Bahá'í New Zealand: Profiles of Bahá'ís

GRANT HINDIN MILLER teaches creative writing workshops at the University of Canterbury.

"I've been involved in the facilitation of writing workshops for ten years," he says.

"These include an introduction to Creative Writing; Film and Television Script Writing; Poetry and Short Story Writing; though my favourite workshop (now grown from one to six courses) focuses on writing memories and is called 'Gifting Your Stories to Grandchildren.

"Highlights of my career centre around the wonderful people I've met and worked with in the writing classes. I've also had two books published by Hodder and Stoughton; have written the film-scripts of three New Zealand feature films; and have produced four CDs of original songs. In 2005, students at NASDA (National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts) performed a stage musical I've written.

"Starting in life as Grant Miller, I married Jenny Hindin in 1981 and became Grant Hindin Miller. We have two children, Rebeccah and Isaac. My wife is the Director of the first Teen Parent College in the South Island (Karanga Mai Teen Parent College) based in Kaiapoi. My children are currently attending Auckland University whilst working full and part-time.

"I am an indigenous Pakeha, born in Auckland in 1950. I became a Bahá'í in 1972 and it was the best thing I ever did. The wisdom and universal love of the Bahá'í Teachings attracted me, and also the radiant spirit of the Bahá'ís I met.

"Bahá'u'lláh wrote 'To merit the madness of love, man must abound in sanity'. This phrase suggests to me that we need to be conscious and careful in our lives; for example, since we are freely offered the fruits of this world to enjoy and relish we should place the peels and skins in places that will not be a nuisance to anyone else. The Bahá'í Teachings help me daily to be conscious of and respectful of the rights of others. I have had the good fortune to travel around the world and meet and stay with Bahá'ís and to witness at first hand the universality of the Bahá'í Teachings and to recognise their profound influence for good. The Bahá'í Faith expounds the principle of the oneness of humanity, and I have seen the realization of that principle in the global Bahá'í community. I count myself lucky and blessed to be one member of this unique global Faith."