THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,571)

Regular update on the number of pageviews received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United Kingdom 560
2. United States 519
3. Russia 122
4. Brazil 72
5. Germany 69
6. Palestinian Territories 54
7. Switzerland 50
8. France 50
9. Ukraine 42
10. Ireland 33

This week's total: 1,571 (last week's: 836). These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's stats software doesn't show me numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country.

This is the highest number of pageviews in a single week since the blog began. Occasionally somewhere in the world features in the list for the first time - and that's the case this week. I don't normally highlight or comment on this, but there's an unexpected synchronicity between this week's visitors and today's world news. Whether or not the United nations recognises certain parts of the world, perhaps Blogger leads the way. Nuff said?

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of that map for "now" (whenever that is), "today", "this week", "this month" and "all time" (which seems to mean the last 12 months). They're updated each time I look at them.

LEICESTER SPEAKS 2011 STEERING GROUP

A meeting of the steering group for Leicester Speaks 2011 this morning at Leicester Adult Education College, Wellington Street. As well as Leicester Council of Faiths, there are participants here today from:

• Citizens' Eye Community News Agency
• Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Service
• Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce
• Novas Scarman Group
• TouchRainbow Productions

WORSHIPPERS UNITE FOR TEATIME TREAT

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Worshippers unite for teatime treat 

Worshippers of different faiths united yesterday to give help to people in need. 

Volunteers from Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh organisations gave out food and spent time with members of the West Indian Senior Citizens' Project, in Highfields, Leicester. 

The event, Talk Over Tea, was held in the run-up to Sewa Day, an annual day of volunteering which sees thousands of people of different faiths around the world doing good deeds to help others. 

The group in Leicester was also joined by staff from Bobby's Restaurant, in Belgrave Road, who helped to give out food and refreshments. 

As well as giving help to people in need, Talk Over Tea aimed to build bridges between people of different faiths. 

St Philip's Centre, a charity in Evington which works to build bridges between people of different religions, helped to organise the event. 

Riaz Ravat, who works at the centre, said: "It has been a special day for us. The number of people of different faiths who have put a smile on the faces of those who came has been fantastic. 

"There was so much enthusiasm from all the volunteers." 

Volunteer Kartar Singh Bring, who is Sikh, said: "Working hand-in-hand with other faith communities in Leicester to celebrate our shared values is a great way to bring people closer together." 

Sewa Day itself takes place on Sunday.

In the photo: Stephenie Spiby and volunteer Vandana Patel share a joke and a cuppa at the West Indian Senior Citizens' Project, in Highfields, Leicester, during yesterday's Talk Over Tea event. Picture by Will Johnston

THE MATRIX

Downstairs in Phoenix Square's cafe bar, after the launch of Listen to the Boys, I sit with Simon Parker and Steve Beverley (cue shameless plug for their radio show, The Jazz Shambles) for a brief and amusing chat about Scandinavian crime fiction. I'm taken by surprise to see the Council of Faiths logo appear on the cafe bar's matrix screen. The logo is attached to our tweet about the upcoming Faiths Film Festival during National Inter Faith Week, which is on display on the screen - there then follows half a dozen or so retweets from different sources (@breadandvirtue; @Clarendon_Park; @IFWeek; @me_positive; @My_MECFSPortal; @sky_like_you; @things2doinleic).

The matrix screen is displaying tweets of all sorts that mention Phoenix Square in an animated, multi-colour dynamic display. Nice idea! Quite a lot of my tweets mention Phoenix Sqaure, as you can imagine, faithful reader. This will only encourage me to do more.

LISTEN TO THE BOYS

At Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre this afternoon, for the launch of Listen to the Boys: Family Action Post Sexual Abuse Project.

In the photo above: Simon Parker of Citizens' Eye Community News Agency and Tina Barton of Wot Box Particpation, both of which are actively supporting this project.

REDP CORE PARTNERS TAKE STOCK

Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) is the venue for this morning's meeting of the Core Partners of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP) with Dennis Fisher, Grants Officer at The Big Lottery. It's The Big Lottery's Basis Fund that bankrolls REDP and Dennis is charged with overseeing our project. We've met with him several times in different settings over the past couple of years; he's here today to talk about our work so far and how we're going to make progress in the final year of this intial funding period.

Round the table for this meeting with Dennis are the Chair of REDP, Iris Lightfoote (The Race Equality Centre), Dee Martin (Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living), Ian Robson (Leicester LGBT Centre), Laura Horton (Project Manager, REDP) and myself, of course, representing Leicester Council of Faiths.

Ian, Iris and I are here until lunchtime, to join in an overall discussion of the project. Dennis spends the rest his visit with Dee (since LCIL is the accountable body for REDP) and with Laura.

We all get the chance to speak this morning; Dennis asks me directly about the "diversity" dimension of REDP.

There's a convivial atmosphere in the meeting today and our funders seem pleased with how REDP has performed.

INTER-FAITH WORK SHOWS THE BIG SOCIETY IN ACTION

Suleman Nagdi has written the First Person column in today's Leicester Mercury:

Inter-faith work shows the Big Society in action 

Suleman Nagdi reflects on projects that help to make our city stand out from the rest 

Riaz Ravat's first person article (Mercury, September 15) was an excellent description of his efforts through St Philip's Centre at working with people of diverse backgrounds. I say this by virtue of my association with Riaz, whom I hold in high regard, and the article truly represents his honest views about how we can build a city which stands out from the rest. 

The Sewa Day effort to help elderly people from the African Caribbean community who are often forgotten and helped build key services we now take for granted, is a project which is rooted in the best traditions and values of Britain. 

There are those voices out there who may throw doubt on inter-faith work but we need to convince them that their doubts should be put aside so that they can witness the immense confidence-building work which communities do for vulnerable individuals every day of the week. This is the Big Society at its best. It is alive and kicking. Last year I had the pleasure of working with Riaz and our Jewish friends for Mitzvah Day. 

As a Muslim representing the Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) it was poignant for me to stand with volunteers from all faiths and none, outside supermarkets collecting toiletries for people suffering domestic violence. 

I fondly recall our gathering in the Jewish communal hall to assess our collections which were staggering. I am proud to say that already this year, even before the Mitzvah Day campaign has been launched, that the FMO and the Islamic Society of Britain whose "Eat n Meet" campaign was endorsed by the imams and Bishop of Leicester, have offered their support. 

Last October when our relations were tested, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and those of other faiths and beliefs stood shoulder to shoulder with Muslims on a day when our city was challenged. The recent riots highlighted just how vital it is for us to renew our commitment to British values. In these most testing of economic times, when many members of our local community have fallen on hard times due to the cuts made by the Government, strong community and inter-faith work is needed more than ever so that we may all support each other to face the many and varied challenges that we all face in today's society. 

Let us take a page from Riaz's book to show how our young generation can be great visionaries for our nation. Riaz's vocation brings to mind the Qur'anic verse 49:13 which reads: "O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other). Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted (with all things)." 

Suleman Nagdi is spokesman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations.

Suleman is a long-standing member of Leicester Council of Faiths. I'm sorry to see that he does not mention the Council of Faiths in this article.

TAKING PUBLIC SERVICES FORWARD IN THE EAST MIDLANDS

To the Albert Hall Conference Centre, Nottingham, this afternoon for an event hosted by East Midlands Councils and the Local Government Group. Four of us from the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP) are attending "Taking Public Services Forward in the East Midlands".

I've come through from Leicester with Iris Lightfoote (The Race Equality Centre), Dee Martin (Leicestershire Centre for Integraqted Living) and Kelly Jussab (Project Officer, REDP).

East Midlands Councils demonstrates how local councils in the region can work together on  issues such as housing, transport and the environment. It represents the interests of local councils to Government and national organisations. It supports the improvement and development of local councils and their workforce.

The six organisations of the Local Government Group work together to support, promote and improve local government:

• Local Government Association
• Local Government Employers
• Local Government Improvement and Development
• Local Government Leadership
• Local Government Regulation
• Local Partnerships

Core Partners of REDP (and members of its more extensive Core Reference Group) are here today to listen to a presentation on the Open Public Services White Paper by Alison Adams, Policy Manager, Local Intelligence Team, Office for Civil Society, Cabinet Office. We have the chance to discuss this presentation and to raise questions from the floor.

SUNRISE WALK FOR THE LAURA CENTRE

Up early this morning, to head out to Arthingworth Lodge (near Market Harborough) to take part on the Sunrise Walk. This annual occasion is a sponsored walk to raise funds for The Laura Centre.

Did I say this required getting up early? Rising at 0400, leaving the house at 0445, registering on site at 0530, then setting off together on the Sunrise Walk proper at 0600. There are around 100 people doing it, on five miles of road, tracks and fields. I officially finish last. But part of the reason for that is that I hung around at the back to get some nice photos, like the one above - a small number of the walkers (those tiny dots) moving along the top of a hill as the sun rises.

There's a lot of time for thinking while walking. I can't recall the last time I walked this long without having my iPod on. For much of the way, the walk itself offers a good analogy for life: just keeping going, try not to step in too much sh*t on your way. I'm deep in thought for the first mile or more, but before long I find my way back into the shallows.

At the end, a hot breakfast is provided (including vegetarian sausages, I'm glad to say). The morning ends with a balloon launch. Attached to the balloons are labels on which we've written things about the children whom we've lost and whom we miss.

The Laura Centre is a wonderful thing, supporting those bereaved by the loss of a child. You don't have to get up four in the morning then go walking five miles in order to raise funds, faithful reader. You can donate much more easily here.

CENTENARY OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ'S FIRST VISIT TO BRITAIN

A group of Leicester Baha’is bundle into a minibus this morning, heading for London. We’re on our way to take part in a weekend of rolling celebrations of the centenary of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 1911 visit to London.

Our first stop is the National Bahá'í Centre in Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge. The centre has recently undergone renovations, entirely funded (like everything else that the Bahá'í community does) by voluntary donations from the members of the Bahá'í community themselves. Small parties of two dozen at a time are being given an hour-long tour of the building  together. We mingle downstairs, have the chance to spend a few minutes in the public reception area (and spend a few quid in the bookshop). Then we're led upstairs to the Parvine Room, which is often used for official reception of visiting dignitaries. There's a brief introduction to the Centre, its history and the story of its various renovations. For those with an interest in the historical development of the UK Bahá'í community, or in historic events associated with faith communities in this country, it was from this site in Rutland Gate that Shoghi Effendi's funeral cortege departed in 1957 and it was where the first meeting of the Universal House of Justice took place in 1963. The image of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at the top of this blog entry is from a painting, the original of which hangs in the Parvine Room. 

Half a dozen or so prayers and readings are distributed - all of them, bar one, are read by Leicester friends. I read the following passage, written by Shoghi Effendi (grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Guardian and World Head of the Bahá'í Faith, 1921-57) about the station of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

He is, and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as the Centre and Pivot of Bahá’u’lláh’s peerless and all-enfolding Covenant, His most exalted handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His light, the perfect Exemplar of His teachings, the unerring Interpreter of His Word, the embodiment of every Bahá’í ideal, the incarnation of every Bahá’í virtue, the Most Mighty Branch sprung from the Ancient Root, the Limb of the Law of God, the Being “round Whom all names revolve,” the Mainspring of the Oneness of Humanity, the Ensign of the Most Great Peace, the Moon of the Central Orb of this most holy Dispensation—styles and titles that are implicit and find their truest, their highest and fairest expression in the magic name ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He is, above and beyond these appellations, the “Mystery of God”—an expression by which Bahá’u’lláh Himself has chosen to designate Him, and which, while it does not by any means justify us to assign to Him the station of Prophethood, indicates how in the person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized.

One of the friends read this extract from an article published in a London periodical, in November 1911:

One of the most interesting and significant events which have taken place, has been the visit of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to London. The Persian Mage whose life, passed in prison, has been spent in promoting peace and unity by the one certain method of aiding individual spiritual development, must in a very real sense have “tasted of the travail of his soul and been satisfied”. Not only was he visited privately by nearly every earnest truth-seeker and leader of high thought in London, but his message was made known to thousands who had but dimly heard his name before.

Another read the following passage, a translation of a discourse given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on 13 September 1911 – a hundred years ago, almost to the day:

Thanks be to God, this is a good meeting. It is very enlightened, it is spiritual. 

As a Persian Poet has written:—“The Celestial Universe is so formed that the under world reflects the upper world.” That is to say whatever exists in heaven is reflected in this phenomenal world. Now, praise be to God, this meeting of ours is a reflection of the heavenly concourse; it is as though we had taken a mirror and had gazed into it. This reflection from the heavenly concourse we know as love. 

As heavenly love exists in the supreme concourse even so it is reflected here. The supreme concourse is filled with the desire for God—thank God, this desire is also here. 

Therefore if we say that this meeting is heavenly, it is true. Why? Because we have no other desire except for that which comes from God. We have no other object save the commemoration of God. 

Some of the people of the earth desire conquest over others: some of them are longing for rest and ease; others desire a high position; some desire to become famous:—thank God our desire is for spirituality and for union with God. 

Now that we are gathered here our wish is to raise the banner of the Unity of God, to spread the Light of God, to make the hearts of the people turn to the Kingdom. Therefore I thank God that He is causing us to do this great work. 

I pray for all of you, that you may become celestial warriors, that you may everywhere spread the Unity of God and enlighten the East and West, and that you may give to all hearts the love of God. This is my utmost desire, and I pray to God that your desire may be the same. 

I am very happy to be with you all. I am pleased with the English King and Government, and with the people. 

You may thank God that in this land you are so free. You do not know what lack of freedom there is in the East. When anyone comes to this country he is content. 

I wish God’s protection for you all. Goodbye to you all.

After the prayers and readings in the Parvine Room, we go up to the second-floor room normally used for meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly. Here we see a display of a small number of artefacts associated with the central figures of the Bahá'í Faith and with some of the early British Bahá'ís.

• Some personal effects of Bahá'u'lláh on display
• One of his robes
• A lock of his hair, framed behind glass
• A brief prayer, in his own handwriting
• His spectacles (and case)

• Some personal effects of the Báb on display
• A plate which belonged to his family
• A carpet from his house in Shiraz
• A piece of plaster from the prison at Mah-Ku where the Báb was incarcerated

• Some personal effects of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on display
• His aba (long robe) and the shirt he wore under it
• His spectacles
• A pair of his slippers
• The samovar that he took on his tours of the West
• The chair he used at Lady Blomfield’s house

These and other items shown here today are small-scale, personal (even intimate), accessible. At the Bahá'í World Centre in the city of Haifa, the extensive collection of the Bahá'í International Archives Building preserves and displays a massive range of items that illustrate the story of the Bahá'í Faith, the lives of its central figures and the triumphs and tribulations associated with even the humblest adherents of this religion.

I've been in this room many, many times, from way back when I was appointed to the National Teaching Committee at the age of 21, in 1981 till the last time I sat in here in March 2003. What really takes my fancy today is the 32" plasma screen and webcam. This would allow the National Spiritual Assembly to consult with anyone, anywhere in the world with access to a webcam of their own. To me, that's testimony to the up-to-date nature of Bahá'í life, unifying science and religion (which is one of its central principles).

After we leave the National Centre, we make our way over to Hyde Park for a picnic lunch (above). Then we spend the rest of lunchtime searching out Cadogan Gardens, where 'Abdu'l-Bahá spent several days as the guest of Lady Sarah Blomfield during his first visit to London.

Some of the Leicester friends in Cadogan Gardens today

We round off our trip with a brief visit to the resting place of Shoghi Effendi in New Southgate Cemetery.

And I'm home in time for Doctor Who. Visit the website of the Bahá'í community of the United Kingdom to find out more about 'Abdu'l-Bahá's first visit to this country.