It's a cool summer in Summerland, and I am about to leave. I have been taking photographs, mostly of flowers. Here is one of my recent ones...very Georgia O'Keeffe, I guess...it's quite beautiful around here right now. Tonight's particular Beauty was the Feast of Mercy (well named, well named) held at Farideh, Sia and Mish's house. I was invited to a farewell dinner before the Feast, and Farideh had made Persian dinner extraordinaire, followed by homemade Persian baklava. I cannot describe the taste of heaven, but it must include ground almonds, cardamom, and rose water.

At the Feast itself, we offered prayers for women who have recently left this world and are hopefully journeying in the invisible gardens of God. This post is, in part, an In Memoriam for a young one gone too soon. My cousin, Steve McLean, lost his daughter Lisa to a house fire last weekend. I am thinking of him, of her mother and three sisters, and am comforted in part by something which was shared by one of the relatives. She had seen Lisa, radiant, arm-in-arm with Grandmother Joyce (my mother's sister), in the gardens. Non-believers say to those of us that such visions are wishful thinking; those of us who are believers need not worry about such skepticism. We know what we see and feel, and I am heartened to think of that young one joyously received by her family, and mine. This news followed hard upon hearing about my old friend Edwina finally losing her courageous battle with cancer, and an acquaintance lost her daughter, only short months after losing her son. Heaven is gathering.

I am deeply conscious, as I prepare to journey homeward, of the blessings and mercy of love. Farideh showered me not only with delicious foods, and prayers, and our community with her incomparable hospitality, but with a Persian shawl, a card of the Greatest Name, her original Persian artwork, and her husband, Sia, presented me with sprigs of Japanese honeysuckle. Have you ever smelled Japanese honeysuckle? Its combination of intense perfume, delicate blossoms, and perfect colour overwhelmed me, once again, with the infinite variation of God's creation.

This is the Bahá'í Feast of Mercy. I feel like I've been bathed in a sensual blessing of mercy, through the gentle kindness of my friends here in Summerland, through the prayers offered for women wandering the gardens of the next world, and through the wash of tears. I am deeply grateful for the community here, and their welcome, as I set out.

On Friday I will begin the long drive home. I am going home. I will exit singing.