FUNDamentals

The Issue Wherein We Debut a Short Film and Talk About Finding a Home.
From the Editor

The FUNDamentals Team has some lovely offerings and useful information for you in this issue. Check out a new film about loving and giving made by a volunteer contributor and join us as we ponder the meaning of "home".

Enjoy!

The FUNDamentals Team

P.S. We're working hard on the upcoming issue, Finding/Financing Your Calling. We're excited. We think you should be too.

"I Love, Therefore I Give" Short Film
FUNDamentals Cinema

The FUNDamentals Team is all about exploring new ways of reflecting on and expressing love for the institution of the Baha'i Fund. When the Universal House of Justice (the international Baha'i governing body) calls contributing to the Baha'i funds an "integral part of the spiritual life of every Baha'i", all Baha'is have a duty to think about what it means for us personally. And that's just what Anya Mitchell, an aspiring artist/printmaker/graphic designer, did. She sent us this wonderful little film and we wanted to share it with you.

The way the film links love and contributing to the Funds is subtle but effective.  When you get right down to it it's all about love, love for God, for His creation, for the Institutions established to carry out His work.  Whether it's participating with the Funds, teaching the Faith, holding a study circle, making a home visit, or teaching a children's class, these are all elements of carrying to fruition plans designed to spread God’s love reflected through our hearts to others. This quote from Shoghi Effendi, written about the funds in particular, can, however, speak to all of these activities that the Baha'i world is being asked to engage in - "It is the spirit, not the mere fact of contributing, that we should always take into account when we stress the necessity for a universal and whole-hearted support of the various funds of the Cause." We give because we love. We act because we love.

And now, without any further ado, here's the movie!

Do you have a film you'd like to make or made already? Send it to us!

Renting Vs. Buying - Material/Spiritual Considerations
Spiritual Financial Planning

There's a really interesting article in the New York Times from May of this year (free registration required). It considers what's involved in buying vs. renting a home, and how the author eventually came to the conclusion to buy (there's even a very helpful calculator). It mentions, for example, the oft-heard myth that renting is just throwing money away, as well as the many costs associated with owning a home that have to be reflected on when one is thinking about buying. But, the FUNDamentals Team thought to itself, what is missing from this conversation?

Owning or renting a home or apartment need not be merely a material consideration. It's important to think about the why's involved in choosing a home just as much as the how's and when's. If we view our life's goal to be service to humanity and contributing to an "ever-advancing civilization," then every aspect of our life can be viewed through that lens. What home, for example, will allow us to host groups of people, whether large or small, for such things as study circles or children's classes? What kind of space is best for a family,"a nation in miniature," as described by Abdu'l-Baha?

As with so many questions of this nature, only you and the dear ones in your life can answer that question. But what a wonderful foundation to lay for your future home!