Neowhat?

June 18, 2007

Some Desktop Backgrounds

Lately, I've been reading little bits from The Tabernacle of Unity, a recent translation of some of Bahá'u'lláh's Writings. I haven't gotten very far in the book, partly because I've wanted to keep some of its excerpts around in a way that I'll see again.

It turns out that Macs and Linux, which represent my two computers at work, let you have your desktop background rotate automatically every once in a while (say, every hour). I put up some of my favorite family photos (thanks, Picasa, a great photo-organizing program for Windows -- comically, now I've got the three major computer operating systems represented here, which may be appropriate given the Book that this post refers to), to switch randomly every half-hour or hour. And into them, I've been slowly adding photos with quotes superimposed over them. (Created with The Gimp, a free image editing program.)

Say: O children of dust!  He Who is the Spirit of Purity saith: In this glorious Day whatsoever can purge you from defilement and ensure your peace and tranquility, that indeed is the Straight Path, the path that leadeth unto Me.  Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, 1.9.

To be purged from defilement is to be cleansed of that which is unjurious to man and detracteth from his high station--among which is to take undue pleasure in one's own words and deeds, notwithstanding their unworthiness.  Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, 1.9

True peace and tranguility will only be realized when every soul will have become the well-wisher of all mankind.  Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, 1.9

He Who is the All-Knowing beareth Me witness: were the peoples of the world to grasp the true significance of the words of God, they would never be deprived of their portion of the ocean of His bounty.  In the firmament of truth there hath never been, nor will there ever be, a brighter star than this.  Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, 1.9

The Lord of celestial wisdom saith: A harsh word is even as a sword thrust; a gentle word as milk.  The latter leadeth the children of men unto knowledge and conferreth upon them true distinction.  Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, 1.13

The Tongue of Wisom proclaimeth: He that hath Me not is bereft of all things.  Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but me.  I am the Sun of Wisdom and the Ocean of Knowledge.  I cheer the faint and revive the dead.  I am the guiding Light that illumineth the way.  I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the Almighty.  I unfold the drooping wings of every broken bird and start it on its flight.  Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, 1.14

The incomparable Friend saith: The path to freedom hath been outstretched; hasten ye thereunto.  The wellspring of wisdom is overflowing; quaff ye therefrom.  Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, 1.15.

Say: O well-beloved ones!  The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers.  Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.  Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, 1.15.

Verily I say, whatsoever leadeth to the decline of ignorance and the increase of knowledge hath been, and will ever remain, approved in the sight of the Lord of creation.  Baha'u'llah, The Tabernacle of Unity, 1.15

So there you have it, my personal motivational posters :). I don't put them up exclusively -- they're mixed in with about 150 uncaptioned family photos, so I only see them once in a while.

They were fun to do, although decidedly amateur; let me know if you notice any mistakes, and I'll correct them. The Writings of Baha'u'llah are absolutely overflowing with excerpts that I would love to have on my desktop.

You know what would be cool? A program that automatically picks a quiet spot on a photo and puts an appropriate quote there. Or even one that combines a feed of photos and a feed of quotes.

Posted by Billy at 11:36 AM | Comments (4)