baha'is of Victoria, where she says there are about 40 area members.

The group has been around as early as the 1970s in Victoria because when she relocated to the city, there was already an established group.

They gather together for feasts and socials in someone's home, and they recite prayers and discuss the teachings of Baha'u'llah in the rhythm of many other church congregations.

"It's not something we're trying to push on other people," Kuester said. "We don't proselytize at all. We pray in the privacy of our own homes."

And there is much prayer in Kuester's home, she said, which consists much of the time reading prayers from the Baha'i faith.

Her prayer beads are used three times daily, a requirement of the faith. With 95 beads on the strand, she also recites "Allah-u-Abha" meaning God is most glorious, 95 times a day as she touches each bead on the strand.

Karen Justice, of Victoria, is another member of the Baha'i faith in Victoria.

She, too, was raised Catholic, and said at one time, she considered joining the convent to be a nun but said she allowed herself to become a follower of the Baha'i faith after meeting her husband and his Baha'i parents.

"They were so loving to me," Justice said. "They took me in so lovingly and became my spiritual parents."

For Justice, she doesn't feel the need to shed her Catholic identity. She has annexed her Baha'i beliefs on the side of her Catholic practice.

"It's sort of similar to the thought that a Christian is a completed Jewish person. A Baha'i is a complete Christian," she said. "It completes my faith."

Because the Baha'i faith stems from the Middle East, its governing body is in Haifa, Israel. Kuester said some may consider Baha'i to be an off-shoot of Islam.

"It's not," she said. "It is its own independent faith."

Kuester has made the holy pilgrimage to Haifa, however, where she purchased her beloved prayer beads.

And she has found great peace and love in her heart from pursuing the faith for more than 40 years.

She enjoys the emphasis the religion places on understanding and peace, as well as the teachings of Baha'u'llah to eliminate injustice and prejudice.

"It is to lead man, love God and worship God, but it's also to provide harmony and peace to mankind," she said. "Religion is to unify, not to divide.

written By Jennifer Lee Preyss in victoriaadvocate.com