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LAUDED and glorified art Thou, Lord God Omnipotent! Thou before Whose Wisdom the wise falleth short and faileth, before Whose knowledge the learned confesseth his ignorance, before Whose might the strong waxeth weak, before Whose wealth the rich testifieth to his poverty, before Whose light the enlightened is lost in darkness, toward the Shrine of Whose knowledge turneth the essence of all understanding and around the Sanctuary of Whose Presence circle the souls of all mankind.
How, then, can I sing and tell of Thine Essence, which the wisdom of the wise and the learning of the learned have failed to comprehend, inasmuch as no man can sing that which he understandeth not, nor recount that unto which he can not attain, whilst Thou hast been from everlasting the Inaccessible, the Unsearchable. Powerless though I be to rise to the Heavens of Thy Glory and soar in the Realms of Thy Knowledge, I can but recount Thy tokens that tell of Thy Glorious Handiwork.
By Thy Glory! O beloved of all hearts, Thou that alone canst still the pangs of yearning for Thee! Though all the dwellers of Heaven and earth unite to glorify the least of Thy Signs, wherein and whereby Thou hast revealed Thyself, yet would they fail, how much more to praise Thy Holy Word, the creator of all Thy Tokens.
All praise and glory be to Thee, Thou, of whom all things have testified that Thou art One and there is none other God but Thee, who has been from everlasting exalted above all peer or likeness and to everlasting shalt remain the same. All Kings are but Thy servants and all beings, visible and invisible, as naught before Thee. There is none other God but Thee, the Gracious, the Powerful, the Most High.
—Translated by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Cause.
--PHOTO--
The Girls’ School at Ishqábád, Russia, one branch of the Bahá'í activities. Former students of this school are now in active service in the Bahá'í cause and some have gone to London to continue their studies.
| VOL. 16 | MARCH, 1926 | No. 12 |
of a human being is finite or limited and is a pure product of imagination, whereas the reality of divinity is holy and sacred above and beyond all such concept.”
THE remarkable rise of science during the nineteenth century, with its resultant freeing of human thought from old traditions and bounds, has had one unfortunate result–a widespread disbelief, or unbelief, in the existence of God as Ruler of the universe. Wherever education makes greatest headway, and the human intelligence begins to analyze fearlessly the universe and existence, skepticism is prevalent.
SKEPTICISM as a transition phase in the cycle of man’s thought-development has its place and value. No rational basis for religion can be arrived at without it. But skepticism as a permanent stopping-place in the journey of life, a dreary cul-de-sac, so to speak, is most regrettable, and as unworthy of man’s intelligence as it is of his spiritual nature. For the universe rightly read yields itself to but one key, the idea of a ruling Deity. And science itself is beginning to turn away from a mechanistic materialism toward a belief in God as warranted by the facts of nature—nay, even as a necessary clue to their interpretation. Edison, the greatest electrical genius of the age, on his seventy-ninth birthday, gave as part of his brief message to the country the statement that he saw in nature all around him the signs of a ruling Providence. Many a great scientist is making that reading of the universe today. One of the most striking examples of pure ratiocination on the part of a scientist leading to the belief in God is the experience of the great French naturalist and biologist, the leading member, at the time of his death in 1920 of the Faculty of Sciences of the Sorbonne, Frederic Houssay. The train of observation and thought which led this scientist to the conception of a Supreme Intelligence directing the universe is so remarkable that it is worthy of our careful consideration, because it is the result, not only of a wider and deeper observation of nature than falls to the lot of most men, but also of a penetrating logic and power of analysis which made Houssay philosopher as well as scientist.
“His studies in morphology,” to translate rather freely from the biographical sketch of him by Louis Bounoure in the latest number of Isis, “led him to the conclusion that the structure of living organisms are the immediate, exact, and inevitable reflection of the cosmic forces flowing without interruption or termination through animate and inanimate existence. This is what he clearly read amidst the observations and experiences through which his logic had conducted him. He saw this wave of
eternal forces running through incessantly the moving mass of the world, and in transforming itself in a thousand different ways throughout its course engender all the appearances which human observation gathers. This universal force appeared to him as the sole reality.”
Houssay’s philosophic temperament now forced him to seek a primordial cause. His studies in the processes of nature led him to feel that nothing in nature was accidental or capricious. The earth’s evolution seemed to follow an inevitable irreversible order. “The essential character of this universal force was that it was a directed force. This directed force Houssay saw manifest itself in the world of matter, evolving from non-existence to existence, next to a life of confused thought, and finally terminating in human intelligence. He was now led by the force of his logic to admit, as the sole cause of this directed force and of all existence, “a primordial thought which is beyond space and time,” and which appeared to him as an “Intelligence and a Will.”
“Thus Houssay, starting out to explore the world of sensation and of matter, arrived at the Unknowable Eternal. By pure force of reason he had created for himself an order and a unity in the apparent chaos of nature. Thus this biologist, who early in his career had been mechanistic in his belief, arrived at the idea of a primordial cause and found there the Eternal Thought, which fitted both his conception of a universe consisting of force, and his optimistic vision of the world.”
Another great thinker who has risen in the midst of the materialism of Europe to sound a spiritual note that is resounding around the world, Count Keyserling, in a recent article in the “Forum” called “The Alphabet of Life,” says: “Look at life with a serene, unbiased eye. You can not grasp a single material fact which belongs to the realm of life except from the standpoint of its meaning. Meaning is the source of its very existence. But then meaning is something immaterial. Thus something immaterial is, in the case of life, the origin of material existence. It is significance that creates the facts, not vice versa. Do you now begin to see why the life of each and all must appear to have a meaning, not only in order to seem worth living, but in order to go on at all? Do you begin to see why individuals who have lost their aim in life, or nations who have lost their gods or their ideals, seem to develop a suicidal inclination? When we say that human history is guided by a Divine Providence, we mean that a Supreme or Ultimate Meaning is not only at the root, but is the root of all facts of life.”
IT IS not to be wondered at that human intelligence has revolted against an anthropomorphic God, that is to say, a God made in the image of man. For that is what, with the best of intentions, human ingenuity has made out of the problem of divinity. The God of man’s conjecture is as far from the Eternal Essence as unreality is from reality. For it is evident, from the slightest analysis of the problem, that man, the finite, can not conceive the Infinite. Hence all his speculations as to the nature of God are and remain the mere phantasmagorias of his imagination. Robert Ingersoll has humorously expressed this in that travestied line of Alexander Pope, “An honest God’s the noblest work of man.” It is perhaps because of the falseness of these human attempts at the conception of Deity that so many thinking people today have come to the sad expedient of doubting or denying the existence of God. Surely no one is
in reality made happy by the thought of a universe without a God, wandering like a ship without a rudder through vastnesses of space and time.
No one is happy at such a thought, because no one can foresee or count upon what is to happen next. In a chance or fortuitous universe, woe is as near as weal, catastrophe and disaster as regnant as well-being. Unless we postulate some sort of inner, hidden impulse in the material universe making progress inevitable—and in such a postulate we are really expressing a belief in a Divine Intelligence and Will—we have left only the possibility of facing a chaotic universe. In youth one can stand all things, but this is not a pleasant thought with which to approach old age. Mark Twain saddened and soured under it. A well-known lecturer confided to the writer his dread of falling into that same bitter philosophy of life which cast its gloom into the departing days of the great humorist. He could not view the universe optimistically. He could not rest upon that great confidence in an overruling Deity which upholds the faith and courage of spiritual man in all of his endeavors.
The denier of God has, in a way, placed himself outside the pale of existence. He has by that very act of denial severed himself from the Divine concatenation of events. He is no longer a member of the family of God, a partner in the divinely planned work of the universe. Though he toils, it is as an outcast, and for an outcast’s wages. Indeed, the saddest thing in life is to lose God–saddest in this life or the next. And the reverse is also true, that the most joyful experience in all existence, here or hereafter, is to find God and to abide consciously in His love and protection.
THERE IS another aspect to atheism, or the denial of God, more dreadful than its pessimism, and that is the egotism which intellectually is the inevitable corollary and concomitant of the idea that nowhere in the universe is there an intelligence or power higher than man. It follows logically that if there is no Supreme Being, then man’s intelligence is the highest we know of in the universe. What, then, must be the intoxication of egotism of a gifted mind, rejecting the idea of God, which views itself as a type and specimen of the supreme intelligence? This leads not to wholesomeness nor sanity. Is man to make of himself a demigod? The mind of man, created to be but the instrument of his spirit under the guidance and inspiration of the Great Spirit, is not built to stand the strain of this ego-intoxication, this complete reliance upon a self that is separate from God. Under stress and strain such a personality must inevitably disintegrate, lacking the refreshment and recreation which comes from turning to God in trouble and seeking His guidance. Discouragement, debility, nervous and perhaps mental breakdown, is the cycle through which those pass who know not God. Such was the fate of Nietzsche, who ended his days in an asylum. To be ultimately crushed is the destiny of all who oppose themselves in the futility of their finity to the Power which permeates and guides the universe. Such disaster is a mercy both to others and to themselves. For the universe could not be allowed to become a battleground for warring, Titanesque egos, a chaos of conflicting wills. And as regards the individual, the greatest gift and mercy is that which leads him to find God; and how can he who exults in egotism find God, save through being brought low? In feebleness, in utter weakness and despair, if not before, it is our belief that all will ultimately find God.
ONE OF the proofs and demonstrations of the existence of God is the fact that man did not create himself; nay, his creator and designer is another than himself. It is certain and indisputable that the creator of man is not like man, because a powerless creature can not create another being. The maker, the creator, has to possess all perfections in order that he may create. (Ans. Que., p. 5.)
AND NOW consider this infinite universe. Is it possible that it could have been created without a Creator? Or that the Creator and Cause of this infinite congeries of worlds should be minus intelligence? Is the idea that the Creator has no comprehension of what is manifested in creation tenable? Man, the creature, has volition and certain virtues. Is it possible that his Creator is deprived of these? A child could not accept this belief and statement. It is perfectly evident that man did not create himself and that he can not do so. How could man of his own weakness create such a mighty being? Therefore the Creator of man must be more perfect and powerful than man. If the creative cause of man be simply on the same level with man, then man himself should be able to create, whereas we know very well that we can not create even our own likeness. Therefore the Creator of man must be endowed with superlative intelligence and power in all points that creation involves and implies. (Pro. of U. P., p. 79.)
IT IS certain that the whole contingent world is subjected to a law and rule which it can never disobey; even man is forced to submit to death, to sleep, and to other conditions—that is to say, man in certain particulars is governed, and necessarily this governed one must have a governor. Because a characteristic of contingent beings is dependency, and this dependency is an essential necessity, therefore there must be an independent being whose independence is essential. . . .
Therefore it is known that there is an Eternal Almighty One who is the possessor of all perfections; because unless He be their possessor, He must be like His creature. (Ans. Ques., p. 6.)
WE BELIEVE in a Universal Essence or Reality which is purified or exalted above all mention, and which can not possibly be conceived of by the mind of man. But we can prove Its existence by Its signs which we see in the surrounding creation. . . . We prove the existence of the Universal Essence by qualities that are perfect. . . .
We ask: Is it possible that perfection can exist in the branch of a tree and not exist in the root of the tree? Is it possible that perfection shall exist in a drop of the sea and not exist in the sea itself? Is it possible that perfection will not exist in man himself, but will exist in a hair of his head, which is only a part of him? Is it possible that man, who is a part of the whole, may have qualities of perfection which can not be attributed to the Essence or Reality? Or, is it possible for man to be a point of perfection and that real Essence be deprived of perfection? A child could not imagine such a foolish thing. . . .
We say that the Essence, or Reality,
is purified from all words, all description and all praise; that the Essence would have first to be understood and then judged. But man can not understand the Essence. (Daily Lessons, p. 30.)
THE BEINGS in this existent world are created in different conditions. There is the mineral condition or degree, the vegetable condition or degree, the animal condition or degree, and the human degree. Every higher degree comprehends or includes the lower, but the lower degree does not comprehend the higher. For example, man comprehends the kingdoms below him, but the mineral does not comprehend the three higher kingdoms. Whatever progress the mineral kingdom may make, it can never reach a condition of knowing the power of growth, and in the same way whatever progress the vegetable kingdom may make, it can never imagine the condition of the animal kingdom, and the animal can not imagine the human reality. Though all of them are creations, the difference in degree prevents the lower from comprehending the higher.
As this is so, how can man, the phenomenal being, understand God? How can the creation understand the Creator? How can the art imagine the artist? Man can not understand the Reality of Divinity, or know whether he has consciousness or not. The consciousness of God is not the consciousness which we know of. . . . Man’s consciousness is a quality of phenomenal beings, but the consciousness of God is the quality of an Eternal Reality. Therefore we can not compare one with the other. The consciousness of God is sanctified and purified from the consciousness of man. (Daily Lessons, p. 33.)
MAN ALL over the world is seeking for God. All that exists is God; but the Reality of Divinity is holy above all understanding. The pictures of Divinity that come to our mind are the product of our fancy; they exist in the realm of our imagination. They are not adequate to the truth; truth in its Essence can not be put into words. Divinity can not be comprehended because it is comprehending. . . . Divinity itself contains All, and is not contained.
To man the Essence of God is incomprehensible, so also are the worlds beyond this and their condition. It is given to man to obtain knowledge, to attain to great spiritual perfection, to discover hidden truths and to manifest even the attributes of God, but still man can not comprehend the Essence of God. (London Talks, p. 8, p. 60.)
THE DIVINE Reality is unthinkable, Limitless, Eternal, Immortal and Invisible. The world of creation is bound by natural law, finite and mortal. The Infinite Reality can not be said to ascend or descend. It is beyond the understanding of man, and can not be described in terms which apply to the phenomenal sphere of the created world.
Consider the world of created beings, how varied and diverse they are in species, yet with one sole origin. . . . The Creator of all is One God. From this same God all creation sprang into existence, and He is the one goal towards which everything in nature yearns. . . .
All creatures that exist are dependent upon the Divine Bounty. Divine mercy gives life itself. As the light of the sun shines on the whole world, so the mercy of the Infinite God is shed on all creatures. (Wisdom Talks in Paris.)
GOD is almighty, but His greatness can not be brought within the
grasp of human limitation. We can not limit God to a boundary. Man is limited, but the world of divinity is unlimited. Prescribing limitation to God is human ignorance. God is the ancient, the almighty; His attributes are infinite. He is God because His light, His sovereignty is infinite. If He can be limited to human ideas He is not God. Strange it is that notwithstanding these are self-evident truths man continues to build walls and fences of limitation about God, about Divinity, so glorious, illimitable, boundless. Consider the endless phenomena of His creation. They are infinite; the universe is infinite. Who shall declare its height, its depth and length? It is absolutely infinite. How could an almighty sovereignty, a divinity so wondrous, be brought within the limitations of faulty human minds even as to terms and definitions? . . .
People speak of Divinity, but the ideas and beliefs they have of divinity are in reality superstition. Divinity is the effulgence of the Sun of Reality, the manifestation of spiritual virtues and ideal powers. The intellectual proofs of divinity are based upon observation and evidence which constitute decisive argument, logically proving the reality of divinity, the effulgence of mercy, the certainty of inspiration and immortality of the spirit. This is in reality the science of divinity. . . . Ordinarily when the word divinity is mentioned it is associated in the minds of the hearers with certain formulae and doctrines, whereas it essentially means the wisdom and knowledge of God, the effulgence of the Sun of Truth, the revelation of reality and divine philosophy.
Philosophy is of two kinds: natural and divine. Natural philosophy seeks knowledge of physical verities and explains material phenomena, whereas divine philosophy deals with ideal verities and phenomena of the spirit. Man should continue both these lines of research and investigation so that all the human virtues, outer and inner, may become possible. (Pro. of U. P., p. 268, p. 320.)
HOW SHALL we know God? We know Him by His attributes. We know Him by His signs. We know Him by His names. We know not what the reality of the sun is, but we know the sun by the ray, by the heat, by its efficacy and penetration. We recognize the sun by its bounty and effulgence, but as to what constitutes the reality of the solar energy—that is unknowable to us. The attributes characterizing the sun, however, are knowable. If we wish to come in touch with the reality of Divinity, we do so by recognizing its phenomena, its attributes and traces which are widespread in the universe. . . .
It is quite evident that our kind of life, our form of existence is limited and that the reality of all accidental phenomena is likewise limited. The very fact that the reality of phenomena is limited, well indicates that there must needs be an unlimited reality, for were there no unlimited or infinite reality in life, the finite being of objects would be inconceivable. . . . If there were no light in the world you could not conceive of darkness, for we know things philosophically by their antitheses. We know, for example, that poverty is the lack of wealth. Where there is no knowledge there is no ignorance. What is ignorance? It is the absence of knowledge. Therefore our limited existence is a proof conclusive that there is a reality unlimited, and this is a shining proof and evident argument. (Pro. of U. P., p. 417-419.)
NOW concerning the essence of Divinity. In truth it is on no account determined by anything apart from its own nature, and can in no wise be comprehended. For whatsoever can be conceived by man is a reality that hath limitations and is not unlimited; it is circumscribed, not all-embracing. It can be comprehended by man, and is controlled by him. . . . Minerals, plants and animals are bereft of the mental faculties of man that discover the realities of all things, but man himself comprehendeth all the stages beneath him. Every superior stage comprehendeth that which is inferior and discovereth the reality thereof, but the inferior one is unaware of that which is superior and cannot comprehend it. Thus man can not grasp the Essence of Divinity, but can, by his reasoning power, by observation, by his intuitive faculties and the revealing power of his faith, believe in God, discover the bounties of His Grace. He becometh certain that, though the Divine Essence is unseen of the eye, and the existence of the Deity is intangible, yet conclusive (spiritual) proofs assert the existence of that unseen Reality. The Divine Essence as it is in itself is, however, beyond all description. For instance, the nature of ether is unknown, but that it existeth is certain by the effects it produceth—heat, light and electricity being the waves thereof. By these waves the existence of ether is thus proven. And as we consider the outpourings of Divine Grace we are assured of the existence of God. . . .
In fine, that universal Reality with all its qualities and attributes that we recount is holy and exalted above all minds and understandings. As we, however, reflect with broad minds upon this infinite universe, we observe that motion without a motive force, and an effect without a cause are both impossible; that every being hath come to exist under numerous influences and continually undergoeth reaction. These influences, too, are formed under the action of still other influences. For instance, plants grow and flourish through the outpourings of vernal showers, whilst the cloud itself is formed under various other agencies and these agencies in their turn are reacted upon by still other agencies. For example, plants and animals grow and develop under the influence of what the philosophers of our day designate as hydrogen and oxygen and are reacted upon by the effects of these two elements; and these in turn are formed under still other influences. The same can be said of other beings whether they affect other things or be affected. Such process of causation goes on, and to maintain that this process goes on indefinitely is manifestly absurd. Thus such a chain of causation must of necessity lead eventually to Him who is the Ever-Living, the All-Powerful, who is Self-Dependent and the Ultimate Cause. This Universal Reality can not be sensed, it can not be seen. It must be so of necessity, for it is All-Embracing, not circumscribed, and such attributes qualify the effect and not the cause. (From the Tablet to Dr. Forel, Star, Vol. 14, p. 101.)
ALL THE people have formed a god in the world of thought and that form of their own imagination they worship; when the fact is that the imagined concept is comprehended by the mind, which is the comprehender. Surely that which comprehends is greater than the comprehended, for imagination is accidental (effect), while mind is essential (cause). Surely the essential is greater than the accidental.
Therefore consider: All the sects and peoples worship their own
thought; they create a god in their own minds and proclaim him to be “the creator of all things,” while that form is a superstition. Thus people adore and worship illusion.
The Essence of the Divine Entity and the Unseen of the unseen is holy above imagination and beyond thought. Consciousness doth not reach it. Within the capacity of comprehension of a created reality that Ancient (uncreated) Reality can not be contained. It is a different world; from it there is no information; arrival thereat is impossible; attainment thereto is inaccessible and prohibited. This much is known: It exists, and Its existence is certain and proven–but the condition is unknown.
All the philosophers and sages knew that It is, but they were perplexed in the comprehension of Its existence and were at last discouraged, and left this world in great despair. For the comprehension of the condition and mysteries of that Reality of realities and Mystery of mysteries, there is need for another power and another sense. That power and sense is not possessed by mankind; therefore they have not found any information. For example: If a man possess the power of hearing, the power of tasting, the power of smelling and the power of feeling, but no power of seeing, he can not see. Hence, through the powers and senses present in man the realization of the Unseen Reality, which is pure and holy above the reach of doubts, is impossible. Other powers are needed and other senses required. If those powers and senses are obtained, then information can be had; otherwise, not. (B. S., p. 470.)
GOD has no beginning and no ending; nor is His creation limited ever as to degree. Limitations of time and degree pertain to things created, never to creation as a whole. They pertain to the forms of things, not to their realities. The effulgence of God can not be suspended. The sovereignty of God can not be interrupted. As long as the sovereignty of God is immemorial, therefore the creation of our world throughout infinity is pre-supposed. When we look at the reality of this subject, we see that the bounties of God are infinite, without beginning and without end. (B. S., p. 402.)
ALL CREATURES are dependent upon God, however great may seem their knowledge, power and independence. Behold the mighty kings upon earth, for they have all the power in the world that man can give them, and yet when Death calls they must obey, even as the peasants at their gates! Look also at the animals, how helpless they are in their apparent strength! For the elephant, the largest of all animals, is troubled by the fly, and the lion can not escape the irritation of the worm. Even man, the highest form of created beings, needs many things for his very life; first of all he needs air, and if he is deprived of it for a few minutes he dies. He is also dependent on water, food, clothing, warmth and many other things. On all sides he is surrounded by dangers and difficulties, against which his physical body alone can not cope. If a man looks at the world around him, he will see how all created things are dependent and captive to the laws of nature. Man alone, by his spiritual power, has been able to free himself, to soar above the world of matter and to make it his servant. Without the help of God man is even as the beasts that perish. . . . (Wisdom Talks in Paris, p. 6.)
Excerpt from a letter written by ’Abdu’l-Bahá to Dr. Auguste Forel of Switzerland, a distinguished scientist and the greatest living authority on ants. The letter takes up the proof of God’s existence from the order which is seen to exist in the natural world. Dr. Forel, who had been a naturalist rejecting a belief in God, but of the deepest humanitarian motives and of beautiful character, was greatly influenced by this communication and became a follower of the Bahá’í religion.—Editor.
You are well aware, praised be the Lord, that both interaction and co-operation are evident and proven amongst all beings, whether large or small. In the case of large bodies interaction is as manifest as the sun, whilst in the case of small bodies, though interaction be unknown, yet the part is an indication of the whole. All these interactions therefore are connected with that all-embracing power which is their pivot, their center, their source and their motive power.
For instance, as we have observed, co-operation among the constituent parts of the human body is clearly established, and these parts and members render services unto all the component parts of the body. For instance, the hand, the foot, the eye, the ear, the mind, the imagination all help the various parts and members of the human body, but all these interactions are linked by an unseen, all-embracing power, that causeth these interactions to be produced with perfect regularity. This is the inner faculty of man, that is his spirit and his mind, both of which are invisible.
In like manner consider machinery and workshops and the interaction existing among the various component parts and sections, and how connected they are one with the other. All these relations and interactions, however, are connected with a central power which is their motive force, their pivot and their source. This central power is either the power of steam or the skill of the master-mind.
It hath therefore been made evident and proved that interaction, co-operation and inter-relation amongst beings are under the direction and will of a motive Power which is the origin, the motive force and the pivot of all interactions in the universe.
Likewise every arrangement and formation that is not perfect in its order we designate as accidental, and that which is orderly, regular, perfect in its relations and every part of which is in its proper place and is the essential requisite of the other constituent parts, this we call a composition formed through will and knowledge. There is no doubt that these infinite beings and the association of these diverse elements arranged in countless forms must have proceeded from a Reality that could in no wise be bereft of will or understanding. This is clear and proven to the mind and no one can deny it. It is not meant, however, that that Universal Reality or the attributes thereof have been comprehended. Neither its Essence nor its true attributes hath any one comprehended. We maintain, however, that these infinite beings, these necessary relations, this perfect arrangement must of necessity have proceeded from a source that is not bereft of will and understanding, and this infinite composition cast into infinite forms must have been caused by an all-embracing Wisdom. (This letter or Tablet is published in full in the Star of the West, Vol. 14, p. 101.)
An address given before the Bahá'í Assembly of Boston on January 10, 1926
It is a special pleasure to come before this Assembly tonight, where I have found so much of light and leading; of faith, friendship and fellowship; where you have all given me such gracious welcome and to all of whom I am deeply indebted for new inspirations and larger horizons. I have always been grateful for the divine leading that brought me into the personal presence of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, in that never-to-be-forgotten London summer of 1911; again, in the autumn of the year in Paris, and in the following year in our own city of Boston, and enabled me to be one among those who had the inestimable privilege of coming under his personal influence. Thus, I regard the privilege of coming to you tonight as one of the divine leadings in my own life for which I am grateful. Nor do I know of any greater aid than we who meet here enjoy in the simplicity and sincerity of our mutual sharing of that which God reveals to us.
I come to you, as a communicant in an historic and apostolic church (the Episcopal), in which I was born and bred and which I love with all my heart. But I should be unworthy this affiliation if I did not love and hope to share in the beautiful spirit of the Bahá’í gatherings, where we know no distinction of creeds, or race, or color; where our personal associations are consecrated into friendships, sealed by our mutual devotion to the Divine Spirit; where we only know that we meet in recognition of the latest Manifestation of God’s guidance to us—the Bahá’í Revelation. Nor is this Revelation confined to the convocations of its specific followers. The great truths of unity and fellowship taught by Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá are in the air. They permeate every religious gathering in which dwells the true spirit. The Bahá’í spirit is found even among those who know little of its history and its literature. For it is the Divine Spirit and so it enters into the heart of all who truly seek communion with the Divine.
The most real thing in our life is the Divine Leading. Invisible, inaudible, intangible—it is still the deepest reality in human experience. Is not the key and the clue to a life of joyful achievement to be found in just that degree to which we are receptive to the Divine Spirit? “I have placed in thee the essence of My light,” Bahá’u’lláh assures us; “therefore depend upon it, and upon nothing else; for My Action is perfect and My Command has effect. Doubt this not, and have no uncertainty therein.” This counsel inspires our obedience. Nothing could be more clear and definite. “I have placed in thee the essence of My Light. Therefore depend upon it, and upon nothing else.” Now, this attention and obedience is not only a way; it is the only way to live. Not to be in accord with it, is mere existence—not life. We find similar counsel in all our Prophets. “All the way by which the Lord, the God, hath led thee,” is one of the appealing words of the Scriptures. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” said Jesus.
Bahá’u’lláh tells us that, “The soul is made by the Hands of Power and the Fingers of Strength,” and that in
the soul is placed this Essence of Divine Light. Thus is man equipped as he fares forth on that momentous and mysterious, yet enthralling and enchanting, journey of life. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that if we keep our spiritual rapport with the Divine we can not go astray. Not appealing to the senses, this leading is clearly discerned by the spirit. The soul can be trained into finer and still finer recognitions of the subtle guidance. Spiritual culture is the appointed way to spirituality of life, as education and mental culture are to intellectual grasp and achievement. Nor is this a vague and speculative theory. The secret of all happiness, of all worthy achievement, is found in the soul’s responsiveness to this Divine Leading. I have said that this leading is of a nature that does not appeal to the senses, but is discerned by the spirit. But this is not quite true; for when the spirit discerns it, the subtle signs and signals are not infrequently made manifest through the senses. A friend calls and tells us that which we should know; we open a book at random and, behold, the eye catches the message; we pause for a moment by a news-stand, and are suddenly directed to some printed word of import to us. These, and endless variations, occur all the time. But the soul must first recognize the signal.
A supreme illustration of the sacramental leading of life is before us in the sacred drama of the Announcement by the Bab; the Fulfillment by the appearance of Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá, who brought from God a message to lift the world to higher levels and to make known to humanity a larger revelation of the Divine Purpose. “God sends His teachers unto every age, with revelations fitted to their growth.” That Jesus, that Bahá’u’lláh, died the death of the martyr, only accentuates and exalts and confirms the mission on which they were sent. It was expedient that they should go away. It was expedient that they withdraw to the invisible realms, that their message should thus be ineffaceably consecrated. Since the passing of these great spirits—the two latest in the long line of God’s prophets—all humanity has felt the stir and the thrill of a new order of life. In the direct line of the spiritual prophets, ’Abdu’l-Bahá held aloft the lighted torch that had been passed on to him and its illumination now is lighting the entire world.
We are still too near that wonderful drama that has been enacted between 1844-1925 to gain the full perspective on its momentous meaning. The political, the economic, the moral and the spiritual changes which lie within what is little more than three-fourths of a century, are so stupendous as to baffle all comment. Science, art, literature, religion, all the forces that play upon the life of man, have revolutionized his environment and opened to him an entirely new outlook. These years witnessed transformations, and what is still more impressive, we are now in the very crisis of new transformations. There is but one path open to the feet, “Turn to the Lord and live.” For the spiritual transformation shall exceed and include every other.
When Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you,” He gave no impracticable counsel. “The Kingdom of Righteousness” is a symbolic phrase. It implies that harmony and equilibrium, that one-ness with the Divine, that enables a man to be of the best use to himself and to others. After this, after this one supreme essential, the other things shall be added. “For your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him.” No man liveth to himself. No one
can do the best for himself without doing the best for others. The two are one. The law of co-operation in the economic life, of brotherhood in all human relations, these are the fundamental laws on which the new order of life is being built, and they are the only laws that give man spiritual freedom and the expansion of spiritual progress.
We shall all agree, I am sure, that it is no fantasy to believe that mankind is now entering on a new order of life. Into the unknown Future we are advancing for deliverance and salvation. For two thousand years the Christian world has prayed to be delivered from evil. The deliverance is at hand, only its conditions rest with ourselves. How truly does our great spiritual poet, Whittier, say: “For to be saved is only this: Salvation from our selfishness.”
Man is delivered from evil when he refuses evil and demands only good. We are on the threshold of rich and lofty experiences that glorify the days with radiant hope and exaltation. They are ours for the choosing. New stores of cosmic energy are unlocked. It is nothing less than that the world is advancing from the material forces to the ethereal forces. The horizon line of the Unknown constantly recedes and the new territory disclosed becomes our possession of present utilities. Had it been prophesied in the early years of the Nineteenth Century that the human voice would be heard from London to San Francisco; from Boston to Hawaii; that messages between Europe and America would flash under the ocean and vibrate through the air; that a ray of the ether would transmit thought; that vehicles would move through the streets with no visible power to propel them; that a concert in London should be heard in Boston; that our preachers and lecturers, our musicians and dramatic artists should reach audiences invisible to them—who would have believed such a forecasting?
The resources of the ethereal realms are infinite and incalculable. In the ether lies enwrapped all energy which shall emerge as constructive power; in the ether lie all possibilities of communication, transit, and power that shall take shapes and directions yet undreamed of for the remaking of the world. In Sir Oliver Lodge’s latest book entitled “Reality,” published in the late spring of 1925, the great scientist and psychical researcher takes for his theme these marvelous potencies of the ether. Some twenty and more years ago his little book entitled “The Ether of Space” was revolutionary in its action upon the thought of the day. For Sir Oliver, now supported by all the leading scientists, discovers that ether is energy. It pours itself through surrounding conditions. Platinum and gold are tenuous compared to the ether. This ether of space is the reservoir of energy. Should the ether-flow into this world stop for one minute—presto! there would be no world! Then what is the next advance? It lies in the spiritualization of conditions. This is the next onward step in civilization.
Henri Bergson recognizes this truth. He argues that life should be free, spontaneous, unhampered. Creative activity is the ultimate reality. It is already heralded to us by the mysterious potencies of electricity; by the power to navigate the air, and Bergson offers a speculative theory which is of curious interest. It is that consciousness, which he regards as the one great unity, pours itself with resistless force through separate individualities; that the soul, being immersed in matter, being thus
clogged by matter, is impeded in transmitting the rush of this higher consciousness to the production of new life; that man has only to remove this obstacle and all this higher consciousness rushes in to be constructed by mind into great results. Organize an individuality, and some measure of this higher consciousness is utilized by him and conveyed in results to the world; organize still more highly and still a greater measure of the higher consciousness may be brought to bear to come through and regenerate and create a new order of life.
Arthur James Balfour questions as to the undreamed-of possibilities of this flood of life (the pure energy of the ether), beating against matter. Mr. Balfour believes that the “Evolution Creatrice” of Bergson is not merely a philosophic treatise; that while it has all the charms and audacities of a work of art, it is still no unsubstantial vision. It offers actual scientific truth as well as the boldest metaphysical speculation.
Electro-magnetic discoveries open the vista of a new world. Are we then entering on this new order of life? Is not the radio practically (and prophetically) reconstructing degrees of life for humanity? The realm of unknown power is already being entered by the explorers. They are penetrating into its laws, its resources; and constantly the realm of the unknown is being increasingly conquered and made to be the known.
Tyndall found that the luminiferous ether conveys vibrations of light at a rate of two hundred thousand miles a second. If man developed the faculties to enter into and become an inhabitant of such an atmosphere as this, his environment would be transformed. Life would then take on the higher etheric vibrations of the spiritual realm. In this realm are sounds that are above the vibration that can be registered by the mortal ear; colors, that are in a high vibration that is beyond that which the human eye can register; these sounds and colors are all in this higher vibration. Is it not quite conceivable that when man withdraws from the physical element; when he stands clothed upon in his ethereal body, that he enters into the realm of this higher vibration? And that it is this change which is that which we call death? We are living today, here in the mortal body, in an environment that would have been a miracle world to the Pilgrim Fathers! Indeed, it would have been a miracle world to the generation that has just vanished; to Emerson, Dr. Holmes, Longfellow, Whittier, Lowell; and to their younger contemporaries, Edward Everett Hale, Phillips Brooks.
Now are we, the humanity of today, responding spiritually to this advance of conditions? Is there not, at least, a very perceptible advance? The extension of sympathies is in evidence as is the extension of consciousness. The great ideals of co-operation in the economic world; of brotherhood in the social world, are asserting themselves so profoundly that they are well becoming the accepted ideals of humanity. These ideals were taught by Jesus in the most impressive words and by his own example; the same truth is expressed constantly in the words and counsels of Bahá’u’lláh. “I have placed in thee the Essence of My Light; therefore depend upon it. . . .” How does one depend upon this Light and make it to be his own guidance? By aspiration; by prayer. Plotinus tells us that the soul is of a power to extend her activities to any locality she may desire. She is a power that has no limit so far as she is pure and unadulterated with matter. This is to say,
the less a man is entangled with materialities, the more clear and direct are his spiritual perceptions. But let not this truth mislead us. A man is not necessarily entangled in materialities because he is dealing with material things! It is a materiality, if you will, to build a railroad across a continent; to lead fleets of ships over the sea; to build houses, churches, universities; but these “materialities,” if we call them so, are the mechanism of our higher life! They are the instrumentalities that extend civilizations; that promote culture, health, happiness; and that produce the conditions of all intellectual and spiritual progress. To be a vital factor in these activities is a part of the spiritual life; not apart from it. To lead the life of the spirit is not synonymous with sinking into vagrancy, idleness, pauperism, or any sort of ineffectual existence. The life of the spirit means activity, usefulness, achievement. The life of the spirit is that spiritual state, or condition of aspiring energy, of peace and mental harmony, of good will to all, of sympathetic companionships, of love. It is that mental and spiritual condition by means of which the delver in the mine, the layer of a pavement, the engineer, the professional man, lawyer, doctor, teacher, preacher, the artist, the writer, the stenographer, the worker in all industries, crafts, professions or arts—all do the most effective work. The man who is controlling vast financial and economic interests, is he thereby debarred from leading the life of the spirit? No more than is the clerical prelate in his study, or the poet writing his epic or lyric. To be a good citizen, a good neighbor, a good member of a community, a factor in economic activities, is a very great part of the Life of the Spirit. For the Life of the Spirit is revealed in qualities. The Life of the Spirit is justice, kindness, consideration, courtesy, generosity, love. And Love is the comprehensive term that includes all.
This high and effective energy is sought and found in the Divine Leading. It is to be gained by Prayer. It is given to each and all who prays that his own spirit may be increasingly receptive to the Divine Spirit. Let one, on waking, invoke the Divine Guidance: “Cleanse the thoughts of my heart that I may perfectly love Thee, and worthily serve Thee, to the glory of Thy holy name.” “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be always acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.” “Let my trust be in Thy Will, and my deeds according to Thy Command.” “O my God! I put my spirit, my soul, and myself into the right hand of Thy Power and Safety!” In such words the immediate aspiration of the soul to be kept within the realm of holiness may be expressed instantly on returning to consciousness, even before one rises to make ready for the day; even before he kneels in prayer to re-consecrate his life to the Divine Purpose.
Through prayer do we receive the reality and the constant proof of the reality of the Divine Leading. This guidance invests every hour of the day with the atmosphere of romance. It makes each day an entirely new and joyous experience; it redeems all life from monotony. It reveals itself, this Leading, in all minor details; and it is these, after all, that largely create the entire texture of life. This Leading becomes one’s light and one’s clue. He realizes and shares in that spiritual truth expressed by Whittier in the stanza:
- “I know not what the future hath
- Of marvel or surprise;
- Assured, alone, that life or death,
- His mercy underlies.”
Yet one great and determining truth we must yet remember: To give ourselves to the Divine Leading is not to sink into mere passivity. It involves the very highest activity of life; the highest potentiality of the spirit to recognize and to follow this Leading! In Ephesians we find this wonderful passage:
“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
There we have the conditions: To be led by the Divine Spirit involves man’s power as well as God’s power; that is, man must do his part, in order that God may do His. We are not taken up and wafted without effort; we are taught and helped to walk, to climb. Nor is life made up of exclusively pleasant and agreeable coincidences and events. We do not live on rose-leaves; sometimes we live on thorns. What about our failures, our sorrows, our distresses? It would be a very superficial view of human life that would evade these.
What does Bahá’u’lláh tell us?
“My Calamity is my Providence. In appearance it is Fire and Vengeance; in reality it is Light and Mercy.” Those are marvellous words and convey eternal truth. We live to look back upon trials and to thank God that He thus helped us by their discipline. We look back to see that they were by no means fire and vengeance; but that they were Light and Mercy.
In prayer we touch the highest potency of the universe. The highest of all cosmic possibilities. To commit ourselves reverently with even renewed consecration to that Power, is to receive renewed energy; new and finer insights, and a new endowment that leads increasingly toward the supreme ideal condition.
“By the Hands of Power I have made thee, and by the Fingers of Strength have I created thee,” says Bahá’u’lláh, and “I have placed in thee the Essence of My Light; Therefore, depend upon it and upon nothing else, for My Action is perfect, and My Command has effect.”
- Lord, grant us a vision more bright and more clean,
- A wider horizon with pastures more green,
- A far-reaching country where old things are not—
- Where boundaries are broken and conflicts forgot.
- The call of old highways is vain in our sight,
- The lure of old byways is lost in the night;
- Let us rise in the strength of the Day just begun
- And blaze a new path that leads out to the sun,
- And, leaving our spiritless fancies behind,
- Rejoice in the freedom of loving our kind;
- Beholding creation as token more bright–
- Earth’s colorful garden for God’s own delight.
- Lord, grant us the purpose—Love’s vision unfurled,
- To will and to labour—we build a new world!
“To every individual there come clear, cool moments when the complex trivia of daily life drop back into their native insignificance. You find yourselves possessed by an abounding sense of life, and it seems almost possible for a few fleeting seconds to penetrate the obdurate veil which shields the divine mysteries.” These vivid words of G. H. Carson emphasize how dear to each of us a bit of that “abounding sense of life” can be, for is it not a poignantly clear definition of happiness? To penetrate the “obdurate veil which shields the divine mysteries” is the soul-consuming desire of the scientist and religionist alike, and whether one be a philosopher or peasant, the center of the intimate mysteries is life.
There seem to be certain things in the boundless universe which are not subject to discontinuity. Time was, is and will be continuous. Space has no limits. The ether is conceived to be imponderable and all pervasive, with no interruption or variation. Time seems to flow on as a mighty stream, meeting no obstruction, showing no change of velocity, always in motion, steadily flowing from epoch to epoch.
One can not help wondering if life, too, in its summation is a never-ending stream, ceaselessly flowing, giving and receiving, but never discontinuous. Since the life principle of cause came into existence, is it not possible that there always has been just “so much” life existent? In such flights of fancy are we not led irresistibly to a quantitative consideration of life?
What justification is there for such an inquiry, and what possible difference can a conclusion make to us? The justification for the question lies in analogy. It is well known that the sum total of physical energy in the universe is constant and unchangeable despite the numerous forms of its manifestation. It is also established that it is not given to man to add or subtract one iota of matter from the total in existence. These quantities are continuous. Energy and matter are consecrated in quantity from the tamperings of man, however universally they may serve. And if there be laws of conservation of energy and matter, the building stones of the universe, may there not also be a similar guardianship over the more vital and subtle attribute–life? Such thoughts are the justification offered for the question. As to what possible difference a conclusion may make, this rests on the premise that any earnest endeavor to reach nearer to truth is its own rare reward, independent of the mellowing and broadening influence such endeavor almost invariably exerts. Perhaps a conclusion is impossible, but surely thinking about familiar and unfamiliar aspects of life may at least broaden appreciation and perchance the seeker may be vouchsafed a fleeting glimpse “through the obdurate veil which shields the divine mysteries.”
Life is progression. Every living thing grows. Life flows on, a stream, as it were, and perhaps the sum total remains unchangeable, each living thing a microcosm adding its bit as a tiny drop to the sea.
Life defies measurement, for who can say that one babe is blessed with more life than another? Vitality, one may have more of than another, for vitality is a ponderable characteristic, but life is an intangible quantity gracing the universe, manifested
in myriads of forms and degrees to glorify the Creator. And yet, we are prone to muse—this is my life. I will do with it what I choose! When, as a matter of fact, the spark of life within the breast is the merest microcosm.
When we eat of the fruit of the earth, destroying the plant that we may live, is the stream of life interrupted or its quantity diminished? Or, as in the case of matter and energy, is the quantum of life simply suffering a transformation, a sublimation?
Science demonstrates that each atom is a vortex of energy and where energy manfests, life is not far distant.
Whatever the conception of life may be, it presupposes spirit.
’Abdu’l-Bahá, in “Some Answered Questions,” has explained five aspects of spirit and their relationships to life so clearly that it seems almost as if we have been granted a peep through “the obdurate veil which shields the divine mysteries.”
“Know that, speaking generally, there are five divisions of the spirit. First the vegetable spirit: this is a power which results from the combination of elements and the mingling of substances by the decree of the Supreme God, and from the influence, the effect, and connection of other existences. When these substances and elements are separated from each other, the power of growth also ceases to exist; so, to use another figure, electricity results from the combination of elements, and when these elements are separated, the electric force is dispersed and lost. Such is the vegetable spirit.
“After this is the animal spirit, which also results from the mingling and combination of elements; but this combination is more complete, and through the decree of the Almighty Lord a perfect mingling is obtained, and the animal spirit, in other words, the power of the senses, is produced. It will perceive the reality of things from that which is seen and visible, audible, edible, tangible, and that which can be smelt. After the dissociation and decomposition of the combined elements, this spirit also will naturally disappear. It is like this lamp which you see: when the oil and wick and fire are brought together, light is the result; but when the oil is finished and the wick consumed, the light will also vanish and be lost.
“The human spirit may be likened to the bounty of the sun shining on crystal. The body of man, which is composed from the elements, is combined and mingled in the most perfect form; it is the most solid construction, the noblest combination, the most perfect existence. It grows and develops through the animal spirit. This perfected body can be compared to a crystal, and the human spirit to the sun. Nevertheless, if the crystal breaks, the bounty of the sun continues; and if the crystal is destroyed or ceases to exist, no harm will happen to the bounty of the sun which is everlasting. This spirit has the power of discovery; it encompasses all things. All these wonderful signs, these scientific discoveries, great enterprises and important historical events which you know, are due to it. From the realm of the invisible and hidden, through spiritual power, it brought them to the plane of the visible. So, man is upon the earth, yet he makes discoveries in the heavens. From known realities, that is to say, from the things which are known and visible, he discovers unknown things. For example, man is in this hemisphere, but, like Columbus, through the power of his reason he discovers another hemisphere, that is, America,
which was until then unknown. His body is heavy, but through the help of an instrument which he invents, he is able to soar aloft. He is slow of movement, but by an instrument which he invents he travels to the East and West with extreme rapidity. Briefly, this power embraces all things.
“But the spirit of man has two aspects: one divine, one satanic; that is to say, it is capable of the utmost perfection, or it is capable of the utmost imperfection. If it acquires virtues it is the most noble of the existing beings, and if it acquires vices it becomes the most degraded existence.
“The fourth degree of spirit is the heavenly spirit; it is the spirit of faith and the bounty of God; it comes from the breath of the Holy Spirit, and by the divine power it becomes the cause of eternal life. It is the power which makes the earthly man heavenly, and the imperfect man perfect. It makes the impure to be pure, the silent, eloquent; it purifies and sanctifies those made captive by carnal desires; it makes the ignorant wise.
“The fifth spirit is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the mediator between God and His creatures. It is like a mirror facing the sun. As the pure mirror receives light from the sun and transmits this bounty to others, so the Holy Spirit is the mediator of the Holy Light from the Sun of Reality, which it gives to the sanctified realities. It is adorned with all the divine perfections. Every time it appears the world is renewed, and a new cycle is founded. The body of the world of humanity puts on a new garment. It can be compared to the spring; whenever it comes, the world passes from one condition to another. Through the advent of the season of spring the black earth and the fields and wilderness will become verdant and blooming, and all sorts of flowers and sweet-scented herbs will grow; the trees will have new life, and new fruits will appear, and a new cycle is founded. The appearance of the Holy Spirit is like this. Whenever it appears it renews the world of humanity and gives a new spirit to human realities: it arrays the world of existence in a praiseworthy garment, dispels the darkness of ignorance, and causes the radiation of the light of perfections.”
Thus is life continuously renewed, the stream preserved and thus have the various forms of life their places in the scheme of things.
The various degrees of life contribute to its perfection and are as little brooks feeding the mighty stream. The vegetable gives up its life that the animal may live and in so doing finds a higher expression. From the animal and vegetable kingdoms man derives his material sustenance and these two phases of life become non-existent in their own spheres, but bloom in the greater perfection of man.
Are not life and death merely relative conceptions, as light and darkness? Darkness is the absence of light, and how could the splendor of light be appreciated without darkness to contrast? And so, “through the ages one increasing purpose runs.”
But there is assurance in these words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá: “As to life, however, it has had no beginning, nor will it have any end. The eternal grace of God has always been the cause of life. It has had no starting point and it will not approach any end. But concerning the degrees through which the soul has gone, these degrees are spiritual. Consider all the advancement of the world of humanity which is at present manifest and known. This has been realized through the spirit. These manifestations of the will of the Omnipotent,
in the universe, mean the manifestation of the divine laws and disciplines which are essential to the realities of beings: and in the world of the Kingdom they are ideals which in the appearance of the holy Manifestations of God are realized.”
“According to the philosophy of God, in the material or phenomenal world there are two great issues or affairs: One is that which concerns life, the other concerns death. One is relative to existence, the other to non-existence; one is composition, the other decomposition. For people imagine that existence is the expression of reality or being, and that non-existence is the expression of annihilation—some imagining that man’s death means his annihilation. This is a mistake. Total annihilation is impossible. . . . For instance, certain elements have formed man, then this composite man is subject to disintegration. This is no other than death, but the elements remain just the same. Hence, total annihilation is an impossibility. Existence will never be non-existence. It would be the same as saying that light can become darkness, and light can never become darkness. Existence can never become non-existence, hence there is no death for man; nay, rather, man is everlasting, EVER-LIVING, and as a rational proof thereof the following is advanced, that every atom of the phenomenal elements is transferable from one form to another, from one degree to another. For example, take the grain of sand or dust; you can say that that grain traverses all the degrees of existence. Once it goes into the formation of the mineral in becoming petrified, as a rock; once it becomes vegetable in becoming the tree; at another time it becomes an animal, and still at another time, a later period, it becomes man. Hence it traverses or is transferred from one degree to another degree in phenomenal existence, but to non-existence, never.”
“Therefore death is only an expression applicable to these changes, and the question of non-existence is a relative one.”
“The bestowal and grace of God have rendered the realm of existence alive and full of being.”
“If you sow the seed and nurture it, a mighty tree can be forthcoming therefrom. The virtues of that seed will become revealed, it will become branch, give its leaves and blossoms, and fructify. All these virtues are hidden within the inner part of the seed.”
And so the mighty, never-ending stream of life flows on and “the realm of existence is ALIVE and full of being.” The great reservoir of life never fails and we are but the drops of one great sea.
“Through the ages one increasing purpose runs”—the glorification of God through LIFE—life in the aggregate, life in each individual, that spark which is as “of the breath of God.”
The quantity of life is imponderable, its flow never ceasing. But the meaning of life, its purpose becomes revealed to each one of us as we seek earnestly for truth and in a degree commensurate with the sincerity of our endeavor.
The following interesting and valuable treatment of the necessity of religion in the life of the individual and the race, is from the pen of one of the greatest of Arabian scholars of the last generation, now deceased. He traveled and lectured in this country about twenty years ago. The structure of thought on the part of Arabian scholars—in fact, all the scholarship of the Near-East which goes back to Arabian learning—is distinctly different from our own western structure, yet is just as logical; and, penetrating these quaint differences that appear in the dialectic of Mirza Abu’l-Fadl, we will be interested in the deep thoughts of our oriental philosopher and friend.—Editor.
The real import of religion is not known to the majority of men. Even the necessity of religion for the preservation of human society is a point of disagreement among philosophers. In other words, some of the men of learning believe that religion is the only foundation upon which the preservation of human society can be secured; while, on the other hand, many among them persist in the contrary opinion. Some think religion the best of divine bounties and consider it as essential for the protection of humanity, as the mind is for the body. They assert that just as it is not possible for the human body to accomplish beneficial and universal achievements without the faculty of mind, so it is impossible for the affairs of mankind to be correctly governed without a religion; nay, rather, they say mankind can not continue in the world Without it.
Others consider religion an institution most detrimental to humanity; account it diametrically opposed to civilization and destructive to human society. To them religion is represented by ecclesiasticism. They persist that religion is that whereby the masses have been prevented from studying useful sciences and arts, and nations have been taught to entertain hostility and enmity toward each other, causing repeatedly destructive warfare. Those who hold this view are so strongly opposed to religion that, in many instances, they even dislike the word and shun its mentioning.
When a discerning person reflects upon the conflicting opinions of learned men concerning the usefulness or uselessness of religion, he will readily understand that the only reason for this difference is the fact that the true meaning of religion and its source is not known among men. Some may ask: how can the meaning of religion be unknown to the leading philosophers and men of learning; and how can it be that men of science are unable to understand the import of religion, ignoring its source and foundation while at the same time they are able to perfect great inventions and make useful discoveries by which humanity is greatly profited and put under obligation to them?
In order to throw light upon this difficulty let us consider the following point: Let one among you submit the following question to any ten or twenty men of learning: “What is religion, its source and foundation, and what is the reason of disagreement among men of learning in accepting or rejecting religion?”
To this question each will render a different answer. Thus you will realize that these ten or twenty learned men do not agree upon the same statement. If one investigate historians of religion and theological
writings compiled by philosophers and scholars during the nineteenth century, he will clearly discover their contradictory opinions concerning the origin of religion and its meaning. Did Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, who lived in the seventeenth century in England (and who is represented by the English generally as the leader and standard-bearer of irreligion), and Isaac Newton, the standard-bearer of religion, both of whom were great philosophers and inventors–understand the meaning of religion in the same way and agree in their views concerning the truth? Likewise other learned men, such as John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, John Foland, an Irishman, Julius Caesar Vanini, an Italian, Cosmo Ruggeri, a Florentine (and profligate)—all of whom were considered great philosophers—were deniers and antagonists of religion. There were also numerous other men of learning, who entertained different views concerning religion; and some entirely opposed it. To review the names and lives of these men would necessitate large volumes. We omit them for the sake of brevity.
Among religious adherents, the Catholics practice the worshipping of images and pictures of His Holiness Christ, and homage to the relics of saints. On the contrary, Protestants account such worship as idolatry and polytheism. These two communities have mutually contradictory opinions regarding religion; yet both are founded in refined and civilized nations far advanced in scientific knowledge and enlightenment. Is not their difference of view in such important matters a mighty evidence of the fact that the source and meaning of divine religion are points of disagreement among them? Such is also the case among other nations and religious communities as the Islamites, Brahmans, and the followers of Confucius. All these differ over details of religion.
We should comprehend the meaning of religion, and recognize the proofs and arguments concerning its source and foundation. It is asserted by men of learning that among animals, man alone is created with natural adaptation to civilization and social life. All other animal species are minus this tendency to an organized society; whereas, the life of man depends upon the congregation of individuals and cooperation in different arts, occupations, etc. Without a special community, it is impossible for man to properly conduct the affairs of life.
Mankind alone has been endowed with rational faculties, spiritual perception, comprehension of general ideals, and the gift of invention. Owing to this fact, man has the power of subduing and controlling the animals; whereas, the animals are not endowed with the faculty of influencing man.
This is what is meant by the verse revealed in the Holy Scriptures, “God has created man after our own image.” Thus we know that, from the beginning, God has chosen the human form, which is the most excellent among created things, to be His manifestation; and has distinguished the temple of man from animals by making him the dwelling place of His Holy Spirit.
Now that it is understood that man is in need of society and cooperation, not only to assist his progress toward perfection, civilization and enlightenment, but also to assure the continuity of his race and progeny; therefore, it is apparent he should institute laws to accomplish this cooperation and mutual aid, and protect human society from dispersion and disintegration, which is contrary to the
natural divine principles embodied in the creation of man.
Thus we say that mankind is in need of two kinds of power for the preservation of society.
1. A power regulating laws which may guarantee order and discipline in the affairs of each individual.
2. A penetrative power necessarily imminent in these laws, to influence individual obedience and training in such regulations.
For should there be no laws, the high would oppress the low, the strong would be unjust to the weak, lives and properties would be sacrificed to pillage and destruction, blood would be shed, virtue and honor defamed, tranquillity and peace—which constitute the basis of civilization and refinement and are the protective spirit of human society—would be removed and annulled; and finally society, which assures the perpetuity of mankind, would be overthrown and disintegrated.
You have no doubt heard or read in histories the records concerning large races of former times, and as no laws were instituted among them, were accustomed to live as wild animals in forests and mountain caves; their manner and disposition similar to those of beasts of prey. Large numbers of such tribes of men were thus reduced to extinction, such as the “primitive Arabians or lost tribes,” whose names and the manner of whose brutal life are still recorded in the pages of authoritative historical works. But owing to regulated laws, the descendants and posterity of these same savage tribes have in the present age far advanced in civilization, and are noted for learning and enlightenment. Even in the present day, various great nations, tribes and peoples, exist in different parts of the world who have not been lifted above a state of barbarity, and still live like animals. Some of them are so steeped in savagery that they practice cannibalism, and resemble beasts of prey more than men. In fact, most of the animal species, even reptiles, abstain from feeding upon their own kind.
A slight reflection upon the above mentioned points will clearly show that the cause of this decline is absence of laws for the preservation of society. If laws were enacted and enforced among these uncivilized nations and barbarous tribes, they would after a time advance in knowledge, learning, enlightenment, civilization and refinement; attain to prosperity and affluence, and produce philosophers and men of learning who would secure honor and respect for their race and posterity. But those among them who continued in their actual state of barbarism would gradually decline, finally be extinguished, and their names effaced from the records of the world. If their names should survive, they would serve only to render them the subjects of admonition and warning.
The first thing God did for the order and preservation of the world was to create religions, which are the only means of civilizing the world and preserving order. Religion is the only means of elevating the people. If a man be a great savant, but an atheist, we recognize his talent and call him great. Yet we are not sure of his integrity; but if he is a religious man in the true sense, he will be honest and upright, and we have then full trust in him. By religion is meant the knowledge of God, because God first created us to know Him, that He is powerful and mighty in all things, that He encompasseth all things; therefore He made the laws and ordinances which are important for us to know.
”O unitarians, make firm the girdle of endeavor, that perchance religious strife and conflict may be removed from amongst the people of the world and be annulled.”
Why should such an exhortation be necessary, since peace and brotherhood are everywhere heralded abroad, and the great religious systems of the world without exception teach unity and love?
We should stand in awe of God instead of quarreling about Him, since we must admit our ignorance concerning Him.
The Christian philosophers, as well as the ancient, admit that the infinite is incomprehensible, and that at best the intellect is only capable of conceiving God as an idea. (St. Augustine.)
Bahá’u’lláh says: “But that Real King is in Himself sufficient unto Him-self. . . . God singly and alone abideth in His own place, which is holy above space and time, mention. and utterance, sign, description, and definition, height and depth.”
As we must all confess our ignorance, why do we quarrel? Because man is apt to idealize, theologize and deify his own opinions, to clothe them in metaphysical formulas, and having adorned them with these imaginary garments of divinity, bows down to and worships them. They are as truly idols as the gods of ancient mythology and perhaps much more harmful. Thus, worshipping opinions handed down to them by ancestors, men deceive themselves into believing they are worshipping God.
As Max Muller so cogently said, “all the great religions teach us to love the good God and be good.” Their Founders, or Prophets, were busy teaching and demonstrating by their own lives the constructive principles of the spiritual life. As 'Abdu’l-Bahá so often taught, “When all these divine prophets were united with each other, why should we disagree? We are the followers of those holy souls. In the same manner that the prophets loved each other, we should follow their example, for we are all the servants of God, and the bounties of the Almighty are encircling every one. God is kind to every one; why should we oppress each other? The foundation of divine religion is love, affinity and concord.” To them, the Prophets, that men should live was of supreme importance, and their opinions a matter of indifference. They had the “eye single” and their whole bodies being full of light, they saw only the work God had given them to do and devoted themselves wholly to that life. To paraphrase a famous Southern evangelist, they had little use for theology and botany, but they loved God and flowers.
However, after they had left this world for the glory behind the veil of being, their followers—for the most part—instead of walking in their footsteps and endeavoring to live according to their teaching, commenced to follow human opinions. They even quarreled about the Prophets of God, what their nature was, human or divine, and what their station. They claimed that the religion of God required the knowledge of dead languages and abstruse sciences, to be comprehended. But Bahá’u’lláh says in his “Book of Assurance:”
“Lend not thine ear to the vain statement of the servants who say
that the Book of God and the Verses can not be proof to the common people because they neither understand nor comprehend them. . . . Before God these common people are accepted and approved above the learned who have turned away from the True One. Understanding the Divine words and comprehension of the utterances of the Ideal Doves have no connection with outward learning, but depend upon purity of heart, chastity of soul and freedom of spirit.”
And again:
“But, O my brother, when a seeker intends to turn the step of search and journeying into the path of the Knowledge of the King of Pre-existence, he must first cleanse and purify his heart and he must cleanse and purify his breast from all the gloomy dust of acquired learning and from the allusions of satanic appearances.”
Defining knowledge, he quotes one of the great spiritual teachers, who says:
“Knowledge is a light which God sheds in whatsoever heart He willeth.”
“It is this kind of knowledge which is praiseworthy; not the limited learnings produced by veiled and obscured imaginations which men often steal from one another, then glory over their fellow creatures.”
Not until we realize the futility of trying to acquire absolute knowledge, and frankly confess our ignorance, are we prepared to even begin the real quest for the soul. If we could learn the secret of the simplest flower, penetrate its reality, and unveil its mystery, we would be informed of the secret of the universe, for the “Universal Splendor” exists in all things. But the thing in itself can not be known.
How, then, is man to find assurance and satisfy his soul? Socrates, according to Bahá’u’lláh, was the most profound of all the philosophers. He taught that the only thing man can know is himself, and Bahá’u’lláh teaches that to know our own souls is equivalent to knowing God. ’Abdu’l-Bahá says that, “Man is the Spirit in the body of the world.” But man is not yet conscious of his own reality. Through the ages, except in rare instances unconscious of it, man has been like “a beautifully jeweled sword hid in a dark sheath.” In his long and toilsome journey toward a knowledge of himself, preyed upon by wolves in sheep’s clothing, the victim of charlatans, and the plaything of his own uncontrolled passions, he has not only refused the counsels, but has turned upon and persecuted his best friends and Saviors, and so has been in every age the cause of his own undoing. But in this Age of Enlightenment, when a new spiritual dynamic is stirring the heart of the world, he is coming to realize more and more his true nature and to really desire and strive for world peace and religious unity. At last his East is roseate with the dawn of a new day.
But how is man to learn to know his own soul, which is equivalent to knowing God? Left to himself, he is prone to fall into idolatry, delude himself with his own imaginations and mistake the whisperings of the human ego for divine revelations.
In this quest for his soul, he needs divine guidance, a Teacher, not in words only, but One who has lived and demonstrated the Divine attributes, and the noble qualities hidden in man. And, above all, he needs an Infallible Divine Center, not only as a strong, sure rope which he can grasp as “the cord of God,” but around which world peace, reconciliation and unity can revolve. And that Centre must be established with power and authority, for there can
be no world order without a sufficient moral sanction to hold the conscience of men and maintain it in the name of God and religion.
In plain language, what is needed is a Manifestation of the Divine Will and Authority, the appearance of such a Spiritual Leader as the world had two thousand years ago in the Man of Nazareth, who can speak with power and authority and not as the scribes and pharisees, and deliver to the world the message and the words of God.
To come to that realization of his own Reality, which is equivalent to knowing God, man must now, as he did in the time of Jesus, turn to “The Lord of the Age” and feed upon the words of God which alone are Spirit and Life. No more now than then can heaven be taken by assault or captured by violence; and now, as then, there is one door and one door only, guarded by a flaming sword. And now, as then, the same supreme condition obtains: “To him that overcometh will be given to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the Paradise of God.”
JOSEPH GERPOL was a servant in Capitalia, Nameless land. He was slow in mind; as he expressed it in his broken English, “I am less than others.” Also, he was so nearly blind that he said he saw more with his thoughts than by means of his eyes. Joseph was so poor, one does not like to chronicle how little he had to live upon. This story has to do with the apostle side of his life. Spiritually he had wonderful divine insight. His judgment in all matters relating to the Bahá’í Cause was wise and dependable. His face was so shining that people in the street often stopped to stare in wonder at the illumination in those almost sightless eyes. He was quick in all his movements, and such a worker that he astonished even those who knew him best.
Joseph, a Bahá’í of the servant class in Nameless land, had come to Capitalia to spread the Bahá’í Teachings. His first job was in a Catholic Monastery where he gave the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh to the priests who would listen. Called back to the country peasant home in Nameless land by the death of his mother, when he returned he did not go again to the monastery to work, though he was asked to do so.
He next took a job as errand boy. His work took him to the various taverns where he gave the precious Teachings. As the Bahá’í teacher, writer of this account, visited Capitalia, she found people from inns now confirmed Bahá’ís and some had changed their business. One had made out his life insurance to the Bahá’í Cause. One head in a wine shop had ordered the youth away because he did not like his religious talk. But when the owner of the entire establishment, in that same hour, ridiculed Joseph and said: “He preaches against selling liquors because he is very poor. If he were rich, he would think quite differently,” The same young man who had ordered Joseph out replied: “Well, there are not half a dozen other men in Nameless land as honest or as great as Joseph!”
Next he helped an architect and
talked with him about the blessed Teachings. One day as Joseph so meekly bowed (any one who ever saw him will remember his humble but angelic bow, for he never forgot for one moment that he was a servant) the architect playfully slapped his face and kissed his forehead, saying: “Do not bow to me like that! like an oriental character in a drama!”
Another time, Joseph by chance was called to carry the bags of a great bank president to the railway station. The manner in which he did it brought him a position in the banker’s home. He gave them all the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. The banker liked the youth and told him he could use the house as his own home, could use the telephone for his Bahá’í work and could invite his friends to the office. Joseph, innately knowing his place as a servant, never did any of these things.
One day while Joseph was carrying the coal to the different rooms, he was thinking: “Here I work carrying the coals, but what am I doing for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh?” That afternoon he said to the bank president’s wife: “Now I must leave you and find other work where I can do more for the Cause of our World-Teacher, Bahá’u’lláh, for I am doing nothing here.”
The woman was sorry to have him go. She said: “Joseph, you know us, you know our ways, we like you. I must not keep you from your great task, but always send us your address, for you are sympathetic to each one in our family.”
That night Joseph prayed many hours for the beloved spiritual Cause. Next morning he said to the banker’s wife: “Money does not mean much to me. If you wish me to stay I will, and you know I shall always be your servant. But I am a simple youth, I’m ignorant, I do not have capacity to serve Bahá’u’lláh and to spread His great Cause in Capitalia. Let me carry the coal and wash the dog. I will keep my room in the garage, but you need not pay me any wages. You can always count on me, but you with your great culture can help our Cause. Perhaps you could have the Bahá’í Feasts in your home.” So it came about that Joseph stayed on and the banker’s wife helped him in his work for Bahá’u’lláh.
One day he was very surprised to receive a letter from a Bahá’í traveling teacher that she had just arrived in Capitalia. He came running to her small hotel. (Joseph never used the tram.) Together they arranged a program. As the days passed she observed that Joseph never thought whether he was warm or cold, whether he ate or did not eat, whether he slept or worked all night, still he was all consciousness when it came to serving the Cause he so loved. Lectures were given every evening for a month in the leading clubs and organizations of Capitalia. The Bahá’í teacher was always escorted by Joseph. Also, he did all the telephoning as she did not speak the language of that country. He often made long trips, on foot, to arrange the interviews that her time and strength might be saved. No princess was ever more devotedly served. One day when they had been to a nearby city to speak and were returning, she said to Joseph: “Please do not leave the street car, but ride on home; I get off just at the door of my hotel.” He instantly replied: “I am your servant; I must see you safely into your hotel before I leave you!” and he did.
Food specialists who teach that too much starch gives one fatigue would find an exception in Joseph’s case. During the whole month he prepared nothing to eat except black bread spread with bacon grease (an unknown lady had left at his door this
large jar of bacon fat and he could not return it because he did not know who sent it, so he enjoyed it). His drink was hot water with a lump of sugar occasionally. Often he was persuaded to eat with the Bahá’í teacher at her frugal table, for he said he wished to spend every hour possible with her—but, gentle reader, imagine her feelings when afterwards, little by little, he brought her gifts until he had paid for every meal! One night after a lecture, he handed her a little package of sandwiches as he said good night. She said: “Joseph, I will not take them! You must take them home and eat them!” Tears came into his eyes as he answered: “I will NEVER eat them! I would be too grieved to eat them ever! I bring them to you because you do not eat enough.” “Forgive me, Joseph,” she said; “I will eat them; I like sandwiches and I very much appreciate your thoughtfulness and your kindness.” The Bahá’í teacher found she could do nothing personally for Joseph, but she could give books and work for the Cause in Capitalia.
She invited the banker’s family to tea to tell them more about Bahá’u’lláh, for they longed to hear. The wife told her about Joseph. “We feel he is like a holy man. He is different from all others. We call him an apostle. Once when I was very ill, the children ran down and asked Joseph to pray for me. He prayed and truly in that hour something seemed to break in my spine, and I was released from the terrible pain. I pray the prayers from Bahá’u’lláh which Joseph has copied for me. We would like to be Bahá’ís, we try to be Bahá’ís.”
Then she told the Bahá’í teacher how, another time, her son, nineteen years old, was to take his examinations and he had lost some very important papers which he had to have ready at that date. He had looked for them every day for six weeks. The night before his examination he went down to the garage room, as he often used to do, and that evening he told Joseph his trouble. Joseph said to him: “Don’t worry. You will find those papers. I will pray for you.” Next morning the son said to his mother: “Well, just once more I will look in this room where I have searched so often! It is where they ought to be.” He searched and he found the manuscripts! With the papers and in his examination work, too, he passed brilliantly, but coming home he went to his mother and said: “Mother, it was because Joseph prayed for me that God helped me.”
This banker’s wife also said that one day, riding in her motor car, she saw Joseph in the street carrying a very heavy burden. He did not see her, because he can hardly see at all, but she said he was singing as he bore his heavy load and his face was full of joy. She said her husband had several times invited in some of the city officials and had sent for Joseph to explain to them what the Bahá’í Movement is. The Bahá’í Feasts, where gathered each month about nineteen Bahá’ís taught by Joseph, whose lives are stories in themselves because of their zeal, loyalty, incessant toil and passionate devotion to this holy Cause, are held in this luxurious home hung with art treasures, the most beautiful home that the Bahá'í teacher saw in Capitalia.
The banker’s wife said: “We can never do anything for Joseph. If we try to give him his breakfast when he brings the coal, he runs away. He laughs and says; ‘I am not carrying this coal for my breakfast; I am carrying it for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.’ If we give him Christmas presents or clothes he brings them back or gives them to
other people. He eats nothing, he wears nothing that he could not earn. He says: ‘I am never tired,’ yet he lives only on black bread. His eyesight is so poor that he sometimes sits up until five o’clock in the morning to get out his Bahá’í invitations, yet all his Bahá’í correspondence is answered promptly.”
Going to another Bahá’í home to tea—the home where the head of the wine business had once dismissed Joseph from his door because he disliked his religious talk—the Bahá’í teacher found that this than is now in another and better business and is happily married. The couple showed her a Bible, lovingly inscribed, which Joseph had given them for their wedding present, and he had told them to study it; it was a preparation to understand the Bahá’í Teachings. That young wife, who had Joseph sit at her right at the tea-table, put her hand tenderly on his shoulder and said: “You are my very best friend in this whole world!” She later told the Bahá’í writer what a spiritual joy-bringer Joseph had been to them. She, too, said: “He will not take anything. Once I put some cookies into his pocket; when he reached home and found them, he walked all the way back to bring them here. He will not take one thing. We can only help him by helping the Bahá’í Cause. My husband does the Bahá’í mimeographing. Another friend called on the Bahá’í teacher and said: “I tried to help Joseph, but every gift was brought back to me, so I typed four copies of one of Bahá’u’lláh’s great Writings which another friend had translated into the language of our country.”
So the Bahá’í Cause was penetrating Capitalia. The radio station and professors in six universities were visited during that month, as were also the newspaper editors. One university professor said to the Bahá’í teacher: ”If you can not stay to give a lecture, I will study these Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh for three months and lecture about them to the scientists of Nameless land. All the newspapers will print something about the Movement. I thank you for these books; the whole subject interests me more deeply than I can tell you.”
The climax of the month came when an interview was asked and granted to come to the home of the ruler of Nameless land for an interview of one hour to explain the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. These Teachings were graciously received and cordial thanks expressed for the Bahá’í books. So it was everywhere, the people in Capitalia were so charming, so ready to hear and to help, that had the Bahá’í teacher stayed longer, more and more lectures would have been arranged.
The Bahá’í teacher and readers of this simple tale know that the cause of the progress of the Bahá’í Teachings in Capitalia is due to Joseph, the servant, but a true apostle. It is his life that has attracted people to look into these Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. He stood at the railway station and humbly bowed his ineffable bow to the Bahá’í teacher while the train bore her away. Through tears of gratitude for his great life and his devotion and faithfulness to Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá, and to Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Cause, the Bahá’í teacher saw this youth transfigured; he was not the slender servant of humble rank, but verily the twentieth century Joseph! He brings light to the eyes of many Jacobs. He gives the Divine Glad-Tidings to his countrymen of Nameless land; they are obtaining a new life; they are acquiring limitless spiritual rapture!
The Bahá’í teaching is at one with science and philosophy in declaring the essential nature of God to be entirely beyond human comprehension. As emphatically as Huxley and Spencer teach that the nature of the Great First Cause is unknowable, does Bahá’u’lláh teach that “God comprehends all; He can not be comprehended.” To knowledge of the Divine Essence “the way is barred and the road is impassable,” for how can the finite comprehend the Infinite; how can a drop contain the ocean or a mote dancing in the sunbeam embrace the universe? Yet the whole universe is eloquent of God. In each drop of water are hidden oceans of meaning, and in each mote is concealed a whole universe of significance, reaching far beyond the ken of the most learned scientist. The chemist and physicist pursuing their researches into the nature of matter, have passed from masses to molecules, from molecules to atoms, from atoms to electrons and ether, but at every step the difficulties of the research increase till the most profound intellect can penetrate no further, and can but bow in silent awe before the unknown Infinite which remains ever shrouded in inscrutable mystery.
- “Flower in the crannied wall,
- I pluck you out of the crannies.
- I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
- Little flower, but if I could understand,
- What you are, root and all, and all in all,
- I should know what God and man is.”—Tennyson.
If the flower in the crannied wall, if even a single atom of matter, presents mysteries which the most profound intellect can not solve, how is it possible for man to comprehend the universe? How dare he pretend to define or describe the Infinite cause of all things? All theological speculations about the nature of God’s Essence are thus swept aside as foolish and futile.
BUT if the Essence is unknowable, the manifestations of its bounty are everywhere apparent. If the first cause can not be conceived, its effects appeal to our every faculty. Just as knowledge of a painter’s pictures gives to the connoisseur a true knowledge of the artist, so knowledge of the universe in any of its aspects—knowledge of nature or of human nature, of things visible or of things invisible—is knowledge of God’s handiwork, and gives to the seeker for Divine truth a real knowledge of His Glory.
“The heavens declare the Glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge.” Ps. xix.
THE ENLARGING fellowship of human life upon this planet, which began with the clan and tribe and has moved out through ever widening circles of communication and contact, has now become explicitly and overwhelmingly international, and it never can be crowded back again. Moreover, within this unescapable internationalism of modern life, not yet adequately recognized in government, man has been learning one great lesson from his social experiments. In area after area he has succeeded in getting what he wanted, not by violence, but by overpassing violence and substituting co-operation. That is what social progress consist in. All social progress can be defined as carrying over one more realm of human life from the regime of force to the regime of co-operation. Wherever we have civilized any social group, the essential thing which has happened is that in that group, not force, but cooperation has become the arbiter.
And now we face the next great step, the most momentous step in human history. Can we achieve a like result with our international relationship? Can we carry them over from brutality and organized slaughter to reasonableness and cooperation? How the best thinking and praying of our time centers around that hope of superseding belligerent nationalism with cooperative international substitutes for war! . . . The one hope of humanity today, if it is to escape devastating ruin, lies in rising above and beyond this nationalism and organizing the world for peace. . . . A clear conviction grows in the best thinking of today that mankind’s realest conflict of interest is not between this nation and that, but between the forward-looking, progressive, open-minded people of all nations, who have caught a vision of humanity organized for peace, and the backward-looking, reactionary, militaristic people of the same nations. . . . We work in many ways for the same end—a world organized for peace. Never was an end better worth working for. The alternative is the most appalling catastrophe mankind has ever faced. Like gravitation in the physical realm, the law of the Lord in the moral realm bends for no man and no nation: “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.“—Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick at the Geneva Cathedral.
THE WORLD is now entering upon the most stupendous task of construction it ever conceived. Having organized men into nations, destiny now is undertaking to organize the nations into humanity. . . .
The labor problem will never be solved by the rise and power of the laboring class, which would be quite as intolerable as the tyranny of the capitalistic class. It will never be settled right until it is settled by employer and employed cooperating, realizing that their common interest is more profitable than their antagonisms—in fine, becoming friends and ceasing to be enemies.
Friendship is the only hypostatic paradox of capital and labor, of rich and poor, of learned and ignorant. By means of it they find a common level.
The only true religion is one which realizes the friendship of God. And the only abiding state will be one which is built upon the friendship of all people. . . .
All nations are founded on fear and maintained by force. But it is our task to change this, and by science, commerce, art, education, and religion build up,
A nation of friends—
And why not a world of friends.—Dr. Frank Crane in the “Spokane Review.”
