On 9/16/03 10:59 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> > I'm a little unclear why one should wait three days before fasting if > arriving at a place one will stay in for a Baha'i month, while one must fast > immediately if arriving at one's permanent home. > Is there something symbolic here that I haven't seen? I don't think so. First off, I think you have it backwards. Upon arriving home, one is *allowed* to fast immediately; however on arrival at a strange place, one is not *forced* to fast immediately. There is a similar situation with foreign pioneers. A foreign pioneer who dies at their post attains the rank of martyr in the Cause of God. > Evidently it has nothing > to do with recuperation before fasting, as there is nothing different in the > two situations. There isn't?!? In my opinion, Americans, especially American men, have such a poor sense of belonging that the normal feelings of dislocation that should occur when away from home are not allowed to be acknowledged. In fact being homesick is seen as a indication of immaturity. We are not talking about some form of jet lag here, which appears to be a simple disruption of the circadian rhythm. Recovery from this is generally blvd to take about 24 hours per time zone of change. Recent studies of the brain physiology and functioning of plane crews who regularly took long routes, regardless of time zones, without adequate recuperation time, show that brain functioning declines significantly, and that certain portions of the brain shrink in size. Complete recovery in this case appears to take at least 14 days. Don C - - - - - He who believes himself spiritual proves he is not. ---------- You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
