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THE MANIFESTATIONS of God have come into the world to free man from these bonds and chains of the World of Nature. Although they walked upon the earth they lived in heaven. They were not concerned about material sustenance and prosperity of this world. Their bodies were subjected to inconceivable distress but their spirits ever soared in the highest realms of ecstasy. The purpose of their coming, their teaching and suffering was the freedom of man from himself. Shall we, therefore, follow in their footsteps, escape from this cage of the body or continue subject to its tyranny? Shall we pursue the phantom of a mortal happiness which does not exist or turn toward the tree of life and the joys of its eternal fruits?
THE ESSENCE OF INSTRUCTIONS
Humanity, through suffering and turmoil, is swiftly moving on towards its destiny; if we be loiterers, if we fail to play our part, surely others will be called upon to take up our task as ministers to the crying needs of this afflicted world.
Not by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organized campaign of teaching—no matter how world-wide and elaborate in its character—not even by the staunchness of our faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and sceptical age the supreme claim of the ABHA Revelation. One thing, and only one thing, will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh.
Guardian of the Bahá’í Cause
Magazine
STAR OF THE WEST| VOL. 16 | SEPTEMBER, 1925 | No. 6 |
man with the outpourings of grace from on high.
RELIGION has always its two-fold aspect—outer and inner—that which relates to the different human relationships and the institutions built upon them, and that which relates to the soul’s individual progress. It is hard to say which of the two is the more important.
Religion, if it does not manifest itself in good deeds, in neighborliness, in worthy institutions, and in a perfected form of humanity, is so characterless as to be almost no-religion. On the other hand, the progress and perfection of the individual soul is from certain viewpoints the sum and substance of all existence, the thing alone which is of eternal value in the perpetual flux of forms and institutions into which earth-life is cast. Furthermore, ideal institutions can be built up only by perfected individuals. So that it is hard to say which is the more important function of religion, to present patterns for higher and more ideal forms of humanity, or to show and urge the way to individual perfection. Certain it is these two functions are mutually involved, the one in the other; are constantly interactive; and must be included tacitly if not by preachment in the tenets of every world religion.
THE BAHÁ'Í MOVEMENT contains such an amazingly perfect platform for the better organization of humanity that this outer side of the Movement tends to be emphasized rather than the aspect of personal perfection, of soul growth and progress. This is as it should be, for the world is today in a pragmatic mood, and questions of any religion, “What fruits of action can you produce?” Since, however, the outer side of the Bahá’í Movement has been so often and so adequately presented, it is well at times to present its other inner aspect—that of soul development.
Certain movements of the day lay extreme emphasis upon the perfection of individual life, and the consequent harmony, happiness and prosperity concomitant with such perfection. In a world which is still too much a place of tears, it is well to have pointed out, even emphatically, the way to the harmonious life. Were the Bahá’í Movement to fail in such a human need, it would not be all-containing. It, too, points out the way to individual salvation, with its inevitable concomitant of joy and harmony—the way of severance, of selflessness, by means of prayer and aspiration.
Prayer plays a large part in the life of a Bahá'í. Many beautiful prayers exist in the Words of Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá, to aid one in all the relationships of life. The assurance of God's protection, the cheerful resignation to God’s Will, is seen in all true Bahá’ís. They, too, have plumbed the depths of patience in misfortune, of guidance through the valley of shadows. In fact, it is often because of the superb fruitage of the personal life of Bahá’ís into spiritual radiances and gifts, that strangers
become attracted to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh.
BAHÁ'ÍS DO NOT LOOK for evenly prosperous lives, protected from all mishap. They are taught that such a life is not propitious to the soul’s development. Stress and storm have their place, that faith may become rooted and firm, that the too-human dross of life may be burnt away. We never know the degree of spiritual development to which we have attained, says ’Abdu’l-Bahá, until we meet with tests. Then, when we are called upon to act, we find often to our surprise that we have not the spiritual qualities necessary in order to act rightly. It is in the bitter realization of our shortcomings, as shown in action, that we begin the task of eliminating those faults which lie concealed until the test of deeds throws them into glaring conspicuousness.
Tests, then, are welcomed as the gifts of God; as lessons which advance the soul’s knowledge and power. It is in this grateful attitude toward trials that Bahá’ís show the loveliest of spiritual qualities. In Persia, for instance, where the Bahá’í Cause has brought more of material misfortune than of prosperity to its adherents, the fiercest persecutions, the bitterest sufferings and losses, have been met with a spirit that is more than resignation; that is joy itself. Surely the history of Bahá’í martyrdoms in Persia amply demonstrate the power of the Bahá’í Cause to illuminate the personal life with the perfecting rays of the Holy Spirit.
AMONG THE formulas for the perfection of human character, none has surpassed that given by Christ and emphasized by the apostles—the aid of the Holy Spirit. The Bahá’í Teaching also lays great emphasis upon the effect of the Holy Spirit on human lives. In fact, it is impossible for man to change and perfect his nature along spiritual lines except through this intermediary. It holds the same relation to the development of spiritual man, ’Abdu’l-Bahá tells us, as the rays of the sun do to the growth of plant life. Could humanity but realize this pregnant fact, it would abandon the limited panaceas which human ingenuity has concocted, and turn to the one power which makes for perfection, the power of God made available to humanity through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit.
What is this Holy Spirit? It is rather in its effect than in its essence that we can come to know it. It cannot be seen, or felt, save through man’s spirit. It is that which materially-minded man may remain in utter ignorance of. Yet it awaits the searcher for perfection as that divine aid which will make possible the utmost dream and vision of spiritual advancement. And the importnat truth, the most important truth in all that concerns man’s higher progress, is that the aid of the Holy Spirit is the only means by which material man may become sublimated into spiritual man.
SUBLIMATION, then, is the eminent process of individual perfection. All through the Bahá’í Teachings this idea can be clearly traced as a bright golden thread showing its untarnished beauty above all the soberer colored thoughts. ’Abdu’l-Bahá cleaves with one stroke the Gordian problem of how man may best progress.
The truth, dazzling in its simplicity, is that man must be lifted up to the plane of spiritual existence while still upon this earth. Man must seek ever to rise above his human limitations, and by the aid of the spirit sublimate his lower animal qualities inherited from a brutal past into qualities worthy of spiritual man, the inheritor of a great kingdom. Let mankind begin in all earnest the taking on of the divine characteristics, and his perfection is assured.
All our lesser desires for happiness for harmonious life, for prosperity and good—must needs wait as patient handmaids
upon the great focal desire to rise to the stature of spiritual man. It is the old story—“Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all these things will be added unto you.”
WE SHOULD CALL IT salvation if that term were not too overgrown with old theological concepts, savoring of an age which had not grasped the glorious vision of world brotherhood and of a humanity organized on the foundations of love and co-operation. Salvation, as we have been taught it, implies the saving of the spiritually favored individual from a destruction which is to overwhelm others not so progressed. Whether we view such a cataclysm as a material or spiritual danger threatening humanity, the fact is that the" citizen of the twentieth century views as somewhat pusillanimous the making of individual salvation a chief goal in religion. It is humanity’s salvation that we are now working for. Hence the idea of sublimation, of outgrowing those qualities which make for discord and acquiring those qualities which make for universal concord and harmony, presents to us of today a more virile and generous appeal. We are becoming, the whole world is becoming, for the first time, social minded. We realize ourselves as members of the Great Community. We must perfect ourselves as individuals in order to become worthy citizens of the new world order.
Here, at last, we have the motive for perfection–a motive which reconciles the outer and inner aspects of religion already mentioned. There remains no longer the conflict between the appeal for soul progress and the appeal for perfect institutions. The two coalesce in one. Humanity finds its perfection both as individuals and as a group in the establishing of the Kingdom of God.
THE DIVINE REALITY is to man what the sun is to the earth. The sun is life, radiance, heat, power, energy. The earth is dead, inert, helpless, incapable of initiative or change.
As there must be an intermediary to transmit to the earth the 1ife-giving power of the sun, so must there be an intermediary to bring God to man; and this is realized through the ever-present power of the Holy Spirit. As the media of light and heat carry fragrance and bloom to the earth, so the Holy Spirit brings to man perfection and inspiration. The earth alone is but a senseless clod—touched by the sun it becomes life and energy. So the Holy Spirit touches the heart of man and awakens him to eternal life. It gives to man all possibilities. The cause of life widens before his eyes; eternity opens to him and becomes his, and every moment it is his inviolable possession. Limitations disappear, and he becomes more and more sensitive to the teachings of the Holy Spirit. All things are his own.
Without the intermediary of the Holy Spirit, man would remain dull, helpless and deprived of attainment. But touched by that Divine Elixir he becomes tender, loving, responsive, and capable of every perfection of existence.
THE HUMAN spirit has an impression and effect in the world, but the Divine Spirit gives life to the souls and confers eternal life upon those who are attracted to the Fragrances of God. . . . Be attached to this new Spirit which hath effective power in the realities of things, and creates new creatures.
HAPPINESS consists of two kinds: physical and spiritual. The physical happiness is limited; its utmost duration, is one day, one month, one year. It hath no result. Spiritual happiness is eternal and unfathomable. This kind of happiness appeareth in one’s soul with the love of God and suffereth one to attain to the virtues and perfections of the world of humanity. Therefore, endeavor as much as thou canst in order to illumine the lamp of thy heart with the light of love. (B. S., page 472.)
SOULS ARE like unto mirrors, and the bounty of God is like unto the sun. When the mirrors pass beyond (the condition of) all coloring and attain purity and polish, and are confronted with the sun, they will reflect in full perfection its light and glory. In this condition one should not consider the mirror, but the power of the light of the sun which hath penetrated the mirror, making it a reflector of the heavenly glory.
IF THOU wishest the divine knowledge and recognition, purify thy heart from all beside God, be wholly attracted to the ideal, beloved One; search for and choose Him and apply thyself to rational and authoritative arguments. For arguments are a guide to the path and by this the heart will be turned to the Sun of Truth. And when the heart is turned unto the Sun, then the eye will be opened and will recognize the Sun through the Sun itself.
THE GREATEST gift of man is universal love, for this love is the magnet which renders existence eternal, attracts reality, and diffuses life with infinite joy. If this love penetrates the heart of man, all the forces of the universe will be realized in him, for it is a divine power which transports him to a divine station; and man will make no real progress until illumined by this power of love. (B. S., page 501.) '
WILL is the center or focus of human understanding. We must will to know God, just as we must will in order to possess the life He has given us. The human will must be subdued and trained into the will of God. It is a great power to have a strong will, but a greater power to give that will to God. The will is what we do, the understanding is what we know. Will and understanding must be one in the Cause of God. (Ten Days in the Light of Aqa, page 30.)
PRAYER and supplication are two wings whereby man soars toward the heavenly mansion of the True One. However, verbal repetition of prayer does not suffice. One must live in a perennial attitude of prayer. When man is spiritually free his mind becomes the altar and his heart the sanctuary of prayer. Then the meaning of the verse, "He will lift up from before his eyes the veil,” will become fulfilled in man. (B. S., page 796.)
EVERYTHING save man has one condition, but man has two. The animal has one condition of nature, but man has the animal nature and the Divine nature.
If the Divine nature predominates he will be good, but if the human nature predominates he will be evil. One will lift him up but the other will send him to the lowest depths. Man can become so degraded that he will worship a stone, which is of the lowest kingdom; but the spiritual will raise him to the Supreme Realms. . . Man has the power of knowledge which will exalt him to heaven, and the power of ignorance which will debase him to the lowest condition. The more a person advances in Divine matters, the more will he receive the attributes of light; and the more he retrogrades, the more he will receive the qualities of darkness. This world is dark and in darkness, but the spiritual world is light. This is the Heavenly Kingdom. (B. S., page 440.)
THE HIGHEST expression of the life of man on this planet in this age and many ages to come is Celestial: that is, to live and act in accord with the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and to be steadfast in the love of 'Abdu’l-Bahá. The principles of the Religion of the Blessed Perfection (Bahá’u’lláh) adorn the spirit with the highest attributes of the Kingdom of ABHÁ, illumine the heart with the Sun of the love of God, make him a servant of the world of humanity, a standard-bearer of Universal Peace, and an orb shining from the heaven of righteousness.
He forgets himself and lives in the flow of the love of the True One; he embraces all mankind with an ineffable tenderness, striving day and night to serve his fellowman. He becomes a herald of the Supreme Concourse and wins the good pleasure of the Lord of Hosts. He will be attracted with the love of the Beloved, and immerse his whole being in the ocean of humility and meekness. He will enlist himself in the army of human progress, to realize the limitless advancement of the human race. Through his zeal he will sacrifice everything in the path of God, and quaff from the chalice of eternal life. (B. S., page 441.)
KNOW thou verily, insight seeth that which sight seeth not and apprehendeth that which the body perceiveth not, inasmuch as the sight seeth the mirage as water, the images pictured in the mirror as a reality and genuine, and it seeth the earth as stationary, and the great stars as though they were small. But the insight correcteth the mistake of the sight and apprehendeth the reality and seeth that the mirage is not water, that the images pictured in mirrors are naught else save reflections, that the earth is moving and the distant stars are large. Consequently the truth of insight, its effectiveness and power, is proven, as well as the weakness of sight, its inefficiency and defects.
Then know thou that the power of the Word of God is effective both in the spirit and the body, and the influence of the Spirit of God is predominant over the material as well as over the essential and spiritual. (B. S., page 463.)
THE RELIGION of God reforms the moral side of the life of mankind. It is the spreader of the virtues of the world of humanity. It is the founder of divine perfections in the hearts of men. It is nearness to God. It is the cause of attraction and enkindlement with the fire of the love of God. It is conducive to the illumination of human consciousness. If the hope of man be limited to the material world what ultimate result is he working for? A man with even a little understanding must realize that he should live differently from the worms who hold to the earth in which they are finally buried. How can he be satisfied with this low degree? How can he find happiness there? My hope is that you may become freed from the material world and strive to understand the meaning of the heavenly world, the world of lasting qualities, the world of truth, the world of eternal kingliness, so that your
life may, not be barren of results, for the life of the material man has no fruit of reality, but lasting results are produced by the heavenly existence.
If a man becomes touched with the divine spark, even though he be an outcast and oppressed, he will be happy and his happiness cannot die. (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 8, No. 2, page 28.)
WHAT IS PRAYER? It is conversation with God. While man prays he sees himself in the presence of God. If he concentrates his attention he will surely at the time of prayer realize that he is conversing with God. . . . Prayer and supplication are so effective that they inspire one’s heart for the whole day with high ideals and supreme sanctity and calmness. One’s heart must be sensitive to the music of prayer. He must feel the effect of prayer. He must not be like an organ from which softest notes stream forth without having consciousness of sensation in itself. (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 8, No. 4, page 41.)
MAN BECOMES like a stone unless he continually supplicates to God. The heart of man is like a mirror which is covered with dust and to cleanse it one must continually pray to God that it may become clean. The act of supplication is the polish which erases all worldly desires. . . . Therefore, prayer is a key by which the doors of the kingdom are opened. There are many subjects which are difficult for man to solve. But during prayer and supplication they are unveiled and there is nothing that man cannot find out. (From Notes of Miss Albertson.)
IF A MAN’S thought is constantly aspiring towards heavenly subjects, then does he become saintly; if on the other hand his thought does not soar, but is directed downwards to center itself upon the things of this world, he grows more and more material until he arrives at a state little better than that of a mere animal. (Paris Talks, page 4.)
NO PHILOSOPHY, no system, has ever changed the manners and customs of the people for the better. The morals of the philosophers who are not enlightened by the divine spirit are inferior. An ignorant man filled with the Holy Spirit is powerful. He who is educated by the Holy Spirit can in his turn educate others in the same spirit. The life and morals of a spiritual man are in themselves an education to others. Let your thoughts, words and actions bring life to those around you. . . . (STAR OF THE WEST, Vol. 3, No. 2, page 6.)
MAN has two powers and his development two aspects. One power is connected with the material world and by it he is capable of material advancement. The other power is spiritual and through its development his inner, potential nature is awakened. These powers are like two wings. Both must be developed, for flight is impossible with one wing. . . .
We must strive unceasingly and without rest to accomplish the development of the spiritual nature in man and endeavor with tireless energy to advance humanity toward the nobility of its true and intended station. For the body of man is accidental; it is of no importance. The time of its disintegration will inevitably come. But the spirit of man is essential and therefore eternal. It is a divine bounty. It is the effulgence of the Sun of Reality and therefore of greater importance than the physical body. (Pro. of U. P., page 57.)
BEHOLD how the sun shines upon all creation but only surfaces that are pure and polished can reflect its glory and light. The darkened soul has no portion of the revelation of the glorious effulgence of reality, and the soil of self unable to take advantage of that light, does not produce growth. . . . Therefore man must seek capacity and develop readiness.
As long as he lacks susceptibility to divine influences, he is incapable of reflecting the light and assimilating its benefits. Sterile soil will produce nothing even if the cloud of mercy pours rain upon it a thousand years. . . .
Consider how the parable makes attainment dependent upon capacity. Unless capacity is developed, the summons of the Kingdom cannot reach the ear, the light of the Sun of Truth will not be observed and the fragrances of the Rose Garden of inner significances will be lost. Let us endeavor to attain capacity, susceptibility and worthiness, that we may hear the call of the glad tidings of the Kingdom, become revivified by the breaths of the Holy Spirit, hoist the standard of the oneness of humanity, establish human brotherhood, and under the protection of divine grace attain the life everlasting and eternal, (Pro. of U. P., page 143-4.}
THE LIGHT of the sun becomes apparent in each object according to the capacity of that object. The difference is simply one of degree and receptivity. The stone would be a recipient only to a limited extent; another created thing might be as a mirror wherein the sun is fully reflected; but the same light shines upon both.
The most important thing is to polish the mirrors of hearts in order that they may become illumined and receptive of the divine light. One heart may possess the capacity of the polished mirror; another be covered and obscured by the dust and dross of this world. Although the same Sun is shining upon both, in the mirror which is polished, pure and sanctified you may behold the Sun in all its fullness, glory and power revealing its majesty and effulgence, but in the mirror which is rusted and obscured there is no capacity for reflection, although so far as the Sun itself is concerned it is shining thereon and is neither lessened nor deprived. Therefore our duty lies in seeking to polish the mirrors of our hearts in order that we shall become reflectors of that light and recipients of the divine bounties which may be fully revealed through them. (Pro. of U. P., page 12.)
HIS HOLINESS Bahá’u’lláh proclaims in His Hidden Words that God inspires His servants and is revealed through them. He says, “Thy heart is my abode; purify it for my descent. Thy spirit is my outlook; prepare it for my manifestation.” Therefore we learn that nearness to God is possible through devotion to Him, through entrance into the kingdom, and service to humanity; it is attained by unity with mankind and through loving kindness to all; it is dependent upon investigation of truth, acquisition of praiseworthy virtues, service in the cause of Universal Peace, and personal sanctification. In a word, nearness to God necessitates sacrifice of self, severance and the giving up of all to Him. Nearness is likeness. (Pro. of U. P., page 143.)
"ONE who is imprisoned by desires is always unhappy. The children of the Kingdom have unchained themselves from their desires. Break all fetters and seek for spiritual joy and enlightenment; then, though you walk on this earth, you will perceive yourselves to be within the divine horizon. To man alone is this possible.”
AND RELIGION
II. EVOLUTION
GEORGE ORR LATIMER"Man’s existence on this earth, from the beginning until it reaches this state, form and condition, necessarily lasts a long time, and goes through many degrees until it reaches this condition. But from the beginning of man’s existence he is a
distinct species.”
THE results of the struggle between science and religion show that an increasing number of modern scientists are recognizing the world of spirit and acknowledging the power of God; while at the same time, a group of progressive religious thinkers are taking time from the arduous task of teaching literal dogma in order to co-ordinate their thoughts with the revelations of modern scientific investigation.
Yet up to the present time, concerning such questions as whether mankind is derived from a single human stock, or whether he is created or “evolved,” and if the latter whether through ascent or descent, the anthropologist, biologist, physicist, psychologist and religionist are at variance.
It will be very interesting to find out who is our most ancient and distinguished ancestor—the Piltdown man, the Neanderthal man, the Heidelberg man or the ape-man, and if the last whether it is the gorilla, the chimpanzee or the ape; also whether we are monophyletic (derived from one human stock) or polyphyletic, and if the former, how can we explain the so-called “mongol in our midst”? Then, again, is it true, according to the theory of Dr. Ales Hrdlicka of the United States National Museum, that Europe, and not Asia, is the cradle of the human race, or does the recent discovery in Nebraska of “Microlestes,” the tiny tooth no larger than a pin head, of Hesperopithecus, the ape of the western world, mean that the American Continent is the birthplace of man and the earth search for the “missing link” ended?
The “eternal question” still remains unanswered to the satisfaction of everybody. Haeckel calls it “The Riddle of the Universe,” the Bible speaks of “Hidden Mysteries”; yet the world wants to know whether man was created “in the beginning,” according to the book of Genesis which states that God created man in His Own Image or did man appear through evolution, according to the dictates of science? Man has been forced to choose between these two theories as to the origin of the universe; either he is to believe the theory of creation as stated in the Bible or the theory of evolution as formulated by modern science. If he believes that the universe is boundless in character and governed by fixed, inexorable laws which have been working for aeons of time, he is called an agnostic; if he believes that the world and all therein was created in six days and that the soul is immortal, he is termed a religious fanatic. Unfortunately he is not permitted to take hold of both horns of the dilemma at the same time.
There is no final word on the subject, for man in his short span of physical life is quite unable to gain complete mastery of the problems of life and conduct. He still yearns to know from whence he came and whither he goes. The man of science, if he is able to keep up with the progress of an important branch of investigation, will in the end become a somewhat narrow specialist in that field. Yet he is unable to acquire a complete
comprehension of that science. The teacher of religion is in a similar position for if he had been able to learn all the realities of human life and its spiritual connections, such things as racial antagonisms and religious prejudices would cease to exist. There would be no corner on any one religion as the only means of salvation, and God would not be limited in power as to the timeliness and location of his spiritual revelations and the establishment of his natural and moral laws.
Various theories of creation are passing into the discard. Most biologists have abandoned the theory of mechanism entirely. The “physical basis of life” as outlined by Huxley is undergoing change. The Lamarck-Spencer hypothesis of use and disuse has failed completely; so has the “survival of“the fittest” theory of the origin of the mind and the soul. Quite recently, Professor John M. Coulter, head of the Botany Department of Chicago University, stated that Darwin and his “Origin of Species” was a back number. No longer is it accepted that man is a fortuitous concurrence of atoms. Creation is not an accidental composition and arrangement, for purpose and design are everywhere in evidence. One now hears of “Creative Evolution” and “Emergent Evolution.” The latter suggests the principle of purpose in which God is recognized as directive Activity which, according to the interpretation of C. Lloyd Morgan, means that “the higher acknowledgment, the Creative Source of evolution—this is God.”
Carlyle in speaking of the matchless word portrayal of Creation in the Book of Job says it “is an unspeakable, God-like thing, towards which the best attitude for us, after never so much science, is awe, devout prostration, and humility of soul, if not in words, then in silence.”
Hensel, the great biologist, opposes the Darwinian theory wholly. He boldly states that the Mosaic account of Creation is on the whole correct. He contemplates the "days" as large periods of time and compares the order of creation with the Book of Genesis as follows:
| FIRST DAY | |
| MOSES | HENSEL |
| And God divided the light from the darkness. | The earth rotates, and day alternates with night. |
| SECOND DAY | |
| And God said—Let the waters be gathered together in one place and dry land appear, and it was so. | The earth crust with its sand and slime separated from its sea-water because of the rotary movement. |
| THIRD DAY | |
| And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, and it was so. | In the semi-darkness of the water-vapor-laden atmosphere on plains, and mountains, ferns sago-palms, horsetail-wood germinated. |
| FOURTH DAY | |
| And God said, let there be light in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night. | The sun at last penetrated through as yet heavy mists. |
| FIFTH DAY | |
| God created creatures of the waters, great whales and winged fowl. | Creation of animal world except land mammals and parasites. |
| SIXTH DAY | |
| God created beasts of the earth, everything that creepeth and man. | Mammals, man, insects appear on the landscape. |
| SEVENTH DAY | |
| Rest (Meaning the completion of creation.) | Rest |
By sheer chemistry, Hensel demonstrates that “whales and winged fowl” must have been, by the very nature of the then composition of the atmosphere and the earth’s elements generally, the first creations, that is prior to the land mammals and man.
Creation is a cycle of the composition and decomposition, life and death. There are but three kinds of composition conceivable,—accidental, necessary (involuntary) or voluntary. Accidental formation is eliminated from consideration because it is an effect without a cause. Involuntary composition requires that the formation itself must be an inherent property of a thing, from which it cannot be dissociated. This would preclude decomposition but disintegration is one of the functions in Nature. Thus it follows that existence is dependent upon a voluntary formation, caused by the First Cause, the Primal Will, or God. As motion without a motive force is impossible. It is manifest, therefore, that the vast beauty, and order of creation, with arrangement of its infinite forms, is controlled by an all-unifying agency, an all-comprehensive intelligence, which can be termed the Universal Reality.
The Creation of this Universal Reality is perfect and continuous, even though the relationship of the various degrees to one another, is not clearly understood. The perfection of man, with regard to his atoms, members and powers is due to the composition and correlation of certain elements. When the proper elements are brought together according to a certain measure, balance and manner to function with mutual influence, man exists. Since the same kind of elements existed one hundred thousand years ago, that are found in man today, it is evident that a like combination of elements in their proper coordination and influence would produce man, whether they were composed together yesterday, today or tomorrow. At any time if the oil, a wick, a lamp and fire are brought together in the proper manner, and there is a lighter of the lamp—light will be produced which will last until these various elements are consumed. Then there is extinction. Likewise in the case of man, his creation and existence are dependent upon the composition and decomposition of a certain combination of elements.
The progress and change of the infinite forms and beings in the universe is called evolution. Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn defines evolution as “a continuous creation of life fitted to a continuously changing world.” He says that the development of existing powers is less difficult to comprehend, but that the creation of new powers is the incomprehensible part of the whole process. Perhaps the distinguished professor might agree that potentially these “new” powers are latent powers designed “in the beginning” by the Universal Reality.
Evolution is one of many generally accepted working hypotheses used to explain both material and spiritual progress. Professor Metcalf, the first scientific authority to be called to the witness stand at the Scopes trial, stated that “evolution and the theories of evolution are fundamentally different things. The fact of evolution is absolute. There are dozens of theories of evolution, some of them wholly absurd, some largely mistaken, some almost wholly true, but there are many points as to how evolution has been brought about, which we are not yet in a position to answer.” When asked by Attorney Darrow to define evolution, he stated: “Evolution means the change from one character to a different character, and by character I mean its structure or behavior or function or method of development from the egg. The term, in general, means a whole series of changes which have taken place
during hundreds of millions of years.” Unfortunately to a large majority of people, the term evolution means ancestors who were monkeys. To the theological mind this conception takes away from God His divinity, and from man his humanity.
Mr. Bryan, when he speaks to Darwin in the July Forum, holds that evolution is an unproven hypothesis because it “links every living thing in blood relationship to every other living thing—the rose to the onion, the lily-of-the-valley to the hog-weed, the eagle to the mosquito, the mocking bird to the rattlesnake, the wolf to the lamb, the royal palm to the scrub oak, and man to all.” Evidently Mr. Bryan has discarded the findings of chemistry which prove beyond disputation that the constituent elements in the physical body of man are likewise found in the royal palm, in the soil of Florida real estate, in the lamb, in the lily-of-the-valley, in the rattlesnake, even in the air which we breathe. His own statement upholds the brief in favor of evolution. When he argues the proposition that, according to the lowest estimate, there are one million species of which to date only half a million have been tabulated, and that no species has ever been traced to another, we can agree with him. Huxley likewise asserted that no species had ever been traced to another. Even Haeckel, the great modern exponent of Darwinism, was unable to find “the missing link,” and Professor William Bateson, the London biologist, speaking to the members of the American Society for the Advancement of Science in Toronto in December, 1922, stated that so far every effort to discover the origin of species had failed.
However, when Mr. Bryan further adds that “evolution requires of its votaries the acceptance of such an illogical conclusion—that all species come from another,” he restricts, beyond measure, the definition and scope of the term evolution. Even though there should be “a million times a million links in all, every one of which is missing,” still that is not conclusive proof against the theory of evolution.
Scientists themselves are not agreed on the different theories of evolution, for as Professor Vernon Kellogg states: “the truth is that although we know much more about evolution than 50 years ago we are distinctly less confident concerning casual explanation of evolution. The new knowledge of variation and heredity largely upsets Darwinism, at least as an explanation of species origin, yet offers no satisfactory replacing explanation. Neither do mutations nor Mendleism.” Again the attention is directed to the Universal Reality as the cause of existence and the relation of the myriad forms therein to each other.
In studying the nature and place of man himself in the mighty universe, he in turn appears as a tiny microcosm. In an enlightened epistle to Dr. Auguste Forel, the notable scientific scholar of Switzerland, ’Abdu’l-Bahá points out that “man is like unto a tiny organism contained within a fruit; this fruit has been developed out of the blossom, the blossom has grown out of the tree, the tree is sustained by the sap, and the sap formed out of earth and water. How then can this tiny organism comprehend the nature of the garden, conceive of the gardener and comprehend his being? That is manifestly impossible. Should that organism understand and reflect, it would observe that this garden, this tree, this blossom, this fruit would have in nowise come to exist by themselves in such order and perfection. Similarly the wise and reflecting soul will know of a certainty that this infinite universe with all its grandeur and (perfect) order would not have come to exist by itself.”
The progress of the physical body of man resembles the growth and development of the embyro as it passes by degrees from form to form, until it reaches
maturity. In the beginning man did not possess the beauty and grace of his present form, but rather he has attained his present shape and loveliness by degrees. It is quite possible, without detracting one iota from man’s spiritual greatness over other forms of life, to suppose that at one time man walked on his hands and feet, or had a tail; in fact resembled in outer form the animal. In the vegetable world, the original species of the genus do not change or alter, but the form, color and bulk both change and progress. The different fruit trees do not arrive at maturity at the same time, but some fruits appear before others. The cherry ripens before the apple, but the priority of the cherry does not indicate that the apple was produced from the earlier fruit of the cherry tree. Likewise, even though man is classed as a primate, having hair, shoulder and pelvic girdles of bone, and vertebraes, characteristic to all other mammals, together with a similarity in the functionings of organs, nevertheless, there is no indication of alteration in the original species. From the beginning of man’s existence, he has remained a distinct species. Similarity is not a proof of man’s development from one primal stock, or brute ancestry, rather is it open testimony to the universality of the laws of creation.
Professor Wolfgang Köhler of Berlin, who is at present an academic visitor at Clark University, recently published a book on “The Mentality of Apes” in which he attempts the comparison of the action system of chimpanzees with that of man. He shows, by one experiment, the initiative of a chimpanzee in getting a banana, which it could not reach through climbing, by piling up boxes until it was within reach, and he concludes that the chimpanzee has a degree of insight which exceeds that of the human infant. It is interesting to see the results of these “intelligence tests” contrasting the efforts of the monkey in the use of implements and the search for bodily nourishment with the methods used by man, but happily the author is cautious about the psychological interpretation of these tests and does not carry this well developed animal instinct to the plane of human reason.
There is no doubt that in his physical body, man is not as highly developed as some animals, his sense perceptions are inferior, his hands are not as highly specialized, the infant child is helpless in comparison to the young of the animal world, yet all of these characteristics would point to the retrogression of man if man’s evolution is based on his origin and ascent from the ape. Even if at one time, as the vertebral column of man indicates, he had a tail which was useful and as he developed, it was no longer needed and gradually disappeared, this modification of the species does not prove that man was raised from the animal world. The structure of human blood is completely different from that of the ape, so much so, that science has never succeeded in crossing the two. Surely this great connective agency of complex cell life, the blood stream, could not have changed so greatly if man came from oragnoid ancestry.
The “survival of the fittest” theory has been the origin of great difficulties for mankind and it has retarded the progress of civilization, for as Huxley said in his Romanes Lecture (his last public talk) it precludes moral evolution. The laws of nature are perfect and universal in their operation and it is impossible to imagine a perfect creation with the earth inhabited by every form of life except without man. If the ultimate purpose of scientific research is to find the “missing link” then the epitome of material philosophy ends in the tail of the ape.
However, evolution is a principle of progress underlying all the kingdoms of creation. It is found in the mineral, vegetable and animal worlds and reaches
its highest expression in the moral and spiritual development of man. The lower kingdoms are bound by the limits of natural law, but in man there is an inner faculty by which he transcends the laws of nature and advances toward limited perfections in the realm of thought and spirit. Plato pointed out that man differs from animals in always aiming at some goal.
Herein then lies the greatest conception of evolution, the trinity of man’s physical, moral and spiritual progress from the beginning of his existence and continuing towards unlimited perfections. In its fullest measure, evolution means the development of the mind and spirit of man and the immortality of his soul.
With this conception of the trinity of man’s evolution we can look for a new race to be developed in which the moral and spiritual factors of progress will be so highly elevated and sensitized that man’s physical appearance will undergo as marked a change from his present form as he is now distinguished in outline from the animal. Furthermore the spirit or soul of man, with deeper understanding, will anticipate the transition from bodily limitations to the fuller expansion of eternal progress in the realms of spiritual existence.
- O Primal Word that mortal man didst fashion
- From clay and water in the past of time,
- Appease the mighty gales of lust and passion
- Which sweep us from our anchorage sublime,
- Release our ark upon a tranquil tide
- And let it rest upon Thy mountain-side.
- O Blessed Word by Whom alone we merit
- Due mention in the Concourse of the Just,
- By Whom Thy poorest creature may inherit
- A wealth beyond the reach of moth and rust,
- Renew our spirits with Thy bounteous page
- And by Thy flood our panting thirst assuage.
- O Glorious Word for Whom all words were spoken
- By tongue prophetic and in time unveiled,
- Thy severed saints advance with bodies broken
- To that great Light which never sank nor paled,
- Whose Essence is the sacrificial fire
- And unto Whom all holy deeds aspire.
- O Green Acre! we salute thee!
- Thou, sitting beside the broad Piscataqua;
- In whose pellucid depths thy manifold beauties are mirrored–
- We do thee homage.
- From the dusty road
- Filled with the noise of much passing—
- The noise and dust of many passing—
- Thy long, beautiful slope runs lightly to the river—
- To the river which wending its way to the sea
- Its broad and shining way to the sea—
- Carries with it a thousand sweet memories of thy beauty.
- Memories whose value passes that of rubies.
- I lift up my eyes and see, I lift up my eyes,
- O, Green Acre!
- And coming down thy long slope, I see,
- A slender gray figure, instinct with life, a-glow with love;
- Along thy paths it moves;
- With free, swift steps it moves toward the shining river.
- On the lifted face there rests a smile of tranquil peace, of high serenity.
- Yet not of thee alone does it dream,
- As it follows its appointed way to the sea,
- Its swift, resistless path to the sea.
- Tho it loves the lush green of thy long slope–
- As thou runnest so lightly to meet it:
- Tho it rejoices in the strong grace of thy trees,
- Thy tall trees whose strength and majesty are reflected on its placid bosom–
- On its bosom as it wends toward the ocean;
- Piscataqua carries other memories,
- Dearer than thy beauties, stronger than the trees, thy tall brothers;
--PHOTO-- Sarah Farmer
- Close to thy banks, O Piscataqua! A white tent rises–
- A great, white tent, its walls invitingly lifted,
- And into, its shelter people are pouring;
- Singly and in groups, they enter.
- But whether alone or together
- Their faces show, their faces so eager and intent, show
- How purposefully they have come.
- Beyond the tent a flag-staff stands;
- Tall and slender it rises,
- And from its pinnacle there floats a pennant,
- A snow-white pennant,
- On which is written the magic word, Peace!
- Peace!
- That for which mankind yearns;
- That for which so many lives have been given,
- And given rejoicingly.
- The steadfast eyes of the watcher on the hillside see all this,
- And they see more, much more:
- For there where the crowd is gathered,
- Where the Peace Flag flies—
- There, she knows, stands an altar to Truth.
- Truth, the magnet that draws all hearts;
- Truth which has but one Source.
- To worship at this altar,
- Visioned and consecrated by Sarah Farmer, many have come,
- From all quarters of the world, they have come.
- They have come bearing rich gifts;
- They have come stretching out only empty hands.
- The welcome was the same.
- What they found measured only their capacity to receive.
- Here were no barriers to overcome;
- No barriers of race, nor of creed, nor of color. '
- “Ye who worship at this altar;
- “Ye who listen to the message heard from it! '
- “Worship with reverence!
- “Listen with sympathy!
- “If possible with understanding!
- “But always with sympathy.”
- The vision of the past vanishes.
- Gone is the great white tent!
- Gone the white flag with its symbol of hope to a stricken world.
- The crowds that trod the long, grassy slope of Green Acre are scattered.
- The slender gray figure with bright uplifted face
- Lies hidden, alas! beneath the sods of Bitter-Sweet.
- What of her dream?
- What of the altar she raised?
- The altar on which she poured the rich libations
- Of her tears, her prayers, her fondest hopes?
- Again I lift my eyes,
- Not to the past, the beautiful past, gone forever,
- But to the future
- With all its wonderful potentialities.
- Still before us lies the long slope of Green Acre,
- The long and grassy slope lovelier than ever,
- For now man and nature have combined to make it so.
- At its feet still lies the Piscataqua flowing toward the sea—
- Toward the great salt sea carrying with it untold argosies of memories;
- Of memories, yes! but of high hopes as well.
- With the eyes of flesh we may see this.
- Clear and beautiful it lies before us.
- But what may be seen with the eyes of the spirit?
- Yonder still stands the Altar to Truth, “four-square with the heavens.”
- Cannot you see it?
- Upon it lie new and precious offerings,
- The fragrant smoke, the perfumed clouds, rising high in the clear air.
- Crowds stand around it.
- With intent, purposeful faces,
- They press near to get the message for which their souls long.
- And trooping down the long slope come pilgrims from everywhere.
- Pilgrims to worship and listen at Green Acre.
Editor’s Note.—Y. S. Tsao, the President of Tsing Hua College, is a Yale graduate and his wife a charming American lady. Tsing Hua College was founded in 1911 as the result of the return to China, by the United States government, of the Boxer indemnity. "Tsing Hua College is a monument to America’s desire to deal justly with China,” wrote Prof. Robert McElroy. It was established for the better preparation of Chinese students for entering American universities. Situated seven miles from Peking, in an ideal spot, formerly a palace, it enjoys a unique position in the educational development of China. Most conspicuous are its buildings, to which in recent years have been added an Auditorium, Science building, Library, and Gymnasium, the most modern and up-to-date college buildings in China. The faculty are composed of both Chinese and Westerners.
A FEW weeks ago I had the privilege of hearing an address by Dr. Luce, entitled “Interpreting the Signs of the Time.” The speaker, dreaming of a Utopia, asked himself what are the signs leading to a millennium on earth. I thought these signs should at least first lead to “The Unity of Civilization and the Universality of Religion.” Civilization without unity is not civilization—but superficiality; religion without universality is not religion—but superstition or dogmatism.
One of the most remarkable movements toward the unity of civilization was the World Conference on Education held in San Francisco. The sessions were devoted to a discussion of education as a means of eliminating the ignorance and injustice causing hatred and misunderstanding among nations. The call which went out to one thousand contacts in 73 different countries contained the following objectives: to promote friendship, justice and good-will among the nations of the earth; to bring about a world-wide tolerance of the rights and privileges of all nations, regardless of race or creed; to develop an appreciation of the value of inherited gifts of nationality through centuries of development and progress; to secure accurate and adequate information in textbooks used in the schools of the different nations; to produce a national comradeship; to inculcate in the minds and hearts of the rising generation the spiritual values necessary to carry forward the principles emphasized at the Washington Conference; and finally, to emphasize the essential unity of mankind, making clear the suicidal nature of war, and the necessity of peace.
The opening meetings were attended by from ten to eighteen thousand people interested in this movement. An eyewitness said. “To stand before the plenary conference and look into the faces of the world, a representation wide-spread, not a few leading countries but the nations of the world who sat together and earnestly deliberated, not for selfish interests but for a great humanistic motive, sent a thrill through one. Constantly one felt that it was here,—the greatest fundamental truths, the potent forces which can make humanity better, more tolerant, more faithful, more virtuous, more devout—will be set in motion.”
Many will be found to ridicule the idea that any real progress in unity has ever been made, or that the world can ever be envisaged except as an irksome enclosure of rival armed forces thirsting for the fray. But there is a quiet but well grounded belief that the forces tending to unity in the world are different in quality, incomparably greater in scope than those which make for disruption.
Discord is explosive and temporary; harmony rises slowly but dominates the final chord.
The great World War has certainly brought home the lesson of economic interdependence among nations, and although President Wilson’s ideal was not fully realized in the League of Nations, subsequent events have decidedly brought back to the thinking minds such works as Norman Angell’s "Great Illusion,” Fayle’s “The Great Settlement” and Keyne’s courageous attacks against the reparation provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, and recently even Kant’s Perpetual Peace had new editions brought out.
In a more recent work published by the Cambridge University Press, entitled, “The Wider Aspects of Education,” which contains papers by Dr. G. P. Gooch, he as a historian called the doctrine of the unfettered sovereignty of the individual state as “the curse of the modern world.” He said in part, “for a thousand years, roughly from St. Augustine to Machiavelli, from the fifth century to the fifteenth, the conception of the unity of civilization dominated Europe. They called Europe the Res Publica Christiana—the Christian Commonwealth—and they believed in this great conception of the unity of civilized mankind. It was only about 400 years ago, when the great political thinker Machiavelli taught the conception of the sovereignty of the State, making every State supreme, responsible only to itself, without any obligations to other States, without any obligations to the community of mankind, and without paying any more than lip homage either to a divine ruler of mankind or to the divine voice within. What Machiavelli began was continued by men like Hobbes in England and Hegel in Germany, and it has become something like an established principle of statesmen and of publicists in every country in the world. For the last four centuries therefore there has been a struggle going on for the soul of man between the doctrine of world-citizenship and the newer doctrine of purely secular and national politics.”
He regards the Great War as the inevitable result and the final disproof of the truth and value of narrow-headed and narrow-minded nationalism and he believes that the best thought and the best mind of the day in all countries without exception is turning to the conception of world-citizenship, brought up-to-date, transferred from a theological to an ethical foundation, and enlarged until it embraces, at any rate, all the civilized countries of the world. This process has been assisted not only by the bankruptcy of the doctrine of sovereignty which was revealed by the Great War, but also by our experience of the results of the struggle.
He believes it will take a very long time for this conception to work itself into the consciousness and the sub-consciousness of statesmen, of the man in the street, and of the school-master and of the author of school history; but it has got to come, and it will come. He is perfectly certain that those of us who are connected with teaching and the teaching profession will be gravely neglecting our duties if we do not do all that lies in our power first to convince ourselves of this fundamental fact of the unity of civilization and the mutual obligation of all the members of the civilized family of man, and in the second place, to pass on this great revealing and inspiring conception to those with whom we come in contact, and to those whose training is given into our hands.
Recently, I was profoundly stirred by a passage which appears in a book meant to train military leaders. It says, “Under the old idea, patriotism consisted in doing one’s utmost to bring power, honor and glory to one’s own nation, even, if expedient and necessary, at the expense of other nations. The true conception of
patriotism is of a higher order—to bring power, honor and glory to the state through honest effort, through good government, through unselfishness and not conquest, through friendship toward the other nations of the earth and especially the weaker, through making the name and flag of the state honored and respected among all nations—and all this not alone for its own sake but for the benefit of humanity and the race. Such a conception does not belittle patriotism, it ennobles it. Neither a man nor a nation can exist worthily for his own or its own sake alone. Both have a part and a duty toward others in lifting civilization to a higher plane and in contributing permanent values to the life of the civilized world. This is the true conception of patriotism—and nationalism.”
Two years ago, the writer had the opportunity to address the leading educators of the country at an annual conference and the conclusion was a revised version of a Confucian passage so-called “The New Great Learning.” Confucius said:
“The ancients who wished to illustrate illustrious virtue throughout the world, first ordered well their own states. Wishing to order well their states, they first regulated their families; wishing to regulate their families they first cultivated their persons; wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts; wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts; wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the utmost of their knowledge, such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things.”
In the light of modern knowledge, I advocated the employment of Science in the investigation of things and in the completion of knowledge; the use of religion, ethics and philosophy of life to make sincere one’s thoughts, to rectify one’s heart and to cultivate one’s person; the adoption of social sciences for the regulation of one's family and the government of a state and to adopt the conception of Unity of Civilization and the Universality of Religion in order to illustrate illustrious Virtue throughout the world.
While the idea of the sovereignty of
the state has limited the scope of civilization
by petty nationalism, most great
religions claim to be universal. However,
the religions have not made good
their claim.
Mr. Rockefeller, Jr., before a Bible Class of two hundred men in New York, said that modern intellect has outstripped religion in the headlong progress of modern times. He quoted from a recent article by Winston Churchill, present Chancellor of the Exchequer of the British Empire, as follows: “The ideas of 1924 are marching on and are being perfected in the armies of the world under the surface of peace. Mankind has got into its hands the tools by which it can unfailingly accomplish its own extermination.”
“Why is this so?” Mr. Rockefeller asked, and he answered his own question.
“Because the development of man’s spiritual character has not kept pace with his intellect. Civilization, the accumulation of mind and matter, has temporarily outstripped religion. Religion must quicken its pace, otherwise man will not wake in time to save himself from the nightmare of war.”
As illustrations of religion applied to human affairs, Mr. Rockefeller cited hospitals, schemes for housing, child labor laws, factory laws. “In back of these manifestations, whether consciously or not,” he said, “is the Christian spirit. The operation of man’s sympathy is the flower of our spiritual idealism. If men are to continue to live together in our modern closely knit society,” Mr. Rockefeller declared, “they must be guided by principles springing from love of God, hence love of our brother. Although civilization may temporarily have
outstripped its religion, it has not outgrown it.”
Let each one ask himself or herself, “Has intellect or civilization, modern necessities of life and nervous passions outstripped my own abiding religious faith?” To be more concrete, “If your faith is the Fatherhood of God of Love, can you love mankind as your brother?” Why cannot this text continually ring in our ears: “Forgive them, for they know not what they do”? Has it not been said of a great soul that when his pet dog upset his candle in his library and burnt his manuscript upon which he had devoted many years of study to complete, his only displeasure was the exclamation, “Diamond! Diamond! Little do you know the mischief you have done!” If we cannot get this forgiving and sympathetic spirit to permeate our being then religion becomes only a Sunday suit.
Since the war, German thinkers have been busily occupied in developing new philosophies, and in spite of starvation and social chaos, with a certain part of the German people, the physical discomforts of life seem to have created a spiritual need more urgent than the want of food. Philosophical works were purchased by the members of the middle class by the hundreds of thousands. For instance, the sale of Chamberlain’s Foundations of 19th Century Civilization” has reached 150,000 copies, Vaihinger’s “Philosophy of the As If” 50,000, Spengler’s “Decline of Western Civilization” 70,000 and Keyserling’s “A Philosopher’s Log” 50,000.
Count Keyserling is a member of a noble German family of the Russian Baltic provinces dispossessed by the Revolution. The social and moral chaos of his generation drove him to despair, so he undertook a trip around the world as a student of creeds and philosophies. “He tried to feel and think like a Buddhist in Ceylon, a Brahman in India, a Confucianist in China, a Japanese in Japan and an American in the United States.” The record of his spiritual metamorphoses was first published in 1918 as “A Philosopher's Log,” His conclusions might be summarized as follows: "All facts—and all creeds—are but different expressions of one spiritual meaning; they are the only means by which we can gain cognizance of the real world of spiritual facts; deeper understanding of their meaning will lead to greater power and perfection; and their is no human progress but this improvement of our understanding.”
This philosophical acknowledgment of the universal origin of spiritual life is quite recent, but even as early as 1905, Dr. Charles Cuthbert Hall, the President of the Union Theological Seminary, observed the growing repugnance on the part of ministers and laymen, to old forms of denominational subscription. In circles of culture there is coming a truer sense of proportion touching the legitimate functions of the church, he declared. Undeveloped conceptions of unity and movements of life and love are in the air, moving freely as on the wings of eagles and unconsciously ignoring formal lines of division beneath. Meantime, the advancing philosophy of religion, the enriching discoveries of history and archaeology, the pressure of social problems, the new cosmopolitanism, and above all the constructive results of Biblical criticism are bringing together many of the best minds and of the most consecrated souls upon a platform of Christian belief and effort incompatible with aggressive sectarianism, and independent of denominational subdivision. The tenor of this sentiment. is not revolutionary but evolutionary; not destructive but constructive. This crystallizing of unorganized sentiment into a reinterpretation of the church on non-sectarian lines must be through the centralizing power of the Eternal Truth lifted up and drawing all men unto itself, with the vitalizing power of the Eternal Spirit giving liberty unto every man.
After prophesying the gradual breaking down of the artificial barriers of
sectarianism and denominationalism, thereby giving religious life a freer development in a wider field, Dr. Hall described his hopes entertained towards the people of the East. “When one stands in the heart of the venerable East; feels the atmosphere charged with religious impulse; reads on the faces of the people marks of the unsatisfied soul; considers the monumental expressions of the religious idea in grand and enduring architectural forms, then the suggestion, that all this means nothing—that it bears no witness to the Divine in man seeking and finding a partial and inadequate self-fulfillment–that it is but to be stamped out and exterminated before Christianity can rise upon its ruins—becomes an unthinkable suggestion. I look with reverence upon the hopes and yearnings of non-Christian faiths, believing them to contain flickering and broken lights of God,” and "And nothing is more certain than that the common essence of Christianity lends itself to expression in the terms of the East. Our Lord Himself was an Oriental, and no imagination can picture Him, without violence to the sense of truth, except in the garb and manner of the East. Christianity would have overspread the East ere now had it not been forced upon the East in unwelcome identification with the manners and customs and temperaments and dogmas and military governments of an alien and inexplicable West.”
“Finally, the Christianization of the world suggests a more complete and full-orbed interpretation of Christianity for the world, when the East shall supplement and fulfill the West by contributing truth seen from her point of view; mediated through her experience.”
I have quoted lengthily in order to show how even twenty years ago religious thinkers were aiming at unity in civilization and universality in religious life. More recently, the religious views are growing even more liberal, to wit, the teachings of Dr. Fosdick of New York and the sermons of Dean Inge of London.
The prophecy of Dr. Hall has in a measure been realized in the teachings of many well known movements, more or less religious, which have been organized in recent years, but I shall confine myself here to the teachings of the Bahá'í Movement as taught by Bahá’u’lláh and Abdu’l Bahá, which mean “The Glory of God” and “The Servant of God.”
“The Bahá’í revelation is not an organization. The Bahá'í Cause can never be confined to an organization. The Bahá’í revelation is the spirit of this age. It is the essence of all the highest ideals of this century. The Bahá'í cause is an inclusive movement; the teachings of all religions and societies are found here. Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muhammadans, Zoroastrians, Theosophists, Freemasons, Spiritualisas, etc., find their highest aims in this Cause. Socialists and philosophers find their theories fully developed in this revelation.”
The Bahá’í revelation, which had its rise in Persia in the year l844, today has become known throughout the world. “It is not so much a new religion as Religion renewed and unified.”
This unique movement for social and spiritual reconstruction was first centered in a radiant youth called the Bab, whose mission it was to proclaim the coming of a great world messenger. Many European historians have described the wonderful charm of this pure-hearted hero of progressive religion, who was martyred in 1850 after six years of brilliant teaching.
Bahá’u’lláh, a Persian noble, then appeared as the one heralded by the Bab. He announced the dawn of a new age, an age when brotherhood and peace should cover the earth even as the waters cover the sea. The principles he advocated, however, were too universal for the limited minds of his contemporaries. He and a few of his followers were driven by the reactionary powers of
Persia into exile and prison, and at last, in 1868, were immured in the desolate barracks of Akka in Syria.
But the persecutions of men cannot extinguish the light of God’s holy spirit when it shines from the heart of his prophets. From the “Most Great Prison” of Akka, Bahá’u’lláh spread his gospel of unity and love throughout Western Asia. In 1892, at the end of forty years of exile and imprisonment, he passed, away, leaving his eldest son, “'Abdu’l-Bahá as the appointed expounder of his word and the promulgator of his cause, the “Center of the Covenant.”
Under the guidance of 'Abdu’l-Bahá the Bahá’í message has been carried to all lands and all religions. It has bound Christians and Muhammadans, Buddhists and Parsis, Jews and Hindus, into the most spiritual brotherhood the world has ever known.”
The Bahá’ís believe this is the beginning of that Golden Age upon earth, the age of universal peace and love when, as Christ foretold, men “shall come from the east and from the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.”
“The Bahá'í teachings unify the religions of the world into one universal religion. It proves that the essence of the original teaching of all those religions was the same, though they have grown far apart because of additions in the form of dogmas, theology and rituals combined with the ambitions of different leaders.”
I have marshalled forth evidences to prove that the conceptions of Unity in Civilization and Universality in Religion are already in existence. These comprehensive conceptions are very satisfying, although it may yet take a long time before they are fully realized in this world.
Much damage and suffering have been caused to the world and humanity in the name of civilization and religion, which are too much a heterogeneous conglomeration of inconsistencies. Without order, system, comprehensibility, consistency, and unity, the best civilization and the best religion can but be partial and inadequate truths, containing only flickering and broken light of a divine purpose. Such conceptions cannot satisfy the questing soul, nor can it give that unruffled serenity of outlook upon life as a whole. Only Civilization with Unity and Religion with Universality can have the ring of finality.
“THERE is need of a universal impelling force which will establish the oneness of humanity and destroy the foundations of war and strife. No other than the Divine Power can do this; therefore it will be accomplished through the breath of the Holy Spirit.
“No matter how far the material world advances it cannot establish the happiness of mankind. Only when material and spiritual civilization are linked and coordinated will happiness be assured. Therefore the material and the divine or merciful civilizations must progress together until the highest aspirations and desires of humanity shall become realized.”
“In the future, God willing, Green Acre shall become a great center, the cause of the unity of the world of humanity, the cause of uniting hearts, the cause of binding together the East and the West.”
“Should Green Acre follow firmly in this path and continue the annual holding of its impartial, universal Conferences,—there is no doubt that that region will become illumined with the light of unity.”
Green Acre, “beautiful for situation,” has been the subject of many a talk, a lecture, an article, in the past few years, and therefore Bahá’ís the world over are more or less familiar with its history. “Lest we forget,” however, the links in the story connecting it with the present day activities, let us record once again those stirring events which have been the harbingers of the New Day and which very clearly foreshadowed that Hour of Unity for which so many hearts yearned.
Green Acre is situated in Eliot, Maine, and incidentally, it has put the otherwise obscure and almost unheard of little town on the map of the world. It seems truly a place ever green, as the name implies. The fields stretch out from the main-traveled road to the river like a soft green carpet, with only the one road running through it from the now famous Teahouse at the entrance, to the Green Acre Inn situated on a knoll overlooking the Piscataqua river (almost lovingly and quite correctly termed “The River of Light”).
Briefly, then, Green Acre was founded by Miss Sarah J. Farmer of Eliot, Maine, who, after attending the Congress of Religions at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, conceived the idea of establishing a Summer School on the property afterwards named Green Acre, and started almost immediately to set the wheels in motion for the organization of such a school, the object of which should be to provide a universal platform for the comparative study of the different religious systems, the various speakers to expound their views in a spirit of tolerance toward all.
Miss Farmer was successful beyond her fondest hopes, and the Green Acre yearly conferences became widely known, and attracted to this unusual gathering place religionists, scholars and others famous in the world of religion, arts and letters. Among them was the poet John Greenleaf Whittier who, upon one of his visits, said: “We have heard of ‘God’s Acres,’ but I call this Green Acre,” and thereafter Miss Farmer used this name.
Thus began the “Search for Truth” in Green Acre; and from year to year thereafter the programs changed to coincide with the onward march of events until it was clear and evident that what the people wanted and needed was to find the Solvent which should unite all in one Brotherhood.
Miss Farmer, in the course of a few years, became a Bahá’í and realized fully that in the Bahá’í Teachings could be found the great Force and Power which would unite the people of the world and make of them one family regardless of race, creed or color.
In those early pioneering days one of the events which is enormously outstanding is the period when Mirza Abul Fazl, the distinguished Persian Bahá’í teacher visited Green Acre, and gave the teachings of God with such force and clarity to many a weary traveller on the path. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has designated him as the greatest religious teacher of his time, and those who realized his station and capacity felt that it was a privilege to be taught by him.
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Part of the “grassy slope” and the river flowing to the sea
He loved all, and served all alike. What a bounty he was! And how he enjoyed walking to the pines, there to give his illumined talks to the eager groups who gathered around him! Thereafter the pines became known as the “Persian Pines,” and though it was in the summer of 1904 that our revered teacher visited Green Acre, yet those radiant services of his are ever fresh and fair in the memory. His season at Green Acre was one of particular charm and spiritual growth. Blessed Mirza Abul Fazl! The writers of the future ages will record the real story in detail of his sanctified life of severance and service!
But nothing of course can be compared to the season of 1912 when 'Abdu’l-Bahá himself visited Green Acre for one week. “Blessed is the ground which has been pressed by his feet.” From that time Green Acre has been considered by some as holy ground, not in the fanatical sense, but because the Light of spirituality burned brightly there, because the Light of the World shed a radiance beyond the description of any words, and because the hearts of all who contacted with this Divine Servant of God were quickened with such happinesss and love of the Kingdom, and were so spiritually confirmed that they were ready to give up all in service to humanity. He was the Divine Exemplar who was himself treading the path of servitude and holiness, and being Perfect he could direct others to the Perfect Way. He summoned all to devote their time to the spiritual reality of religion, and said: “In Green Acre you must concentrate your forces around the one all-important fact, the investigation of reality. Expend all your efforts on this, that the union of opinions and expressions may be obtained.”
From that time down through these succeeding years, many an advanced soul has at times scaled the spiritual heights in contemplation of the precious hours spent with ’Abdu’l-Bahá in Green Acre; they have seen once again his majestic figure, and heard his peerless voice ringing out the Words of God, teaching the
children of men how to attain spiritual maturity, how to live the sanctified life.
The old order passed, and the foundation of the new life became apparent to all. Thereafter the Green Acre conferences were to revolve around teaching the reality of the Word of God.
About the year 1912 Miss Farmer became too ill to serve as the head and moving spirit of Green Acre, and soon thereafter it passed into the possession and under the control of the Green Acre Fellowship, with Mr. and Mrs. Wm. H. Randall of Boston contributing largely of their resources in every way to furthering the great plan of this beautiful center, and they built wisely and well around the Principle of the Investigation of Reality.
This period covering some ten or twelve years, has often passed through severe storms and stress, after which would come invariably the “clearing.” The “Gales of the Infinite” dissipated the debris of man’s ideas as the winds gather up and scatter far and wide the sands of the roads. No one save the Lord himself is able to measure the mighty works that have been wrought during these years. Many and varied are the stories that could be written of the beauty of service at Green Acre; of the many hundreds who have found themselves at this Center, made holy by the presence of 'Abdu’l-Bahá and his divine spirit, and who have listened to the message of Life with ears attuned to celestial anthems, thereafter returning to their homes alive and keen to continue on the path which leads to the Goal of all our hopes. When these stories are gathered some day and compiled, they will make a book of such interesting spiritual experiences as will charm and truly enlighten those who read it. The readers will likewise be inspired “to investigate reality.”
Another summer seems particularly outstanding as we recall the many beautiful summers through which we have journeyed to this time, namely the season of 1916, when two important events took place. One the dedication of Fellowship House, the gift to Green Acre of Mrs. Helen Ellis Cole of New York, a Bahá’í, a devoted friend and sister to Miss Farmer, and a loyal supporter of the beautiful life and spirit of Green Acre. And, secondly, Miss Farmer returned after her years of separation because of illness. Her heart was overflowing with gratitude to her Bahá’í brothers and sisters “who had raised Green Acre to this pinnacle of spiritual unity and peace. She had lived to see her early dream realized, to see many nations and sects, races and religions joined together under the Flag of Peace.” Soon thereafter she passed into the life eternal and radiant.
Another important season was the summer of 1920, when Jenabi-Fadil, a renowned Persian Bahá’í teacher who had been sent to this country by 'Abdu’l-Bahá, taught at Green Acre. He brought a fresh impetus to the Conferences, and during his stay there was a very marked spiritual advancement. He again served at Green Acre in the succeeding years.
The summer of 1921 is also notable, for the Teahouse and Gift shop were opened for the first time. This addition to the life and activities of the place was planned and arranged by Mrs. Ruth Randall, who for the past four years has successfully managed this attractive branch of the work and likewise beautified the surrounding grounds, making the entrance to Green Acre most inviting.
Gradually from that time to the present the growth has been toward the fulfillment of the prophetic utterances of 'Abdu’l-Bahá in regard to the future of Green Acre, one of which carries with it a special significance and is here quoted:
“Thy desire to serve Green Acre is in reality a very important matter. This name (Green Acre) must appear with all its significant meaning, that is, Green
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Group around the Peace Flag at Green Acre showing Mr. Randall with hat in hand and Mr. Schopflocher in the foreground directly back of the small boy
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Group near Peace Flag showing Mr. Mountfort Mills, President of the National Spiritual Assembly in the center, surrounded by a few Bahá'í friends
Acre must become the reflection of the plain of Acca (spelled Aqá in the new transliteration), and attain to the utmost verdancy, greenness and artistic beauty. Its charms and wonder lie in this,—that it may become the center of the Bahá'ís and the Cry of Ya Bahá El ABHA (O thou the Glory of the Most Glorious!) be raised from all its direction.”
The season of 1924 then is another particularly outstanding one in the growth and life of Green Acre. At the annual Fellowship meeting in August of that year the friends gathered together were realizing more than ever the meaning and deep significance of the law of cooperation and coordination and envisioned the Greater Green Acre to be brought into the realm of visibility. At this meeting Dr. M. A. Cohn of Brooklyn, N. Y., thrilled the friends with his suggestion that the Annual Bahá’í Convention and Congress be held in Green Acre in 1925. He said in part:
“I suggest that we call a great Congress in Green Acre for the summer of 1925, inviting all the Bahá’ís of this country and Canada to meet with us on this beautiful and consecrated ground. This Congress of 1925 if carried forward in unity, harmony and love will stand out as a Beacon Light in the annals of the Bahá’í Cause in this country in general, and of Green Acre in particular.”
But that which furnished the dynamic for action was the instruction of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Cause which was received in 1924 and contained these stirring words:
“I was delighted to hear of the progressive activities of that dearly beloved spot, Green Acre, upon which the Master has bestowed His tender care and loving kindness, and of which we are all hopeful that it may become, whilst the work of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar is in progress, the Focal Center of the devotional, humanitarian, social and spiritual activities of the Cause.”
Thus it was that the friends voted to hold the Bahá’í Convention and Congress of 1925 in Green Acre the first week in July, providing this action received the approval of Shoghi Effendi. All who have read the preceding numbers of the Star of the West know that this sanction was received in due time, and that the Convention and Congress held this year brought many new faces to Green Acre, and it already stands out as a “beacon light” in the path of progress.
Now once again we have just had another Annual Fellowship meeting held at the Green Acre Inn on August 10th.
Mr. Wm. H. Randall, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Green Acre, in his opening address, spoke with deep feeling, with sincerity, with love and with a tenderness which touched all hearts. Among other things he said:
“All of life seems to follow definite stages: the infant period, that of adolescence, and again the period of maturity. Miss Farmer was the great loving mother who brought into being a child—Green Acre—and with love and tender care she carried it forward, rearing the foundation for the future work. When she was unable to, continue, the care of Green Acre passed into the hands of the Fellowship and a number of Trustees, and for some ten or twelve years the affairs of Green Acre have been conducted along this line, until now it has come to another stage of its growth, it has come to its maturity . . . . Green Acre has survived and grown through its spirit of unity and service, and through its spirit of love . . . . I think now that Green Acre is approaching another period of its growth; it must be apparent to all that new life is coming to this center and is bringing to it a vision of new resources and of great growth. Therefore we should be ready to take this next step forward in the life of Green Acre . . . . We grow by uniting ourselves to the larger needs. Man progresses from one level of consciousness
to another, and as growth toward the higher consciousness comes, he sees the higher world, and that this vision unfolds before him the plan of God. And so Green Acre must pass, in spirit anyway, from a center in itself to a greater center, and go forward in the unity of its own greater work. I feel therefore that we are going to have a marvelous meeting, that we have gathered here with nothing but unity in our minds, and the desire and purpose of our heart is to unite the past with the interests of the larger and greater Green Acre, that in time to come we may be so proud. to be members of this Fellowship that it will be our summer happiness to unite here each year, contributing our part toward the success of this beautiful spiritual center with its manifold activities to be developed year by year, its life of agriculture, its educational system, its means of recreation and happiness, indeed we know the ideals of Green Acre revolve around the whole world of humanity for it is an expression of the Word of God. I welcome you all with the greatest happiness, and I am so glad to see some of the faces of the dear old friends of the days of Miss Farmer who worked so hard for Green Acre,—to see them again sitting in this body uniting with us, and now confident that the inner life of Green Acre has been assured.”
Mr. Siegfried Schopflocher spoke in behalf of the Trustees and gave a brief resume of the work which has been accomplished. He gave the following heartfelt testimony: “What has been done is only due to the cooperation of the members of this Fellowship without which the Board of Trustees cannot do anything. It is the spirit of cooperation and coordination which has brought about the material and physical improvements in the last few years,—an expression also of my gratitude toward Green Acre, for here I have experienced real and loving friendships which I have never known before, and I tried to put into the work the spirit of love and service. There is no greater mysticism to be experienced I think than that which a man or woman finds for the first time when they really contact that true spirit of loving service which is selfless and ideal and promoted by the heart which has been touched with the love of God; only for the sake of God do they serve and for the advancement of His Cause; and this is my debt to Green Acre. When I first came here I was presented with a little booklet which told of the ideals of this center, and I said: Is it possible? I thought to myself it is not possible for such a place to exist! But I looked around and discovered it was not only possible, but it was almost finished, almost accomplished in truth and in fact. . . . The great joy is in serving, is in accomplishing, and today it is in giving a helping hand to Green Acre. I became acquainted with this universal platform, but I did not know at first exactly what a universal platform meant. So I referred to our dear friend. I thoroughly appreciated the closer touch and learned more about the great Truths which were stirring this group of people into action, and I came to the conclusion that it was not the outer Green Acre, even with its beautiful setting and surroundings, but that it was the deep meaning of Green Acre, its ideals, its universal platform, its deep spiritual significance, its standards of unity and human solidarity that I loved so much and which I have tried to follow, which many succeed in following, and all of us will succeed in this endeavor through co-operation and selfless service, and it will be our privilege to lift up others, and see that they also enjoy this happiness and the loving friendships. There is the mysticism of Green Acre, and there is the true mysticism. There is the demonstration of the spirit of love in action. It was this Bahá’í spirit which attracted me. . . . . There is to come before you a resolution which the Board of Trustees
has prepared in absolute unity with the greatest consideration realizing its importance. With the adoption of such a resolution, we will be able surely to have the support of all the Green Acre people of the world, and which will bring all of us definitely into relation with Green Acre.”
Miss Roushan Wilkinson, Secretary of the Fellowship, read a comprehensive annual report, clearly setting forth the proceedings of the last Fellowship meeting and bringing fresh to the minds the activities of the year.
Mr. Mountfort Mills, Dr. M. A. Cohn, Mr. Stanwood Cobb and others spoke feelingly of the services of all those who had contributed such a vital part of the work and of the possibilities and future plans for the Green Acre activities,
The resolution referred to by Mr. Schopflocher provided that Green Acre should be definitely correlated to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the U. S. and Canada, and that it should come directly under its control and supervision as soon as all technical points in connection therewith could be adjusted. The resolution was joyously accepted by a large majority and it was adopted unanimously.
Thus the future of Green Acre is gloriously assured; some of the most stirring prophecies of 'Abdu’l-Bahá have been fulfilled; and with the hoisting once again of the beautiful white Peace Flag on the Green Acre grounds amid the united prayers and songs of the assembled friends, there passed into history one of the most deeply significant and most glorious meetings in the whole life of Green Acre, for the decisions arrived at signify the expansion of Green Acre eventually into a beautiful "City of God”—for such it will be when every activity is for the sake of God, and every man, woman and child is listening with the ear of the spirit to the inner voice which calls to prayer, to unity to “living the life” of a real Brotherhood,—a life which functions in and for God, and which can be led by the spirit because filled with the spirit. As 'Abdu’l-Bahá instructed in one of His Tablets:
“Your hearts must become pure and your intentions sincere, in order that you may become the recipients of the divine bestowals.” The Divine Bestowals were vouchsafed. Miss Farmer's spirit doubtless mingled in happiness and great joy. 'Abdu’l-Bahá o’ershadowed the meeting, and the efficacy of His Word was proven in the lives of those who believe it:
“Verily, God loveth those who are working in His path in groups, for they are a solid foundation. Consider ye that He says ‘in groups,’ united and bound together, supporting one another.”
the great human family if unity and brotherhood were established! In this century when the beneficent results of unity and the ill effects of discord are so deeply apparent, the means for the attainment and accomplishment of human fellowship have appeared in the world. His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has proclaimed and provided the way by which hostility and dissension may be removed from the human world. He has left no ground or possibility
for strife and disagreement.
To the STAR or THE WEST:
Many Bahá’í friends are in Geneva, Switzerland, this summer, and all of them will be especially interested in the International Esperanto Congress to be held here in August, as well as the League of Nations Conference in September, besides many vital meetings correlated with these important gatherings.
You probably have heard of our new Bahá’í meeting place and International Bureau, its fine location as well as its beautiful interior. Miss Martha Root has an office at one end, and Mrs. Stannard at the other end of this spacious Bureau. Bahá’í meetings are held here once a week, and they are very well attended.
Miss Root has been doing heroic work in Esperanto, and Palace of League of Nations she, together with Miss Julia Culver, are finishing up all necessary details in preparation for the two Bahá’í sessions at the Esperanto Congress. Lady Blomfield and Miss Herrick, with an Esperantist group, arrived this week from London, so you can think of us all as having a more than interesting summer.
The earliest European dwellers to arrive at the Arts of Civilization are supposed to have been the lake dwellers on Lake Geneva, and the largest settlement was on the very spot where the League of Nations stands. The International Hotel filled in the land; and the City of Geneva bought the International Hotel and gave it to the League. So you see it must have been one of the magnetic spots of earth from the beginning of this civilization. The garden around the building is a veritable Eden. The meetings are held in a glass-enclosed room, all sides open but the tiny entrance. The view is marvelously beautiful: with the lake–the wealth of blossoms, gorgeous white and purple magnolias in full bloom–the lawn dotted with flowers, making a superb setting for the great conferences held within. Every time I go there, I remember the verse in Genesis where we are told that God walked and talked with Adam in a garden, and all sense of time ceased. How I wish I might give you a glimpse of the gatherings within the hall. All types of men are represented: the younger ones so full of zeal and enthusiasm, and some of the older ones so calm and gentle, while others have plainly written in their faces the distinct characteristics of the particular nation they represent. We could write of the Germans, the Japanese, the Chinese,—such interesting sidelights, the Abyssinians with their beautiful heads and very kindly brown faces, formerly wearing their native costumes, now, however, wearing English clothes. The Polish delegation is a charming group, too, and dear old Senator Burton adds a kindly fatherly American note.
But I must not write an article. Miss Root is intending to continue her contributions to the Bahá’í Magazine, and now that she is here in Geneva she will have much to share with the readers of the STAR OF THE WEST.
Geneva, July, 1925.
IN THE drama, “In Quest of Truth,” published in the July number of the Bahá’í Magazine, some of the statements made about the teachings have been questioned. It may, therefore, be well to make some statement in regard to two points which might easily lead to misunderstanding. Realizing of course that there is a difficulty in translating from a foreign language, as was done in this case, there may be need of explaining the Bahá’í teaching in connection with a point made by the author who emphasizes the finding of God within our own inner consciousness. The writer’s ideas of course flowed directly from the verse in the Hidden Words which he embodies in his text—“turn thine eyes unto thyself, that in thee thou mayest find Me abiding, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.” He says it is only when we turn our sight within, that we begin to make, spiritual progress, and this is true. All the abstractions in the world will never advance us on the spiritual path. It is only when we correct our own lives and live the life, that we can be called disciples of progress. On the other hand, there is a point where such an idea of looking within reaches an extreme which would not be truly in accord with the Bahá’í teachings. Correct ideas of God, for instance, cannot be deduced from our own consciousness, but can reach man only through the medium of the Manifestations, the Great Teachers of humanity, and through their Holy Word. 'Abdu’l-Bahá has made this very plain: “How can man, the created, understand the reality of the pure Essence of the Creator? This plane is unapproachable by the understanding, no explanation is sufficient of its comprehension, and there is no power to indicate it. Minds are powerless to comprehend God . . . . . . Therefore all that the human reality knows, discovers, and understands of the names, the attributes, and the perfections of God, refer to these Holy Manifestations . . . . . . The enlightenment of the world of thought comes from these Centers of Light and Sources of Mysteries.”—('Abdu’l-Bahá, Answered Questions, p. 168.)
A second point, in connection with the Word of God, might also lead to misunderstanding. As translated, the statement appears in the text that “there is but one truth, and the Word is a ray of this truth. Countless rays stream forth from the sun and their dawning-place is the human heart in its purity.”
Of course the Word of God can hardly be compared to other rays in which God reaches man. It is true that countless rays stream forth from the Sun and that man learns of truth and of God through nature, through contact with his fellow-man, through his own near spiritual experiences; but to none of these ways can the way of the Word be compared because it is in a different class. The Word of God is the only direct expression we have of God in the world of humanity with the exception of the life itself of a Manifestation, and these two are themselves so intimately connected as to be in a mystical sense one. Therefore, the Word of God is distinct from any other way of approach to God. “Consider how great is the value and how paramount the importance of the Verses (the Word) in which God hath completed His perfect argument, consummate proof, dominant power and penetrating will.”
Certainly the author of this charming little drama did not mean to present any other teaching. The difficulties of translation often cause an idea to stand forth in the second language in a slightly different form from what was intended by the author and in a way which may not represent the actual meaning. (S.C.)
