| ←Issue 8 | Star of the West Volume 19 - Issue 9 |
Issue 10→ |
 Proofread onceReturn to PDF view
|
We are working hard to have proofread and nicely formatted text for you to read. Here is our progress on this section:
|
| VOL. 19 | DECEMBER, 1928 | NO. 9 |
| Page | |
A Prophet Revitalizes the World, ’Abdu’l-Bahá | 258 |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 259 |
The Liberation of Elizabeth, Florence E. Pinchon | 262 |
The God That Answereth by Fire, Keith Ransom-Kehler | 268 |
Disarmament of Minds, Martha, L. Root | 270 |
Can Prayer Heal?, Walter B. Guy, M. D. | 274 |
The Christ Spirit, Lilian Rea | 279 |
The Law of Giving, Catherine E. Hall | 282 |
The Hidden Jewels, Loulie Mathews | 284 |
The Progress of Esperanto | 287 |
of Dr. Zia M. Bagdadi; preserved, fostered and by them turned over to the National Spiritual Assembly, with all valuable assets,
as a gift of love to the Cause of God.STANWOOD COBB | Editor |
MARIAM HANEY | Associate Editor |
MARGARET B. MCDANIEL | Business Manager |
Subscriptions: $3.00 per year; 25 cents a copy. Two copies to same name and address, $5.00 per year. Please send change of address by the middle of the month and be sure to send OLD as well as NEW address. Kindly send all communications and make postoffice orders and checks payable to Baha'i News Service, 706 Otis Building, Washington, D. C., U. S. A. Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the postoffice at Washington, D. C., under the Act of March 3, 1897. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in Section 1103 Act of October 3, 1917, authorized September 1, 1922.
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.-’Abdu’l-Bahá.
| VOL. 19 | DECEMBER, 1928 | NO. 9 |
world of humanity, * * * then will the justice of God become manifest, all humanity will appear as the members of one family and every member of that family will be consecrated to cooperation
and mutual assistance.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.AS I WAS sitting in Lafayette Park on a beautiful October day, watching pigeons peacefully feeding in the mellow sunlit sward, there suddenly came two sharp reports, as of guns. Immediately the peaceful scene was changed to one of confusion and flight. In a thick cloud the timid birds whirred into the air and veered away from the scene of danger. Thus instantly the whole tenor of their life became changed, the normal pursuits of a livelihood abandoned, and all activities convulsed.
So, at the alarm of war, were the activities of peace-times, in the European countries engaged, turned to non-productive ends; and their normal occupations transformed into those connected with war. The whole civilization of Europe became convulsed and retarded to an incomputable degree. Her world ascendancy took flight perhaps forever.
Not only how unwise, but how needless war is, in the race of competition between nations! What is needed is not fratricidal strife, but cooperation in the scientific exploitation of nature’s marvelous and abundant resources.
IN THE RECENT International Chemist Convention held at Pittsburg, reports were made by a British scientist of a successful process for converting wood into food suitable for
animals and the plan of carrying this experiment to the point of providing human food from wood-fibre; and a German scientist reported his discovery of a process to make gasoline from the lowest grades of coal, at a rate almost half that of gasoline made from natural oil; and as a by-product, this same coal has been successfully turned into rubber.
How much better, to find new sources for engine-fuel, than to go to war for the control of oil-fields! Or to discover a way to make synthetic rubber, than to battle for possession of the raw supply of the natural product! Earth holds enough for all, provided that human ingenuity and human energy are properly applied—under stable conditions of amity and peace—to the problems of human need.
There was more excuse for war in the days before science had shown man how to acquire peacefully immense wealth—in those days when the wealth of sister nations accumulated by exploitation tempted strong peoples to war as the surest road to power and prosperity. But if any now sacredly believe in war as a sure road to national wealth and prosperity, they have fatally misread the “Mene, mene, tekel, Upharsum,” written on the walls of human understanding by that finger of Destiny—the Great World War. No, today wealth is not made, but dissipated, by war; prosperity
is not based on war, but on the peaceful exploitation of nature rather than of man.
EVEN COMMERCE is seen, in the light of modern economic findings, to be closely dependent upon amity between nations. And the surprising fact becomes apparent—as regards international trade—that all the main exporting nations have in the last decade increased greatly the volume of their trade with South America. How has this seeming miracle happened? It had been thought that if one country gained greater trade with a second country, it must win that increase from other rival importing countries. But now we see that this is not so. All countries have increased trade with South America, for the reason that South American countries have of late been increasing greatly their national wealth by means of more successful exploitation of their natural resources.
The same thing will come true of Asia, and of Africa. As these continents develop the arts and sciences of modern technical civilization, they will add greatly to their own riches and at the same time offer a fertile field for the importation of goods from other countries.
JOHN HAYS HAMMOND, in speaking recently before the Boston Chamber of Commerce, advocating a Permanent International High Court of equity to deal with questions of commercial character, said:
“A state of universal well-being and prosperity is insured by the world’s natural resources. What one section of the world lacks in certain resources, it will find compensation in other resources. There is hardly a nation in the world that cannot be made to produce commodities essential to other parts of the world, even in those countries now uninhabited.
“We live in an age of wasted opportunity.
There are on this earth, hundreds of millions of human beings who merely eke out a miserable existence, owing to lack of opportunity to engage in productive industry. These people, with their pitiably low standard of living, are today a liability, but tomorrow could be converted into an asset in the ledger of civilization. An enormous volume of trade and commerce would result from an increased purchasing power and higher standards of living of the peoples if the resources of these nations were adequately developed.”
IT IS AS if in perception of the great law of cosmic inter-relationship that John Carter in a recent book, gives the following lofty vision of America’s mission to the world:
“Our interest in the world is to influence without governing, to collaborate without acquiring, to expand without conflict, to prosper without compulsion. We should not lay a finger on the flags, governments, cultures, civilizations, languages and loyalties of the peoples of the world. * * * Respect for the national rights of others should be the first law of our political conduct. * * * We should learn to make our power convenient and necessary to the world at large, to let America become a luxury which the world would not do without, to serve rather than control the nations. * * * As a nation, in short, we are slowly pressing out on the world and are inarticulately striving to remake it in our national image. But this we cannot achieve by policy of power. * * * The guiding spirit of our financial policy should be to promote the prosperity of every part of the globe where political conditions or economic distress threaten international ill-will or social disorder.”
Thus the welfare of one country is seen to be the welfare of all countries; and the economic depression of one
country is an economic misfortune to all countries. The whole world, in fact, is bound together by an invisible nexus; and can achieve its greatest prosperity and highest civilization only through unity and cooperation.
THIS IS THE supreme truth the Bahá’i Movement offers, that mankind is in reality one, and must learn to function as one. ’Abdu’l-Bahá makes clear, in the following passage, this great cosmic fact of interrelation and interdependence as applied to human affairs:
“All the infinite beings exist by the law of mutual action and helpfulness. Should this law of joint interchange of forces be removed from the arena of life, existence would be entirely destroyed.
“When we ponder deeply on the connection and interdependence of beings we clearly realize that the life of every being draws benefit and sustenance
from all the other innumerable existences. This mutual helpfulness is realized either directly or through mediation and if for the twinkling of an eye, this confirmation and assistance does not descend upon the living being, that one will become nonexistent, for all the existing things are linked together and draw help from each other * * * The greatest foundation of the world of existence is this cooperation and mutuality. * * * The base of life is this mutual aid and helpfulness, and the cause of destruction and nonexistence would be the interruption of this mutual assistance. The more the world aspires to civilization the more this most important matter of cooperation and assistance becomes manifest. In the world of humanity one sees this matter of helpfulness attain to a high degree of efficiency; so much so that the continuance of humanity entirely depends upon this inter-relation.”
the aid of his contemporaries any great thing in life? United members of an organism or assembly will be in power and able to accomplish great deeds. Human beings singly and alone cannot fully achieve a great good thing; in fact man cannot live solitary.
“Therefore, life must be lived in unison in society; and when socially united, fully united, they can do everything.
“When one family is well united, great results are obtained. If this circle of unity be widened so as to include and control the interests of an entire village to the extent that all the members of its population are fully united and in perfect accord; the results will be accordingly. Now widen the circle again! Let a city be united and the results will be still greater. Widen the circle yet more and have the people of a country united; then, indeed, important results shall be forthcoming. And if a continent is fully united and will unite all the other continents, then is the time when the greatest result shall obtain.”
THE short English winter afternoon was drawing to a close, as Elizabeth stood before the door of the beautiful country house belonging to her new friend. All the way there she had been thinking hard, her mind filled with eager questions and strangely disturbed by the book she had been reading, and which she had now called to return, concerning a world-wide religious movement.
Although the daughter of the parish Vicar, Elizabeth was neither unacquainted with nor unsympathetic to the trend of modern thought. But she was perplexed and bewildered by the controversies then raging around so many deeply-rooted beliefs and long-cherished doctrines, and by the claims of conflicting parties, within the English Church itself, to give correct interpretations of Christian truths. It seemed to her at times as though the safe anchorage of her very Faith and happiness was being destroyed and her soul cast adrift upon an uncharted sea of doubt and uncertainty.
Three years of mission-work in India (which owing to a breakdown in health she had been forced to relinquish), had served to broaden her outlook and render her father’s narrow creed no longer wholly satisfying. Yet how to discern between what was true and what untrue? How to know what to accept and what reject? In the clash between science and religious doctrines, which was right? And where was she going to place the claims made in the arresting utterances of this world Prophet? Was it indeed a Revelation from God, or ........................................
The maid opened the door and led her into the cozy sitting-room where a bright fire was burning, explaining that her mistress had been summoned
to a neighbor’s sick child, but had left word that she would be back quite soon.
Elizabeth decided to wait. “No, Kate, please don’t light up” she said. “I like sitting in the twilight.”
The maid departed and Elizabeth turned to take a seat by the fire when, to her surprise, she saw that the armchair on the opposite side was occupied. Some guest who was staying in the house, of course, whose presence in the room Kate had not noticed. During her momentary hesitation, however, the stranger, whom she judged in the dusky light to be a clergyman, rose, and bowing with quiet dignity, motioned her to the other chair.
“Won’t you be seated,” said a voice whose friendliness put her at once at ease. “Our kind hostess will not be long.”
Elizabeth sat down, and removing her gloves, stretched her hands to the cheerful blaze. “It is good to be here,” she observed, and then wondered at her own remark. She glanced at the figure opposite whose outline still seemed indistinct in the flickering shadows, and something of her usual self-possession slipped away.
“You are, of course, a clergyman,” she said, making an effort to speak casually, “like my father, who is Vicar here.”
“I knew your father—in his youth,” came the unexpected answer, “and also the great disappointment so bravely and silently borne by his daughter, in leaving the mission-field.”
Elizabeth was startled. How on earth did he know that? But, no doubt, Alice Crawford had mentioned the fact when speaking of her father. Yet, lying within the simple words
was some thing—some depth of intimate sympathy and understanding-that pierced the girl’s heart, discovering an old and hidden wound. Alarmed, she found herself suddenly on the verge of tears. She, who so rarely betrayed such evidences of emotion. She clutched the arms of her chair in a stern effort to recover control and concentrate on what the Visitor was saying. It seemed as though he was aware of her struggle and wanted to give her time. Now she caught the words:
“You asked if I were a Priest of the Established Church . . . But other sheep I have . . . not of this fold . . . them also I must bring; that there may be one fold and one shepherd.”
“Why, how extraordinary!—The very text she had been pondering during her afternoon walk! A case of telepathy surely. Surprised out of herself, she leaned forward, her whole being alert, for in that moment there had flashed upon her the conviction that here, at last, was Someone who possessed the power to help her solve her problems and perplexities and set her mind at rest. Every moment then was precious. Almost breathlessly she repeated-
“One fold and one shepherd”—would you be so kind as to tell me, what did our Lord really mean by that?” “Of course,” she continued, I was taught it meant that the whole world would embrace Christianity. So I became a missionary. But today there are still millions more Muslims than Christians, to say nothing of Jews, Parsees, Buddhists, followers of Confucius . . .”
A ruddy flame leapt in the fire, and cast a warm glow over the Visitor’s face.
“The truths taught by the Lord Jesus,” said the quiet voice, “are eternal, but men’s understanding of them deepens and their application widens, with the widening world. How do
you think the disciples would have interpreted the “one fold?”
Elizabeth’s answer was ready enough. “Syria, the Greek and Roman empires, India and China—all the then known earth. Oh, I see!” as the idea flashed upon her, “you mean that the fold now-a-days would have to include America and Australia—a far greater world. But,” she persisted, “that only makes it more evident that, after two thousand years, Jesus is still not acknowledged as the one shepherd.”
“Just so,’ ’came the reply. “But is not this because you have always thought in terms of the only Shepherd? Yet, does not history reveal that, since the dawn of human life, down from the eternal heights of God, from the innermost Heart of Being, have ever come Good Shepherds, and always with the same purpose, to guide mankind step by step up the steep pathway of spiritual progress back to the Father’s fold? Men have known them by different names—Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad; and although outward laws and teachings were given by each suited to the times and capacities of the people to whom they came, yet the essence of their Message was the same. Through each Voice rang the loving Command of God, calling to the heedless and wandering ones—“Come unto Me! I am the Life, the Truth, the Way.” And now, in the early morning of this New Day, once again has a Good Shepherd been sent to the world, to gather together the scattered, bewildered, erring souls of men, no matter to what religious fold they may belong, to remove the barriers between them, and unite the different flocks into one great Faith and Fold of Divine Unity.”
“Are you referring” questioned Elizabeth, “to a Prophet called the “Glory of God”-Bahá’u’lláh?” And then, as beneath that searching
glance she felt compelled to utter her inmost thoughts, “Never, she cried in dismay, could I put this Man, great as He may be, in the place of Jesus Christ! I should feel so—so utterly disloyal!”
Across the face of the Visitor flitted a smile of such tenderness that before it something of the girl’s indignation died away.
“Did you enjoy the sun yesterday?”
“Certainly,” she responded, surprised by the irrelevant question.
“Did you rejoice in the light of the sun to-day?’’
“Yes—of course.”
“Was that being disloyal to the sun of yesterday? It was the same, yet not the same, you know.”
As Elizabeth paused to consider this, the stranger continued:—“That is the mistake common to all adherents of the great religions; to the followers of Moses and Muhammad, as well as to Christians. They worship the lamp, rather than the light, the form instead of the spirit, the personality of the Messenger is made to obscure His Message. In the Perfect Mirrors of the Manifestations the Sun of Truth is reflected, and men worship these Mirrors, forgetting that “God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Jesus referred to the Spiritual Light shining through Him, and not to His own personality, or lamp, when He said to the unbelieving Jews: ‘Before Abraham was I am.’”
To Elizabeth, while the Voice was speaking, the so familiar passages began to glow with wholly new meanings. She felt herself leaving well-worn paths and swinging out into some wonderful new world of knowledge and comprehension. Yet it was not easy to relinquish beliefs which had been instilled into her from childhood.
“Surely,” she objected, “Christ’s work and teachings were perfect.
What need is there, therefore, for any other Savior?”
“We have Abraham to our father. What need have we of another?” came the swift response. Will you use the same argument as did the Jews? The teachings given by Jesus were indeed perfect; and had the world been able to fully understand them and live in accordance therewith such a noble civilization would have existed to-day that the advent of another Teacher might not yet have been necessary. But in that time and age there was much Jesus could not reveal, since it could not have been assimilated. ‘I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all Truth, for He will take the things that are Mine, and reveal them unto you.’
“Alas! the pure essence of Christ’s teachings have been clouded by the misunderstandings, dogmas, and superstitions of those who profess to be His disciples; so have they lost much of their spiritual potency, their transforming and illuminating power. And just as it is wintertime with us, so also it is winter in all the religions of the world.
“Can you, my child,” continued the speaker, “consider the pitiful condition into which Christianity has fallen, with all its rival sects, cults and creeds, its controversies and materialism, and say there is “no need” for a renewal of spiritual energy and guidance? Surely the great Message of Unity and Peace which Bahá’u’lláh has brought is of supreme importance and vital to the very existence of civilization.”
“But,” pursued Elizabeth, as though thinking aloud, “does not our Lord’s immaculate conception distinguish Him from all and above all other Prophets?”
A smile of infinite patience illumined the countenance of the Stranger, as he answered: “If the greatness
of Jesus lies in the fact that He possessed no earthly father, then should Adam, who had no parents, be accounted twice as great. It should be remembered that such legends concerning their deities were common to all the pagan religions among whom Christianity was promulgated; and by degrees these pagan and Judaic ideas were grafted upon the simplicity of the original and given places of outstanding importance. Around the birth of the Lord Buddha, six hundred years before, had grown up a similar story.
“Thus it is that such doctrines as Original Sin, Vicarious Atonement, and the Fall of Man—growing out of the allegory of the Garden of Eden—which is the pictorial presentation of the descent of the spiritual man into matter—have overlaid the true meanings and led to false and perverted interpretations. Yet, as you know, these cramping dogmas and limited ideas are rapidly giving way before the light now being shed upon the world by the amazing discoveries and developments of science—developments which are but one ray flashed from this New Revelation, and one effect of a new spiritual Cause and Dynamic.”
“Yes,” assented Elizabeth simply. “My father does not like to emphasize these doctrines now. Beliefs and opinions are changing and becoming so divided within the Church itself, he says he scarcely knows what to preach. Yet is he bound to uphold its authority.”
“Ah, yes!” replied the Visitor sadly, “that is the trouble. The Church, its traditions and man-made institutions have usurped the place of Christ, and inculcated the belief that salvation lies in obedience to its dictates, instead of in faith in the Anointed of God and a life lived in harmony with the Spirit He manifested. It was to break up the ice of literalism and formalism which encrusted the teachings of Moses, and set
freely flowing the living water of spiritual meaning, that Christ came. And now has Bahá’u’lláh come to bring the same liberation for Christianity and for all the religions of the world. For man is everywhere prone to crystallize lovely principles and sublime teachings into dogma, to debase them into incorrect doctrines and then into mythical past phenomena.”
“But what of the Atonement?” inquired Elizabeth.
“Here again,” came the clear answer, “Bible symbolism has been interpreted in a literal sense. Jesus was not made the innocent victim of an offended Deity. But by His life, sufferings and teaching, He inspired and enabled man to transcend his lower animal nature and make an atone-ment or union with God, the divine principle within his own nature, attaining through faith and deeds to spiritual consciousness.”
“But the sacraments? she faltered. Are not these necessary?”
“My child,” replied the Voice which seemed now to speak to her from the mysterious heart of the universe itself—to come from the warm glow of the fire and from the early stars shining through the windows above the bare branches of the garden trees. “Ritual, in any form, is only helpful when used, like prayer and meditation, as the means for a soul’s realization of God, not as an end in itself. Often have I stood, all unseen, at the door of your Church, while around me swirled the falling leaves, the winter rain and storm. I have heard your solemn chants and muttered litanies, breathed the incense of the swinging censers, watched the posturings and processions, gazed upon the gold and tinsel, the blood-stained flags and embroidered banners, the strange ceremonies whose origin and significance were to the worshippers almost unknown. These things belong not to the Christ of Galilee! They are but the faded leaves, the debris
of Christianity—soon to be swept away by the winds of heaven, and to lie forgotten with the dust of the ages. For behold! the spiritual Springtime of the world approaches, before which every superstition and imagination of men shall be annihilated and all that is false shall be destroyed.”
The eyes of Elizabeth were riveted upon the luminous countenance of the Speaker. Surely it had grown more distinct—and—yes—familiar. Like a treasured picture of the Christ which hung on her bedroom wall at home. A sense of being in some loved Presence stole over her; yet was her mind keenly awake, her brain one big burning question mark.
Eagerly she continued: “But are we not distinctly warned to beware of false prophets who would arise?”
Came the instant response. “And is not this in itself an intimation that Prophets, both true and false, are to be expected? “He that receiveth a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophet’s reward.” “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be of God.” Not ignore or deny, you see, but examine the claims of those who declare they are God’s Messengers. Have you not even been given tests by which to prove the truth of such claims?”
For one perilous moment Elizabeth’s pride rose in revolt. Was she being reproved—although with such gentleness—for failing to understand the Bible? She, a teacher, and the daughter of a Priest? But before the clear and compassionate gaze that seemed to read her very soul, pride could only bow its head; while from her heart rose involuntarily, the cry of one of old: “Lord, I believe. Help Thou my unbelief!” Then humbly she said: “These proofs—please explain. For I feel that I understand—nothing.
“That is the beginning of all true understanding” answered the Voice.
“Let us take then the test given by St. John. “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” Had ye believed Christ, says Bahá’u’lláh, ye would have believed me. He beareth witness to Me and I bear witness to Him.” “Do ye read the Gospel and still do not acknowledge the Glorious Lord?” “Surely the Father hath come and fulfilled that whereunto you were promised in the Kingdom of God.” “This is indeed the Father, whereof Isaiah gave you tidings, and the Comforter from whom Christ hath received the Covenant.” So, you see, Bahá’u’lláh claims to have come in fulfilment of Christ’s own words, to renew and continue His work in the world. Christianity is as the bud of the full flower of this New Revelation. To inhale the perfume of the one is to recognize, by that same perfume, the other. None can truly understand the Station of Bahá’u’lláh, who fails to acknowledge that of all the previous Messengers. A Jew, for instance, who becomes a Bahá’i, thereby reveres the name of Jesus, as God’s Anointed.
Surely it is not possible to read, with an unprejudiced mind, the story of the matchless wisdom, knowledge and patience of the “Glory of God,” the radiant life and love of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, of the heroic courage of the young Báb, and fail to discern the manifold signs of their Divine Mission!
Who, of himself, incarcerated for life in a Turkish prison, would have dared to address the crowned heads of Europe, as a king addressing his subjects; exhorting them to establish righteousness within their realms; stating His supreme authority; and prophesying the ruin that awaited them should they let His warnings go unheeded?
It is only necessary to compare the historical evidence of this Cause, side by side with the numerous prophetic utterances of both the Old and New
Testaments, to become convinced that herein lies a marvelous fulfilment. Referring to this Advent Jesus said:-“I will go and come again.” “But of that day and hour knoweth no man; no, not the angels of Heaven, not even the Son of Man Himself, but the FATHER only.”
In the Bible too, you will find enumerated the signs that will accompany such an event:—universal tribulation, wars and “earthquakes in divers places,” the fall of principalities and powers and long-established spiritual authorities; the Gospel preached in many lands, the return of the Jews to Palestine, speed of traveling, the changing of age-long animosities among nations into peace and harmony. Then we can find references to Carmel and the fortified city (’Akká); and to One who shall be called “Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,” and of whose government and of Peace there shall be no end. Are not these clearly shown as those great international, social and economic laws laid down by Bahá’u’lláh to serve as a basis for a new world civilization, to His Message of inter-racial and inter-religious Unity and Concord?
For the supreme proof of a Manifestation is the effect of His teachings upon the hearts and minds of men, not alone during His lifetime, but through all the centuries that follow. This is the proof of the station of Moses, Muhammad, the Buddha. “How shall we know the Word which the Lord hath spoken?” “My Word shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish the thing whereunto it was sent.” And the spirit and power of this Revelation are, to-day, transforming lives, illuminating minds in every land on earth, permeating and revitalizing every realm of thought and activity.”
And now it seemed to the rapt and awe-struck listener that through the accents of the Voice there rang an infinite
love, joy and power, such as could only belong to a Holy One of God. While from before her spiritual sight, veil after veil lifted that hid the sacred fires burning upon the altar of the Temple of Truth; and upon her astonished mind glowed and flashed the priceless treasures concealed within the caskets of allegory, parable and psalm. Rent asunder were the clouds of prejudice, misunderstanding, and outworn belief, and behold! the WORD Itself stood revealed, clothed in the beauty and radiance of Reality.
So wonderful a revelation, such a glad rush of recognition and happiness was more than Elizabeth could bear. As the Voice ceased, the Presence rose and over her, extended hands outstretched in blessing. Majesty shone on the wide brow crowned by a tall white turban, and emanated from the noble Form clad in its flowing aba. Overwhelmed, she flung herself on her knees, crying “My Lord, my Lord, Thou art in truth He-whom-God-should-manifest!”
And, as the Vision faded, the echo of the loved Voice came to her, like a dying chord of that celestial Melody which evermore would wake within her,—“Blessed art thou, Elizabeth, for flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but the Father in Heaven.”
* * * * *
It must have been but a few minutes later when Alice Crawford hurried into the room and found the girl still kneeling on the hearthrug. “My dear—whatever is the matter?” she inquired in alarm, switching on the lights.
Elizabeth raised herself slowly, like one awakening from a wonderful dream. “Oh, Alice, she cried with shining eyes, I have seen . . . the Spirit of Truth . . . and He has indeed taken the things that are Christ’s . . . and revealed them . . . unto . . . me!”
AND Elijah* said: “Gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel”
And Elijah came unto all the people and said, “How long halt ye between two opinions?” If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him. Of two bullocks let them choose one for themselves and lay it on wood and put no fire under—and I will dress the other bullock and put no fire under—and ye call on the name of your Gods and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God that answereth by fire, let Him be God.” And they took the bullock and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon saying, “Oh Baal hear us,” but there was no voice nor any that answered.” And at noon Elijah mocked them saying: “Cry aloud for he is a God; either he is talking or out hunting or on a journey; he may even be asleep and must be awakened.” And they prophesied until the time of the evening sacrifice but there was neither voice nor any that regarded.”
Then Elijah the prophet came near and said: “Lord God, let it be known this day that Thou art God in Israel. Hear me, Oh Lord, hear me that this people may know that Thou art the Lord God and that Thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt-sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench.
“And when the people saw it they fell upon their faces and said: The Lord He is the God! The Lord He is the God!
“And Elijah said unto them: Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And Elijah brought
- I Kings 18:19-40.
them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there.”
The Kishon that once meandered wine-red to the Mediterranean is a listless crystal reflecting the jade bowl of the evening sky. We tramp along the ridge of Carmel, a hill with little elevation and no summit; an elongated mound sloping northward into the sea and southward into the vale of Sharon. The world seems to float like a rigid iridescent bubble in the limpid twilight, and the whole scene has that unearthly calm that comes between dream and waking. The heavens are so near here; the stars begin to twinkle with intimate confidence in the quiet sky: they are neighbors’ lanterns guiding loitering footsteps through the leisurely fields of night. We tramp on, plunging more and more definitely into an irresistible beauty that now and then, in our lives, returns a voice and a vision to such as at any time believe they see or hear it. Gradually a glorious, dread familiarity with the root of experience emerges, as we recall the age-old battle between the forces of light and of darkness, of righteousness and of evil, of assurance and of confusion, of sublimity and of personal preoccupation. Then suddenly the curtain of earth and sky is drawn back, and here, here in the immediate atmosphere of this holy and mysterious mountain we view at death grapple the surging hosts of God with the bitter and entrenched forces of evil in the world. Down they stream, the battalions of light, from the radiant citadels of heaven, while gathering like a welter of noxious spawn under rock and tree-trunk, in stagnant ditch and tangled by-way creep up the legions of Satan for the
stupendous encounter. Four hundred and fifty priests of Baal and only one man of God! A command rings out: “To your posts, and break not rank until the last vestige of opposition to the advance of your Lord is destroyed.”
The outposts of these invisible warriors are the human heart, the human will, human loyalty, faith, steadfastness; every vantage point seems already occupied by the legions of darkness—Israel halting between two opinions, quite useless for purposes of divine warfare; and the outspoken allegiance between Baal, with his human bestiality, and the powers of evil. In all this holy mountain there is but one spot open to the heavenly warriors—the soul of Elijah. With a mighty shout they troop into this strongly fortified fortress: faith in the Living God. And Elijah filled with all the shining hosts of paradise trumpets his challenge against the whole earth; while all the priests of Baal combine to thwart him, and all the doubt and indifference of Israel, (whom God had taken like a child “by the arms and taught to walk”), wearies and harasses him like the inertia of death.
The cool strategy of heaven’s army gives the opposing force time to expose its weakness and to exhaust its resources: but when at last night approaches and Israel is convinced of the futility of Baal, suddenly with a great victorious cry the invisible hosts
of God build through Elijah an altar: not only an altar at “the Place of Sacrifice” on Carmel but an altar that still stands in the hearts of men: “Dig a trench, bring water! What can stop the devouring flame of God’s Word, of His Law, of His Love—of trust in Him?”
And all the hosts of God and all the armory of heaven and all the lightnings of the firmament tear through Elijah, and rend the black veil of heedlessness and tepidity and self-absorption from the heart of Israel, and consume with living flame the sacrifice that Elijah has placed upon his altar.
We have reached the Holy Shrines, built here on Carmel, into the midmost heart of the world. An orange tree sends its fragrance to embrace us. The moon swims up, a quiet guest after the great shock of battle.
We remove our shoes in the silver silence and bury our faces in the blossoms on the Threshold.
“Chant, chant,” I beg, “a song of triumph–that God has always been and ever will be; that as long as one single heart is left among mankind that knows Him and turns to Him, that that man alone can put to flight all the powers of darkness that prey upon our souls. Implore that the God that answereth by fire may inflame us with the eternal joy of obedience to His face, of love and sacrifice at His Threshold.
“Though the Spirit is concealed, its power is manifested and clear in the phenomenal world; and so with the Kingdom of God, though it is veiled from the eyes of ignorant people, to men of preception it is discernible and evident.”
DISARMAMENT of weapons is not so important as disarmament of minds,” said the great Norwegian explorer, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, who so ably presided at the great public meeting in Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland, September 13th, when some of the great representatives of the world’s religions met to speak on the hope of universal peace and international justice and good-will through Spiritual co-operation. Clearly was it pointed out that unless peace is safeguarded there may be an end of European civilization and perhaps an end of the white race.
This pubic meeting was part of the significant preliminary Conference which was called in Geneva, September 12, 13, 14, 1928, to make arrangements for THE UNIVERSAL RELIGIOUS PEACE CONFERENCE which will be convened in 1930. The object was and is to find out what religion can contribute to the establishment of universal peace. This conference was not a Congress of Religions discussing dogmatic or comparative religions. It was a challenge to the revivification of religion. Dr. Alfred W. Martin, one of the leaders of the Society for Ethical Culture, New York City, in his dynamic address said “We do not wish to speak of tolerance of one another’s religion, we prefer to use the word appreciation of each other’s faith.” Dr. J. W. Hauer, one of the great religious scholars of Germany, showed that no Parliament of Religions would succeed if “we do not get the best minds of all Eastern religions.” Rev. Mr. Forell of Sweden said an “Esperanto Religion” is needed—a program containing the best in all the religions!
Mr. Mountfort Mills of New York, lawyer, and for several years President of the Bahá’i National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, was Chairman of the Committee which drew up the following statement and message to the world regarding the purposes and aims and plans of this Geneva Conference. It was unanimously adopted at the final session of this preliminary gathering of the Universal Religious Peace Conference:
“Peace is one of the loftiest positive aims of united human endeavor. Spiritual in its very nature, and implicit in the teachings of all religions, it was this aim which inspired the Church Peace Union to set on foot the movement that has now taken form in a resolve to hold a world-conference of all religions. Of this Conference the sole purpose will be to rouse and to direct the religious impulses of humanity against war in a constructive world-wide effort to achieve peace. A preliminary gathering was convened at Geneva in September, 1928, to consider the holding of a Universal Religious Peace Conference in 1930. To this gathering came men and women of all faiths from all parts of the earth. They were united in the conviction that the state of mankind today demands that all persons of good_will in every religion shall work together for peace; and that, more than ever, concerted religious effort is needed to attain it.
Even as nations have been learning that no one of them suffices to itself alone, but that each needs to help and to be helped by others, so also the religions of the world will come to see that each must seek to serve
and to be served in the work of peace, and to go hand in hand towards the common goal. Hence it was resolved that a Universal Religious Peace Conference be held, to put in motion the joint spiritual resources of mankind; and that, without attempting to commit any religious body in any way, the Conference consist of devoted individuals holding, or associated with, recognized forms of religious belief.
The Universal Conference designs neither to set up a formal league of religions, nor to compare the relative values of faiths, nor to espouse any political or social system. Its specific objects will be:
(1) To state the highest teachings of each religion on peace and the causes of war. (2) To record the efforts of religious bodies in furtherance of peace. (3) To devise means by which men of all religious faiths may work together to remove existing obstacles to peace; to stimulate international co-operation for peace and the triumph of right; to secure international justice, to increase good-will, and thus to bring about in all the world a fuller realization of the brotherhood of men. (4) To seek opportunities for concerted action among the adherents of all religions against the spirit of violence and the things that make for strife.
Persuaded that this high purpose will move devoted hearts and minds everywhere, the preliminary gathering at Geneva has appointed a Committee to prepare for the Universal Conference, so that world-wide coordination of religious endeavor may help towards the full establishment of peace among men.”
It was urged that this Congress be held, if possible, in the East, though many favored Geneva. This question was held open for future discussion by the Committee of Seventy which will make the full arrangements for this world event. Dean Shailer
Mathews, of the University of Chicago, was the Chairman at the opening session. Christians came from all the western world, among the number being Vice Admiral S. R. Drury-Lowe of the Church of England, Sir E. Denison Ross; also from the Society of Friends Mr. W. Loftus Hare and Miss Lucy Gardner; Miss Ruth Cranston of the United States was a delegate of the Theosophists, His Grace, Archbishop Germanos of the Greek Orthodox Church; Metropolite Dionysius of Warsaw, representing the Eastern Orthodox Church; Dr. S. Parkes Cadman of the Federal Council of Churches; Chief Rabbi of the British Empire Dr. J. H. Hertz; China’s delegate was Dr. Chen Huan-Chang, President of the Confucian University and the Confucian Association, Peking. One Buddhist, one Christian, and one Shintoist were selected and approved as delegates by the Japanese Government; these delegates were in their order Professor E. Tomomatsu, Mr. Tomoji Ishida and Professor Tomoeda. Among the Indian speakers were A. Yusuf Ali, His Highness the Maharajah of Burdwan, Pandit Jagadish Chandra Chatterji, a Braham, two Zoroastrians, Dr. Jal Dastur C. Pavry and Miss Bapsy Pavry, of Bombay; Mr. K. N. Das Gupte, manager of the Fellowship of Faiths. Mr. Julien P. Monod of France was Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee; and Dr. William P. Merrill, D. D., was Chairman of the Committee named, “The Proposal to Hold the Conference”. Dr. Hans Hatmann of the Rheinland was present. Sir Francis Younghusband was an earnest speaker; and Mr. C. F. Andrews of India took part in the discussions.
There was a representative gathering of Bahá’i delegates. One of the most interesting was Mr. Ruhi Afnan, grandson of ’Abdu’l-Bahá and cousin of Shoghi Effendi, Guardian
--PHOTO--
Preliminary Conference in Geneva, September 12, 13, 14, 1928, to make arrangements for The Universal Religious Peace Conference which will be held in 1930. Dr. Henry A. Atkinson, who originated the Congress, stands at the extreme left, second row, the genial man with his hands in his pockets.
of the Bahá’i Cause. Others were Mr. Mountfort Mills, Lady Blomfield, Mrs. J. Stannard, Miss Julia Culver, Mrs. Emogene Hoagg, Miss Isabel Carey, Mrs. Stuart French, Mrs. Mary Hanford Ford, Mrs. L. S. Chanler and her daughter, Miss Elsie Benkard, Miss Edith Sanderson, Baroness von Jaraczenski, Mr. and Mrs. Meyer-Stolte, Professor and Mrs. Kunz, Miss Root.
Dr. John A. Lapp of Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis., was the last speaker at the Congress and one of the best. He gave a fine resume of what this preliminary Conference has accomplished. It is not possible to quote him exactly, but a few of his points were about as follows: that this Congress had drawn up a declaration of purpose without one dissenting voice; that harmony had prevailed. All had found a cause with universal accord. This experience at the preliminary conference should give confidence that the same spirit of harmony will enfold, permeate and uphold the next Congress of 1930. He said this Geneva Conference was no ordinary event, it was not just another meeting. The event was a participation in growing good-will. It is not a movement for church unity and there has been no thought of a super-church or the slightest interference in anyone’s belief. Dr. Lapp said: “We seek one object—peace and good-will among the nations of the earth. Let us do our utmost to preserve this harmony. Others will seek to divide us, some maliciously, some through ignorance, but we dedicate ourselves to universal peace. There will be more than one Conference before the peace forces are mobilized. We must scatter seeds of peace in all religions where they will grow in their own nursery, in their own fellowship.” He rejoiced in Locarno, in the Kellogg Pact, in the World Court, in the League of Nations, but pointed out
that under and around them must be spiritual buttresses strong in the strength of each other, a passion to understand, and with malice toward none, charity toward all. Thus the new epoch for common humanity will be ushered in.
No story of this Conference would be complete without asking and answering the question: Who is the man with the vision to glimpse this glorious and most practical plan to universal peace? The name Dr. Henry A. Atkinson of New York will be writ large by the angels of heaven in the tablets of the world’s most great peace, for he is making what he saw in his vision a solid reality. The idea of a Universal Religious Peace Conference came to him about seven years ago on the battlefield of Verdun. He saw men getting the battlefield cleared. To a rough temporary chapel they were bringing the bones of heroes of every nation, every color, the whole country looked as if it were churned. A Catholic Priest explained to Mr. Atkinson that he was going to build a symbol altar, the four points to represent the Protestant Christians, the Catholic Christians, the Jews, the Moslems, who had lost their lives in that struggle.
That night Mr. Atkinson from the viewpoint of a business man had a “brain storm”, or in the language of a seer one would call it a vision. He arose from his bed and made out plans for this Congress of Religions. He reasoned—if religions can get together symbolically, if they can do that, why can they not get together to abolish war? Some clergymen and leaders were not enthusiastic over his schedule, but Dr. Mathews thought it important and the Trustees of the Church Peace Union stood with him and gave him the widest liberty. This new adventure in peace was a very idealistic sort of venture. Through infinite patience
and courage he went through the jungles of details. He interested people of good-will. and the preliminary Conference in Geneva was a phenomenal success. Mr. Kellogg is a peace-maker striving to bring the nations together, but Dr. Henry A. Atkinson has called and seen signed the pact of world religions to convene for spiritual world peace. The Kellogg Pact is along the lines of
Bahá’u’lláh’s Teachings that the nations of the world must all come together with perfect equality and voluntarily to consecrate themselves to the cause of universal peace. The splendid endeavor of Dr. Atkinson is the fulfillment of ’Abdu’l-Bahá’s prophetic Words: “This is the hour of unity of the sons of men and of the drawing together of all races and all classes.”
In this eighth chapter in the series on “Healing—Material and Spiritual,” the author gives striking instances in answer to one of the most mooted and pregnant questions of the day in regard to the individual life—“Can Prayer Heal?”-Editor.
“A servant always draws near unto Me with prayers, until I respond unto him.”
ALTHOUGH the way to attainment of divine unity seems so plain, yet there are laws that govern and control, and these laws are just as arbitrary and immutable in the spiritual as in the material world.
The symbol used by Jesus, the Christ, is “a little child.” The little child has no prejudice, no pre-conceived ideas, no inherited traditions or superstitions. If we would enter into the fulness of His Light, We must cleanse our minds “from the tales of the past”, and bereft of tradition and superstition, become as little children.
It is easier to understand this if we conceive the mind to be like a mirror, that reflects by effort of the will those things to which it is directed. But the mirror of the mind
is ofttimes clouded by impure desire, by selfish greed; warped by fanatical superstitition and corroded by repeated sin. How then, can it reflect the Glory of the Lord? How can it vibrate to the rhythm of the celestial world? How can it receive the rays that pulsate with health, healing, and love?
No, the mirror of the mind must be polished; cleansed from all those things that hide His Glory. For this purpose all the Prophets have taught the need of prayer.
There are many prayers that have been given to us by Bahá’u’lláh and ’Abdu’l-Bahá,—prayers, if used earnestly and sincerely, will do just what they are intended to do. They cleanse the mind from the accumulation of prejudice and dust and make it as a brilliant mirror, perfectly capable of reflecting the spiritual significances of the celestial world.
The beautiful prayers of Bahá’u’lláh
and ’Abdu’l-Bahá should not only be learned by heart, but carefully studied and meditated upon in order that the underlying laws upon which they are based, may be fully understood. The following, for example, are from the pen of ’Abdu’l-Bahá:
“O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit! Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy Hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will not be sorrowful and grieved any more. I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will not worry any more. I will not let trouble harass me any longer. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life. O God, Thou art kinder to me than I am to myself, I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.”
“O God! Make all my ideals and thoughts One Ideal and One Thought, and suffer me to attain to an eternal, unchangeable condition in Thy Service!”
The next step on the path to health and life is Unity. It is the blending of the whole personality of the seeker with his Beloved, the Manifestation of the One that is, was, and ever shall be, throughout eternity. The following parable of an ancient Persian poet, who desired to teach his disciples the unity of prayer, how by prayer God and man become united, even as the sun and its reflection are one, is especially appropriate to explain—in other words, the mystic ecstasy in union resulting from loving, earnest invocation to Deity:
“A disciple enamored of God, went to the door of his Beloved, and knocked thereon.
A voice cried, “Who is there?”
He replied, “It is I.”
The answer came, “There is no room in this house for twain.” And the door remained shut.
He spent a year in meditation and
prayer, and he returned and knocked again at the door.
The voice said, “Who is there?”
He replied, “It is Thou.” And the door opened.”
In many of the processes used in synthetic chemistry a catalyst is required, that its presence in the terrific heat used in blending of otherwise discordant materials, may, unaffected in itself, bring about the desired union. The catalyst that blends the personal with the spiritual, harmonizes the body with the spirit, turns sorrow, weakness, and disease, into joy, power, and health is the Holy Spirit. It is the Love that radiates from the Heart of the Manifestation of God, that unites itself during prayer with the love in the heart of the seeker, the sick one, or the helpless one.
This catalyst blends into one perfect whole that which was divided, it fuses the discordant elements of personal life with the life of the spiritual; it breaks down selfish desire and greed; it burns in its potent fire impurity and satanic lusts; it destroys forever the demoniac power of drug habits, that take their victims to the dark places of living hells.
This dynamic ray sets into vibration the divine harmony, comforts the saddened soul, brings new vibrant life into activity, and discord, sorrow, and disease, disappear like the mists before the rising sun.
To the one who feels lost, and to whom these words appeal, yet whose feet falter, I would say: Find the True One, He who manifests the Love of God, whose Life radiates the divine qualities so that by His touch you may be healed.
The Bahá’i Revelation is the Way of Life today, and ’Abdu’l-Bahá is the Divine Exemplar. He was One who radiated Life, healing, and joy to all who with faith touched the hem of His garment, and although He is now gone from this physical world,
yet He is ever close to those who with purified souls and longing hearts seek after God.
We, His servants, seek but to follow the road which He so recently trod, try to manifest His virtues and walk in His steps, as He walked, with steadfast feet, can but affirm the Truth and point the Way. He “lived the life” in long, painful exile, through the Most Great Prison, to the heights and depths of complete Servitude.
Read carefully these words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá on the need of prayer in our lives, its benefits to our happiness and health, how it rounds out human life and brings to it, its fullest achievement and experience:
“Prayer and supplication are two wings whereby man soars toward the Heavenly mansion of the True One. However, verbal repetition of prayer does not suffice. One must live in a perennial attitude of prayer. When man is spiritually free his mind becomes the altar, and his heart the sanctuary of prayer. Then the meaning of the verse, ‘We will lift up from before his eyes the veil’ will become fulfilled in him.”
“Thou hast written what thou shouldst do, and what prayer shouldst thou offer in order to become informed with the mysteries of God—Pray thou with an attracted heart, and supplicate thou with a spirit stirred by the Glad-tidings of God. Then the Doors of the Kingdom of Mysteries shall be opened before thy face, and thou shalt comprehend the realities of all things.”
“Know thou verily, it is becoming of a weak one to supplicate to a strong One, and it behooveth a seeker of bounty to beseech the Glorious Bountiful One. When one supplicates to his Lord, turns unto Him and seeks bounty from His ocean, this supplication is, by itself, a light to his heart, an illumination to his sight, a life to his soul, and an exaltation for
his being. Therefore, during thy supplication to God, and thy reciting ‘Thy Name is my healing,’ consider how thy heart is cheered, thy soul delighted by the spirit of the Love of God, and thy mind becomes attracted to the Kingdom of God! By these attractions one’s ability and capacity increase. When the vessel is widened the water increaseth, and when the thirst grows, the bounty of the cloud becomes agreeable to the taste of man. This is the mystery of supplication and the wisdom of stating one’s wants. (i. e., praying)”
“Turn thy face sincerely toward God; be severed from all save God; be ablaze with the fire of the Love of God; be purified and sanctified, and beseech and supplicate unto God!
“Verily, He responds unto those who invoke Him, is near unto those who pray unto Him; and He is thy companion in every loneliness, and He befriends every exile!
“For such a compassionate Lord, it behooveth one to have excessive yearning. ardent longing and love under all circumstances; for He is the possessor of Beauty, Perfection, and shining, manifest and hidden Glory.”
“O my God! Thy love is my comfort, Thy Name is my prayer, Thy Presence is my peace, Thy Word is my healing, Thy Mercy is my Light, and to serve before Thee is my utmost desire.”
Some years ago a Swedish woman came into my professional life, far advanced with pulmonary and cardiac tuberculosis. No effort of mine could aid her, and she, being a nurse, was admitted into Rutland Sanitarium, in Massachusetts. This sanitarium is maintained for incipient cases of this disease, but a special privilege was allowed her. On parting I gave her a book of Bahá’i prayers, pointing out to her one she should learn by heart, and continually use.
She seemed, indeed, a hopeless case. She was confined to her bed with a constant racking cough and fever, but she kept herself in the atmosphere of this beautiful prayer. One night she thought she was dying. A most unusual sensation I cannot describe, swept over her for a long time, and at last she realized that she was healed. Her cough ceased, and a new vitality came to her. The next day the visiting physician said to her, “How are you?” She said, “I am cured.” He smiled indulgently and passed by. The second and third day this was repeated. Absence of racking cough and a normal temperature, however, surprised the physician, and on the fourth day after the same experience he insisted upon an examination. To his utter amazement all sign of pulmonary tuberculosis had vanished. After a restful period of convalescence, she returned to her profession for a number of years.
Had not this woman found her way into the Holy of Holies? Yes, bathed in celestial Light and Love, touched by the hand of the Lord, healing came, and sadness and sorrow vanished away. The prayer (revealed by ’Abdu’l-Bahá) that she learned to love and use, follows:
“O my God! Thy Name is my healing! Thy Remembrance is my remedy; Thy Love is my companion; Thy Mercy is my need and my aid in the world, and in the Day of Judgment! Verily, thou art the Knower, the Wise!”
Another scene comes before me of an elderly woman far advanced with a terrible uterine cancer. I said to her, “Are you praying for health, for a cure of your disease?” “Yes,” she replied, “I pray many hours of the day.” “Do you not realize,” I said, “that it is time you should be a real Christian?” Startled, she gazed at me, as I went on and said, “Christ prayed that His Father’s will might
be done, God’s will, not His.” Tears fell from her eyes, fear enveloped her. “I cannot,” she cried, “I cannot let go.” “Yes,” I said, “God’s love is all embracing and He knows best. Let go, cling to Him.” She at last said she would. Two days later her daughter telephoned me that her mother had passed home in blissful sleep. God’s way is best.
Again ’Abdu’l-Bahá said:
“The prayers which were written for the purpose of healing, are both for the spiritual and material healing. Therefore, chant them for the spiritual and material healing. If healing is best for the patient, surely it will be granted. For, some who are sick, healing for them would be the cause of other ills. Thus, it is that Wisdom does not decree the answer to some prayers. O maid-servant of God, the Power of the Holy Spirit heals both material and spiritual ills.”
I have told the following story before, in The Bahá’í Magazine, for March, 1927:
A colored woman of the South, a widow with a family, poor and sick unto death, was given up by her physician as hopeless; she turned to me for aid. An examination disclosed a solidified mass that filled her right abdomen, and medical therapeutics seemed to be useless in this advanced condition.
“Anna,” I said, “are you a Christian?”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Do you pray?”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Do you wait for an answer?”
“I do not know what you mean,” she replied, with a puzzled look.
“Suppose I came a stranger to your door and knocked, and told you I was hungry and needed food, and you said, ‘Yes, I will give you some food,’ and when you returned with it, you found that I had gone. What would you think?” She replied, “I should think you were not very hungry.”
“That,” I said, “is the way you treat God! Promise me that when I leave you, you will pray again and wait—wait until the answer comes.” This she promised to do. I saw her again in a few days. I found her with shining eyes and a happy smile. She cried, “The answer came. After you left I waited on my knees for ten minutes at the side of my bed, and in my heart the answer came. I shall be cured. God said so.”
Today she is well, her faith is supreme, her love is perfect; she is living and walking in the path of servitude. Truly she was made whole.
These experiences might be multiplied indefinitely—they are found in all walks of life, under all conditions, among all sorts of men.
The quotations appended are sign posts on the path of life; they point out the way of Holiness and the way of the Cross. The Masters of old live, and their hands are ever stretched out in love. Jesus the Christ, from His Kingdom ever seeks to Love and Heal. Bahá’u’lláh, the Glory of God, promised by the prophets of old, is near unto us. ’Abdu’l-Bahá
is ever guiding the children of man who seek to find the Way.
The Teachers may be many, but the Way is One. Lamps are many, but the light is One. Hearts are many but love is one. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” His mercy is ever near unto those who call upon Him.
’Abdu’l-Bahá tells us that:
“There exists in man two powers. One power uplifts him. This is divine attraction which causes man’s elevation. In all grades of existence, he will develop through this power. This belongs to the spirit. The other power causes man to descend. This is the animal nature. The first attracts man to the Kingdom. the second brings him down to the contingent world. Now, we must consider which of these will gain in strength. If the Heavenly power overcome, man will become Heavenly, enlightened, merciful, but if the worldly power overcome, he will be dark and like the animal. Therefore, he must develop continually. As long as the Heavenly power is the great force men will ascend.”
“I beg of God to illumine you with the Light of His Love, so that you may enter into the Kingdom and draw nigh unto the Threshold. His bounties are inexhaustible.”
“Arise and ask for the divine favors so that ye become revived by the Holy Spirit through the breath which the Spirit breathes into the souls.”
THE task of analyzing the Christ Spirit is undoubtedly a matter for the highest philosophers and meta-physicians; on the other hand it is beyond their sphere, for however learnedly they may discourse of it, they can never put in words its real essence. This essence can only be apprehended, we are told, by the soul shorn of the veils of sense and illumined by the light of the Holy Spirit.
Ouspensky, in his Tertium Organum, asserts that all ideas are symbols trying to transmit relations which cannot be expressed directly because of the poverty and weakness of our language. It is necessary, he says, to search for their hidden meanings—that which cannot be expressed in words. To Ouspensky, Reality is inexpressible; he condemns literal understanding of these matters as depriving them of their value and meaning: indeed, he goes so far as to say that when a thing can be expressed, it is not true. How can we know the Unknowable or hear that which is beyond sense?
One of the greatest veils to truth, says ’Abdul’l-Bahá, is literal interpretation. As proof of this, we may cite the instance of the Holy Trinity. No symbol in the world has been so misunderstood as this; none has led to so much controversy, bitterness and strife. Yet regarded in its mystical relation it is perfectly simple, and throughout history it has fired the imaginations of men in all lands. The idea of the three-fold personality existed long before the Christian era: the Indians conceived of the Trinity as a sort of triune elemental force of creative, destructive and preservative power. Thor had three heads; Wodan’s sign was the triskele—a
three-branched figure radiating from a center, and symbolizing his spremacy over the trio, Wodan, Frey and Thor.
The trinity is inherent in every institution, for there must needs be the Giver, the Recipient of Grace, and the Instrument through which Grace comes. ’Abdu’l-Bahá explains this truth as follows: “Know, O advancer unto God, that in each of the cycles wherein the Lights have shone forth upon the horizons—there are necessarily three things,—the Giver of the Grace, the Grace, and the Recipient of the Grace: the Source of the Effulgence, the Effulgence, and the Recipient of the Effulgence: the illuminator, the Illumination, and the Illuminated.”
Father, Son and Holy Spirit! What more beautiful relation is there than that of Father—repeated in Government, paternal or particular? In the Son who reveres and obeys his Father; and in the Holy Gost—that still small voice within us–that inner tribunal that rules our lives? This trinity is universal in the hearts of men–who is it who does not recognize all three of its persons? And God repeats these things continually as symbols of the invisible.
Now to know what the Christ Spirit really is, one must know Christ, and realize the difference between the Christ, so-called—and Jesus Christ—a difference so simple and yet so mystic In its essence that to understand one must void the mind of all preconceived ideas and listen to that inner sense which knows the Unknowable. “When we see God,” said Plotinus, “we see Him not by reason, but by something that
is higher than reason.” And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “Love supplies the impulse to that intense and unceasing meditation which reveals the hidden mysteries of the universe.”
Literally, we know that Jesus Christ was an Oriental, who lived in the days of the Emperor Tiberias; that he was a man like ourselves, who yet claimed to be the Son of God—a man of magnetic irresistible personality, Who gathered unto Himself followers who excited the jealosy of the powers of Jerusalem (those powers of Church and State always jealous of their own prestige, and determined to destroy anything and anybody who threatens to interfere with their prerogatives). We also know that Jesus Christ was a Universal Manifestation of God, one who took upon Himself the body of man, who lived His teachings, endured persecution, and died upon the Cross.
If the staton of Jesus Christ be thus established, how can we analyze the Christ Spirit—that which has no beginning and no end—that which is carried on from one age to another? Again we must bring the facts to light through our intellect, and then apprehend with our spiritual intuition. “To penetrate the Inner Significances,” says ’Abdu’l-Bahá, “a mighty effort is needed.” First the soul must be prepared for the awakening of its spiritual intuition, then one must sit at the feet of the Divine Messengers of God, whose mission it is to rend asunder fleshly veils, and by revealing reality, make man conscious of the eternal part of his nature.
The station of Christ in the world, we are told, is that of the Word of God. The Ancients conceived of the infinite forms in God’s creation as the letters of a great scroll: individually they are colorless and mean nothing, but assembled they make a Word.
That Word was Christ, the complete and perfect creation. St. John the Mystic apprehended that Divine Mystery and expressed it for all time when He said, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” A modern English Congregational minister, Rev. W. J. Dawson, in a sermon on “The Word” asks what the idea in John’s mind was. “Word” he says, is the true expression of him who utters it: How shall God communicate with the creature He has made? He does so by Christ Who is His Word. Christ is the very mind of God translating itself into symbols which man can comprehend.”
’Abdu’l-Bahá says, “The universal bestowal of Divinity is manifest in Christ. The station of Christ is the station of the Word—a complete significance. The reality of Christ is the collective center of all the independent virtues and infinite significances.”
To know what the Christ spirit really is, we turn naturally to the Sermon on the Mount and to the Beatitudes. Surely these twelve rules of life are the epitome of the Christ spirit: poverty of spirit, contrition of heart, meekness, hunger after righteousness, mercifulness, purity. the bringing of peace, endurance of persecution, patience under false witness, charity, non-resistance of evil.
Jesus Christ came to bring the Christ spirit of His time to a world that had lost sight of Divine Guidance. But long before Jesus took upon Himself the body of man, the Christ Spirit was in the world, for Christ, like God, is pre-existent. Like God, He had no beginning and no end: with God the Father and God the Holy Ghost, He formed the Eternal Trinity: “the wonderful Trinity,” Dante called it.
Even so orthodox a person as the Rev. W. J. Dawson recognized the fact that the Christ spirit had always been in the world. To conform to
that spirit, he said, was to be a Christian, adding that in the days of Moses this spirit was abroad, brooding over the soul of Moses and weaving itself into His spirit. Mr. Dawson found this conception of the pre-existent Christ spirit in Christian teaching, but himself went so far as to say that not only the spirit, but the Christ Himself had been in the world from the beginning. To prove this He quotes: “Before Abraham was, I am;” “Abraham rejoiced to see my day;” Paul’s mention in Corinthians of the Israelites in the Wilderness as having drunk of the Spiritual Rock, that Rock being Christ; also St. John, who said that the Lamb of God was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
There is an ever-present need in the world for the Christ Spirit. Were the influence of Jesus Christ perfectly understood and practiced, it should suffice for the cure and regeneration of the nations. But in nineteen centuries conditions everywhere have so changed that men have fallen away from the original Christ spirit—creeds and dogmas have usurped the place of spiritual teaching. Hence a new expression of the Christ Spirit was needed.
’Abdu’l-Bahá says: “We must be adorers of the Sun of Reality from whatsoever horizon it may appear, rather than adorers of the horizon. For should we concentrate our attention in one direction, the sun may appear from quite another, and leave us deprived of the sun’s bestowals which are the wisdom and guidance of God and the favor of God, which constitute spiritual progress. * * * “If the sun of to-day say, ‘I am the sun of yesterday!’ it is true; and yet if, according to daily sequence, it say, ‘I am other than the sun of yesterday,’ this is also true. Likewise consider the days: if it be said that all the days are the same, it is correct and
true; and if it be said that according to name and designation they differ from each other, this also is true, as thou seest. For though they are the same, yet in each there is a name, quality and designation which is different from the other. By the same method and explanation, understand the stations of separation, difference and oneness of the Holy Manifestations, so that thou mayest comprehend the interpretations of the Words of the Creator of the Names and Attributes, concerning separation and Union.”
What but the Christ Spirit gleams in these further words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá regarding His own station: “The voice of Friendship, Uprightness, Truth and Reconciliation is he, so as to cause a quickening throughout all regions. No name, no title, no mention, no commendation hath he, nor will ever have, except ’Abdu’l-Bahá—Servant of Bahá. This is my longing. This is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is my everlasting glory!”
When we say that the Word of God has come again into the world, we do not mean this literally, but in the sense of the return of the Spirit and power of God, to resuscitate mankind with the power of the Spirit. The Sun shone upon the world again in this age through the power and illumination given to the world by the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. Again is the power of the Spirit stirring in the world to produce the fruits of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. How clearly we see in the life of ’Abdu’l-Bahá the expression of these qualities exemplified in every way. No matter what the intellectual attitude toward this Servant of God, all who came in contact with Him or who have learned of His life, realize here a perfect manifestation of the Christ Spirit. In the Star of the West, Vol. 13, p. 253, we read: “Some thirty years
ago Dr. Benjamin Jowett, the revered Master of Balliol, Oxford, England, and celebrated translator of Plato, said to one of his fellow professors at Oxford, a Greek scholar at St. Andrew’s and translator of the Greek tragedies, that he (Dr. Jowett) was deeply interested in the Bahá’i Movement. This is the greatest light, said Dr. Jowett, that has come into the world since Jesus Christ. Never let it out of your sight. It is too great and too near for this generation to comprehend. The future alone can reveal its import.”
One who knew ’Abdu’l-Bahá and who had an unusual opportunity of intimate understanding of Him, Mr. Charles Mason Remey, says of Him: “’Abdu’l-Bahá’s power was that of love. In going into His Presence something within one’s soul seemed to respond to His soul. Thus a spiritual bond was formed which was most far-reaching, for it was of the nature of divine love and always
remained with one. Through His life and example He taught the people the life and the way of the Kingdom. He had a message for every one, and as one met and contacted with Him in spirit, it was as if a new force were added to one’s nature. The power of the love of God was brought very close to those who came into spiritual contact with ’Abdu’l-Bahá. * * * “His was the perfect life, and as the people contacted with Him more and more, they found in Him the Centre of the spiritual light and consciousness of this new day and age. From that Centre flowed the regenerative Bahá’i spirit which made all things new, re-establishing religion, reviving faith in God, and uniting humanity in the one universal brotherhood of God’s Kingdom.”
Thus in the person of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, we come back to Love as the great characteristic of the Christ Spirit. And, as St. Bernard said: “Love is the lever of the soul.”
The way to attain the highest and most complete life in this world is to recognize God’s immutable universal laws and then to work in harmony with them. To know that nothing will be denied if it is good for us to have and will not interfere with our spiritual progress in any way, for, what would be conducive to one man’s growth would be detrimental to another and God only withholds where He knows His gift would be a hindrance rather than a help to the soul.
One of these great and fundamental laws and one which all should understand is the “Law of Giving”. By giving is not meant merely of material things but the giving of love, service, goodwill and even a handclasp
or smile, which while seemingly insignificant, yet are not so and count in the eyes of God who rewards His creatures accordingly...
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts: 20 :35)
We find many references relative to the perfect working of this law, but none more noteworthy than of the Hebrew people who were enjoined upon by their spiritual teachers to give a tenth of their income for a purely spiritual purpose, a purpose in which self-interest did not enter and where there was absolutely no thought of a return or a reward. The spiritual powers work always with perfect accuracy and these people were enriched on all the planes of being.
This tenth or tithe as it was called, was given voluntarily and with an entire free will on their part and never by persuasion or influence of any kind outside the dictates of their own soul. As long as these people were faithful in their free-will offering they prospered from every stand-point, but when the divine command of their spiritual teachers was disobeyed they experienced poverty and a loss of spiritual power, for such giving produces great mental and spiritual results and brings one in harmony with spiritual forces which revivify and purify the soul.
“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room to receive it.” (Malachi 3-10) “Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:88)
Scattering yet increasing. “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.” (Proverbs 11:24-26)
Giving will not impoverish thee, if it is done with the understanding that God is the unfailing source of all things; in reality it seems we become as a magnet to draw from realms visible and invisible that which is ours from a standpoint of divine righteousness and wisdom. “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
Every man accordingly as he purposeth in his heart so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver; And God IS able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound in every good work; (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread to your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness.)” (2nd. Cor. 9:6-10)
Giving in its superlative degree entails sacrifice, and while it is acceptable and praisworthy to give where there is an abundance, yet it is much greater to give where a sacrifice has been made, as shown in the following parable of the “Widow’s Mite.” “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him His disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” (Mark. 12: 41-44)
The above clearly illustrates how acceptable to God is the small gift when a sacrifice has been made and impresses one with the fact that none are too poor to give. We are similarly reminded in this greatest of days by the following potent words of ’Abdu’l-Bahá: “Live up to the principle of sacrifice; everything becomes yours by renunciation of everything. The condition of faith requires that man ascend to and abide in the station of sacrifice.”
“Giving and generosity are qualities of mine, happy is he who adorns himself with my virtues.” (Bahá’i Scriptures p. 180).
“The Bahá’is consider it more blessed and a greater privilege to bestow than to gain and receive. They believe that bestowing good upon one another is the greatest means of help to both.” (Bahá’i Scriptures p. 446).
“O friends of ’Abdu’l-Bahá! The Lord, as a sign of His infinite bounties hath graciously favored His servants by providing for a fixed money offering (Huquq) to be dutifully presented unto Him, though He, the True One and His servants have been at all times independent of all created things, and God verily is the All-possessing, Exalted above the need of any gift from His Creatures. This fixed money offering, however, causeth the people to become firm and steadfast and draweth Divine increase upon them. It is to be offered through the Guardian of the Cause of God, that it may be expended for the diffusion of the Fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Word, for
benevolent pursuits and for the common weal.” (From the Will and Testament of ’Abdu’l-Bahá).
Shoghi Effendi Guardian of the Bahá’i Cause, also speaks of this “Law of Giving” in the following lines so beautifully worded and ends with the statement that “This is the secret of right living.” (Bahá’i News Letter Sept., 1926):
“We must be like the fountain or spring that is continually emptying itself of all that it has and is continually being refilled from an invisible source. To be continually giving out for the good of our fellows undeterred by fear of poverty and reliant on the unfailing bounty of the Source of all wealth and all good—this is the secret of right living.”
When mankind fully understands this law and its operation then shall poverty and want vanish from the earth, for God is the Generous, the Bountiful and the Bestower while poverty and want are the result of failure by His creatures to comply with the requirements of this “Law of Giving.”
“O My Servant! Thou art even as a well-tempered sword that lieth concealed in the darkness of its sheath and the value thereof is unknown to the expert eye. Wherefore unsheath thyself from desire and passion, that thy merit may be made resplendent and manifest unto all the world.”—Bahá’u’lláh.
PORTOFINO is the smallest harbor in the world. Its beauty however, overruns the limits of space, and leaves one breathless with wonder.
Opposite our villa, San Martino, rises a castle of the 9th Century, the scene of the romance “Enchanted April.” Mediaeval Italy lies all about, but within the cavernous depths of a walnut cupboard are volumes symbolic of the New Era, revealing hidden wisdom and truth from many lands, dominated
by the message of Bahá’u’lláh.
Whenever someone writes, “Send me a book,” we open the cupboard with its handmade key, praying for guidance in our choice of the one that shall make the reader aware of his part in this dynamic Day. Consigning the precious package to the mercies of the village post, we await a reply, and resign ourselves to an interval of silence. Once it was six months!
One day, a friend, who seemed to
have little contact with spiritual life, asked for a book. How little we guess the jewels hidden in the soul! These two letters which follow, received one lovely day in August, read and re-read upon a terrace filled with flowers, were a heaven sent revelation.
Dearest Friend:
It is early in the morning. I have had a most refreshing sleep. I opened my eyes feeling that there was something to wake up for,—a new feeling which I owe to the reading of the little book from the Portofino library. If for no other reason than this, your library at Portofino ought to make you the happiest woman in the world. This little book seems to have liberated a pent up force within me, that was crying to be freed, but was choked with false habits of thinking, and could not soar. I find its instruction of how to think and what to dwell upon in life most satisfying. At once vistas open up, answers to a hundred whys are found, and the assurance comes that all needs are supplied when we open our hearts to the Source of Supply.
No doubt I shall have to return to the days that are dark, but I believe that reading a chapter in this book can alter any mood, and chase away the illusions and false desires that haunt the brain. I have already made strides towards understanding myself. I want to feel that I could do great things, if the force within me were put to use. So far, my energy has been like a river damned up, or overflowing its normal channel. I know now that Divine Love can open this channel, through which I may become a useful human being. It makes me see that no mortal love can supply that demand, and that the Divine alone can fortify me. If I am found worthy to receive this love, I shall have reached a point where I can be
of use to others. This inner need for love which cannot be supplied by any other than the Divine, brings me tragic and dark experiences which shatter me, which make me tremble and feel alone, but with Divine Love I shall not be alone.
If I have not made progress more rapidly, it must be due to the fact that I have felt ostracized from heavenly approval. I felt so utterly unworthy, and that has made me seek love where it cannot be found. I feel now that God does not account me unreclaimable, and that I am not a being of darkness, and this has lifted a great weight from my soul. His love alone is all that I need; and that I can ask for it notwithstanding my own limitations, has come upon me as a wonderful discovery. I do not mind telling you this, who have lighted so many lamps in the path of darkness. By this light I know that there is nothing to give up, only to ask and to receive. I feel marvelously stimulated knowing that the little library at Portofino contains help for every soul that asks, the remedy that alone can bring the promised peace that passes all understanding.
The very same day I received the second letter:
Dearest friend:
You will be surprised to receive this, as I posted you a letter this morning, but when you read it through, you will understand. Waking early, I wrote you and posted my letter, then with book in hand, I left the hotel, and chose a road that is sunny and leads up into the hills. This path is unfrequented by motors. After a short walk I came to a diminutive green bench and sat down.
The direct manner, the direct appeal which the author makes in this book moved me deeply. Before starting on my walk I had read a passage. It was this: “If you search for God,
it is because He impels you to search; He has claimed you for His own.” This line, read upon awakening, had provoked a passionate fit of weeping, and I wanted to read it again in solitude surrounded by nature.
The vista from the little green bench was not particularly unusual. A road running right and left, a blue sky full of glorious white clouds, above a hillside white with flowers. Twenty-five kilometers down the road is the birthplace of Jeanne d’Arc. It is the very same sort of hillside and country upon which I was looking. A Basilica has been erected to mark the spot where she first saw her visions. I thought of her. I opened the book and read on—always the direct personal appeal which forces you to reflect upon the glorious possibilities which lie in each one of us merely for the asking. I wanted to think about it and I stared at the ground.
Suddenly between my eyes and the road, there rose long luminous vibrations of light that increased in intensity until I could no longer see the earth. The light that was on the ground suddenly filled my whole being so that the rays came from within and without and completely filled me with light. I passed from a human being into a being of such ecstacy as it is impossible for me to impart. The light seemed to bring a transport of gratitude, a flood of happiness so great that it was impossible for me to lift my hand. How long it lasted I do not know, but as it subsided very slowly and gently, and my eyes could look upon the surrounding country, I saw that it had been changed. Each leaf, each wild flower, each cloud was rimmed with
light and all nature was radiant with a new and enthralling beauty.
Knowing that I should be missed, and that they would seek me, I reluctantly turned my steps towards the hotel, and walked into the dining-room. Oh, how I longed to be alone! It was impossible to eat anything, nor could I reply to the questions that were asked. I simply made the gesture of life.—calm, but as in a dream. The hour for which I had waited all my life, and for which, perhaps, I had been born had come. I was completely satisfied. As soon as I could make an excuse, I went to my room that I might be alone. It was an ugly over-crowded hotel bedroom, filled with objects dark and uninteresting. I turned the key, and pushed open the door, and, as I did so, my eyes fell upon the tablecloth, and I saw that it was edged with light. The familiar objects rose before me, each ringed with a soft luminous border of light. I was aware of childhood,—not mine, but the atmosphere and purity of childhood. From the open window a faint perfume came and went. How many pure thoughts, how many prayers from the friends must have accompanied this book to have brought with it so much light and such a message!
Tonight I am very quiet. I have had the greatest experience of my life. I am so unworthy of this gift that I have much to think about. You will answer this letter, and tell me what you think, and what it means. In all my life, such an experience has never dawned upon me.
Good-night, dear friend. I close my eyes, knowing that, at last, I am a child of God, and that He has revealed to me His shining Love.
“The children of the Kingdom have unchained themselves from their desires. Break all fetters and seek for spiritual joy and enlightenment; then, though you walk on this earth, you will perceive yourselves to be within the divine horizon.”—’Abdu’l-Bahá.
SO LONG as radio communication was essentially confined to telgraphic messages difficulties arising through language differences, though serious, were not felt by many telegraph users. Now that international radio telephonic communications have come into being and international radio broadcasting looms on the horizon, a much more serious and pressing problem has arisen.
“When persons speaking what is alleged to be the same language cannot readily communicate without some experience with each other’s idioms and accent, it becomes at once obvious that persons of different nationalities and tongues are subject to a most serious handicap in their attempt to discuss matters of common interest. Furthermore, international broadcasting, which is a means of mass communication, must in great part lag in its development until an international auxiliary language becomes available.
“Those who handle and operate the telegraph circuits of the world, those who desire to telegraph or telephone over such circuits, and the people of the world who wish to receive the broadcast messages of the other, will never find their desires fully met until an auxiliary language internationally employed breaks down the present language barriers to world understanding.”—Dr. ALFRED N. GOLDSMITH, Chief Broadcast Engineer, Radio Corporation of America.
In Austria—The Administrative Council of Vienna, at one of its recent sittings, decided to organize 24 new Esperanto courses in the primary schools of the Austrian capital. The optional teaching of Esperanto has been introduced into the curriculum
of the Normal School for Teachers at Stroebersdorf.
In France—The Paris Municipal School for foreign commerce and representation, in which Esperanto is taught as a compulsory subject, has just organized its first examinations for obtaining the official diploma in Esperanto.
In Finland—Esperanto has been introduced into three classes in the Finnish Normal Lyceum at Helsingfors, in which the students of the Normal School give their first trial lessons. The subject is compulsory for those taking the training course.
In Italy—The Fasciste Institute of Education at Brescia has introduced Esperanto into its program. It is expected that this example will be followed in other towns.
In Holland—The Schoevers Commercial Institute at the Hague has introduced the teaching of Esperanto and has just arranged several courses in that language. I. E. S.
News comes from Paris that one of the big aerial transportation companies with routes covering various parts of the European Continent has decided to teach Esperanto to their pilots and in pursuance of that policy have arranged to have classes conducted at the company’s expense where all pilots will be required to learn the international language, Esperanto. This is undoubtedly an important advance upon the part of this transportation company. It is a step that all companies operating planes will find necessary as the business of international aviation develops. It is also a warning to us in America that we should not fail to heed. In our complacency and supposed isolation
from world affairs we in America are inclined to trail the European Continent in matters relating to the language question.
What a rude shock we are preparing for ourselves one day when we suddenly see opportunities slipping from us that would have been ours but for this complacent indifference to world movements. We live in a swift age and now we achieve in half a decade what would have required centuries in former times.
Who can tell how soon you may walk into your favorite “Movie” and have your ears regaled with, “Kiel mi rememoras, Adamo, okazis lau la
jena maniero: li donis testamente al mi nur du mil kvincent spesmilojn, kaj, kiel vi diras, ordonis al mia frato ke li bone min eduku,” as on the screen is flashed the scenes of Shakespeare’s As You Like It.
We are told by the film producers that Esperanto is to be the language of the “Talkies.” “The idea of bringing the adoption of Esperanto to a head is not as far-fetched as it seems at first glance. The world has been on the point of accepting a universal tongue for some time and it needs but little more to bring on general acceptance,” says the director of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Company.
(Reprinted from “Amerika Esperantisto).
unity and accord is good; and every matter which creates discord and inharmony is evil. This century is a radiant century. Its discoveries are many. Its inventions are great. Its undertakings are multitudinous. On account of these great accomplishments, this century is superior to all other centuries. But the greatest undertaking is the unification of language, because it is more beneficial and productive of more pleasure than any other undertaking of this age. The unity of language brings about great fellowship between hearts. The union of language is the cause of the attainment of accord. It brings about the entire sweeping away of misunderstanding between the people; it establishes accord between all the children of men. It gives broader conceptions and greater vision to human minds, and today the greatest undertaking in the world of humanity is to understand and make yourself understood. Every individual member of the body politic, on account of the widespread of an auxiliary international language, will be enabled to put himself in touch with the current events and ethical and scientific discoveries of the age. An auxiliary universal language will give us the key—or the master key—to the understanding of the secrets of the past ages. Through an international language every nation in the future will be enabled to pursue its scientific discoveries very easily and without any difficulty.”
