| ←Issue 3 | Star of the West Volume 17 - Issue 4 |
Issue 5→ |
 Proofread onceReturn to PDF view
|
We are working hard to have proofread and nicely formatted text for you to read. Here is our progress on this section:
|
O THOU lover of reality! His Highness, the Merciful, has manifested love and harmony to the world of humanity, so that all of the individuals may find a complete connection with each other and the lights of the Oneness of God may appear in the human world. For this He sent the Holy Manifestations; revealed the heavenly books; established the divine religions, so that these holy souls, these revealed books, and these divine religions may become the cause of unity, agreement, harmony and love in the world of humanity . . . . . . As this age is a luminous age and this century the century of knowledge, new teachings are necessary, a new effulgence is essential and a new life is needed. The souls cannot accept the ancient ideas, a new thought and new teachings are necessary that shall be the spirit of this age and the light of this century.
--PHOTO--
Colonel Culver, retired American Consul, raises National emblem and Peace Flag on July 4, 1926, in connection with the opening of Green Acre for its thirty-second season. This flag was designed by Miss Sarah J. Farmer to represent her ideal of the purpose of the Green Acre Conferences. Preceding the Flag ceremony, an address on the history and purpose of Green Acre was delivered by Ali-Kuli Khan, N. D., and one on America and world peace by Wm. H. Randall. Horace Holley was chairman of the meeting.
| VOL. 17 | JULY, 1926 | No. 4 |
but the organization and administration change continually.”
INSTITUTIONS are the most impressive and abiding works of man. Being a collective creation, they surpass the will and power of any one man, no matter how great he be. Amenhotep IV, though absolute ruler of all Egypt, could not succeed in changing his country’s religion from the worship of Amun to the worship of Aten the Universal God. He could move the royal city to a new and unbiased site, chisel the name of Aten where Amun had been, and during his lifetime insist on the worship of his god. But at his death the power of the institutions of Amun restored the worship of the traditional god, caused the royal city to be moved back to Thebes, and the name of Amun once more to adorn the royal architecture and the public sculptures.
The institution is more powerful than any one man, be he ruler of the world itself, because the institution is the expression of many wills, and because its existence goes on from generation to generation and its strength is still fresh when those who fight against it are become enfeebled by old age or frustrated by death.
Institutions seem at times to have a life and existence of their own, achieving their ends by means of or in spite of those humans who come under the canopy of their power. Hugh Walpole has expressed this idea most vividly in his novel, “The Cathedral.” Thus the great institutions of the world have a certain awe-giving quality. We admire them or we fear them—we cannot ignore them. They seem as stable and as permanent as the rock of Gibraltar.
YET THIS stability is specious rather than real. Institutions are not immortal. Though they outlive man, they are but finite things approaching their destined end. In time they will pass and disappear, being superseded by new institutions better fitting the new needs of man.
What we most need to realize about institutions is that, being the work of man, they pass through the same cycle of finite existence as the life of man itself. They have their feeble birth, their struggle for existence, their growth to strength and power, their climacteric, their slow decay and final death. This is true of every institution that has ever existed. And what is more, it will be true of every institution which now or in the future ages will come into being. Everything that goes up comes down. Everything that is born must die. Everything that is created must be uncreated.
It is evident that in a finite universe there is a limit to the quantity
of finite things. When life, when spirit, which is infinite, takes on a form, that form is temporal. It is for the time-being. It is but a garment of concreteness, a vehicle enabling operation on the plane of concreteness. But the spirit eternally changes its form, its garment, its vehicle. If this were not so, and if every concrete form in which the spirit chose to embody itself were to become immortal, the world, being finite, would become over-full of these concretions; and these forms, vehicles, and institutions, reaching the point of saturation, would make further progress impossible.
Thus uncreation is seen to be as much a blessing as is creation; and death is as necessary and as beneficient as life itself. With this thought we may console ourselves for all those concrete losses which finiteness brings us. For until the old goes, the new gift cannot come to us.
OF ALL the old possessions or configurations, the thing which men will strive the hardest to preserve is an institution. There is a most commendable loyalty here. In fact, were it not for such loyalties, institutions would never have been built up. Here, indeed, is one of the strangest paradoxes of finite existence, that the will to live, so necessary in the rising cycle of life, becomes a source of ineffective and needlessly agonized struggle in the declining cycle. If men and institutions, since they must die, could only die peacefully!
If we could but realize, when the time comes for the passing of one institution, that a better one is somewhere, somehow growing up! If we could but see the phases of our human structures as we view the changes of the equinox, and welcome the new spring as but the bodying forth of the old life and the eternal spirit!
For while institutions must pass, the things the institutions stand for never pass. The institution, which is a form, a workable concreteness, is finite; but that which the institution embodies is immortal. Therefore, intelligent man, in trying to solve the dilemma of the challenging claims of loyalty to the old institution, on the one hand, and of the progressive, new-rising institution on the other, must search to find whether or not the new institution asking his support is the legitimate successor of the old institution which requires his loyalty. If this is so, and if the new institution has behind or in it all the beneficence, the potential constructiveness, the spiritual power of the old, and in addition has a greater adaptation to the rising epoch, then adherence to this new institution is indeed the only true and possible expression of loyalty to the old.
THE GREATEST QUANDARY into which loyalty can throw a man is in the apparent struggle between an old and a new religion. I say apparent, because in reality there is no struggle, but only an evolution of form serving to express the same abiding Spirit. But to the sense of man there appears an antithesis, a rivalry, a struggle in which the old calls powerfully for his help to prevent the rising power of the new.
Sincerely spiritual men are often caught in this nexus. The greatest example of this is perhaps the situation in which the Jews found themselves at the coming of Christ. We cannot conclude that all the opposition to Christ’s teachings came from formalists and hypocrites. Many a zealous, earnest-minded Hebrew, of whom Saul was an example, found himself in sincere opposition to the new teaching.
If religionists could but realize that religions as we know them are institutions,
and as such must go through the destined cycle of all finite things, they would not lament at the decline of the old form and the rise of the new. Nay, rather, they would see the new as the fulfillment of the old; the expression, in a new and glorious form more fitted to the new day, of the Eternal Spirit which is the soul and life of all religions.
IN ONE SENSE religion is eternal because it is Spiritual Truth. But for the Eternal Truth to reach finite man in a workable and usable form, it must take on concreteness, therefore finiteness. This finite form which Infinity as Truth takes on in order to reach man is what we call religion. Religions pass through different phases and changes, as do those finite forms of matter in which Infinity as Creator manifests Itself. All religions which the world has known are but forms of the Manifesting Truth. It is the law of their existence that they should change and give place to new.
Thus when the Mosaic Dispensation had fulfilled its purpose, it gave place to Christianity. But those see wrongly who would see Christianity as an abrogation of the Mosaic teaching. It is rather the fulfillment of that same Spirit which was manifesting to the Jews, from Moses down through all the prophets. So naturally did it seem to those Jews who accepted Christianity, as a fulfillment of their own religion, that it was not until almost a century after the life of Christ that his followers looked upon themselves as other than members of the regular Jewish Synagogue, although possessed of a new and more universal truth.
SO TODAY, there need be no conflict, no disturbance, in the hearts of those whose loyalty to Christ might make them hesitant to accept the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. For the Spirit which is in and back of Christianity, making it such a marvelous vehicle for the unfolding of the spiritual powers of man, is also in and back of the Bahá’í Cause, working to effect the spiritualization of the whole world.
Thus there is no loss, no sacrifice of truth, on the part of the Christian, the Buddhist, the Muhammadan who accepts the Bahá’í Cause. He sees in it but the fulfillment of his own religion, the expression of that Eternal Truth which has since the world began been guiding mankind unto spiritual goals.
Is it not for the Kingdom of God on earth, for a spiritually perfected humanity, that all religion, and all religions, are working? In reality they are all one. There is no division, no rivalry, no opposition of claims. There can be but one purpose that God has toward us, in the Revelations which He sends us, and that is to make us conscious of Him, loving toward Him and toward our fellow-men, and obedient to His will. This is the fulfillment of each and every religion. This is Religion in its essence.
THE CAUSE of Bahá’u’lláh is the same as the Cause of Christ. It is the same temple and the same foundation. Both of these are the spiritual springs, the seasons of the soul-refreshing awakening and the cause of the renovation of the life of mankind.
In the coming of Christ the divine teachings were given in accordance with the infancy of the human race. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have the same basic principles, but are according to the stage of the maturity of the world and the requirements of this illumined age.—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
A FRIEND CALLING upon ’Abdu’l-Bahá one day said that in speaking about the Revelation to the people, many are afraid of a new religion, saying, “Our religion was good enough for our ancestors and it is good enough for us.” ’Abdu’l-Bahá replied: “They are like unto those souls who say we do not like fresh flowers but we are satisfied with withered and decayed flowers. Decayed flowers do not have sweet fragrance; their odor is not good; they have no freshness and charm. The fresher the flower the sweeter it is and the more charming. If old and decayed flowers were good then the Adamic flower would have been sufficient. Every new year needs a new flower, new fruits are necessary, fresh and gentle breezes, are needed. Every new day requires new food, you cannot partake of the decayed food of yesterday.” (Star, Vol. 3, No. 19, p. 4.)
IN THE unmistakable and universal re-formation we are witnessing, when outer conditions of humanity are receiving such impetus, when human life is assuming a new aspect, when sciences are stimulated afresh, inventions and discoveries increasing, civic laws undergoing change and moralities evidencing uplift and betterment, is it possible that spiritual impulses and influences should not be renewed and reformed? Naturally new spiritual thoughts and inclinations must also become manifest. If spirituality be not renewed, what fruits come from mere physical reformation? For instance, the body of man may improve, the quality of bone and sinew may advance, the hand may develop, other limbs and members may increase in excellence, but if the mind fails to develop, of what use is the rest? The important factor in human improvement is the mind. In the world of the mind there must needs be development and improvement. There must be re-formation in the kingdom of the human spirit, otherwise no result will be attained from betterment of the mere physical structure.
In this new year new fruits must be forthcoming, for that is the provision and intention of spiritual re-formation. . . . For the essential reality is the spirit, the foundation basis is the spirit, the life of man is due to the spirit, the happiness, the animus, the radiance, the glory of man—all are due to the spirit; and if in the spirit no re-formation takes place, there will be no result to human existence. (Pro. of U. P., p. 272, 273.)
THOUSANDS OF souls, including the great divines and Pharisees among the Jews, were awaiting the Manifestation of Christ, lamenting and weeping and supplicating that the Messiah should soon appear. But when His Holiness Christ came with a beautiful face and sweet utterance and dawned from the day-spring of the contingent world like unto the shining sun, all those souls who awaited him rejected him, because afflicted with the sleep of heedlessness, did not wake up by the voice of Christ nor did they gain consciousness. Now again the same is the case in the Manifestation of Bahá’u’lláh. (Tablets Vol. 3, p. 688.)
THE INDEPENDENT PROPHETS are the lawgivers and the founders
of a new cycle. Through their appearance the world puts on a new garment, the foundations of religion are established and a new book is revealed. Without an intermediary they receive bounty from the reality of the Divinity, and their illumination is an essential illumination. They are like the sun which is luminous in itself—the light is its essential necessity; it does not receive light from any other star. These Dawning-places of the morn of unity are the Sources of bounty and the Mirrors of the Essence of Reality. . . .
The Manifestations of universal Prophethood who appeared independently are, for example, Abraham, Moses, Christ, Muhammad, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. . . . Prophets are founders; they establish a new religion and make new creatures of men; they change the general morals, promote new customs and rules, renew the cycle and the law. Their appearance is like the season of spring which arrays all earthly beings in a new garment and gives them a new life. (Answered Questions, p. 188, 189.)
THE WORD OF TRUTH no matter which tongue utters it must be sanctioned. Absolute verities no matter in what book they be recorded must be accepted. If we harbor prejudice it will be the cause of deprivation and ignorance. . . . the purpose of religion is the acquisition of praiseworthy virtues, betterment of morals, spiritual development of mankind, the real life and divine bestowals. All the prophets have been the promoters of these principles; none of them has been the promoter of corruption, vice or evil. They have summoned mankind to all good. . . . For example we mention Abraham and Moses. By this mention we do not mean the limitation implied in the mere names but intend the virtues which these names embody. When we say “Abraham” we mean thereby a manifestation of divine guidance, a center of human virtues, a source of heavenly bestowals to mankind, a dawning-point of divine inspiration and perfections. These perfections and graces are not limited to names and boundaries. When we find these virtues, qualities and attributes in any personality, we recognize the same reality shining from within and bow in acknowledgment of the Abrahamic perfections. Similarly we acknowledge and adore the beauty of Moses. Some souls were lovers of the name Abraham, loving the lantern instead of the light, and when they saw this same light shining from another lantern they were so attached to the former lantern that they did not recognize its later appearance and illumination. Therefore those who were attached and held tenaciously to the name Abraham were deprived when the Abrahamic virtues reappeared in Moses. Similarly the Jews were believers in His Holiness Moses, awaiting the coming of the Messiah. The virtues and perfections of Moses became apparent in His Holiness Jesus Christ most effulgently, but the Jews held to the name Moses, not adoring the virtues and perfections manifest in him. . . . If we are lovers of the light we adore it in whatever lamp it may become manifest but if we love the lamp itself and the light is transferred to another lamp we will neither accept nor sanction it. . . . We must not be fettered. If we renounce these fetters we shall agree. . . . (Pro. of U. P., p. 146.)
THE DIVINE MANIFESTATIONS since the day of Adam have striven to unite humanity so that all may be accounted as one soul. The function and purpose of a shepherd is to gather and not disperse his flock. The prophets of God have been
divine shepherds of humanity. They have established a bond of love and unity among mankind, made scattered peoples one nation and wandering tribes a mighty kingdom. They have laid the foundation of the oneness of God and summoned all to universal peace. All these holy, divine manifestations are one. They have served one God, promulgated the same truth, founded the same institutions and reflected the same light. Their appearances have been successive and correlated; each one has announced and extolled the one who was to follow and all laid the foundation of reality. They summoned and invited the people to love and made the human world a mirror of the Word of God. Therefore the divine religions they established have one foundation; their teachings, proofs and evidences are one, in name and form they differ but in reality they agree and are the same. These holy Manifestations have been as the coming of springtime in the world. Although the springtime of this year is designated by another name according to the changing calendar, yet as regards its life and quickening it is the same as the springtime of last year. (Pro. of U. P., p. 145.)
WHATEVER THERE is in the world of contingency is a symbol of the spiritual world; whatever there is on the earth is a symbol of heavenly things. For example: In the spiritual world there is the light of guidance, in the outer world there is the lamp, its symbol. In the divine world there is love, symbolized in the material world by magnetism. So there are four seasons in the perishable outer world—spring, which brings the vegetables, refreshes the animals, and promises fruits; summer, which charges the trees with fruits; then follows the autumn, after which comes the winter when the trees are bare and empty. Such is the condition of the spiritual world which has its four seasons–spring, summer, autumn and winter.
When Jesus Christ appeared, it was the last days of the winter time when the people, who are the trees of the divine garden, were deprived of their fruits; that is, of their divine characteristics and divine moralities. As nature needs a springtime to revive the trees, so the spiritual nature needs a springtime to fill the garden with flowers and fruits. It was through the manifestation of Jesus Christ that this spiritual springtime began. Summer followed with its fruits and later autumn came. Winter followed and the trees were naked; that is, the people were without their divine qualities. So again, it became necessary that a new springtime should come. . . .
Christ himself said that whatever happened in the cycle of Moses would occur again in his time. Therefore these occurrences were repeated. We cannot say that what happened in the time of Christ was remarkable since the same had happened before. We cannot say that it is extraordinary that the present springtime follows that of last year. We cannot say this year that these blossoms are useless because the same ones appeared last spring. The last spring gave out its benefits, and summer, autumn, and winter followed. If a new spring did not come to the world everything would die. In every springtime there will be repeated what has happened in previous springtimes. (Table Talks with ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Notes of Mrs. Winterburn, pp, 4, 19.)
THE DIVINE RELIGIONS are like the progression of the seasons of the year. When the earth becomes dead and desolate and because of frost and cold no trace of vanished spring remains, the springtime
dawns again and clothes everything with a new garment of life. . . . Then the winter comes again and all the traces of spring disappear. This is the continuous cycles of the seasons—spring, winter, then the return of spring; but though the calendar changes and the years move forward, each springtime that comes is the return of the springtime that has gone; this spring is the renewal of the former spring. Springtime is springtime no matter when or how often it comes. The divine prophets are as the coming of spring, each renewing and quickening the teachings of the prophet who came before him. Just as all seasons of spring are essentially one as to newness of life, vernal showers and beauty, so the essence of the mission and accomplishment of all the prophets is one and the same. (Pro. of U. P., p. 122.)
FOR THE FUNDAMENTAL basis of the religion of God there is no change nor variation. This is the basis, the fundamental foundation of religion. That never, never changes.
The basis of the law of Moses His Holiness Christ promulgated. That self-same foundation of religion was promulgated by Muhammad. All the great prophets have served that foundation. They have served this reality. Hence, the purpose and result of all the prophets have been one and the same. They were the advancement of the body politic. They were the cause of the honor of mankind. They were the divine civilizations of man whose foundation is one; and, as we declared before, the proof establishing the validity of a prophet, the proofs of his inspiration, are, after all, the very deeds of valor and greatness which he performs. If a prophet has proved to be instrumental in the elevation of mankind, undoubtedly his prophethood is valid. (Star, Vol. 3, No. 13, p. 6.)
EVERYTHING in the world is subject to change. But this transmutation and change are requirements of life. See, for instance, these flowers before us. They come forth from a seed. They grow to perfection, but when they have reached the state of perfection they go back again. This is the invariable law of creation. Likewise man develops until he has grown to maturity. When he reaches beyond the state of maturity he begins to decline. All religions of God are subject to this same law. They are founded in order to blossom out and develop and fulfill their mission. They reach their zenith and then decline and come to an end. (Star of the West, Vol. 4, No. 4, p. 68.)
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH is the same Light in a new Lamp. To see, we must look at the Light and not at the Lamp. This is spiritual sight. The sun is one orb but it has different rising-points on the horizon. One point, was Jesus, one Moses, one Bahá’u’lláh, and so on. Therefore be a lover of the ‘Sun’ and worship it, no matter at what point it may arise. If you worship the dawning-place you will fail to see the Sun when it arises in another point of the horizon. Many stand at the old point and worship while they are losing the Light of the Sun in this Manifestation. True lovers of the Sun worship the Sun itself and not the point of its rising. They see and know the Light. (Ten Days in the Light of Aqa, p. 28.)
THE DIFFERENT religious communities have failed to unite in the past because the adherents of each have regarded the founder of their own community as the one supreme authority, and his law as the divine law. Any prophet who proclaimed a different message was, therefore, regarded as an enemy of the truth. The different sects of each community have separated for similar reasons. The adherents of each have accepted some subordinate authority and regarded some particular version or interpretation of the Founder’s Message as the One True Faith, and all others as wrong. It is obvious that while this state of matters exists no true unity is possible.
Bahá’u’lláh, on the other hand, teaches that all the prophets were bearers of authentic messages from God; that each in his day gave the highest teachings that the people could then receive, and educated men so that they were able to receive further teachings from his successors. He calls on the adherents of each religion not to deny the divine inspiration of their own prophets, but to acknowledge the divine inspiration of all other prophets, to see that the teachings of all are essentially in harmony, and are parts of a great plan for the education and the unification of humanity. He calls on the people of all denominations to show their reverence for their prophets by devoting their lives to the accomplishment of that unity for which all the prophets labored and suffered. In his letter to Queen Victoria he likens the world to a sick man whose malady is aggravated because he has fallen into the hands of unskilful physicians; and he tells how the remedy may be effected: “That which the Lord hath made to be the wholesome medicine and the most perfect remedy is the union of all that dwell on the earth in one religion and under one law, and this cannot be brought about save through a skilful, perfect and inspired physician.”
In “Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era.”
“The reading of history brings us to the conclusion that all truly great men, the benefactors of the human race, those who have moved men to love the right and hate the wrong and who have caused real progress, all these have been inspired by the force of the Holy Spirit.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
THERE is no more convincing example in past history of the power of the Holy Spirit to regenerate and reform, and through its influence to transform an individual, and through him to quicken the hearts of countless hundreds as well as to change the very spiritual map of the world by promulgating the WORD of God, than that of Saul of Tarsus, afterwards known as St. Paul, he the persecutor of the Christian—the denier of Christ. Of him we read in the Bible, “Saul yet breathing out threatnings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
“And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus; and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven; And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul! Saul! why persecutest thou me?
“And he said—who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
“And he trembling and astonished said, Lord what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise! and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
“And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man.
“And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened he saw no man; but they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. (Acts: 9, 1-9.)
And again we read: “And straightway he preached Christ in the Synagogues, that He is the Son of God,”—and, “God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul so that from his body were brought unto the sick, handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”
So imbued was he with this dynamic power of the Holy Spirit proceeding from Christ that even his garments were permeated with its healing rays.
When ’Abdu’l-Bahá visited Chicago in 1912, he was invited by the Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones, pastor of Lincoln Center, to speak from his pulpit. This remarkable institution is an outpicturing of the Bahá’í ideals, worked out in this house of worship connected with social, educational and manual training lines. Lincoln Center is not only a temple of worship, but within its walls can be found a school of manual arts, a school of oratory, a printing and publishing company, a social center and a hospice. When this institution was first introduced to the public in general, there was much adverse criticism expressed. “A house of worship connected with material things,” was an abomination, and “sacrilegious in the extreme.” Lincoln Center, however, was but heralding the new day ideals of worship, which is by Bahá’u’lláh declared one with work, or labor. To worship God in our temple, then go forth and express our love in joyous work, this is the reality of true worship.
As Jenkin Lloyd Jones was President of the Chicago branch of the International Peace Society, ’Abdu’l-Bahá spoke on Universal Peace, and after the service was over Mr. Jones escorted ’Abdu’l-Bahá to his car, and just before entering it, “’Abdu’l-Bahá took this beloved apostle of peace and unity into his arms and kissed him first on one cheek, then on the other; and later he sent this message in a Tablet to the writer, “Convey my greetings to his honor the friendly minister Mr. Jones in whose church I spoke. Verily I still mention him and will never forget him.”
Not long after ’Abud’l-Bahá’s visit to his church, Jenkin Lloyd Jones preached a sermon" on “Paul the Planter,” which was taken down stenographically, and today returns to memory with renewed interest and beauty, in the light of our subject dealing with the influence of the Holy Spirit upon the lives of men and we share it with you in part. Mr. Jones said:
“I have come to the study of Paul this morning; the very majesty and immeasurableness of the subject humbles the speaker. . . .
“Paul was raised in the strictest of sects, at the feet of Gamaliel the great teacher. He arrives at manhood firm in the faith and zealous for it. Then crossed his path this New Movement, which disturbed his strong soul with apprehension. He was stirred with resentment at the audacity of a Movement that seemed to belittle the sanctities of his people, to discount the power of his inheritance. We find him holding the coat of those who threw stones at the first martyr of Christianity. Like the first blood in the meadow which maddens the bullocks, this first martyrdom aroused the fierce opposition of what heretofore was latent distrust, and this man Saul joined the persecuting hosts. He penetrated the homes, he brought the victims to court, and his zeal growing stronger on what it fed upon, asked a special commission to go to far-off Damascus to further oppress this heresy. On that long road of one hundred and fifty miles, across deserts and through benignant shades, up mountains and down meandering valleys-something happened—something profound, as often happens to profound souls. Victor Hugo has well said that ‘Paul’s road to Damascus is the road upon which all great souls pass, and not only all great souls, but great Movements and great Nations.’ That transforming experience—which transforms the persecutor into an apostle of the protecting hosts.
“Again touched with the greatness that alone belongs to truly great souls he retires. For three years or more he is in communion with his own mind and heart and nature. He is reorganizing his life on new lines, and when he appears for a few days in the already ancient and sacred city, he is furnished with his life’s program and equipped with his life’s message. He calls upon some of the disciples but does not seem to find much interest in them, and he does not seem to have made much impression upon them. He disappears again for eleven years and plies his trade in his home town of Tarsus.
“The struggle waxed hot in far away Antioch. A young Greek who feels the power of the New Message, but does not confess the binding power of the old traditions, goes over to Tarsus and asks this tent-maker to come over and help him preach to the new church in Antioch, to help it free itself from Jewish fetters, and he goes.
“Thus twenty-five years after the death of Jesus, this missionary began his prodigous work, the unparalleled campaigning that ended only with his life.
“It is safe to say the accredited- travels of Paul would amount to ten
thousand miles without steam cars, or steamboats, without automobiles and often without roads! Twice at least he traveled the whole coast of that formidable Asia Minor, still a difficult and dangerous route which only the most heroic dare undertake.
“Read his own epitome of his dangers and his trials; his floggings, his imprisonment, his stonings and ship-wrecks, and still all the way through was he the dauntless spirit that placed Christianity in history for all time.
"In 55 A. D. appears a lone little man, as he himself estimated, of halting speech, more gifted in writing than in speaking; afflicted with a ‘thorn in the flesh’ which has been variously guessed at by scholars. This insignificant, crippled, hunchbacked, bold-hearted little Jew, unarmed and unattended by but one or two faithful followers, takes ship, crosses the Aegean and lands in Macedonia, and as a result the map of the intellectual and spiritual world was re-formed. He changed the front of the civilized world. He brought the Message of Life to Europe. He conquered where Xerxes failed; he brought it in such a spirit and attitude that it was able to appropriate much of what was left of Greek culture and Greek art. He accomplished what Alexander failed to accomplish; he triumphed where Xenophone’s ten thousand failed ignominiously.
“What do we see in the life of Paul? First the story of a tireless toiler. Such diligence, such travel, such independence, crowded into only 30 years! A missionary career unparalleled in the history of the world. At every step of the way he was confronted by defeat; at every turn he met opposition. From Damascus to Rome he was under suspicion; distrusted by his friends, opposed by his kindred, disputed and misrepresented by his fellow Christians.
“Next we find in Paul a man of marvelous heart capacity. O! what a friend Paul was! How just, how tender, how loving! I love to dwell on this side of his character. Then again we see in his letters in a most impressive way that Paul was supremely in earnest. He may have been mistaken. I do not think I understand his theology; if I do, I do not accept it; but it was the high zeal, the unquestionable power of a man in earnest, which always triumphs in spite of error of intellect or mistakes of judgment, if there is back of these the sincerity of a soul aflame with conviction. The world responds to such a spirit.
“Paul stood, not as a type of the young Jew, but as a Citizen of the World. He at least had found a position wherein he could say of Greek and Jew, ‘you are all one to me.’
“In his gospel of brotherhood and love Paul was perhaps the first great cosmopolitan. One of the greatest contributions perhaps the world has ever received in an organized form is from the Pauline interpretation of Christianity, which is non-creedal, non-racial, and non-sectarian. To this day Christianity is fettered by limitations which the great Jew, Paul, broke for himself and strove to break for others.
“And still one thing more: I have said Paul was a tireless toiler, that he had the capacity for great love and friendship, that he was an earnest man, a Citizen of the World, and that he worked to meet the needs of the world as he understood them; still one thing more—Paul was a mystic. I mean by that, that he had a refined and super-sensitive soul, which is the unquestionable mark of all the great seers of history. He believed in the intangible, and was sensitized to things unseen. Words melted into symbols upon his tongue. His logic like a basket seemed to leak but his spirit remained. He measured life by eternity and not by time. So if we
go in search of the power of Paul we must climb out of the intellectual vision. The spirit of Paul, the heart of his Message, the inclusivenes of it, made stepping stones of his texts into the land where texts do not count. He climbed out of Judaism by the power of his love, and that which released him from the traditions of the temple, that which enabled him to make secondary matters of the rites and ceremonies of Israel, have enabled his true successors to rise up out of dogma, that would make of heaven a small place for selfish souls, and of hell a wide place for the stumbling children of God.
“So the dogmatists, however, sustained by the pious theological texts of the Book of Romans—have been consumed by the love of Paul for his brother-man, they have been defeated and discounted by his magnificent spirit, that while careworn, sick, weary, and oppressed, still enabled him to remember tenderly, Phoebe, Persis and Priscilla and the other sisters and fellow men who shared his prison cell. O! the story of Paul’s humanity and love, is the conquering thing in this world!
“Kaiser, King and Czar who are lifting up their hands to the One Eternal Father, begging for His benediction, may find justification in the first chapter of Romans, may find justification in the theology of the Christian church, but they are rebuked and laid low and disarmed by the 13th Chapter of Corinthians, that immortal hymn of Love which alongside the Beatitudes represents the high water mark in New Testament literature, conquering and quickening the spirit, and satisfying the hunger of the human heart.
“Nations must needs travel the Damascus road, as well as individuals, and in the solemn hushes of the starlit night, under the light of a midnight moon and desert sands, read their true mission, and repent on bended knees before unborn generations; confess in humility their mistakes and like Paul dedicate themselves to the Gospel of Love.
“He who trusts the destroying of nations to battleships and bayonets is in league with Xerxes, Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon, and they are all relegated to the junk heap of history. Isaiah, Socrates, Buddha, Zoroaster, Confucius and Jesus, and all the Light-Bringers of Truth to the world, and their spiritual disciples who in all times and ages have sung the Song of Love and climbed out of national and religious prejudice, into world sympathy—these are the beloved of men, and these are the blessed of God.”
This soul inspiring account of the life of Paul, dominated by the Power of the Holy Spirit, becomes more beautiful in the light of the following words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá:
“The Holy Spirit is the Bounty of God and the luminous rays which emanate from the Manifestations; for the focus of the Rays of the Sun of Reality was Christ and from this glorious focus, which is the Reality of Christ, the Bounty of God, reflected upon the mirrors which were the Reality of the Apostles. The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles signifies that the glorious Divine Bounties reflected and appeared in their Reality.”
“That which raised these great ones above men and by which they were able to become teachers of the truth was the power of the Holy Spirit. Their influence on humanity, by Virtue of this mighty inspiration, was great and penetrating.
“The greatest philosophers without this Spirit are powerless, their souls are lifeless, their hearts dead! Unless the Holy Spirit breathes into their souls, they can do no great work. No system of philosophy has
ever been able to change the manners and customs of a people for the better.
“An humble man, without learning, but filled with the Holy Spirit, is more powerful than the most nobly born profound scholar without that inspiration. He who is educated by the Divine Spirit, can in his time lead others to receive the same Spirit.
“May you be given Life! May the rain of the Divine Mercy and the warmth of the Sun of Truth make your gardens fruitful so that many beautiful flowers of exquisite fragrance and love may blossom in abundance. Turn your faces away from the contemplation of your own finite selves and fix your eyes upon the Everlasting Radiance; then will your souls receive in full measure the Divine Power of the spirit and the blessings of the Infinite Bounty.
“If you keep yourselves in readiness, you will become to the world of humanity a burning Flame, a Star of Guidance, and a fruitful tree, changing all its darkness and woe into light and joy by the shining of the Sun of Mercy and the Infinite Blessings of the Glad-Tidings.
This is the meaning of the power of the Holy Spirit which I pray may be bountifully showered upon you.”
- O Thou Invisible Essence of the universe,
- Whence sprang adown the ages glorious orbs
- To illume the abysmal darkness of mankind
- And manifest on earth the self of God—
- What hast Thou now bestowed to clear the mists
- That still o’erhang the consciousness of soul
- And hide from it the vision of the Infinite?
- Out of the East, as ever, comes the dawn
- Of a new day. Again the wondrous light
- Shines from the horizon of Thy boundlessness,
- Only this day in such effulgent power
- As ne’er before.
- There leaps into the sky
- A sun which to the eyes of groping man
- Reveals a vista to that perfect day,
- Nor yet a distant day, when all the earth
- Bathed in its beauty shall be purified
- And all Thy creatures realize their oneness
- With all their kind and Thee.
- Bahá’u’lláh!
- God’s Glory! True Revealer of the sign!
- For by Thy potent Word, from God the Infinite,
- The seals have fallen from the hidden mysteries
- And man stands face to face with Truth and God.
The following is an address by Mr. Gregory, Baha’i lecturer and teacher, given at the Public Session of the Eighteenth Annual Convention of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada held at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, May 2, 1926.
“Any kind of prejudice is destructive to the body-politic. Make peace with all the world. Love everybody; serve everybody. All are the servants of God. God has created all. He provideth for all. He is kind to all. Therefore must we be kind to all.
Those of us here who have reached a sufficiently mature age to look back to a childhod spent in homes that had not the advantage of modern improvements will recall, I am sure, what a terrible experience it was, as a child, to be compelled to go into the basement, or up into one’s bedroom, alone by candle-light. To a little child there is nothing so real as those shadows that dance before and behind as we walk through the great dark lonely house.
So, it is also in the childhood of humanity, that we walk by the light of inadequate spiritual principles, that which is most real to us are the shadows cast by our own ignorance. One of the darkest shadows that has been cast across the mind of man, a shadow most prolific of hatred and of fear, is the shadow of racial prejudice. And just as in the modern home the electric light has made it impossible for the child of today to feel that gloomy experience of fear, so it is that there is in the conscience of the East and the West, in this age, an illumination which is making it impossible for us collectively to accept any longer the conditions that led to racial prejudices. But, this spiritual light becomes visible usually to you and to me only to the degree that it is reflected to us through some faithful mind, through some self-sacrificing heart. We must needs see it personified by a worker for a universal cause to realize that there is indeed a dawning in the world of mind.
It is such a one that I have the honor and the privilege to present to you as our next speaker, a worker in the path of abolishing racial, religious and other prejudices.
THERE is in man a dual nature, and the history of humanity is the struggle of those two elements in his nature for the mastery. There is that which inclines him downward, which degrades his nature, which makes him inferior to the animal world about him.
When we compare man, upon that plane, with other animals we find him very often lacking in some of the qualifications that make the animal dominant. He may have a keen penetrating eye, but he cannot emulate the eye of the eagle; he may have a very powerful voice, but he cannot fill the entire forest with his roar like the lion; he may eat over-much, but no matter how much he may improve his appetite he will never have a huge bulk like an elephant; he may run very rapidly, but he is out-distanced by the deer and the antelope. The boys of my day, and perhaps the girls of this day, engaged in the pastime of jumping. It was considered a
fairly good jump, years ago, if a boy could jump the length of his body, but the little grasshopper can jump twenty or thirty times the length of his body and is as modest about the accomplishment as the boy would be. There is a tiny insect that surpasses this record, so I am told.
Now, in all of these characteristics, the animals surpass us, and man cannot prove his existence, his reality as man, as long as he stands upon the lower plane. A man must, therefore, ascend into the higher planes of his being. He must reach the plane of intelligence, the plane of science, the plane of true knowledge, the plane of spirituality, the plane of God. In all of these higher planes, the limitations, the darkness, the ignorance of the lower planes disappear, and you find essential unity and great happiness for all who reach the rarified plane or atmosphere of the spirit.
The world is very much disturbed today. We have had the tragedy of the greatest war in human annals and, as if humanity had not suffered sufficiently, we are feverishly engaged in preparation for a new war. Death-dealing agencies of destruction have increased in value; more men are under arms than at the outbreak of the war in 1914; great treasures are being placed in war-like preparation and, what is most distressing of all is that the hatreds of the world are being increased in three principle ways. The first of these is through racial bias or prejudice.
There is in this world room enough for everyone. The world is big enough to contain all of its people. There is enough earth, enough light, enough sunshine that all may have a place. We may think that removing these prejudices, abandoning these prejudices, would endanger our own existence, but it never has happened in the history of the world that anyone has grown less in stature by having less of hatred for his fellow-beings. The only way to increase one’s happiness, one’s sense of enjoyment of real power is to increase one’s love for one’s fellow-beings. We are not menaced by the removal of all hatred and prejudice, but we are blessed—our station is elevated. “The station of man,” says Bahá’u’lláh, “is great if he holds to reality and faith, and if he be stayed by it, unto that command, the traces of such a man becomes the educators of the entire world of existence.” Great indeed is the station for man today, if he realizes the purpose of his being.
We must not think that it is necessary to hate people because, in outward appearance, they differ from ourselves. There is a purpose running through the existence of the world, of all the universe, of all of its peoples. We find no duplicates in all creation. The leaves on the tree are all different; even twins, at birth, show a difference of temperament. The divine plan of creation was endless diversity. There is a kind of difference in the world that causes strife, but that was not the divine purpose. The divine purpose in the endless forms which make up creation was to adorn all these kingdoms with a diversity of creation and we find that diversity in the kingdom of man with the adornment for the beautifying of the human race; so when we quarrel about the outward appearance of our bodies we really are degrading our finer instincts; we are tending downward; we are allowing ourselves to be captives of nature, slaves of our animal propensities.
Diversity makes for harmony, for beauty, for adornment of the human kingdom, and we should all have consideration for those who are unlike us because when we leave this world, which is only a temporary station, we do not take our bodies along with us. Our bodies are only a garment that we wear. “Very homely and very
striking,” was the advice which a European King gave to a body of his troops who were passing through, destined to a distant island possession, where the people were different in color from those of the King and his army. He said to them, “As you go among my subjects across the sea there is one lesson I wish to impress upon you. It is that they are our brothers. If we have any advantage over those people it is not because of how we look, but because of what we know. When they know what we know it is entirely possible that they will do more with it than we have done. If you are wise you will go among them and teach them and if you insult them, because of their color, you insult me, your king.” That was a vision of reality.
For all races have the same potentialities: there are differences of degree, differences of opportunities for acquiring culture, but it is yet to be proven, from any scientific angle, that any race or tribe of the world has accomplished something that is impossible to others. So, let us throw the prejudices of race into the discard for the sake and elevation and happiness and progress of all the world.
The next cause of conflict in the world is national differences. I remember, some years ago, I passed across the boundary line which separated Germany from France—this was before the great war—and I was amazed, after all the years in which I had read history, to find that no boundary line existed, except in the imagination of man. There was no line to separate one country from the other. When we crossed the boundary line, which was purely imaginary, the soil was just as productive on one side as the other; the air was just as salubrious; and water they had to drink was just as pure; the skies were just as bright; the sun shone just as brilliantly in one country as in the other and in every way God showed that he loved both nations. The divine power, the divine might smiled upon both of them, but they frowned upon each other, and you see what terrible consequences have ensued, due to that hostile attitude which they had toward each other.
In this day an understanding of the Oneness of Mankind is of primary importance. ’Abdu’l-Bahá said, “It is all right to love your own country, but love it as a part of one big whole and do not let that love betray you into a hatred of any other nation because we are all the citizens of one nation, the leaves of one tree, the fruits of one branch.” “The ocean has many waves,” says Bahá’u’lláh, “but it is still one great sea.”
The most unreasonable of all causes of differences in the world is religious prejudice. When we find, upon examination, that the foundation of every religion is love—love of God and love of man—how childish do these prejudices which rest upon no other basis than superstition, seem to be. We must put our principles, our ideals into practice in order to bring about a transformation of the world, and it is possible for man to do this today. The moment he makes an effort along this line he finds the Mysterious Force which has produced the civilizations of the world, the happiness and succor for all mankind.
There is a story repeated by Aesop, the original Aesop—said to have been an Ethiopian slave—of a gnat that once addressed a question to a lion. The question was whether they should be friends or enemies. The king of beasts replied, very heartily, “Get away, you silly little insect, what possible difference does it make whether we are friends or foes?”—at the same time giving him a kick with his foot. Whereupon the gnat flew into the nostrils of his majesty, the lion, and began to sing to the best
of his ability and the lion made frantic efforts to dislodge the gnat and filled the forest with roars. It may be that you are big and important and that I am unimportant and small, but continually instances are happening in the world which demonstrate to us our mutual dependence upon each other.
Just a few months ago I was in far away Florida. I was invited to join a group of workers going out to visit the country school. We had to pass along an unfrequented road, a distance of about eighteen miles. We had a Ford car which carried the party of four or five people. After we were well started on our journey it began to rain, which made the already difficult road extremely difficult, but we continued on our way and finally reached our goal. It continued to rain all the time. We served the children as best we could and started on our way back. After we had gone two-thirds of the distance we got stuck in the mire. There were two men and two women in the party, and a small boy, and the entire party went to work and for an hour and a half, in the rain, we toiled and struggled to dislodge that machine. Our efforts were entirely fruitless.
By-and-by we heard a noise in the distance, which grew greater and greater, and finally there came into sight an automobile truck driven by two white working men. Not knowing what would happen, we called upon them for assistance. I may say, parenthetically, that the working men of the world, whether black or white, have a community interest, and although not having always seen that interest borne out in human experience, we called on them for assistance, not knowing what would happen—but gallantly they responded. They came to our aid and the four men, two white and two black, made a tremendous effort, but we were still unsuccessful. They were bidding us good-bye, expressing their regrets that they could not help us out of this dilemma, when they were prevailed upon to make another effort and this time the ladies and the small boy joined us, so the entire party, composed of youth and age, black and white, men and women, all made an effort and this time we were victorious. The automobile was dislodged and we went back a distance to a haven of safety much relieved by the removal of this embarrassing situation.
We shook hands, across the color line, and our friends bade us good-bye. This white boy, who was the chauffeur and who called the Ford an automobile by courtesy, discovered something wrong with the machine and took about fifteen or twenty minutes to adjust it. We started once more on our way. The most interesting part of the story is this, it seems to me: We had not gone a distance of more than what would be covered by two or three of your city blocks before we came upon our two white friends and this time they were stuck in the mire. We were very happy, not because they were in difficulties of course, but because we had the opportunity to return their kindness.
So among all the different races and groups and classes of people in the world, the ideal of today is cooperation, mutuality, service. If one wants to distinguish himself let him become distinguished as a servant of humanity. Let him stand upon this exalted principle of the oneness of God and the oneness of the entire human race. Whoever stands upon this exalted principle will never be shaken by the shifting sands of time; whoever stands upon this exalted principle, like the lever of Archimedes, will move the world.
Mr. Holley, Chairman: A most significant story has come down to us from ancient times. It seems there
was a mighty king, King Atman, who had four sons and because these sons knew they were the heirs of his power they made no effort to perfect themselves in the arts of statescraft. They made no effort to be worthy of the responsibility of taking over the authority of his throne, and, therefore, as the king grew to his old age, through fear of the future, not only of his sons, but of his subjects, he called them to his room and said to them that he could not leave the authority divided among four unworthy men even though they were his own sons. He said to them that they must go forth into the world and that the one who returned most worthy would receive the sceptre at his death. Rudely awakened from this life of pleasure and of ease these princes went forth, one to the East, one to the West, one to the North and one to the South. And, because in them dormantly there was the quality of their sire, after a struggle each one became a leader among the people where he lived. Later when each one had become the king of a province, they bethought themselves of their father’s promise and they returned, each attended by a great retinue and an army, to prove to their father that each had achieved success. But, inasmuch as this experience had come to them in the four corners of the world, it was by coincidence that they arrived with their armies on the great plain outside the father’s palace on the morning of the same day. He who came from the North carried the standard of the bear; he who came from the South carried the standard of the palm; he who came from the East carried the standard of the lotus; he of the West, carried the standard of the oak. As they descended into the plain, looking at these other armies advancing toward the king’s palace, each brother thought that an enemy had arrived to attack Atman, the King, and so they led their armies into battle and the four brothers-because of their courage and leadership—were in the forefront of the battle and toward evening one became mortally wounded and fell dying to the ground and as his life’s blood ebbed away he cried, “Alas, I can no longer protect my father, Atman, the King.” On hearing this the other brothers realized what had been done and then recognizing their kinship, through their father, in tears they took the brother’s body and entered their father’s palace.
It seems to me that we are all like those four brothers and that in this age, struggling as We are economically, politically, mentally, struggling in every way, we are but attempting to defend that which in reality belongs to us all, but we canot recognize this mutuality until one has uttered the name of God, the Father of us all.
Human brotherhood rests upon the creative basis—the revealed Word of God, the Father, and not upon the idealism even of the most liberal mind.
DO NOT allow difference of opinion or diversity of thought to separate you from your fellowmen, or to be the cause of dispute, hatred and war in the hearts of your enemies. Rather, search diligently for the Truth and make all men your friends.
Bahá’u’lláh has drawn the circle of unity, he has made a design for the uniting of all the peoples, and for the gathering of them all under the shelter of the Tent of Universal Unity. This is the work of the Divine Bounty, and we must all strive with heart and soul until we have the Reality of Unity in our midst. . . .
ON SUNDAY, July 4th, 1926, the friends of Green Acre gathered in a simple ceremony to open the annual Green Acre Conferences founded by Miss Sarah J. Farmer in Eliot, Maine, thirty-two years ago. During this time, the little tract of land set apart in trust by Miss Farmer has witnessed one of the most significant expressions of practical idealism ever taking place in this country.
Viewed in the perspective of thirty-two years—that wonderful era of world thought and progress, deepened by world suffering, inaugurated by the Columbian Exposition in Chicago—the spiritual legacy left by Miss Farmer in Green Acre represents a truly astonishing achievement. To this woman of pure New England stock must be credited the glory of founding the first universal platform in America. To Green Acre have come representatives of every race, nation and religion, to mingle in fellowship and contribute each his best to a common end. The roll of speakers who have taken part in the Green Acre Conferences represents well nigh the flower of modern liberal thought.
“Green Acre,” Miss Farmer declared some years before her death, “was established for the purpose of bringing together all who were looking earnestly toward the New Day which seemed to be breaking over the entire world. The motive was to find the Truth, the Reality, underlying all religious forms, and to make points of contact in order to promote the unity necessary for the ushering in of the coming Day of God.”
Only the older generation can appreciate the courage and magnanimity of this woman at their true value. The note of human solidarity and interdependence has penetrated life at many points during the past twenty years, but Miss Farmer arose as a consecrated pioneer to make a definite and practical application of ideals hitherto existing only in the minds of philosophers and the lives of saints.
Too frequently, students of that marvelous period of aspiring consciousness known as the “Transcendental Movement,” and associated with the greatness of Emerson, Thoreau and their fellows, have traced the continuity of the movement down the many dividing, tenuous streams of so-called “New Thought.” This is a fundamental mistake. Great thoughts do not reach fulfillment in a multiplicity of little thoughts—their fruit is in permanently ennobled customs and institutions of daily life.
The significance of Miss Farmer in the history of American progress is that she stands as the actual fulfiller of Emerson in terms of applied influence. Miss Farmer can be considered as the feminine counterpart of Emerson, for she possessed his idealism to the full, but her nature was executive, practical and intensely human, desiring tangible results above abstract formulas and definitions.
Green Acre consequently arose as the effort to live out and apply the great American vision of truth, justice and righteousness, and throughout more than thirty years of struggle, Green Acre has never lost sight of that essential purpose.
Physically, Green Acre is a tract of some two hundred acres, situated along the banks of the Piscataqua river in Eliot, Maine, only four miles up from the sea, and opposite the historic city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On this tract, and also round about the countryside, are magnificent pine groves, the combination of river, sea, pines and sunswept rolling farm lands making an environment of unsurpassed charm and healthfulness.
The buildings already erected at Green Acre include the Inn, Fellowship House, Arts and Crafts Studio, Little Theatre, Persian Gift Shop, Rest House and Health Center, Tea House, cottages, tennis court, swimming beach, sites for camping parties. All this property is administered by a non-profit sharing association incorporated, as the Green Acre Fellowship, now under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No restrictions exist to limit the membership in this body beyond basic considerations of character and suitability.
The present year brings the thirty-second season of the famous Green Acre Conferences, which have resolutely stressed the independent investigation of reality in all the fundamental issues of human life. Such subjects as Comparative Religion, Religion and Science, The Unity of Mankind, and The Significance of the New Era, have been presented by leaders whose names are known throughout the world. It was typical of Miss Farmer’s large purposes, and also of her capacity to dramatise the ideal in the concrete, that the original ceremony opening Green Acre on July 4, 1894, culminated in raising a flag of World Peace.
Among those who have been associated with the development of Green Acre Conferences are: John Greenleaf Whittier, Edward Everett Hale, Edwin H. Markham, Ralph Waldo Trine, Helen Campbell, William Dean Howells, William Lloyd Garrison, John Fiske, Lester A. Ward, Paul Carus, Booker T. Washington, Edward Martin, Mirza Abu’l-Fadl, Ali-Kuli Khan, Edwin Ginn, Myron H. Phelps, Thornton Chase, Edwin D. Mead, C. H. A. Bjerregaard, Jacob Riis, Horatio Dresser, Joseph Jefferson, Anagarika H. Dharmapala, P. Ramanathan and Rabbi Silverman.
The audiences attending these Conferences have more than once had the distinction of hearing, in the form of an intimate address, some theme later to become famous as a public lecture or chapter in a book. For more than a decade, it was at Green Acre that Oriental philosophy and religion found their most hospitable open door into the consciousness of the Far West.
A development in the methods necessary for attaining the ideal of Green Acre could be noted from year to year under Miss Farmer’s guidance, withdrawn forever shortly before the war. This development was away from days filled entirely with lectures and addresses (more than once the program included over fifteen lectures a day) to a more well balanced program. The “war period” permanently altered the character of these Conferences by abruptly emphasizing reality as the criterion of truth as well as of usefulness. At present the expressed purpose of the Conference program committee is to concentrate on fewer speakers, but give each one an adequate opportunity to develop his subject and leave permanent influences behind. As far as possible, lecturers are invited this year to spend a week at Green Acre, their public address being the feature of the Sunday afternoon program,
other days devoted to informal conferences for the purpose of rounding out the richness of life at Green Acre.
In addition to this public program, maintained by the contributions of members and friends, Green Acre is now developing other features and activities scarcely less important as factors in what will one day be an all-year community of active workers whose efforts are focussed entirely upon humanitarian ends.
One of these features is a modest but very hopeful beginning upon the realization of Miss Farmer’s vision of a spiritual university—an institution where young men and women could be prepared for lives of true service dedicated to the principle of the oneness of mankind. Last year two trained teachers and field workers, Reverend Albert Vail, formerly a Unitarian minister, and Mr. Louis Gregory, long devoted to the task of creating amity between whites and negroes, established daily classes in Comparative Religion and also extemporaneous public speaking, and on this basis will be gathered together this year an informal faculty to assist those interested in universal fields.
The new Arts and Crafts Studio brings to Green Acre the first of what is hoped will be the many accessory activities required to restore the wholeness of life and create a true community, in distinction to a mere unregulated and unpurposeful “living together” as found in the ordinary Village and town.
For a nominal fee, anyone can secure training in one or more of many arts and crafts available under the direction of Mrs. Bernice Hayes, who has passed the difficult Government examinations in vocational therapy. This training equips one to make useful and beautiful objects for the home or person, and above all has an invaluable direct influence upon one’s general health and efficiency. Manual work, really enjoyed, is to the inner life as leaves to the tree.
New also is the Rest House and Health Center, where under favorable conditions wrong dietary and living habits can be corrected and the body re-educated to normal activity. Within a short time—probably within a year—the Rest House will have grouped near it a number of simple, one-room bungalows ideal for convalescence and dietary, fresh air and sunlight treatment.
The season of 1925 was made exceptionally interesting by the activities of the young people in connection with the Little Theatre, a phase of Green Acre life which will be extended this year unless the directors decide to install a moving picture outfit to meet the request of many visitors and guests.
An essential part of Miss Farmer’s original plan was the development of industries capable of providing a permanent economic foundation for Green Acre and its active workers. This and the agricultural activity to be correlated with it still await the coming of volunteer executives equipped to translate this vision into actual reality.
Those who would compare Green Acre with any foundation which began from the material end—that is, with adequate equipment for public lectures, private instruction or even entertainment and general recreation—are unaware of its true spirit. Green Acre began with a vision rather than with a purse. Its appeal has been greatest to those who appreciate the rare opportunity of participating in a living, growing center rather than in a formally institutionalized regime. The material equipment necessary for Miss Farmer’s objectives is being slowly but surely provided,
--PHOTO--
Green Acre Arts and Crafts Shop—one of the important addition to Green Acre awaiting the visitor and guest this year. Here instruction is given in many branches of handicraft under capable direction.
--PHOTO--
Health Center and Rest House where correct diet, sunlight, abundant fresh air and a spiritual atmosphere combine to reeducate fatigued bodies to new health and vigor.
--PHOTO--
Rogers Cottage, Eliot, Maine, opposite entrance to Green Acre. Here ’Abdu’l-Baha gave a Feast to all the residents of Eliot during His visit in August, 1912. This home has also been the first Office of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the United States and Canada.
--PHOTO--
Golden Cook Tea House at entrance to Green Acre offers true hospitality and refreshment to the passerby. The rooms occupied by the Gift Shop are devoted this year to a notable collection of modern and ancient Persian objects from the Persian Art Center founded by Ali-Kuli Khan, N. D., in New York City. A complete Baha'i library is also maintained at this center.
but Green Acre is still inspiringly fluid and informal, responding to every sympathetic and creative thought.
Green Acre, in fact, came into being at just about the time when American life began to create impressive “foundations” in the fields of education, art and science corresponding to the earlier bequests and gifts to churches. These great financial foundations have accomplished invaluable good. None of them, however, occupies the particular niche filled by Green Acre, whose supreme function is not to give opportunities to the exceptionally trained specialist, but to manifest the reality of world unity. Green Acre’s difficulty never has been the raising of funds, but the finding of people capable of remaining true to this vision.
Thus it was inevitable that Green Acre should, for a time at least, lose much of that brilliance characterizing its conferences during the earlier years, for this brilliance reflected the facets of individualism brought into the intense light of a world ideal. As the fruit slowly matures after the passing of the flower, so Green Acre has been learning how to discipline and unify its own workers rather than to attract the few leaders who tarry but for the passing day. More powerful than any financial budget is that foundation consisting of men and women rid at last of secret ambition, false pride and useless sensibilities. When this unity is thoroughly established, brilliance—so often the flickering torch–becomes illumination–the steady glow of dawn.
It is in the roll of Green Acre Fellowship, listing many friends and workers associated with Miss Farmer's purposes for twenty, even twenty-five or thirty years, that Green Acre’s treasure and wealth must be sought, for their faithfulness has created the only condition wherein can be realized the logical conclusion of these Conferences: “a universal platform for all mankind, irrespective of race, religion or nationality. . . . that the influence of the confederation of religions and sects may permeate to all parts of the world from Green Acre, and Green Acre for future ages and cycles may become the standard bearer of the oneness of humanity.”
In 1896, two years after the opening of Green Acre, Miss Farmer found her objects and ideals expressed in their purest, most vital form in the Bahá’í Faith. Perceiving that the entire modern liberal movement of the West was but the direct reflection of the Light which dawned in Persia in 1844, and that the heroic lives of the Bahá’í martyrs had established an unshakable basis for every liberal and universal cause, Miss Farmer journeyed to Aqá, the prison colony on Mount Carmel, and offered her services to ’Abdu’l-Bahá. This action brought about no fundamental alterations in the policy or purposes of Green Acre, but related Green Acre to the modern world movement at its spiritual source.
In July, 1925, at the invitation of the Green Acre Fellowship and Trustees, the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada gathered here in their Seventeenth Annual Convention and Congress, and this occasion signalized the visible fulfilment of Miss Farmer’s pilgrimage to Aqá so many years ago. An international touch was given the event by the presence of honorary Bahá’í delegates from France and Persia, and the receipt of messages of fellowship from the Bahá’ís of England, Germany, Caucasus, Egypt, Iraq, South America, India and Burma, and Australia and New Zealand.
By this connection Green Acre loses nothing of its local flavor, its
distinctive tradition or its special character. On the contrary, Green Acre gains the immense advantage of association in a worldwide movement consecrated to the same purpose, and will increasingly profit by the direct interest and loyalty of trained workers living in all parts of the world. Its methods become far more susceptible of improvement, and its ideals are forever raised above the destructive influence of personal opinion or the clash of partisan interests.
Briefly stated, the ideal of Green Acre is to afford a platform for the discussion of fundamental subjects from the point of view of reality—that is, as they affect mankind and not merely one limited group. This universal platform is to be founded on the firm basis of a community of loyal, unified and active workers, some resident at Green Acre the year round, others spending only their summers there; people of different sect, race and class, and of different character and training, but agreeing in their mutual desire to serve one aim and participate in one all-inclusive purpose. As time goes on, the underlying harmony of Green Acre will be evidenced by more and more accessory institutions, each expressing some one phase of physical, mental or soul life. At Green Acre there must be fulness of life and richness of human comradeship—a community whose motive is service, not wealth, but at the same time consciously rejecting all those artificial schemes which promise to solve life’s material problems without relying upon self-sacrifice and spiritual love.
In New England, and throughout the United States, there are today untold thousands of people who know that they are capable of responding to finer enthusiasms and higher motives than touch them in their daily lives. The motive of mere material wealth leaves them cold; they find no true distraction in physical games, no true inspiration in abstract art and science, no profit in the clash of religious doctrines.
Green Acre exists entirely to serve these as yet unawakened souls of the new day. Green Acre will serve them first of all by using their capacities at their best, kindled by the vision of what remains to be done in the spot blessed by Miss Farmer’s life and work. Green Acre will draw them out of themselves, teach them the laws and principles of unity and reveal hidden sources of conviction and joy. For a day, for a week, for a season, for a lifetime, Green Acre needs workers—but Green Acre will give more than she takes.
The annual meeting of Green Acre Fellowship falls on the second Monday of August, and it is at this time that the largest number of Green Acre workers are gathered together. In connection with the 1926 annual meeting, on August 9th, plans are under way to hold a two-day World Unity Conference, and this conference will be the principal feature of the Green Acre program this year.*
The World Unity Conference will take place on Saturday, August 7th, and Sunday, August 8th, with a program including essential subjects related to peace, unity and fellowship between the nations, races, religions and classes of mankind. The details of this Conference are in the hands of the committee on World Unity Conferences recently appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly of the American Bahá’ís, and the meetings at Green Acre will be the first of similar World Unity Conferences to be held under the auspices of that body in various cities throughout the year.
*(Details of this and other Green Acre activities may be obtained by addressing Program Committee, Green Acre, Eliot, Maine.)
An address delivered before the Pasadena Browning Society on the occasion of the annual celebration of the birth of Robert Browning, May 7th, 1926.—(From notes by Miss Lilian Rea of Pasadena.)
EMPHASIZING the birthday spirit, Mr. Vail began his address by quoting the opening sentences from “Rabbi Ben Ezra,” which, he said, a Professor of Harvard had called the most magnificent poem of the 19th century.
- “Grow old along with me!
- The best is yet to be,
- The last of life for which the first
- was made:
- Our times are in his hand
- Who saith: “A whole I planned,
- Youth shows but half; trust God:
- see all, nor be afraid.”
“This,” said Mr. Vail, “carries a note of Browning’s own life—his everlasting youth: he can never grow old, and his immortal words represent ideas that are now growing marvelously in European thought. What a magnificent didactic poet he was to be able to look ahead and believe that the best is yet to be! He was also one of the most conservative of poets because he conserved what was best; one of the most liberal minds of the 19th century, he yet wanted everyone to believe in Christ. Some of the most magnificent interpretations of the history of Christ in modern literature are to be found in his poem of Saul, “See the Christ stand!” This is the essence of the revelation of Christ: our Lord, the Christ.
Browning was both Fundamentalist and Modernist, because he held to the essentials of religion, and yet was modern in a degree not paralleled—so daring in his verse, so democratic even at twenty-two that he could write a poem that inspires youth today, Paracelsus: in other words, Browning is the rare product of that which makes our cycle so beautiful and promising. He considers all that is good, and tells us the best is yet to be. What would Browning say if he were here today? How would his “best” look now?
The verse on the program is one of the most beautiful subjects possible:
- “—learn and love
- Each facet flash of the revolving year
- Red, green and blue that whirl into a
- white
- The variance now, the eventual
- unity.”
It is so prophetic and magnificent that we ask: what does Browning mean, and what does it mean to us today? The following story is descriptive of our present-day position:
Three men were sailing in a boat: A Christian—not a very good Christian; a Muhammadan—not a very good Muhammadan; a Jew—just an ordinary Jew. A storm came up over the waters and the Christian and Muhammadan fell on their knees to pray. The Muhammadan said, “Oh Allah, drown the Christian.” The Christian said, “O Lord, sink this Muhammadan in the depths of the water.” The Muhammadan turned to the Jew and asked him why he did not pray. The Jew said, “I was praying that both your prayers might be answered.”
Now that is the international situation, and that also is the international religious situation—the variance now. But everybody knows that if it had not been for the Jews our world would have been a different world. They produced everything that made life rich and splendid from
early times to the dispersion—a marvelous race. They have been called one of the most amazing contributors to history through three thousand and more years of spiritual, educational and intellectual culture. The glory and the splendor of Christ and his apostles would not have been possible without them. They inspired the growth of Christian Roman civilization—the building of the cathedral, the great statues of art.
Even the Moslem made his contributions to history, art and science. He studied and made discoveries in astronomy, chemistry and medicine, not to be duplicated in two hundred years. There are those who say that every modern science was made in Moslem Universities. Out of the Moslem has come the most beautiful architecture. A nun in Saxony said that all the whiteness in the world was centered in the Moslem mosques of Cordova and Toledo in Spain, while Renan considered the Taj Mahal one of the most exquisite examples of architecture in the whole world. Persian proficiency in the arts and sciences is also well known—in fact, all are beautiful, and we see that each one of these great religions is like the green and red and blue that whirl into white–the variance being the transition stage, moving toward the sublime unity. We will then love each facet flash of the revolving year—much more divine and golden if it shine through Moses, through Buddha, through Christ. Started by these great Messengers of God, the light continues through the Camel-Driver, and flows on and on until it reaches our own day.
The new attitude is to see the good and not the bad, because when we go out among people, we want them to see the good in us. If they saw the bad, we could not work among them. We want to cover up our sins, and let them behold only our virtues. We hold up our heads because we think other people think we are all right. This is evidently the way to practice the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as ye would they should do unto you.” Looking for, and loving that which is beautiful everywhere.
The Germans and French are different again; but each has made his contribution. The French are the most wonderful artists, whether they direct our dress, our fashions, or our taste in modern arts. As for the Germans, the Reformation was made in Germany; the German text books are the best in the world. Then, we love the English because they are calm and conservative, reliable, dependable and straight-thinking.
The Japanese artist connects our groups, but Japanese, Chinese and Hindu all exhibit great artistic power. The arts immediately Japanese are those of decoration, embroidery, color engraving, lacquers, sculpture and carving. China has its contribution and the western world takes it up. She has brought much into our modern science. She can teach both Moslem and Jew. The Arabs and the Hindus invented numerals and made modern mathematical science possible. This is the way the world is advanced. This is the way of the new conditions–they are all from one source. Eventual unity is coming when we teach our children, not that everything good is coming out of one country, but that every country makes its own contribution to the beauty of the world. See the good and not the bad. Though they look like red, green and blue, they are all united and will eventually become one. This is the new attitude, this will bring eventual unity.
The new attitude of appreciation will bring the great and universal love, and will transform all into unity: “All instincts immature, all purposes unsure.” All that is right in
man. It brings man out into a magnificent destiny where, warring not for ourselves, but for all humanity, we reach eventual unity. Nothing can go amiss, go astray: though eye hath not seen, nor ear heard.
Variety brings beauty. Go a step further and variety still brings more beauty to the world. Every gardener knows that no gardener uses white only. The divine artist puts some red children (Indians) into his garden, then he brings in some yellow children, then some brown children, and perhaps he likes blondes—he likes all flowers in the garden of humanity, or why did the Lord of the world create the others? Why did He create four hundred million yellow, three hundred million brown? Why did He create these very black children? Because He loved them.
A little black boy saw some white boys playing. He thought he would try to talk to them, so he went over to the group. They said: “Stay away from here.” He said, “But I was over in a Bahá'í school and there they believe that God is Father of all, that He has all kinds of flowers in His garden. He made red flowers, and blue flowers, and white ones. Why do you not love each other as God loves us all?” The other boys replied: “Pretty good–you can go through.” Not black, but a flower of humanity.
This is the power that should emancipate the world. This new thought will make war impossible, and through real education the world will become like Browning’s red, green and blue that whirl into a white. Browning was the great forerunner of this new attitude. He saw all that is good in the past, and opened out the truth of the future, teaching us to see unity in our own lives by valuing discipline:
- “Then welcome each rebuff
- That turns earth’s smoothness rough
- Each sting that bids nor sit nor
- stand, but go!”
In poetry or modern verse who sees these things so magnificently as Browning? This is the way that we climb and ascend and go. All the clash and bewilderment may be seen as simply the roughness preparing the world for the eventual unity.
We had the great blessing of going to Palestine, and there we saw that this principle was being put into practice on earth in the town of Aqá. We came into a house at the foot of Mount Carmel, and looking around us thought: “Well, this is the strangest gathering we ever saw!” Christian, Jew, Muhammadan, Persian, a learned Doctor, the Dean of a Medical College; an officer from a steamship; a Doctor from England—a conservative; a fiery Kurd in whom flowed the energy of a fanatic–a great modern teacher of eventual unity! Here not one gloomy face, all these different elements joined into one, and the affiliation was made with laughter and gladness! Each saw the light of God in his neighbor’s heart and looked forward to the eventual oneness of his neighbor’s life, to the coming of peace and brotherhood—the “event toward which we move.” This is the new attitude of a mutual appreciation, of an universal love. What makes Browning unique is that he had the greatest light in English literature—a marvelous appreciation of loving kindness. No one mentions it so much as Browning. Eventual unity is when we discover that the power that will light the world is Love. Cold ever bars the irradiation of loving kindness. What is needed is the fire of the love of God to burn so brightly that the ice will be melted and that the fire of the Love of God will warm all these races into Universal Brotherhood. Then we shall attain a unity that will endure.
“Give thanks to God that thou hast put thy feet into the world of existence in such a great century, and that thou hast heard the divine glad-tidings! Try that thou mayest comprehend the mysteries as they must and should be comprehended, and that thou mayest understand the mysteries of the Holy Books.”
IF I might continue to quote from the Holy Utterances of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá I should feel that I were giving the readers of your valuable magazine something which would not only linger in the memory, but would hold their interest and lead them to investigate for themselves the claims and proofs of the Bahá’í Faith if they have not already done so.
You may be interested to know that from the first moment of my hearing the Glad-Tidings of the coming of the Manifestation of God there were no doubts in my heart or mind, and whatever questions arose were from the desire to investigate and study, not only for myself but rather that I might have something of value to share with humanity everywhere.
The location of Hawaii being in the nature of a world-center where various nationalities mingled in work and in everyday activities of both Spiritual and materal progress, the idea of brotherhood and the realization of our dependence each upon the other was so early implanted in my life that I scarcely know when it became evident to my consciousness so it was but a step to grasp the significance of the Revelation of this New Day; and I only wish that I had shown earlier in life the hunger which my soul held for the Bahá’í Teachings when my life-long friend, Miss Agnes Alexander, shared them with me.
It was to the early influences of my life that I am so greatly indebted for the interest which was awakened in the people of foreign countries, for our life-work seemed ever to include the stranger within our gates (Hawaii), lest unhappiness and strangeness remain with them; and while we never interfered with the religious belief of any soul, it was our pleasure to entertain in simple manner those who had journeyed far in search of health, or to serve their respective countries in diplomatic and official capacity. Thus it was that I became acquainted with people,—men and women from France, Germany, Denmark, Australia and America; and I looked upon the navy of the United States as a navy of peace since it became necessary for Hawaii to join forces with America in order to end the various disturbances caused through insurrections and lawlessness generally.
My father having arrived at an early age from New Castle, N. S. W., and my mother having journeyed the long distance from New York State to California where she met and later married my father and came to reside in Hawaii, it was but natural that our hearts turned both East and West in loving interest.
My grandparents, on my father’s side, having been in charge at one time of the Seaman’s Home which adjoined the Seaman’s Chapel, afterwards known as the Bethel Church and one of the first Christian Chapels for the various peoples coming to or passing through Honolulu other than Hawaiian, my earliest recollections are of the church and its associations and I am very grateful that it is so.
My training helped me to choose the spiritual and leave the unworthy and always there remained with me an abiding faith in the fundamental belief of the Oneness and Greatness of the Supreme Being, of the Oneness of humanity, and in Christ as the Messiah of nineteen hundred years ago.
While I have not deeply investigated other religious Teachings, it has ever been a matter of belief to me that Confucius, Buddha and Muhammad had brought Divine messages to their peoples, and I always felt a personal hurt when I heard adverse criticisms of any prophet or teacher of other religions than our own.
Therefore it was a joy to learn of the Bahá’í religion, a faith which is so all-inclusive and pure; it was a joy to understand how close God was to each and every one of us and how close we might draw near to Him through prayer, and through outer communication with His appointed and chosen Messengers. It was a special and particular privilege and blessing to communicate with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá whose life of servitude at the Divine Threshold was a living example to all the world; to receive from him personal messages and tablets which reveal even now more and more how fully he understood our lives and the condition surrounding us, and how greatly he loved us, whether seen or unseen during his lifetime.
It is a most great privilege to have received the Bahá’í Teachings and to be considered worthy to serve so wondrous a Cause in this Day of the world’s history,—a privilege which is beyond human appreciation. Only through our lives may we hope to manifest the appreciation within our hearts; ever striving to prove the efficacy of the Bahá’í Teachings; radiating that Spirit which is the same yesterday, today and forever because it is sent from God and belongs to God and is God, in so much as our hearts can contain Him.
So much has already been written, so much in future will continue to be written on the subject of the Bahá’í Cause, for one is ever making the acquaintance of those upon the pathway of existence who are still unaware of the appearance of the Manifestation of Divinity (through Bahá’u’lláh). And in hearing for the first time the Glad-tidings of the fulfillment of prophecy, not only of the Holy Bible, but of all the Holy Books, find themselves at a loss for sufficient preparation to accept so wondrous a statement.
It is then a most great privilege to grasp the opportunities which come to each and every one of us, who have heard the Glad-tidings and feel the urge to share with others the best in our possession, because we believe, and in accepting have found peace within our souls, a peace beyond description.
TRUE religion is the foundation of spiritual union, the union of thought, the union of susceptibilities, the unity of customs, and the ideal chain binding together all the children of men. Through its practical realization, the minds and souls will receive development by divine instruction; they will become assisted to investigate reality, attain to a lofty station of wisdom and establish the basis of a divine civilization.
In the world of existence an international auxiliary language is the greatest bond to unite the people. Today the causes of differences in Europe are the diversities of language. We say, this man is a German, the other is an Italian; then we meet an Englishman, and then again a Frenchman. Although they belong to the same race, yet, language is the greatest barrier between them. Were a universal auxiliary language now in operation they would all be considered as one. . . . In the world of humanity, the greatest influence which will work for unity and harmony among the nations is the teaching of a universal language. Every intelligent man will beartestimony to this, and there is no further need of argument or evidence. Therefore His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh wrote about this international language more than forty (now about sixty) years ago. He says that as long as an international language is not invented, complete union betwen the various sections of the world will be unrealiized, for we observe that misunderstanding keep people from mutual association, and these misunderstandings will no be dispelled except through an international auxiliary language. . . .
Now, praise be to God, Dr. Zamenhof has invented the Esperanto language. It has all the potential qualities of becoming the international means of communication. All of us must be grateful and thankful to him for this noble effort; for in this way he has served his fellowmen well. He has invented a language which will bestow the greatest benefits on all people. With untiring effort and self-sacrifice on the part of its devotees it will become universal.
En la mondo de la ekzistado internacia helpanta lingvo estas la plaj bona ligilo por unuigi la popolojn. Hodiaŭ la kaŭzoj de malkonsentoj en Eŭropo estas la diversecoj de lingvoj. Oni diras, Tiu homo estas Germano, la alia estas Italo; poste oni renkontas Anglon, kaj reposte Francon. Kvankam ili apartenas al la sama raso, tamen lingvo estas la plej granda barilo inter ili. Se tutmonda helpanta lingvo nun funkcius, ĉiuj estus konsiderataj kiel unu. En la mondo homara, la plej granda influo kiu laboros por unueco kaj harmonio inter la nacioj estas la instruado pri tutmonda lingvo. Ĉiu inteligenta homo faros ateston al tio-ĉi, kaj ne estas plia bezono de argumento aŭ klareco. Tial Lia Sankta Moŝto, Bahá’u’lláh, skribis pri tiu-ĉi internacia lingvo antaŭ pli ol kvardek (nun ĉirkaŭe sesdek) jaroj. Li diras ke, dum ke internacia lingvo ne estos elpensita, plena unuiĝo inter la diversaj partoj de la mondo ne estos efektivigita; ĉar ni observas ke malkomprenĝoj detenas la popolojn de reciproka partoprenado, kaj ĉi-tiuj malkompreniĝoj ne estos dispelitaj escepte per internacia helpanta lingvo. . . . Nun, gloro estu al Dio, Doktoro Zamenhof elpensis la lingvon Esperanto. Ĝi enhavas ĉiujn lapotencecojn por fariĝi la internacia komunikilo. Ni ĉiuj devas esti dankemaj al li pro tiu-ĉi nobla verko; ĉar per tio li bone servis siajn kun-homojn. Li elpensis lingvon kiu donacos la plej grandajn bonojn al ĉiuj popoloj. Per senlaca penado kaj sindoneco de siaj entuziasmuloj, ĝi fariĝos tutmonda.
Stelo de la Okcidento, Vol. 11, p. 290, 291.
