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IS IT IMPOSSIBLE for us to receive the infinite bounties of God? Is it impossible to attain the virtues of the spiritual world because we are not living in the time of His Holiness Moses, the period of the Prophets or the era of His Holiness Christ? Those were spiritual cycles. Can we not develop spiritually because we are far from them and are living in a materialistic age? The God of Moses and Jesus is able to bestow the same favors, nay greater favors upon His people in this day . . . . The same merciful God who bestowed His favors in the past has opened the doors of His kingdom, to us. The rays of His Sun are shining, the breath of the Holy Spirit is quickening. That omniscient God still assists and confirms us, illumines our hearts, gladdens our souls . . . . It is evident that the Prophets of God have come to unite the children of men and not to disperse them; to establish the law of love and not enmity.
--PHOTO--
Miss Grace Challis, Sister of the Garden of Healing in Great Britain (a photograph by one of the patients who was healed). See page 286.
| VOL. 17 | DECEMBER, 1926 | No. 9 |
he is miserable.
CHRISTMAS is a season of good-will. It should also be a time of earnest reflection as to whether life is bringing us all that it should. Are we all that we might be? Before the New Year starts, let us take stock of our spiritual resources. Is the spirit within us joyous? Does life seem well worth living? Does each day go by like the “passing of exquisite music,” leaving with us at night-fall a sense of beauty and perfection of accomplishment?
The possibility of such manner of perfect living was the gift which the Christ-child brought to the world from bournes beyond our ken. He came “that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.” And if We fail to avail ourselves of this marvelous gift of God to man, we are failing not only as regards our own individual lives, but as regards our duty and responsibility to our fellow men. For all of us are linked up together in a nexus of action and reaction, and the perfection or imperfection of one member of the group reflects itself upon all and causes the group to become more perfect or more imperfect.
IN THE bright and halcyon days of early Christianity all Christians manifested joy, I opine. Elsewise their dear and sacred cause would not have been so marvelously spread across the confines of the Roman Empire. In the midst of the drab and murky world of paganism, the joyousness of those early Christians, whether in facing life or death, was like the roseate fingers of dawn upon a darkened sky in which stars and constellations had long since been obscured.
The Roman Empire was cynical, discontented, seeking insensately for pleasure and finding only pain of disillusionment. It was a world in which faith for the most part had disappeared. In which life in general meant not service to neighbor or to state; but acquisition, self-seeking, and exploitation of others. The only standard of conduct was that of skill in so matching the pieces of life together as to make, if possible, for equanimity.
WHY was the pagan world sad? Because it had no God. A world without a God will always be sad, whether constituted on this planet, or elsewhere. For what possible meaning can there be to life with God and the soul left out of it?
Does the world seem again to have lapsed into paganism? What has come of that jubilant, faith-full attitude of Christians toward life and death? Is death not almost universally now viewed as a misfortune and a necessary curse? Is not life
too much measured in terms of what can be squeezed out of it for pleasure or self-seeking, with the result that the self hovers incessantly between the Scylla and Charybdis of desire and satiety?
H. G. Wells, supreme master of the analysis and portrayal of humanity, writes in his latest novel, “The World of William Clissold,”—“I wanted not simply a better life for myself, but a better life altogether. Thousands of people were as consciously bored and distressed as I was by the resonant emptiness of those years [before the war]. Millions were bored and feverish without any clear apprehension of their trouble.”
Such is the world to which the Bahá’í Cause presents itself as a recrudescence of the spirit which animated early Christianity. It is spirit spelt with a capital—the Holy Spirit—which has again come to earth, as in the time of Christ, to renew the heart of man, and turn it Godward. “I testify that Thou hast made us to know Thee and adore Thee,” is the prayer which Bahá’u’lláh taught His followers to repeat daily. Isaiah, speaking inspiredly of the perfect age in store for the world, said that on that day “the knowledge of God would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”
CHRIST came and brought the knowledge of God to man. But the modern world, drunk with its dizzy and intoxicating achievements in material science, has come near to forgetting God altogether; has, in the word of the positivist, Conte, “ushered God across the boundaries of the universe” and dismissed Him as unnecessary; has, to all intents and purposes, lost the knowledge of God and the art of calling upon Him and securing His aid in the daily life.
That is why, in the words of Wells, millions, including his hero who is thought to represent himself, are bored and feverish. Life is a fever, a halucination, without God. For the sole reality of life is as it inheres in God. God has made us to find rest in Him, and in naught else. As the eyes were made to see, the palate to find its satisfaction in taste, the heart to claim its joy in love,—so the soul of man was made with a God-ward destiny, which, if frustrated by man’s own will or ignorance or neglect, condemns the soul to an inner torture,—to eternal torture, until God is found and loved. This is the only hell,–separatenes from God. “There is no rest for thee,” says Bahá’u’lláh, “except if thou dost renounce thyself and turn unto Me . . .” Contrawise, the only heaven, here or hereafter, is nearness to God, love of God, realization of God as the “one factor that animates and dominates existence.”
THE GREAT Manifestations of God, as Buddha, Christ, Muhammád, Bahá’u’lláh, come to men in order to help them fulfill their supreme destiny as sons of God. It is their chief concern that man should know God, should love Him, and should obey Him. What this implies in the way of human behavior, of social order, of economic and political organization, is almost beyond conception. For if God were loved and obeyed, the motives which ordinarily dominate life would be exactly reversed. Instead of self-seeking would be the quality of love; instead of sensuality, chastity; instead of flaunting luxury of living, simplicity to the point of austerity; instead of the thirst for
power and exploitation, the effort to serve; instead of pride, humility.
If Wells would analyse his world a little closer, he would see that the former qualities above mentioned would make of any world a drab and dreary existence, an existence characterized by discontent, suffering, squalor. And that nothing under heaven could reform such a world except that the humanity composing it should become characterized by the qualities of love, of chastity, of simplicity, of service, of humility. And a humanity so characterized would create a Paradise, no matter under what government it lived, no matter on what planet destiny might place it.
Therefore these Manifestations of God—Moses, Buddha, Christ, Muhammád,—are the real Reformers, the real Builders of civilization. All that is fair, and joy-giving and enduring in our present civilization is wrought from strands of their teachings. And now, at a time when civilization seems tottering into decadence and destruction, owing to its deeply moral and spiritual faults, comes Bahá’u’lláh to renew religion, to revive the spirit of faith as an aid and inspiration to right living. He calls humanity, as the other Prophets have done before Him, to repentance, to right living, to acceptance of His love and of His perfect plan for the world that is to be when God’s Kingdom is fully established and “His will is done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
THEREFORE the Christmas season should be one to give us pause. Does life mean to us all that it should? Are we using our talents to man’s and God’s fullest advantage? Are we worthy of the trust placed in us? Are we finding that deep inner happiness which comes from wanting only, and striving to do, God’s will?
If there is discontent, if there is sadness, if there is apparent failure in our lives, shall we lay the blame elsewhere, or upon ourselves? For heaven lies not only about us, but within. The real struggle of life is not that for outer possessions, but that for the development of inner qualities. And when the inner harmony is reached, the outer world will adjust itself in surprisingly matched harmony to that which we have created form within.
The Manifestations of God have come to the world from time to time to prescribe the Remedy which brings spiritual and material happiness to mankind.
“Spiritual enjoyments,” 'Abdu’l-Bahá says, “brings always joy. The love of God brings endless happiness. These are joys in themselves and not alleviations. The life of animals is more simple than that of man. Animals have all their needs supplied for them. All the grasses of the meadows are free to them. The birds build their nests in the branching trees and the palaces of kings are not so beautiful. If earthly needs are all, then the animals are better supplied than man. But man has another food, the heavenly manna of the knowledge of God. All the divine Prophets and Manifestations appeared in the world that this heavenly manna might be given to man. This is the food which fosters spiritual growth and strength and causes pure illumination in the souls of men. They become filled with the breaths of the Holy Spirit. They increase in the knowledge of God and in those virtues which belong to the world of humanity. They attain to the very image and likeness of God.”
WHEN CHRIST appeared, twenty centuries ago, although the Jews were eagerly awaiting His coming, and prayed every day, with tears, saying, “O God, hasten the revelation of the Messiah,” yet when the Sun of Truth dawned, they denied Him and rose against Him with the greatest enmity, and eventually crucified that divine Spirit, the Word of God, and named Him Beelzebub, the evil one, as is recorded in the Gospel. The reason for this was that they said, “The revelation of Christ, according to the clear text of the Torah, will be attested by certain signs, and so long as these signs have not appeared, whoso layeth claim to be a Messiah is an impostor. . . . But as they did not understand the meaning of these signs, they crucified the Word of God.
Now, the Bahá’ís hold that the recorded signs did come to pass in the Manifestation of Christ, although not in the sense which the Jews understood, the description in the Torah being allegorical. For instance, among the signs is that of sovereignty. The Bahá’ís say that the sovereignty of Christ was a heavenly, divine, everlasting sovereignty, not a Napoleonic sovereignty that vanisheth in a short time. For well nigh two thousand years this sovereignty of Christ hath been established, and until now it endureth, and to all eternity that Holy Being will be exalted upon an everlasting throne.
In like manner, all the other signs have been made manifest, but the Jews did not understand. Although nearly twenty centuries have elapsed since Christ appeared with divine splendour, yet the Jews are still awaiting the coming of the Messiah and regard themselves as true and Christ as false. (Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, p. 15.)
HIS HOLINESS Jesus Christ was an Educator of humanity. His teachings were altruistic; His bestowal universal. He taught mankind by the power of the Holy Spirit and not through human agency, for the human power is limited, whereas the divine power is illimitable and infinite. The influence and accomplishment of Christ will attest this . . . If you reflect upon the essential teachings of Jesus you will realize that they are the light of the world. Nobody can question their truth. They are the very source of life and the cause of happiness to the human race. The forms and superstitions which appeared and obscured the Light did not affect the reality of Christ. For example, His Holiness Jesus Christ said, “Put up the sword into the sheath.” The meaning is that warfare is forbidden and abrogated; but consider the Christian wars which took place afterwards. Christian hostility and inquisition spared not even the learned; he who proclaimed the revolution of the earth was imprisoned; he who announced the new astronomical system was persecuted as a heretic; scholars and scientists became objects of fanatical hatred and many were killed and tortured. How do these actions conform with the teachings of Jesus Christ and what relation do they bear to His own example? For Christ declared, “Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you that you may
be sons of your Father which is in heaven; for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.” How can hatred, hostility and persecution be reconciled with Christ and His teachings?
Therefore there is need of turning back to the original foundation. The fundamental principles of the Prophets are correct and true. The imitations and superstitions which have crept in are at wide variance with the original precepts and commands. His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has re-voiced and re-established the quintessence of the teachings of all the Prophets, setting aside the accessories and purifying religion from human interpretation. (Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 82.)
ALTHOUGH men may arise against the kingdom, the dominion and sovereignty of God will be set up. It is an eternal kingdom, a divine sovereignty. In His day Christ was called Satan, Beelzebub, but hear the bells now ringing for Him! He was the Word of God, and not Satan. They mocked Him, led Him through the city upon a donkey, crowned Him with thorns, spat upon His blessed face, and crucified Him, but He is now with God and in God, because He was the Word and not Satan. Fifty years ago no one would touch the Christian Bible in Persia. Bahá’u’lláh came and asked “Why?” They said, “It is not the Word of God.” He said, “You must read it with understanding of its meanings, not as those who merely recite its words.” Now Bahá’ís all over the East read the Bible and understand its spiritual teaching. Bahá’u’lláh spread the cause of Christ and opened the book of the Christians and Jews. He removed the barriers of “Names.” He proved that all the divine Prophets taught the same reality and that to deny one is to deny the others, for all are in perfect oneness with God. (Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 207.)
IN LONDON some of the Christians said we were deniers of Christ. We say His Holiness the Christ is the Word of God . . . Why was Jesus the Word?
In the universe of creation, all phenomenal beings are as letters. Letters in themselves are meaningless and express nothing of thought or ideal; as for instance “a,” “b,” etc. Likewise, all phenomenal beings are without independent meaning. But a word is composed of letters and has independent sense and meaning. Therefore, as Christ conveyed the perfect meaning of divine reality and embodied independent significance, He was the Word. He was as the station of reality compared to the station of metaphor. There is no intrinsic meaning in the leaves of a book, but the thought they convey leads you to reflect upon the reality. The reality of Jesus was the perfect meaning, the Christhood in Him which in the holy books is symbolized as the Word. “The Word was with God.” The Christhood means not the body of Jesus but the perfection of divine virtues manifest in Him. . . . The reality of Christ was the embodiment of divine virtues and attributes of God. For in divinity there is no duality. (Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 149.)
THE PERFECT soul of man, that is to say, the perfect individual, is like a mirror wherein the Sun of Reality is reflected. The perfections, the image and light of that Sun, have
been revealed in the mirror; its heat and illumination are manifest therein, for that pure soul is a perfect expression of the Sun.
These Mirrors are the Messengers of God who tell the story of divinity, just as the material mirror reflects the light and disc of the outer sun in the skies. In this way the image and effulgence of the Sun of Reality appear in the mirrors of the Manifestations of God. This is what His Holiness Jesus Christ meant when He declared, “the Father is in the Son,” the purpose being that the reality of that eternal Sun had become reflected in its glory in Christ Himself. It does not signify that the Sun of Reality had descended from its place in heaven, or that its essential being had effected an entrance into the mirror, for there is neither entrance nor exit for the reality of divinity; there is no ingress or egress; it is sanctified above all things and ever occupies its own holy station. (Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 168.)
EACH OF the divine religions embodies two kinds of ordinances. The first are those which concern spiritual susceptibilities, the development of moral principles and the quickening of the conscience of man. These are essential or fundamental, one and the same in all religions, changeless and eternal, reality not subject to transformation. His Holiness, Abraham heralded this reality, His Holiness Moses promulgated it, and His Holiness Jesus Christ established it in the world of mankind. All the divine prophets and messengers were the instruments and channels of this same eternal, essential truth.
The second kind of ordinances in the divine religions are those which relate to the material affairs of humankind. These are the material or accidental laws which are subject to change in each day of manifestation, according to exigencies of the time, conditions and differing capacities of humanity. (Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 102.)
WHEN CHRIST appeared with those marvelous breaths of the Holy Spirit, the children of Israel said, “We are quite independent of Him; we can do without Him and follow Moses; we have a Book and in it are found the teachings of God; what need, therefore, have we of this man?” Christ said to them, “The Book sufficeth you not.” It is possible for a man to hold to a book, of medicine and say, “I have no need of a doctor; I will act according to the book; in it every disease is named, all symptoms are explained, the diagnosis of each ailment is completely written out and a prescription for each malady is furnished; therefore why do I need a doctor?” This is sheer ignorance. A physician is needed to prescribe. Through his skill, the principles of the book are correctly and effectively applied until the patient is restored to health. Christ was a Heavenly Physician. He brought spiritual health and healing into the world. Bahá’u’lláh is likewise a Divine Physician. He has revealed prescriptions for removing disease from the body politic and has remedied human conditions by spiritual power. (Star, Vol. 3, No. 18, p. 6.)
WE ARE living in this most radiant century, wherein human perceptions have developed and investigations of real foundations characterize mankind. Individually and collectively man is proving and penetrating into the reality of outer and inner
conditions. Therefore it has come to pass that we are renouncing all that savors of blind imitation, and impartially and independently investigating truth. Let us understand what constitutes the reality of the divine religions. If a Christian sets aside traditionary forms and blind imitation of ceremonials and investigates the reality of the gospels, he will discover that the foundation principles of the teachings of His Holiness Christ were mercy, love, fellowship, benevolence, altruism, the resplendence or radiance of divine bestowals, acquisition of the breaths of the Holy Spirit and oneness with God. Furthermore, he will learn that His Holiness declared that the Father “maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.” The meaning of this declaration is that the mercy of God encircles all mankind; that not a single individual is deprived of the mercy of God; and no soul is denied the resplendent bestowals of God. The whole human race is submerged in the sea of the mercy of the Lord and we are all the sheep of the one Divine Shepherd. Whatever shortcomings exist among us must be remedied. For example, those who are ignorant must be educated so that they may become wise; the sick must be treated until they recover; those who are immature must be trained in order to reach maturity; those asleep must be awakened. All this must be accomplished through love and not through hatred and hostility.
Furthermore, His Holiness Jesus Christ, referring to the prophecy of Isaiah, spoke of those who “having eyes, see not, having ears, hear not; having hearts, understand not,”—yet they were to be healed. Therefore it is evident that the bounties of Christ transformed the eye which was blind into a seeing one, rendered the ear which was formerly deaf, attentive, and made the hard, callous heart tender and sensitive. In other words, the meaning is that, although the people posess external eyes, yet the insight or perception of the soul is blind; although the outer ear hears, the spiritual hearing is deaf; althought they possess conscious hearts, they are without illumination; and the bounties of His Holiness Christ save souls from these conditions. It is evident then that the Manifestation of the Messiah was synonymous with universal mercy. His providence was universal and His teachings were for all. His lights were not restricted to a few. Every “Christ” came to the world of mankind. Therefore we must investigate the foundation of divine religion, discover its reality, re-establish it and spread its message throughout the world so that it may become the source of illumination and enlightenment to mankind, the spiritually dead become alive, the spiritually blind receive sight, and those who are inattentive to God become awakened. (Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 439.)
THE APPEARANCES of the Manifestations of God are the Divine springtime. When His Holiness Christ appeared in this world it was like the vernal bounty, the outpouring descended; the effulgence of the Merciful encircled all things; the human world found new life. Even the physical world partook of it. The divine perfections were upraised; souls were trained in the school of heaven so that all grades of human existence received life and light. Then by degrees these fragrances of heaven were discontinued; the season of winter came upon the world; the beauties of spring vanished. . . .
His Holiness Bahá’u’llá has come into the world. He has renewed that springtime. The same fragrances are wafting; the same heat of the Sun is giving life; the same cloud is pouring its rain, and with our own eyes we see that the world of existence is advancing and progressing. The human world has found new life. (Pro. of U. P., p. 8.)
Reality or truth is one, yet there are many religious beliefs, denominations, creeds and differing opinions in the world today. Why should these differences exist? Because they do not investigate and examine the fundamental unity which is one and unchangeable. If they seek the reality itself they will agree and be united; for reality is indivisible and not multiple.
ONE of our confusing and limiting characteristics is the general inability to distinguish between that which is real and that which is not. Reality is a word to be conjured with and has been burdened with many interpretations. It is not strange, then, that seekers after truth are bewildered. One hears so many explanations, senses so many prejudices, and witnesses tradition and superstitions reverenced to such an extent that he knows not where to turn.
What is real to most of us is that which we can see, taste, smell, hear, or feel. Perhaps we may add to this that which we experience emotionally, for none doubt the potency of fear, pain, and sorrow as influences in our lives. And yet, in this scientific era, it has been clearly established that the senses are easily deceived. Many clever illusions can be brought forth to substantiate this, still we like to believe that the stuff on which we tread, matter—the earth is very, very real.
This is an age of yearning for self-improvement. Books on applied psychology, on self-mastery and kindred subjects are constantly in great demand. Why is this? Human beings are becoming more and more aware that there is something in life which lies deeper than surface considerations, something intimately connected with the core of their beings, which may, perchance, be found by studying some of these things. And so these books, large and small, sell by the thousands. They are carried in pockets until they become crumpled, thumbed until the edges are black, in the hope that the secret may be uncovered. This yearning is also evidenced in the popularity of psychological magazines, stories and novels, in the vivid “I confess” tales of the day. Hope—always the hope that somewhere, somehow, some time we may touch the magic stone which will open the secret of life which has baffled poet and peasant, philosopher and scholar through the years.
So busy are we turning first one stone and then another that we do not stop to analyze the motive behind the urge to hunt for this glorious something. Now and then we see others who have apparently found it, radiant, faces, lives of service,—peace. We hesitate to ask them what they have found and where they discovered it, and if we did summon the courage to do so, we might be disappointed. There is the chance that one of them has found it here and another there.
Have they all found the same thing? Or, are there several somethings? Perhaps we hope that what seem, on the surface, as divergent philosophies, are merely various manifestations of a common truth—one dawning point of light.
We feel that there is an essential unity in what we are trying to find—and many of these witnesses disagree. Can it be that they have simply found a part of the truth-a ray or two, as it were, and have not yet recognized the true origin nor experienced the full effulgence of the Sun of Truth? It may be that some of those fortunate souls do not even know what they have found, much less are they able to tell another of it.
It always has been a trifle embarrassing to ask another such intimate questions as the knowledge we seek might entail. It is much easier to try to find it between the covers of a book—thoughts someone has set down, which we can appropriate quietly for our own.
Fundamentally, we feel that there is no justification for division of belief and thought about the essential facts of life. Truth in its essence must be one and indivisible. There must be an underlying unity. The secret of life must in some way be connected with unity. There is a mystic potency in this idea which is elusive. It has ever intrigued the analytic minds of thinkers, and subtly comforted those attuned to feel and know, as the fragrance of a rose may bring delight without knowledge of its origin or cause.
We hear much of the need for unity of nations, unity of race, of language, of religion. Tremendous conceptions! So great in fact that it is hard to conceive of them, and hence they seem to some of us remote, however worthy may be their attainment.
Being tremendous and far reaching, are we not prone to think of them as something outside ourselves, something so distant and idealistic that they do not touch our daily lives, which, after all, gauge reality for our limited consciousnesses?
And who of us has reached the station where life is not of consuming interest? That which touches us intimately, closely, however trivial it may be, is a matter of interest-often magnified into distortion. However we may strive, there are comparatively few who live in the rarified detachment which does not emphasize the things we live or see lived.
And so we cry out, or suffer dumbly in yearning to have some better understanding, to enjoy appreciation and realization of life and its purpose. If only these great ideas could be made an every-day matter, could be brought home to us in our lives, perhaps we might find the joy we are seeking. We are scarcely capable of grasping the full meaning of the unity of nations, we want to experience unity in our own lives first. In that attitude may there not be a hint as to a method of approach?
Take the tiniest seed, must not all its functions be performed in unity (co-relation, co-operation, harmony) to insure growth and to perpetuate the stream of life? Perhaps we have been confused by the magnitude of the idea of unity. The lofty mountain peak has cast a shadow which has obscured the beauty of the flower at its base. We can better apreciate conceptions when they are not too vast. Can it be that unity has a personal meaning, one which is, practical, one which can be utilized by us in our lives as we have to live them? Can it be that the greater unity will spring from lesser unities—all a part of the whole, yet contributing to the complete culmination of oneness? The very earth on which we tread is
made up of elements. Each molecule is made up of small atoms, and the atoms of yet smaller units. Units combine to form a larger unit, again and again, until the result is beyond conception—and yet the great result is impossible without the first small unit, however small it may be.
And so, in this great mutual endeavor which we term life, may it not be that if each individual can learn to appreciate and incorporate unity into his own life, that this will blend with another, thus forming a greater unity—an ever-accelerating process which leads on and on—upward?
We are habitually making excuses. To the teacher we say—“That is all very well for you. But I have so much trouble. My life is so difficult. I don’t seem to have time to do these things, to think and meditate, and I don’t even know how. Your theories are beautiful, but how can I learn to live them?”
To such a one ’Abdu’l-Bahá answers. You can feel the love in the words.
“When the divine message is understood, all troubles will vanish. Shadows disappear when the universal lamp is lighted, for whosoever becomes illumined thereby no longer knows grief; he realizes that his stay on this planet is temporary and that life is eternal. When once he has found reality he will no longer retreat into darkness.” (Divine Philosophy, p. 65.)
Ah—a new note is struck! ”When the divine message is understood.” Why—that has to do with, well—let us say religion, has it not? We have been so busy trying to find something that we have not recognized the longing as a spiritual one. We thought that it was a purely personal hunger, a matter of finding some magic formula which we could apply ourselves to transform our lives. And so it is, for—“shadows disappear when the universal lamp is lighted; for whosoever becomes illumined thereby no longer knows grief.”
Is this not an answer? If we are never to know grief, and if “all troubles vanish,” may we not assume that we will then be happy as we understand happiness? “. . . heaven is not a place but a state of consciousness.” But heaven, even so, means more than a state of consciousness. It means a certain relationship to God—certain responsibilities, certain privileges, which broaden our capacities into greater and greater consciousness of the true meanings of love and unity.
As “each has his individual form of evolution in this world of existence”—our paths of progress may diverge slightly, but they will run parallel essentially and lead to a common goal. We must not become confused, but remember that “as long as the perceptive powers differ, surely the opinions and thoughts differ also. But if one great Perceptive Power which comprehends all, cometh to the center, the differing opinions become united, and ideal unity and oneness are revealed.” (Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 485.)
How may we experience this perceptive power? In the same manner as a compass needle fulfils its humble but highly important function and purpose. It turns itself so that the greatest number of lines of magnetic force may pass through it. Likewise, may not we orient ourselves similarly with regard to God and his effulgences
of knowledge and power? May we not tap untold reservoirs of strength? May we not become conductors for that mysterious power to manifest itself, channels through which it may flow? Surely, if the channel is clear and clean and in the proper position, so that it may function in unity with its purpose.
We come, then, to an important question.
“What is the ultimate goal of human life?” If we knew that and could assimilate the knowledge into our consciousness, perhaps we might find ourselves possessed of a driving force which would carry us over the rough spots in our journey. ’Abdu’l-Bahá answers: “Assuredly it is not to eat, nor to sleep, nor to dress, nor to repose on a couch of negligence. Nay, it is to find one’s way to eternity and understand the divine signs: to receive wisdom from the Lord of Lords, and to move steadily forward like a great sea.” The sea is one—a unit of water, motion, and power, made up of minute but complete particles.
Human endeavor may become a concerted force towards unity if,—if the efforts of all, however, small, are co-operative and directed together, if there is unity. Unity begins at home, in our own lives. Can we work effectively for the unity of nations or religion if there is conflict within ourselves? There must be peace and harmony. The smallest unit of the whole must be in complete accord within itself, that it may be effective outside of its own sphere.
“In this cause (Bahà’í Cause) we have many principles to which we adhere, the most important is to avoid that which creates discord. We must have the same aspirations and become as one nation. Humanity must feel entirely united.” How can humanity “feel united” if its component parts, elements, are not united within themselves? Unity is a personal matter. It involves all those forces and influences for good which can remould our lives. It presupposes love, not necessarily personal love, for—
“The greatest gift to man is universal love, that which renders existence eternal. It attracts realities and diffuses life with infinite joy. If this love penetrate the heart of man, all the forces of the universe will be realized in him, for it is a divine power which transports him to a divine station and he will make no progress until he is illumined thereby.” (Div. Phil., p. 107.)
Is there need to seek further for that mystic something which will transform our lives? Universal love, the love of unity—“attracts realities and diffuses life with infinite joy”—not merely happiness. “If this love penetrate the heart of man, all the forces of the universe will be realized in him, for it is a divine power . . .” What a glorious function! A station possible of attainment, where—
“Man will become free from egotism; he will be released from the material world; he will become the personification of justice and virtue, for a sanctified soul illumines humanity and is an honor to mankind, confering life upon the children of men and suffering all nations to attain to the station of perfect unity.” (Div. Phil., p. 117.)
Note that ’Abdu’l-Bahá says “a sanctified soul”—one of them “is an honor to mankind.” Do we need any other promise of reward? Any other inspiration? Does this not make of unity a personal, everyday matter?
These are spiritual considerations, for life is a spiritual experience, however mundane it may seem. These are spiritual yearnings, however cloaked they may be in the terms of scientific explanation. This is a scientific age and it is through the aid of science that “there will be a great unifying cleansing force in the world.”
“When religion,” says ’Abdul-Bahá, “shorn of its superstitions, traditions, and unintelligent dogmas, shows its conformity with science, then there will be a unifying, cleansing force in the world, which will sweep before it all wars, disagreements, discords, and struggles, and then will mankind be united in the power of the love of God.” (Paris Talks, p. 135.)
What greater resolution can we carry into the new year approaching than a sincere desire to direct “a great unifying, cleansing force” to ourselves?
Is this not re-birth? Starting life with renewed zeal to find and apply truth in our own lives. At this season, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, may we not open our beings to the inflow of the spirit, and may not our lives be blessed as the earth was so many years ago by the advent of the Word of God?
It has been said that living is an art, but may we not make of it a science, too, “a great, unifying, cleansing force,” which will, “sweep before it’ and out of our personal lives “all wars, disagreements, discords, and struggles?” Is there not an intimate, personal message in the greater one? Is this not unity made practical and personal in a way which enables us to appreciate it and make use of it to the end that we, as individuals, become units, united and harmonious, and thereby qualified to merge ourselves into the greater unities of family, state, nation, world; to contribute to the achievement of unity of thought and action?
This is the day of science. “With every advance in science the oneness of the universe and the inter-dependence of its parts has become more clearly evident. The astronomer’s domain is inseparably bound up with the physicist’s, and the physicist’s with the chemists’, and the chemist’s with the biologist’s, and the biologist’s with the psycholongist’s, and so on.” (Dr. Esslemont.) But there is no need to despair. We do not have to master all of the intricacies of these sciences—they merge into a single unified science—that of the divine, which is attainable by every earnest seeker and striver.
And the motto for our individual campaigns has been voiced by Bahá’u’1láh.
“Of the Tree of Knowledge the All-Glorious fruit is this exalted word: Of One Tree are ye all the fruits and of one bough the leaves. Let not man glory in this that he loves his country, but let him rather glory in this that he loves his kind.” If we were all united it would not be difficult to love our kind.
The question of paramount importance is, “How are all these great unities to be brought about?” By the power of God manifesting itself through unity of endeavor, which rests with the individuals. Thus is unity to be attained through unity, the greater depending upon the lesser. Beginning with the individual unity and perfection of function in this great scheme of things, the unifying force will reach out in ever-widening
circles, friends, families, states, nations—until the world becomes a dynamic manifestation of Oneness and solidarity—all through the Bounty of God.
These ideas are immense and all-inclusive, universal, but the universe is composed of unities, smaller and smaller, until they merge themselves into an indistinguishable unity of substance and function, the underlying essence which is but one of the manifestations of the Love of God, that force which binds all components into the whole.
These great conceptions are to be achieved through the units of humanity, illumined by the knowledge of God and motivated by His Power. How important, then, becomes the individual! He is a drop of the great river of life, which moves ever onward towards the accomplishment of unity, that stream on continuous effort, which starts as a tiny rivulet in the bosom of the mountains. And there could be no river, no stream rushing down the mountainside were it not for the showers from above. All is dependent upon the Bounty of God, and one of His greatest blessings is this, that He has made it possible for us to attain to that state of individual unity and oneness with the great purpose of life in which we understand our true relationship to Him. We have but to try with every fiber of our beings to be worthy, to understand and to do His will and our own individual work will become a part of that great leaven which influences the mass.
“O Friends! It is the wish of ’Abdu’l-Bahá that the friends may establish general unity and not a particular meeting of unity. . . . We are all the servants of one Threshold, attendants at one court, drops of one river, the dust before one door, and plants of one garden.” (Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 458.)
“Fellowship is the cause of unity, and unity is the source of order in the world. Blessed are they who are kind and serve with love.”
In unity there is peace—“peace and good-will” to man and mankind.
by His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh who has also revealed new teachings applicable to present conditions in the world of humanity. He has trained the people of the east through the power and protection of the Holy Spirit, cemented the souls of humanity together and established the foundations of international unity.
Through the power of His Words the hearts of the people of all religions have been attuned in harmony. For instance, among the Bahá’ís in Persia there are Christians, Muhammadans, Zoroastrians, Jews and many others of varying denominations and beliefs who have been brought together in unity and love in the cause of Bahá’u’lláh. By their words and actions they are proving the verity of His Holiness
Bahá’u’lláh.—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
“All (humanity) must be considered as submerged in the ocean of God’s mercy. We must associate with all humanity in gentleness and kindliness. We must love all with love of the heart. Some are ignorant; they must be trained and educated. One is sick; he must be healed. Another is as a child; we must assist him to attain maturity. We must not detest him who is ailing, neither shun him, scorn nor curse him; but care for him with the utmost kindness and tenderness.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
THE thinkers of the day agree that service to mankind is the keynote of this age. This ideal of “service to humanity” sounds very big and important, very sincere and willing.
Just what does “service” to the race mean to the individual? How can you and I, in our daily contact with men, be of actual service to others? What quality must we develop if we are to be of real help to the world?
Tolerance is the necessary virtue that underlies true service. If we are to help others we must give of ourselves the best we have, and learn from every other member of the human race, a lesson.
There are no two forms of human intelligence exactly alike. No two viewpoints are identical. If every human being in the world were to describe the White House at Washington, D. C., no two descriptions Would be exactly alike, no two visions the same. This is true concerning all the affairs of life.
God is manifesting as many different aspects of intelligence as there are human beings. Since each individual is different, each viewpoint is different from all others, but right for the individual.
If we are to be of service to others We must remember that every human being has as much right to his opinion as we have to ours. Understanding of the individual rights of all people is a necessary foundation on which service is built.
Tolerance is the magic quality that will produce the ideal man: tolerance of other men’s ideas, tolerance of their race and nationality, tolerance of their religious beliefs, tolerance of their political attachments, tolerance of their dress and custom, tolerance of their weaknesses and idiocyncracies, tolerance of their mistakes, tolerance of their ignorance and lack of will.
Weakness is but lack of strength, Just as darkness is lack of light. An idiocyncracy is an individual characteristic. Custom and dress are but the habits of a country and the distinguishing marks of a period. Mistakes are the stepping-stones to knowledge. Ignorance is lack of knowledge.
The sense of right and wrong is an ever-changing quantity, depending on the development and state of consciousness of the individual, at a given time. What would be right for one person would be wrong for another, acording to his understanding of right and wrong. An act that would be wrong for an individual at one time in his life might be right at another period, due to a change in consciousness. Twenty years ago it would have been an absolute wrong for me to play a game of croquet on Sunday. Today I could play a hundred games and feel that I was performing a virtuous act, if by playing I could help someone in some real way.
Consider the command of Jesus the Christ, “Thou shalt honor the
Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” All religions contain the essence of a similar instruction. The Christian counts that day to be what we call Sunday. The Jew has figured out that the Sabbath Day should be what we call Saturday. Certain other religionists have computed the Seventh Day, the Day of Rest, to be Friday. Differences of opinion all,—each right, if he lives up to his highest and best understanding, and recognizes the right of others to their opinion,—each wrong, if he contends and argues and insists on his opinion being the only correct interpretation.
The ideal man of tolerance would see each Sabbath Day chosen as the right one for the religionist who believed in it. His universal search for truth would stimulate him to try to make every day God’s Day—would try to shed love, tolerance, understanding and harmony about him every day.
The tolerant man would realize that he has no right to criticize anyone, for anything, at any time. He would understand that there is always a cause or causes for every effect. He would be aware of the fact that if it were possible to trace every cause that contributed in producing any given action, he would have no right to blame anyone for anything.
Take, for instance, a crime: If he could trace the generations of heredity that had produced the offender, if he could be informed of the condition of his mother during the nine months of his gestation, if he could find out in detail the childhood training and experience of the man, if he could identify in completeness the offender’s physical weaknesses and strengths, if he could read his subconscious mind and discover his automatic reactions to life, if he could see his immediate environment with its tests and trials outlined, if it were possible to trace every cause that had contributed its share to tipping the scales of balance on the side of crime, the man of tolerance would discover that crime* would be the inevitable result of the combined force of all the causes involved. Following the same reasoning, in any specific case we wish to consider, we must conclude that every person in the world does the best that he is able to do at any given moment. Consciousness is an ever-changing quantity. God surely uses each object of His creation to the highest degree possible at all times, according to its stage of evolution.
The tolerant man would see each human being as a seed planted in the earth of creation. Some seeds, he would observe, have thrown off their seed-coating, and sent forth twigs, branches, blossoms, and fruit; while others are still in the seed form, with all their latent perfections lying hidden beneath a material and barren exterior.
But, having witnessed the beauties that have burst forth from many other seeds, the tolerant man has patience to wait, until the experiences of life can stimulate the vibrant energy within, and cause the outer coating of the hitherto listless seed to be cast aside, and the perfect being that God has deposited within that seed-coating begins to unfold. One day that seed will become a bud, and the next day the bud will unfold into a beautiful rose. A flower of God, with all its delicacy and perfume lives, and by living, gives forth continuous praise to its Creator.
*“The communities must punish the oppressor, the murderer, the malefactor, so as to warn and restrain others, from committing like crimes. But the most essential thing is that the people must be educated in such a way that no crimes will be committed; for it is possible to educate the masses so effectively that they will avoid and shrink from perpetrating crimes, so that the crime itself will appear to them as the greatest chastisement, the utmost condemnation and torment. Therefore no crimes which require punishment will be committed."—’Abdu’l-Baha in “Some Answered Questions.”
The tolerant man will constantly search for the potential heavenly capacity covered by each human exterior. He will have universal love for the good in all people; for he will know that all people were created for a purpose, to express the same Divine Being that made him.
The tolerant man will say, with Emerson, “Our life is but an apprenticeship to the truth, around every circle another can be drawn; there is no end to nature, but every end is a beginning; there is always another dawn risen on mid-noon, and under every deep a lower deep opens.”
Tolerance is the magic quality that will produce the ideal man of service. That man will be a citizen of the world, free from the fetters of dogmatism, selfish nationalism, and parisanship of all kinds. He will be a true statesman, but not a politician,—a man freed from prejudice, bigotry, hatred and ignorance. He will be a seeker of truth and knowledge where ever he finds them—in other words, an independent investigator of truth. He will manifest freedom of thought. He will be a man of science, and his religion will harmonize with science and reason. His sincerity of purpose will be proved by his deeds. Concerning his own good deeds will he keep silent. He will realize the oneness of humanity, the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. A definition of his religion will be his love of God manifested in his attitude toward mankind. He will see that there are as many ways to God as there are creatures. Tolerance and justice will walk hand in hand.
Tolerance grows from understanding; complete understanding is a co-partner with love; service rests on all three. “Faith, hope and charity, and the greatest of these is charity.”
The ideal man of tolerance will be truly alive, and he will be happy. Hope will be his outlook, faith his guide, tolerance his watchword, and service his daily act.
churches and mosques, for, in all of these worshipping places, the Name of God is mentioned. Since all gather to worship God, what difference is there? None of them worship Satan. Muhammadans must go to the churches of the Christians and the synagogues of the Jews, and vice versa, the others must go to the Muhammadan mosques. They hold aloof from one another merely because of unfounded prejudices and dogmas. In America I went to the Jewish synagogues which are similar to the Christian churches, and I saw
them worshipping God everywhere.—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
“The foundation of the Divine religions is ever the cause of progress; and thus when it leaves the central axis, the holy foundation becomes destroyed, and as it were, beclouded or surrounded by certain blind imitations. When we speak of religion we mean the foundation of religion, not the blind imitations, or dogmas, which have crept in afterwards, and which are ever destructive. . . .“—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
IT IS impossible that Religion should be any finer or greater thing to a man than the quality of it which is existent in himself. At no time does he get beyond that, howsoever valiantly he may declare himself regarding it, because the recognition of Religion lies not in any elegance or wealth of diction, but in purity of thought, humility as to one’s own qualifications and in selfiessness of service. But man is able to grow into larger and finer degrees of the qualities of Religion through opening up within himself avenues for its expression, because Religion, being the Word of God is an outpour from the limitles Divine Fountain and its action is comparable to the flowing of the water of a great river. Whatsoever the direction of the river may be, it is possible for man to develop new channels and divert portions of the stream for the enrichment and benefit of other soils and areas. It is precisely so with the great stream of God’s Bounty to man, he is capable of opening within himself new avenues through which Religion may express its beauties in a vastly augmented degree. This creation of avenues for the inpouring is accomplished by the removal of former deterrent conditions, just as a river’s water is diverted by the removal of rocks or intervening soils. These deterrent conditions in the human are none other than his assumed attitudes toward Truth. The whole structure, therefore, which is preventive of Religion is human assumption.
Is it not wonderful that there can be found in no religious teaching in the world a sugestion of fear in connection with God. With all of man’s misconcepts and doubts and fallacious reasoning no one has ever suggested that God ever became afraid of anything whatsoever. The existence of the independent human will as a capacity in man to succesfully oppose God’s Will is an exposition of the fearlessness of God.
A good man—a truly good man—never fears anything, but we see one who is addicted to evil practices ever existing in the atmosphere of fear. If then, one will pause to consider and to differentiate between these diametrically opposite conditions, assuredly, he will not deliberately select that quality because of whose possession he must ever remain afraid! A man, consequently, becomes deprived of the benefits of Truth, or Religion, because he does not choose for himself; he does not think; he does not voice the possession of stamina to think for himself, but finds it easier to be directed in the channels of others’ thinking and to accept as verities matters which he sees have not brought forth amongst mankind the highly desirable fruition. Many argue that Truth combats evil. This is the deepest of error. Religion is entirely non-combative. It is invulnerable, unassailable, presenting its unvarying perfections in contrast to the imperfections of evil.
The observer stands on the floor of the Yosemite Valley and gazes on the huge bulk of El Capitan. It does not battle with the elements; the winds and snow and rain alike beat upon its impregnable front. In the niches
where dust and decayed matter have gathered, bushes and tall trees have grown, but when these are cleared away the cliff still stands unchanged. It is so with Religion. Upon its face many theories have been fixed, and there are excrescences of dogma and creed and ritual, but when these have been cleared away the unsullied figure of Truth remains. Only he who stands upon El Capitan gains the wide vistas of the High Sierras Whose snow-clad crests receive the first bestowal of the rising sun and the last good-night kiss. So, too, only he who stands upon the Truth visions the indescribable beauties of the realms of the unseen. How various is the expression of Truth! It is like the sea into which the rivers of earth pour constantly all the impurities they have gathered from many soils, but the sea remains boundless, unaffected pure! It is like the sky which man strives to penetrate to discover its mysteries only to find with each deeper penetration that he is but at the threshhold of its vastityl
Indeed, Truth may even at times be employed as a wonderful assistant to evil. As it has been seen, it is a great and resistless and never failing stream always at hand for man’s uses and if a man shall choose to divert its forces into channels which will be productive of bad effect the Giver of the stream does not restrain its waters but permits them to flow as man shall choose, becoming an agency of infinite potentials for the accomplishment of man’s desire. Otherwise, independence of human will would be meaningless and of no effect.
All that there is in nature—all men—are as material for man’s uses and likewise all that exists in the universe of worlds is susceptible of absolute freedom of employment by him. Herein, too, is demonstrated the fearlessness of God, and as human planning through selfish desire and egotism brings its fruitage and it is found to be tasteless and empty of attraction and man feels the resistless inner urge to turn to something better, it is seen that this possibility of employing instruments of good for purposes of evil becomes itself an agency for good. It may be conceded that it is human assumption which has evolved theories that have in reality nothing of Religion about them. In any age, in every age, after the passing of the great Revelator of Truth, as soon as man assumed to clothe Truth in garments of his own making, he began to hide it. That is what human opinion has always accomplished—it has hidden Truth from man—and as man has chosen the easier way of letting others do his thinking for him instead of acting independently, he has become the adherent for the most part, of imitation and superstition, and lost to any real understanding of the meaning of Divine Revelation. Were this not true, it had not been necessary for more than one Divine Mesenger to be sent to earth to bring mankind to a recognition of the purity and simplicity of Truth. How marvelously simple it has always been! Observe how the most ignorant of fishermen became the most illumined of souls, in contradistinction to the wisdom of the worldly wise who regarded things through the lenses of human opinion, and how in the passing of the centuries these so-called ignorant souls have become the objects of veneration and worship. Through human policy and understanding, we are witness to the wide diversities in forms of worship of the Most High. At no time was there any formality in His worship of God on the part of Jesus the Christ. He simply gave expression to it in terms of unfailing love; He asked for no recompense, not even from His Father;
all He desired was to be permitted to serve, to so express the Divine beauties that man might recognize the limitless benefits to himself by adopting them and adapting them and living by them—rather, in living them. That was His great lesson, His transcendentally great lesson—to serve his fellow-man selflessly. It is because we are not doing this that the world is convulsed by war, is clouded by hate, is retarded from real growth by oppression.
When we shall reject this attitude, when we shall discard the human assumption of Divine capacity and turn our thoughts to the simplicity of Truth, its beauty, its ease of understanding and assimilation, when we shall reject the man-made theories and hold fast to revealed verities, the entire world of humanity will be at one with its God, the great school of human brotherhood will be aglow with its grasp of Divine Intent, and all prejudice and contention will be dissipated and the energies of all men will be directed to the uplift of the deprived and neglected of every race and clime.
What illumined and inspired instructions ’Abdu’l-Bahá gives us confirming us in the reality of religion! He says, among His many utterances:
“The Prophets of God were in the utmost love for all. Each one announced the glad-tidings of His successor and each subsequent one confirmed the teachings and prophecies of the former. There was no discord or variance in the reality of their teachings and mission. The discord has arisen among their followers who held fast to imitations. If imitations be done away with and the radiant shining Reality dawn in the souls of men, love and unity must prevail. . . Consider how all the Prophets of God were persecuted and what hardships they experienced. His Holiness Jesus Christ endured affliction and accepted martyrdom upon the cross in order to call men to unity and love. What sacrifice could be greater? He brought the religion of love and fellowship to the world. Shall we make use of it to create discord, violence and hatred among men?
“Moses was persecuted and driven out into the desert; Abraham was banished; Muhammad took refuge in caves; the Báb was killed, and Bahá’u’l1áh was exiled and imprisoned fifty years. Yet all of them desired only fellowship and love among men. They endured hardships, suffered persecution and death for our sakes that we might be taught to love one another, be united and affiliated instead of discordant and at variance. . . Now in this radiant century let us try to carry out the good pleasure of God that we may be rescued from these things of darkness and come forth into the boundless illumination of heaven, shunning division and welcoming the divine oneness of humanity.”
“The divine religions of the Holy Manifestations of God are in reality one though in name and nomenclature they differ. Man must be a lover of the Light no matter from what Dayspring it may appear.”—’Abdu’l-Baha.
“It is possible to so adjust one’s self to the practice of nobility that its atmosphere surrounds and colors all our acts. When these acts are habitually and conscientiously adjusted to noble standards with no thought of the words that might herald them, then nobility becomes the accent of life. At such a degree of evolution one scarcely needs to try to be good any longer, all our deeds are the distinctive expression of nobility.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
SITUATED in the south of one of the most splendid civilizations in the world is a simple nursing home for tubercular patients. It is called “The Garden of Healing.” Outwardly it may look like other quiet homes with a large green plot, gorgeous flower gardens, with Canterbury bells nodding joyously and in soft, reverent pastel colors, and here and there the pine trees standing guardians of shade, protection, and perfume. In the rear the loganberries, the apples, the gooseberries, are fruiting.
However, it is the spiritual peace of this home which attracts and refines every passing eye. Strangers, in passing, say that a spiritual fragrance comes to them. The grocer youth, a little way down the street, is too shy to come to the afternoon service where perhaps fifty people are gathered in the garden. After tea is served, and the tea things carried back to the kitchen, while the Creative Word of God is explained to longing, eager souls, this grocer boy has tiptoed in and washed and dried the dishes for Miss Grace Challis, Sister of the Garden of Healing, and hereby hangs the tale.
Sister is a Bahá’í, and truly she is an angel of God upon this earth. Dressed in her blue uniform, whose colors of heaven exactly blend with her eyes, and contrast with the lovely pink of her cheeks, she has completed her costume with white cuffs and collar and a little, white, organdie, hemstitched headdress, underneath which peep out waving, brown curls which certainly have captured the glinting tints of brightest sunshine. She is so slender, so young for her great responsibilities, and so beautiful! Still her physical beauty is only as the shadow which brings out the glorious light of her great spirit. Her voice, too, is gentle. Any words spoken by her are as a caress, and when she sings one thinks that an angel’s chant must be like hers. To know her and those around her is to see the Power of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. The force of this new divine springtime has awakened within them these lovely qualities and attributes of God, and their severance, evanescence, constant thought of others and their love to God are their ineffable charms.
Sister is sometimes criticized by the hard-headed, practical folk who think she should not take patients when there is absolutely no hope of their recovery. Most similar institutions in that land absolutely refuse to take people in the very last stages of this dread disease, and even if they do take them they change an exorbitantly high price. Sister, who, by tremendous sacrifice, equipped and runs her marvelous Nursing Home, which has no equal in scientific efficiency, even in that highly civilized country which is said to lead the world, is not conducting a nursing home to make money. She said very simply: “Perhaps it is my work to prepare souls to go in peace and radiant joy into the Kingdom of Light. I love to help them.” Certainly very many who come after a time are entirely
well, but no one is ever refused if there is a vacant cabin. They pay what they can. But many a one cannot pay the ordinary and not expensive fee.
Be a guest, gentle reader, and spend a week-end with this little family. It will open your eyes to how suffering, and even death, may be made an adventure of joy. You will find that each patient has quaffed the spiritual cup offered by Sister, not so much by her words as by her sweet life. These heroes and heroines on the field of suffering never once speak of their illness. They will have heart-to-heart talks with you about your problems, they pray faithfully for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon their country and that the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh may become known in every city and hamlet of their beautiful land. They speak of these Teachings to the many people who come to the spiritual meetings in their garden. No one could come to see them, see their radiant buoyancy, their patience in most trying suffering, their tenderness for one another, their devotion and solicitude to Sister, and their courage and joy when they know that their feet are almost upon the threshold of the Life Eternal—no one could see this and not say to himself, “What makes these people so happy? What do they have which transforms a little house and garden into a spot like unto Mount Carmel?”
Certainly the peace of the Mountain of God in the Holy Land has descended upon this Garden of Healing. Shopkeepers, villagers who drop in, all add their tribute to this wonderful, universal religion lived by Sister. The shopkeeper says: “I have lost money out here during my two years’ stay. Much has been difficult financially, but it has been worth it all, and more, to meet Sister and to hear this wonderful Bahá'í Teaching. I have watched her life; I have sat at her feet and learned, and when I have studied more I will go out from here and try to be a Bahá’í teacher.”
The gay-hearted young woman who has become well and is going to her home says: “I thank you so much, Sister, for this little book of ‘Hidden Words’ by Bahá’u’lláh. I shall be so happy to study it every day.”
The cook said: “Oh! but you do not know how hard Sister works. When the patients become too ill, she brings them into the house and to make room for more she sometimes puts a patient into her own bed. More than once I have known her to rest, at fitful intervals, in one of the deck chairs between two rooms, not knowing which patient would go first in that night.”
One of the nurses confided that Sister never wastes a moment of time, never dissipates her energy and she is quick in her movements as the flash of a light. As she passes about the house one is not conscious of her steps so much as the passing breath of a joyous spirit. The nurse also stated that one Saturday Sister was going up to the metropolis for the week-end, a pleasure she had never given herself since she established the Nursing Home. However, Sister worked so hard to get ready that by the time everything was arranged she said: “I am so tired I am not going. I am too weary to enjoy it or for my friends to enjoy it.”
Next morning, Sunday, everything was tranquil, there was not much to do, and for the first time in the three years she had lived there, Sister had time to go to the village church. As she came in the front door they were just carrying into the vestry one of the vestrymen, seventy-eight years old, who was taken suddenly ill with his heart. The ushers, seeing Sister enter, went to her and begged her to
hurry to the vestry. She passed down the aisle into the vestry, did what she could for this dying man and speaking to him words of comfort he passed into the Kingdom of God with her arm about him. She comforted the family, went with them to their home, where they bore their loved one, and then returned to her Nursing Home. It is the only time she has tried to take a day’s holiday, with the exceptions that she is on the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly of her country, and she has never failed to be present at the meeting in whatever city it has been held.
Every afternoon tea is served, in the garden in summer and in Sister’s office in the winter. All the patients come who are able and Sister always presides at the tea-table. Often they bring with them their copies of the “Star of the West,” which they have. been reading eagerly in the open air; they love the magazine. These are very merry occasions, but generally at the close of the hour they have a little reading of the Word of God, or they pray for Sister, or Sister prays for them, often they all pray that the souls who have passed over from their loved home may be happy and progress in the Kingdom of God, or they pray for the souls with them who are so soon to pass into the Realms of Light.
One cannot visit this Garden of Healing and not feel that the Hosts of God, the Choir Invisible, are extending boundless love and help to the souls here. In the mystery of the so-called dread disease is it not possible that these patients have their great compensation in the realization that their spirit has been awakened, that it is strong and perfectly well? They have the great bounty of knowing that their prayers to the Infinite God for the promotion of Bahá’u’lláh’s principles for brotherhood and peace will be answered if they pray faithfully. Probably only one of them had ever heard of the Bahá’í teachings until they came to that Home.
One mother, a very high church woman, came to see if it would be proper to put her son in such a spiritual environment. She came, back and said: “I only needed to look into Sister’s eyes and I knew!” Her son, who was in the Home the week-end the writer was there, said: “I made no mistake. I came to the right Home!” Tears were in his eyes, breathing was so difficult, heart was refusing to carry on, and he knew in a day or two glad release would come. One could see how he loved the touch of Sister’s hand, how the pillow seemed easier when she fluffed it gently and laid his head upon it.
Such an astonishingly beautiful example of living the Christ life! Such an example as the Garden of Healing, such a little spot of the Millenium, is quite sufficient to bring that entire country into the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. From that country, in the future, will go thousands of teachers of splendid spiritual caliber, who will carry the Message of Bahá’u’lláh into all the countries of the world. In the Golden Age whose dawn is already seen, every city, every hamlet, will become a Garden of both physical and spiritual healing.
YOU ask why I believe in the Bahá’í Movement. In a sentence I would reply by saying, it is the solvent for all of the difficulties that confront humanity today and a guide to lasting peace. It teaches us how to love all humanity and gives us a knowledge of human brotherhood, dispelling completely religious, national, racial, and class prejudices.
I was an intellectual type of person, prejudiced in my own favor. I knew that the Christian religion was the only true religion and my particular sect the nearest right; that the white race was the only race that was worthy of recognition, and intellectuality the highest standard of perfection. Why should I not know it? I had always been given this idea in churches, schools, and colleges.
In 1900 I was told that there was a great teacher in the Holy Land, ’Abdu’l-Bahá, who was giving the divinely inspired teaching that the foundation of all religions was one and that their founders were true Prophets of God. I immediately began a study of the text of the Holy Books of all the great religions, insofar as the translations were available in the large public libraries, with the intention of proving to my informant that all religions were false except the Christian faith. However, in my search, I observed in all the similarity of the sipirtual teachings, although the outward forms differed.
Then I studied the Bible, old and new testaments, as never before, and realized how God had sent great Divine Educators to the people at various times, to raise them to a higher degree of spiritual understanding. Why should not that same thing happen again? It was the voice of God speaking through these Holy Manifestations, for they even used the same symbols to express their teachings, although each one was far remote from the other. I observed also that arts and sciences developed with the growth of religions and declined as religions declined.
Then the love of Jesus, the Christ Spirit, grew upon me. I had always worshipped His personality, but now I more fully recognized the Holy Spirit shining through Him. The greatness of God became more manifest to me as I perceived the same light shining through Zoroaster, Buddha, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. These all seemed like windows through which the sunlight flooded the darkened world. Of course the followers of these Divine Leaders must be children of God for all were led by the same Light, though the speakers were many; and there was need for many, because the world was not then united by telegraph, steamship, printing press, etc. They really were not misled heathen, children of Satan, as I had always supposed, although, like us Christians, they were sometimes disobedient servants.
What a joy permeated me! I really began to realize the oneness of the world of humanity. Every face changed to me. No longer did I behold the saint and the sinner. All were children of the same God, in different stages of development, not one having attained perfection. Instead of the smaller intellectual standard that I had always held, I arose to the greater spiritual standard wherein I could learn something from everybody. I began to realize that we can be so intellectual that we
are hard-hearted and thoughtless of others. Intellectuality can even go so far as to lead people to spend all their time producing instruments for the destruction of their fellow-man. We can be so fond of wealth and social position as to waste our time in frivolities. This condition cannot be right. The only real living is one rich Divine virtue.
After I had reached this point in my independent search for truth, I was ready at last to turn again to the words of Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá, for they had started me thinking in lines far beyond anything I had ever dreamed of. Through them I had learned to separate truth from creeds and dogmas in all sects and religions and to see their underlying oneness. I have found the Bahá’í Revelation to be so in harmony with science and man’s spiritual nature that it is always reasonable. It is a religion that we can live up to as well as profess. It proves satisfactorily that the economic problems of the day require a spiritual treatment; that one’s occupation may be regarded as an act of worship, if we are rendering unselfish service to humanity. It teaches that faith does not consist in belief and acceptance, it consists in deeds. Its ideals are so high that it is a growing thing and when put into practice will stop war, make peace, and answer every question.
In our own home, through practical application of the Bahá’í principles, a large group of people have become interested in world unity. These people, coming from all sects of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews are perfectly united with each other in love and harmony. Through understanding the others’ viewpoint. This is not tolerance, but such devoted friendship for each other that the separation of only a week seems long. This is one of the miracles that Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá have wrought in our midst and has been a demonstration of its uniting power to man in our city. The same unity among believers in the Bahá’í movement is found all over the world.
A uniting power is the world’s greatest need today. In the past eighty years material inventions have united the earth, but intellectual and spiritual unity has not taken place.
The Bahá’í movement is bound to be the religion of the future, because it is educational, constructive, recognizing the truth in all and impelling love for all humanity. It proves its Divine source and power by the fact that it has already united large numbers of people from all races, religions, classes and nations.
“God has sent forth the Prophets for the purpose of quickening the soul of man into higher and divine recognitions. He has revealed heavenly books for this great purpose.”–’Abdu’l-Baha.
“Be free from prejudice; so will you love the Sun of Truth, from whatever point in the horizon it may arise.“–'Abdu'l-Bahá.
THE United States of the World is not an imaginary thing any more. It became a living Reality to me during the past summer at the Conference of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, which took place in August at Oberammergau, Bavaria, when I discovered that from all parts of the world, people had gathered to work and co-operate for the promotion of Unity and Peace and were preparing the way to make this tossed and torn earthball of ours a fit place to live in.
This nucleus of Protestants, Catholics, settlement workers, ministers, artists, musicians and others, brought immediately vividly to my mind the Words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá: “The man who lives the life according to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is already a Bahá’í. . . . . To be a Bahá’í simply means to love all the world; to love humanity and try to serve it; to Work for universal peace and universal brotherhood.” And again he defined a Bahá'í as “one endowed with all the perfections of man in activity.”
Did I not know that Bahá’u’lláh came to create a new earth, to develop a new people, and would bring them forth when the world was in utmost need? The new world is coming under our very eyes, did we but perceive it. Here at this very Conference at Oberammergau, representatives from about twenty-five nations, clear-visioned types, were forming an international family of two hundred persons, thus foreshadowing the time, not very far distant, when the dragon will have been bound and made silent forever, “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” Deeply and strongly I became convinced that these brave men and women of the Conference, whose intellectual and spiritual faculties were so evenly balanced and highly developed, were representative of the new spiritual type destined for this new age for humanity at large. The new humanity is coming into existence in various parts of the world.
The keynote of all the meetings covering a wide range of the most vital questions of our complex civilization—complicated especially in Europe—was the finding of the one Father of us all, bowing in humility before Him, and knowing understandingly that only through His Power can we accomplish the task set before us. The Christ ideal is the banner which they hold aloft and which inspires them. Did not ’Abdu’l-Bahá answer, when asked by a Christian, “Can I be a Christian when I am a Bahá’í?” And the beloved ’Abdu’l-Bahá answered, “If thou art a Christian, thou art a true Bahá’í, but the real Christians are rare.”
Now is the Age when people are becoming illumined and truly understand the meaning of Christ’s Message as never before. The saints of today are those who fearlessly give themselves to the service of God and humanity. It is through the appearance of the Bahá’í Revelation and its Divine Manifestors—the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá, that the Message of Christ is really taking root in human hearts:
’Abdu’l-Bahá said, “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 spiritual springtimes and seasons of the soul-refreshing awakening and the cause of the renovation of the life of mankind. The spring of this year is the same as the spring of last year. The origins and the ends are the same. The sun of today is the sun of yesterday. 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.”
--PHOTO-- Street in the lower village.
Music was a part of the morning and evening devotionals at the Conference, and the meetings were very spiritual in character. Beautiful chorals, more or less adapted to the spirit of the Conference, were sung in unison. Aside from this, the unusual combination of a musical family (father, three daughters, and a friend), playing every instrument—flute, organ, piano, viola, violin, with exquisite solo and quartette singing, created the best atmosphere possible to inspire speakers and audience in their efforts to give and to take. Music as an expression of devotion to God is of almost unlimited power. It is hoped that the great art of Max Loeffler and his musical family, before
--PHOTO-- The Mill Stream
very long, will be heard on this side of the water.
At this International Conference there was also an international summer school, with young people from all over Europe in attendance, receiving the instruction that would qualify them to become efficient servers in the field of international relationships.
As the spreading of the Esperanto language is one of the aims of this organization, it was decided at their last session that at their next Conference this international auxiliary language will be used at their meetings instead of French, German, or English.
The city of Oberammergau, where the Conference took place, affords just the atmosphere necessary for such a gathering,—a place consecrated to Christ for some centuries, enjoying a world reputation for the inspiring and faithful interpretation of the Passion Play,—it has a nimbus, a quality not easily found elsewhere, the Holy Land excepted. There is a loveliness of spirit, a calmness, which acts as the “soothing balm of Gilead” on our strained nerves. The village is filled with the memory of Christ, and at unexpected places of great natural beauty, you are invited to meditate and pray. The spirit of the village people, too,
--PHOTO-- Birdseye View of the City of Oberammergau
expresses itself in such a holy love and friendship that one wishes it might effect the whole world.
From all the inquiries which have been made, it seems to be an established fact that even before the “vow” which the people of Oberammergau made in 1633, Passion Plays had been given. But it was in 1633, at the time when the “pest” was spreading all over Europe, threatening to make its appearance also in their mountain districts, that the Oberammergauer made the “vow” to repeat the Passion Play every tenth year. As they were saved from the pest, they have been faithful to their vow ever since. The thoughts of the Passion govern the conduct of the people more or less all through life, for from the cradle it is instilled in every heart, and their highest wish is to be worthy to become a member of the Passion Play.
“The Fellowship of Reconciliation believes that the Kingdom of God on
earth is the alternative to the present world system and the only permanent form of human society. To belong to the Fellowship, therefore, means to be a part of an international brotherhood within which there can be no more war, and they seek to unite with one another, people of all races, churches, nations and classes.”
’Abdu’l-Bahá so clearly explains to us the reality, the true foundation for these relationships:
“WHEN CHRISTIANS act according to the teachings of Christ, they are called Bahá’ís. For the foundations of Christianity and the religion of Bahá’u’lláh are one. The foundations of all the Divine Prophets and Holy Books are one. The difference among them is one of terminology only. Each springtime is identical with the former springtime. The distinction between them is only one of the calendar—1911, 1912, etc. The difference between a Christian and a Bahá’í, therefore, is this: there was a former springtime and there is a springtime now. No other difference exists because the foundations are the same.”
It is natural for the average individual to feel perplexed and dismayed when he contemplates the economic system under which we live. It is so extremely complicated, with such interdependence of industries, and the channels through which goods flow from producer to consumer are so well-defined, that, at first glance, there seems to be no possibility of effecting such a re-organization of the system as will make it function for universal human welfare.
The conviction is undoubtedly spreading among intelligent men, that the law of the jungle—individualism and ruthless competition—will some day be overruled by the law of altruism and co-operation, and many of us want to do what we can to bring about the change.
We seem to be faced with a hopeless situation.
As a consequence, we are inclined to feel that the solution of the problem must be left to later generations, and to lapse into indifference and inaction, since we can see no way of doing anything practical in bringing about the results which we know to be essential and inevitable if civilized human life is to continue.
Is there no way, of tackling the problem? . . . .
Where, then, can we begin?
Is it not likely that the chief reasons for our bewilderment and the chief impediments to our usefulness are a lack of information, and an inability to understand the significance and relationship of the various factors which are involved in the present system?
If this is true, we need not sit around and sigh for opportunities to perform some great and noble work for mankind, but, instead, we should try to increase our knowledge and our capacity to think straight; we should keep “the windows of the soul,” through which we look at life, bright and clean; we should renew daily our consecration to the ideal of human well-being.
In our task of reforming the world, we should begin with ourselves.
If we see the light, and keep pointing to it, others will be guided in that direction, and with the spread of knowledge and understanding, the way of progress will become more and more clear, until the path of righteousness and brotherhood, which only a few great seers have trod, will become a highway for all humanity. –Editorial, Canadian Railroad Employees Monthly.
One of the greatest bars to Internationalism, and one of the most difficult to overcome, is racial antipathy. A very little reflection tells us that civilization would have been impossible if men had not realized, in some degree, the necessity of co-operative effort, and the broadening of their social contacts. Indeed, the whole history of civilization may be said to consist, fundamentally, in a progressive widening of human relationship.
One has only to recall the late appalling conflict between the foremost nations of the world; observe the unhappy conditions which exist at the present time among the peoples of the earth; and realize the almost universal suspicion, jealousy and mistrust with which the nations regard each other, to be convinced that nationalism, as it exists at present, is far from being an ideal condition of things. We cannot, therefore, regard it as the end and goal of social evolution, the last and highest stage in human relationships.
Social evolution cannot stop at nationalism; its very imperfections, its essential narrowness, and the antipathies it seems naturally to engender, forbid this. We are bound to regard it as only one of the necessary stages by which we may ultimately reach that wider, sounder and saner relationship, the relationship of Internationalism: wherein all the peoples of the earth, without regard for race, creed or color, may be associated together in the widest bonds of amity, good-will and fellowship; and where each member of this world-wide confederation has for its aim and object the well-being of the human race as a whole.
If the past, with its many painful lessons, its injustices, its agonies and its sufferings, has any meaning for us at all; if man’s inhumanity to man is to cease; then it is clear we cannot stop short of this objective and this ideal.
If we in the West have achieved tremendous results on the material side of life; if we have learned to control and harness to our use some of the great forces of nautre; if we have added largely to the comforts and conveniences of life; if we have speeded up the wheels of industry; covered the seven seas with our commerce; annihilated distances with our air-service, and brought the ends of the earth into intimate touch with our radio; they, too, have made their contributions to humanity, contributions, it may be, of higher and more lasting value than our own, for theirs have been largely the imperishable gifts of the spirit. If the East has much to learn from the West, the West has much to learn from the East; and if we have given much to them, they have also given much to us.—Excerpts from article by Prof. Chas. Hill-Tout in The International Forum.
As I have said before, Geneva is especially interesting during the sessions of the Assembly. The city curves around the shore of Lake Leman and runs down each branch of the turbulent Rhone, which is crossed by several bridges. Along the whole
of the lake front are broad promenades called “quais” backed by boulevards. Behind the boulevards is a solid line of hotels. During the Assembly period, each hotel displays the flags of the countries whose delegates are staying there. So it is that the flags of fifty-five nations fly above Geneva at one time. One sees people of all nationalities on the streets and hears all languages spoken. Truly, it is an “international city.” Many times the representatives of the Great Powers hold private little meetings in their hotel rooms. At these times the hotel lobbies are crowded with newspapermen who are waiting to buttonhole the big men when they come down.
Another of the interesting institutions in Geneva is the International School. The Secretariat of the League employs four hundred people and felt the need of a special school along progressive lines for their children. So this school was founded in a little town just outside Geneva. At present children of about seventeen different countries are in attendance. Here a child can easily learn almost any language he chooses, because there is someone there who knows it thoroughly.
There is a club near the University of Geneva for the students of all countries maintained by the students themselves. Here the students of all Europe mingle in a friendship that will some day go a long way toward helping the League attain its ideal.
After all, it is the young people who will determine the fate of the League in a few years, and if we are intelligently informed, and morally sane, we will strive to continue the work which has been begun by the men of this generation.—Excerpt from an article on “Youth Will Determine Fate of League,“ by David G. Wilson, Jr., in League of Nations News.
The Bahá’í Year Book, Volume 1, April, 1925, to April, 1926, prepared under the supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada, with the approval of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Cause, is a significant contribution to the literature increasingly valuable for the study of the World-wide Movement known as the Bahá'í Cause. By every adherent of the Faith it will be found exceedingly helpful as a survey of current Bahá’í activities, an accurate statement of the Principles as well as a presentation of new material of great interest. By sympathizers, and likewise those who follow modern movements of spiritual value and humanitarian influence, the Bahá’í Year Book will be found to reveal a perhaps unexpectedly wide and deep penetration of the ideals established by Bahá’u’lláh eighty years ago. Price $1.00.
Address: The Bahá’í Publishing Committee, P. O. Box 348, Grand Central
Station, New York City.