People of God - One and All

Edith Close-Vaziri taught for 41 years as an elementary school teacher in her native state of California and achieved National Board Certification in the area of Middle Childhood. Although she grew up in the rural community of Sutter in northern California; she taught her whole teaching career in Los Angeles with forty years at one small elementary school where she taught first through fifth grade over the decades. In her final years as a public school teacher, she also mentored new teachers and assisted the school district in the credential process for beginning teachers outside her regular teaching hours.

Graduating from California Lutheran University, she received a B.A. in history; she completed her elementary credential and received her M.A. in elementary education at California State University-Los Angeles. Her poetry is inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, many times with an instructional focus as with incorporating synonyms to further understand the topic and stretch one's personal education through meditation and devotions. She received and discovered this gift to write spiritual poetry in her latter years of teaching. With People of God-One and All: Come and Be... the topics covered are being Rooted in Grace, Embraced by Relationships, Engaged in Sacred Struggle, Inspired into Wonder, and Producing Fruits. There is an additional section on being Bold and Alive. The titles of the poem finish the part of the title Come and Be... as with "In Relations with God," "Wrapped in His Love," "In Ecstasy with God," and "Standing Firm with the Lord." All of these topics are to aid us to better understand and have empathy for those who inhabit our world all through history. Throughout the book, scripture passages and references for further study are provided allowing for personal questions and reflections on one's faith; they allow one to mature oneself in the faith realm and to share it with others. In retirement besides continuing to compose spiritual poetry, she quilts with many being sewn for philanthropy projects locally and around the world. Additionally, she reads, belongs to a quilt guild, continues research of her family's genealogy, does some gardening, as well as cooking and baking. She continues to actively participate in church activities while strengthening the building on her faith.