Bicentenary Stories: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

A group of friends gather in Lomeharshan Lall’s apartment in Charlottetown, P.E.I., for Thanksgiving in early October, 2017, where they were then invited to a bicentenary celebration in Mr. Lall’s home in the following weeks. Photo: Lomeharshan Lall

A friend in Charlottetown, P.E.I, shares how the special time of the bicentenary led him to meeting and inviting over 40 people to celebrate with him in his home.

Celebrating Bahá’u’lláh and His teachings gave me the motivation I needed to visit my neighbours in the community that I recently moved into.

With the help of a friend, I made a simple invitation saying, “Unity Potluck: Celebrating the vision of Bahá’u’lláh: unity of all races, religions and cultures.” We then met my neighbours over several days and invited them to the potluck.

The conversations we had during these visits transported us to another world. Those we met said that they’re happy a space is being created for people to come together, while others looked forward to meeting other neighbours and creating unity. We went home flying with joy and ecstasy.

Still, before the day of the celebration, we really only thought that the neighbours and youth already involved with the junior youth program would come. Imagine our surprise when people – many of them new faces – started to stream into the apartment! We reached out to make our new friends feel comfortable and welcome. When it was time to eat, I realized three rooms were filled with more than 40 people with little space to move.

After introductions, a simple program, including music and a story about the life of Bahá’u’lláh, was shared. A friend also talked about the vision of Bahá’u’lláh in the context of the community-building process underway in the neighbourhood. The junior youth handed out quotations from Bahá’u’lláh. Over 30 people, one after the other, read the Words of the Blessed Beauty with wonder, tenderness and sincerity. Everyone attending was encouraged to write on a sticky note about how they practice unity and put it on the wall.

After the celebration, several friends asked for more spaces like this. The spirit was joyful, celebratory, and filled with gratitude for the vision of Bahá’u’lláh.

– Lomeharshan Lall