It was about three years ago, while attending a conference at Green Acre Bahá'í School in Eliot, Maine, that I had the bounty of making a sunrise pilgrimage to the burial site of Louis Gregory, Hand of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. At the time I knew little about him – that he was an early African-American adherent of the Bahá'í Faith, a fantastic and tireless teacher, well-loved by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and thanks to the Master’s encouragement, one-half of perhaps the first black/white Bahá'í marriage in the U.S.

The Chosen Highway by Lady Blomfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I took my nook on pilgrimage, with a whole slew of Bahá'í e-books. I realized after the first day that I wanted to read a first-hand account from a pilgrim who visited the Holy Land during the time of the Master, 'Abdu'l-Bahá. I had already read God Passes By just last year, The Dawnbreakers some years ago, Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era fairly recently, and several other books dealing with Babí and Bahá'í history. So I decided to try out Lady Blomfield's The Chosen Highway – and was well-rewarded for it.

The Bábí and Bahá’í Religions: From messianic Shi’ism to a world religion is a thoroughly researched, academically rigorous, and yet accessible overview of the development, growth, and dominant motifs of these two religions. Its author, Dr. Peter Smith, is a researcher and professor in sociology and religious studies. Himself a Bahá’í, he takes great care to execute a balanced treatise, particularly with regard to subject matter where no substantial "neutral" sources are available. In this reader’s mind, it is an exemplary introduction for any student of the newest of the "world religions."

Off and on I've been trying to choose a biography of Bahá'u'lláh and have run across a new entry: Baha'u'llah: A Short Introduction. The author, Moojan Momen, is a consummate scholar; I'm guessing his full background in Persian religious history will provide some much-needed context to events, places, and social currents. I'm looking forward to its arrival in a week or two. Barnabas quotidianus has an excellent review.