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DR. WELLINGTON-KOO
Julia Goldman
* *
'ABDU'L-BAHA VISITED BY
GREAT CATHOLIC SCHOLAR
Martha L. Root
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THE NEWSPAPER--An Educational
Force
Milnor Dorey
* *
CRY HAVOC! A Book Review
Hussein Rabbani, M. A.
* *
LETTERS HOME
Keith Ransom-Kehler
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| 25c | COPY |
| VOL. 24 | FEBRUARY, 1934 | No. 11 |
1. Unfettered search after truth, and the abandonment of all superstition and prejudice.
2. The Oneness of Mankind; all are "leaves of one tree, flowers in one garden.”
3. Religion must be a cause of love and harmony, else it is no religion.
4. All religions are one in their fundamental principles.
5. Religion must go hand-in-hand with science. Faith and reason must be in full accord.
6. Universal peace: The establishment of International Arbitration and an International Parliament.
7. The adoption of an International Secondary Language which shall be taught in all the schools of the world.
8. Compulsory education—especially for girls, who will be mothers and the first educators of the next generation.
9. Equal opportunities of development and equal rights and privileges for both sexes.
10. Work for all: No idle rich and no idle poor, "work in the spirit of service is worship."
11. Abolition of extremes of poverty and wealth: Care for the needy.
12. Recognition of the Unity of God and obedience to His Commands, as revealed through His Divine Manifestations.
| VOL. 24 | FEBRUARY, 1934 | No. 11 |
War and Peace, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá | 329 |
Editorial, Stanwood Cobb | 323 |
An Interview with Dr. Wellington-Koo, Julia Goldman | 326 |
Cry Havoc! A Book Review, Hussein Rabbani, M. A. | 330 |
‘Abdu’l-Bahá Visited by Great Catholic Scholar, Martha L. Root | 334 |
Letters Home, Keith Ransom-Kehler | 338 |
The Newspaper—An Educational Force, Milnor Dorey | 342 |
The Evolution of a Bahá’i, Dorothy Baker | 345 |
Memorials of the Faithful, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Translated by Marzieh Nabil Carpenter | 348 |
Current Thought and Progress | 351 |
STANWOOD COBB, MARIAM HANEY, BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK | Editors |
MARGARET B. MCDANIEL | Business Manager |
| CONTRIBUTING EDITORS | |
| For the United States and Canada | International |
| ALFRED E. LUNT LEROY IOAS SYLVIA PAINE MARION HOLLEY DOROTHY BAKER LOULIE MATHEWS MAY MAXWELL DORIS McKAY |
HUSSEIN RABBANI, M. A. Palestine and Near East Central Europe Great Britain Persia China AGNES B. ALEXANDER Japan |
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 The Bahá'i Magazine, 1000 Chandler Bldg., 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.
- We want a new, another race of men,
- To work the broken, bleeding earth again,
- To raise new pillars and spread out a Stage,
- And make it ready for another Age.
- Thus qualified must be the men that do
- The resurrecting of the earth anew:
- They must be strong for strain, and stout for stress,
- Yet intimate with all the Silences;
- They must be trained in those celestial arts
- That make for steadfast and enlightened hearts;
- Their souls must be all-luminous and tall
- For loving Justice, Justice above all;
- Their love must be a broad and boundless thing
- Of Mercy, insight and long-suffering,
- And doubly rich in those abundant graces
- That must, will unify, the scattered races.
- No others need apply. The work is vast
- Beyond the Architects of Ages past.
| VOL. 24 | FEBRUARY, 1934 | No. 11 |
may yet devise; no doctrine which the most distinguished exponents of economic theory may hope to advance; no principle which the most ardent of moralists may strive to inculcate, can provide, in the last resort, adequate foundations upon which the
future of a distracted world can be built.”—Shoghi Effendi.“THE MOST eventful year in American history,” declared a high official of the American government as the year 1933 passed across the border of its destined period. “A new and better world order is in the making,” presciently stated a prominent senator.
Were the fiery Paul to be incarnated in this momentous epoch and to repeat his career of flaming apostle of a new dispensation, would he not utter to these rulers, as he did to rulers of old, that destiny-making phrase: “He whom ye ignorantly (unawarely) worship, do I declare unto you.
Never within the memory of man have human thoughts and actions so universally turned toward the remaking of the world; toward the creation of better and more stable institutions based on justice and humane concepts.
It would seem that for the first time humanity is endeavoring with all its mind and heart and soul to consciously advance its evolution upon this planet so rich in potency for universal prosperity and happiness, yet so indigent and miserable, in the main, because of the lack of a guiding ideal and an ethical statesmanship. Truly the
enlightened rulers of the world, like the Athenians of old, are worshiping a god whom they begin dimly to perceive but cannot name–the god that is to further progress, justice and universal prosperity.
AND PAUL, standing on the steps
of the capitol of the richest and
most powerful nation on earth today,
would boldly proclaim: “The
world order that you dream of and
desire with all your hearts–the
ideal civilization the beauty and
brilliancy of which so captures your
imagination that you even now dedicate
your lives and all your possessions
to it—what is this but the
New World Order of Bahá’u’lláh?
That Divine Civilization of which all
the prophets sang. The foursquare
Eternal City founded on justice,
benevolence, brotherhood, and the
amplified spiritualized intelligence
of man?”
AND IN such preachment Paul
would have the sanction of the unified
opinion of the deepest and
most earnest thinkers on world affairs.
For economists, sociologists,
journalists, statesmen all perceive
the desperate need of a “planned
society.” And many, such as Sir Edgar Saltus and John Maynard Keynes, perceive that it is not possible to plan for each individual country independently of the rest of the world. In other words, as Sir Edgar Saltus has stated, a world plan is imperative.
But how is such a world plan possible, queries an editorial writer in the New York Times. Such a plan assumes a perfect planner, and where is the person or persons gifted with such superhuman powers as to evolve a perfect plan for humanity? Secondly, this editor points out, the effectiveness of any world plan depends upon absolute and undivided acceptance of and obedience to this plan. There can be no wavering of allegiance to other competitive plans. And how can it be expected that any plan, even the best plan proposed, can succeed in so dominating world opinion?
There are, it is true, very intelligent planners at work in this country, endeavoring to evolve a new structure for humanity. Many of the ideas they are evolving and putting into practice seem good and destined to persist in whole or in part. On the other hand, many of their ideas seem questionable—certainly give no indication of omniscience. And when we come to the gravest problem of all—that of the unqualified adherence and unquestioned loyalty of all humanity to these or any plans proposed—we see that we are confronted with an insuperable obstacle to that “planned society” of which all forward looking people are now dreaming.
This is why we need again a Paul to stand before the governments
and rulers of the world and proclaim in terms of power and assurance: “The perfect plan of which you dream has already been given to the world. Its Revealer is one Who summons, with necessarily superhuman power, the people of the world to accept and obey the Word of God for this day and generation.”
IN THE World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
is established a civilization
divinely perfect in all its details.
Here we have, not a structure for
human society created by the limited
and fallible intellection of man,
but rather a pattern every line of
which has been delineated by the
hand of the Supreme Architect. It
is a plan ideal in two senses of the
word. Ideal in the sense in which
Plato used the word, in that it comes
from that archetypal plane of existence
wherein first creation emanates;
wherein perfection resides
and penetrates by degrees to this inferior
world. Secondly, the pattern
of Bahá’u’lláh for a planned society
is ideal in the usual meaning of the
word, in that it meets every need of
humanity today and solves every
problem—social, economic, political,
moral and spiritual. It establishes
a perfect structure for society-eliminating
the problems of capital
and labor, of production and distribution.
It solves the problems of
internationalism—eliminating war,
eliminating artificial barriers to
tariff, eliminating prejudices as between
races. It solves the supreme
problem of religion—that of unifying
all peoples of the world in one
belief and custom, thus eliminating
the anomaly of great religious barriers
in an age when the world is
being forced to a unity of life by the rapprochement of commerce, transportation and education.
NO WONDER the writer in the New
York Times questioned the possibility
of any world plan winning
universal allegiance and implicit
obedience. Indeed this were impossible
except through the realization
and acceptance of a world plan
as divine in its origin.
Bahá’is the world over—no matter of what previous condition of race, religion or custom—give their complete loyalty and obedience to the requirements of the New World Order as revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. Here we find a growing body of unified world thought represented in
almost every country in the world. In the midst of every world religion and every major race we find a Bahá’i group coherent, universalized, powerfully effective because of absolute unity and loyalty.
Where else upon the horizon can be seen any movement capable of actually unifying the world—this sad world so torn by divisions of self-interest, of prejudice, of ancestral hatreds? Well may those idealists despair who have dreamed of world unity, unless they come to realize its possibility of achievement, nay, its inevitability of achievement through the divine force which is operating to establish the New World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
“Let there be no mistake. The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve—is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. Its appeal is not to be merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely at the fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples and nations. Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family. It does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal, but stands inseparably associated with an institution adequate to embody its truth, demonstrate its validity, and perpetuate its influence. It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced. It constitutes a challenge, at once bold and universal, to outworn shibboleths of national creeds—creeds that have had their day and which must, in the ordinary course of events as shaped and controlled by Providence, give way to a new gospel, fundamentally different from, and infinitely superior to, what the world has already conceived. It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world—a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units.”
“Today the most important purpose of the Kingdom of God is the promulgation of the cause of universal peace and the principle of the oneness of the world of humanity. Whosoever arises in the accomplishment of this preeminent service the confirmation of the Holy Spirit will descend upon him.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
AMONG the foremost of the band of devoted statesmen and scholars who have for years been working and who continue to work with unabated zeal and effort for the restoration of social order and the stabilization of the Chinese Republic stands Dr. Vi-Kyuin Wellington-Koo.
Though Dr. Koo is one of the most indefatigable workers, with many grave responsibilities due to the critical period through which his country is passing, his cordial welcome and gracious manner in granting me an interview quickly dispelled the impression of an almost solemn reserve. In replying to a question concerning the greatest need of the hour, he quickly responded: “I was brought up in a cultural center based upon the age-old teaching of the fundamental oneness of the human family. Confucius said, ‘Within the four seas all men are brothers.’ Today we must work for peace and make it a living reality. We must mobilize for peace through education and through an enlightened public opinion. The keynote of the old Chinese culture may be summed up in the old adage: ‘While others treasure their swords I value my pen.’ The abhorrence of war and love of peace was impressed upon all children even through the poems and songs
written for them. The youth was trained to depend upon reason not force; and for the individual conduct, the golden mean—reasonableness was the keynote.”
An expression of appreciation of China’s great heritage in the world of art, philosophy and literature brought the quick response in a tone of unmistakable gravity: “Yes, we must work for peace, a peace based upon justice and international understanding, so that we and all the nations may be free to develop the inherent gifts with which mankind is endowed. China has great faith and confidence in the League of Nations as a valid instrument for peace. China needs the help and goodwill of the western world. We are grateful for American help and friendship and for the good will expressed by all the nations of the West. Moral disarmament must precede the limitation of arms.”
Dr. Koo also expressed deep appreciation of the work of Lord Lytton and the Committee appointed to work with him in investigating conditions in the Far East. Notwithstanding his manifold duties and responsibilities as Ambassador to France and delegate to the League, Dr. Koo has contributed many articles on international affairs and is the author of “The Status of Aliens in China,” a book
which has challenged the attention of students in the West as well as in the Orient. Though an ardent worker for China, he is a strong advocate of international cooperation.
DURING this interview with Dr.
Wellington-Koo which the writer
was privileged to have in Geneva
she was impressed with a special
quality of courtesy, a distinction
and friendliness, bespeaking the cultural
heritage of an old civilization.
Dr. Koo’s personality expresses the
alertness of a brilliant intellect, the
sensitiveness of a discerning spirit
and the dignity and restraint of a
well ordered and well balanced
mind.
Dr. Koo’s secretary, Dr. Tze, graciously gave the writer detailed information regarding the education and public career of this distinguished gentleman who exerts all his powers and talents to bring about his vision of a new China and a world organized for peace.
Practically all of Dr. Koo’s mature life has been spent in serving his country in political and diplomatic posts and although still on the sunny side of fifty these services have been many and outstanding. His education, partly in his own country and largely in the United States, was such as to develop his natural tendencies to international-mindedness. The prizes, medals, honors and degrees which he received while a student at Columbia University testify to his high scholarship. Later he was honored by Yale University with the degree of doctor of laws.
Upon receiving the degree of doctor of philosophy from Columbia Dr. Koo returned to China and accepted a government appointment of Secretary
--PHOTO--
Dr. Wellington-Koo, Chinese Ambassador to France and delegate to the Council and Assembly of the League of Nations.
to the Cabinet and to the President. Three years later he became Minister to the United States and to Cuba. Since then he has served his country in important government posts at home and abroad. Especially is he known in international circles as Chinese delegate to the Washington Conference in 1922, to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and as delegate to the Assembly and Council of the League of Nations.
When asked how he managed the work in so many directions, he smiled and said, “By running away once in a while on a fishing trip or playing several games of tennis. These are some of my hobbies.”
THE RAPIDLY changing conditions
in China, the birth of the new Republic
are not merely phases in the
life of one country. In art, in philosophy, in poetry, in length of duration and vastness of scale, the Chinese civilization has an indisputable claim to a place among the highest achievements of mankind. Young China is now awakened. Its spirit and aims are well expressed by Prof. Shao Cheng Lee of Honolulu:
“We did not realize that we are at least one hundred years behind the West in the development of scientific inventions, political and industrial systems and humanitarian institutions until we were thoroughly shaken up by the ferocious impact with modern technological civilization. In order to catch up with the advancing nations, we have undertaken the multitudinous tasks of political reorganization, social reform and the modernization of currency, industry, education, communication, transportation and sanitary system, all at the same time and in spite of many difficulties. All we ask is that the advancing nations will have patience with us by giving us an opportunity to adopt and assimilate the best elements of modern western civilization and by living up to the Washington Treaty agreements so that we may develop a new culture which will be a worthy component of the new civilization of the World.”
DR. WELLINGTON-KOO, like a vast
majority of his countrymen, is
strongly in favor of world peace.
Perhaps the aims and ideals, not only for China, but for world cooperation, can best be summarized in his own words quoted from his address given at the last session of the Assembly of the League of Nations:
“We have arrived at the crossroads of the world’s destiny. Our choice lies between an armed peace which, based upon a precarious balance of power, is most costly to every nation and postulates war as inevitable, and a peace based upon collective responsibility, which is the most economical for all, because it is maintained by joint effort and common sacrifice, and which is stable because it accepts justice as the final arbiter of nations. It means disarmament or rearmament, economic recovery or continuance of the world crisis, it means, in fact, war or peace. These are the alternative roads before us. For the sake of civilization and for the well being of humanity, I sincerely hope that we shall all choose wisely.”
At this time when nations and governments are harrassed and disheartened by their own problems and distress it becomes increasingly difficult to focus the attention of the world upon the special needs of any one country; but with the realization of the great part that China is destined to play in the New World Order, we can as individuals and groups, help through understanding and moral support.
“The principle of the Oneness of Mankind, as proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh, carries with it no more and no less than a solemn assertion that attainment to this final stage in this stupendous evolution is not only necessary but inevitable, that its realization is fast approaching, and that nothing short of a power that is born of God can succeed in establishing it.“—Shoghi Effendi.
WAR AND PEACE
between nations should
disappear.—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.MAN is the temple of God. He is not a human temple. If you destroy a house, the owner of that house will be grieved and wrathful. How much greater is the wrong when man destroys a building planned and erected by God! Undoubtedly he deserves the judgment and wrath of God.”
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH has proclaimed and promulgated the foundation of international peace. For thousands of years men and nations have gone forth to the battlefield to settle their differences. The cause of this has been ignorance and degeneracy. Praise be to God! in this radiant century minds have developed, perceptions have become keener, eyes are illumined and ears attentive. Therefore it will be impossible for war to continue. Consider human ignorance and inconsistency. A man who kills another man is punished by execution but a military genius who kills one hundred thousand of his fellow creatures is immortalized as a hero. One man steals a small sum of money and is imprisoned as a thief. Another pillages a whole country and is honored as a patriot and conqueror. . . . Consider the ignorance and inconsistency of mankind. How darkened and savage are the instincts of humanity!”
ALL nations will join in adopting the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revealed more than fifty years ago [now over eighty years ago]. In His epistles He asked the parliaments of the world to send their wisest and best men to an international world conference which should decide all questions between the peoples and establish Universal Peace. This would be the highest court of appeal and the parliament of man so long dreamed of by poets and idealists would be realized.”
BY a general agreement all the governments of the world must disarm simultaneously. It will not do if one lays down its arms aid the others refuse to do so. The nations of the world must concur with each other concerning this supremely important subject,—thus they may abandon together the deadly weapons of human slaughter.”
THERE is no greater or more woeful ordeal in the world of humanity today than impending war. Therefore international peace is a crucial necessity.”
In this conclusion of Mr. Rabbani’s article on the book, “Cry Havoc!” by Beverley Nichols, we see the impossibility of the cause of universal peace being effectively and permanently established through purely human agencies. Nothing short of divine assistance and intervention can bring to pass this greatly desired goal. The first part of this review was published in the January number.1
IT IS the realization that the League, as it is composed and functions to-day, is too impotent to save the world from the abyss into which it has fallen that has led Mr. Beverley Nichols to look for some more efficacious solution. In an imaginary dialogue between G. D. H. Cole and Sir Arthur Salter he sets forth and evaluates the two contending doctrines of Capitalism and Communism, pointing out the social panacea which each one of these systems of political organization offers to the world. To the socialist argument of Cole that the capitalist society, being essentially based on cutthroat economic exploitation and competition, inevitably leads to the outbreak of war, in all its forms. Sir Arthur Salter replies that capitalism and war do not necessarily coincide; that they do not follow each other with that mathematical certainty which the Socialists are so inclined to believe; that peace and order can be safely established and insured under a modified capitalistic system in which the law of cooperation in both the national and the international domain, in economic as well as political affairs, is substituted for the actual competitive system.
Cole is convinced that capitalism and socialism are so antithetical that no compromise whatever
1 Cry Havoc! by Beverley Nichols, Jonathan Cape, London, 1933. 2 p. 197.
can be effectively established between them; that genuine socialism must necessarily be international; that what is termed “National Socialism” is but a farce, and only another new form of capitalism. “I would rather not get votes for socialism at all than get them for a bastard National Socialism. And that is what I am really afraid of, that Socialism may be called to power while it is still permeated with nationalism. Perhaps instead of ‘international’ I ought to have been using the word ‘cosmopolitan,’ because that expresses the sort of socialism I want far more accurately?”2 Sir Arthur Salter, voicing the feelings of those moderate socialists who wish to keep capitalism and to introduce in it certain necessary modifications, condemns the purely socialist proposal of Cole as illusory and impracticable. At the end of the dialogue the two speakers come to the conclusion that the fundamental difference between them is that one of them believes that economic equality is right while the other considers it not only as unrealizable but unjustified.
The author then invites the reader to make up his mind, after having put before him the solutions which capitalism and socialism respectively offer. But this by no means ends his task. There is one more
question he has not yet answered. What are the microbes of Mars? This he has reserved to discuss at the end of his essay, for in it he not only reviews the chief causes of war but also attempts to offer some constructive suggestions by means of which the idea and the possibility of war would be totally eradicated. All the factors leading to war he sums up in the word Patriotism. “I believe,” he says “with every fibre of my being, that the hour has struck in the world’s history when every man who wishes to serve his country must realize that patriotism is the worst service he can offer to it. The time has come when it must be definitely admitted that patriotism is an evil in every country, that the German patriot is as great a sinner as the English patriot or the American patriot or the Italian patriot. The time has come when this Word, a hallowed word, I admit, a word that calls up memories of sublime sacrifice and deathless heroism, must be recognized as having changed its meaning, and as having lost its sense and its virtue.”*
PATRIOTISM is thus the generic
name of all the poisonous germs
which cause war. It is this germ
which our political leaders and educators
are unceasingly inoculating
into the minds of the people,
and it is this germ which should be
eradicated at once if the world is
to be saved from imminent
destruction. For patriotism is not
an instinct. It is something which
we acquire from our parents, our
teachers, and all those who have a
share in the shaping of our lives.
The family, the school and the state,
these are the three main bodies responsible
* p. 209.
for the spread, growth and dissemination of such a germ. Every movement for peace should take this fact into consideration. War has to be fought through the same instruments which have been responsible for its spread. It is through education, enforced and propagated by various social bodies, that people have come to form a war psychology, that they have been intoxicated by such words as nationalism, patriotism and the like. And it is through these same agencies that such ideas must be combated fiercely before they lead the world to a still greater and more widespread calamity than the last war.
Here, therefore, is the crux of the whole problem which the author has been discussing all through the book. War is a social disease and it is a disease which is contagious. Its germs spread with a terrific rapidity, and find in man’s psychological make-up a ready and fertile soil where they vegetate and finally burst out. To combat such a disease, is in the opinion of the author, a relatively easy matter as the main germ of it has been discovered and is to be found in the philosophy of patriotism which our writers, statesmen and educators have been so eager to promote. Patriotism is a mask under which many people hide their selfish and criminal intentions. In its name countless people have incited the masses to wage wars in the hope of exploiting their fellowmen.
This is the crusade which Mr. Nichols is vehemently preaching against war. War is our enemy, and in order to get rid of that enemy we have to combat, through every means at our disposal, that
organism responsible for its spread and which we call patriotism. Patriotism has to be wholly eradicated from the mind of our youth, and this has to be done by changing our existing social, political, and educational system. Parents should cease teaching their children that myth of patriotism. Governments have to cease building war memorials destined to immortalize the names of their warriors. History has to be taught anew, and with emphasis not so much on conquests and military achievements as on the intellectual and moral progress of the world.
THIS IS the appeal which Mr.
Nichols addresses to his fellowmen.
It is a vehement appeal,
at once convincing and challenging.
And it is also a sincere call to all
those who are really desirous to
remedy the present international
situation. But whether the solution
offered by the author is really effective
and practicable is a quite different
matter. We agree with him
in his condemnation of war, but we
do not go so far as to consider patriotism
as being intrinsically a
social evil. The Bahá’i view, which
stresses the necessity of moderation
in every human action and thought,
seeks to dissociate what is good and
wholesome from what is false and
dangerous in patriotism. Bahá’u’lláh’s
well-known dictum, “Glory is
not his who loves his country but
glory is his who loves his kind,”
should be interpreted not as discrediting
patriotism but as glorifying
humanitarianism by emphasizing
its superiority over any patriotic
feeling. For Bahá’u’lláh’s
ideal of the world as one common
fatherland, transcending all arbitrary
and man-made frontiers and
delimitations, can be fully reconciled with, and is even partly based upon, what is really genuine and constructive in patriotism. It considers the latter not only as natural but useful. It certainly discards that form of patriotism which becomes aggressive and hostile. But it cannot but tolerate, and even encourage, the healthy growth of a patriotic feeling which stimulates people to serve their country to the utmost of their power and in a constructive and peaceful way.
Nor do we, as Bahá’is, believe that the cause of peace can be effectively and permanently established through purely human agencies, and without the intervention and assistance of God. We do admit, as Mr. Nichols does, that the difficulties in our way are fundamentally moral and spiritual in character, that mere mechanical and institutional readjustments in the social, political and economic organization of society cannot lead to any permanent and beneficial result; that mere technical manipulation, unless motivated by, and based upon, a thorough change in man’s inner life is doomed to failure. This truth is becoming increasingly evident to those who formerly used to discredit and deride it. The materialistic philosophy of the pre-war days has fortunately lost much ground and no serious thinker today can really doubt that the way out of the present chaos is to be found, not so much in mere social tactics, but in a fundamental moral revolution. The key to world peace is, indeed, basically moral and spiritual. Here the Bahá’i program is in accord with the thesis developed by Mr. Nichols. But, whereas the latter depends for the success of his plan on purely
human resources, the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, fully conscious of their earthly limitations, look for guidance and help to that mighty Revealer who can alone render effective their endeavors for the attainment of their goal. “It is towards this goal—the goal of a new World Order, Divine in origin, all embracing in scope, equitable in principle, challenging in its features–that a harassed humanity must strive.”*
AND HERE is to be found the basic
difference between the Bahá’i program
for international reconciliation
and order and the varied and
world-wide attempts which innumerable
organizations and societies
throughout the world are making for
the attainment of the ideal of peace
and for the embodiment of such an
ideal in some form of organization.
The difference may be one of means.
It is, nevertheless, essential. For
it is the consciousness of the innumerable
and insurmountable obstacles
which block the way to peace, combined
with a deep-rooted and unshakable
faith in the Divine assistance
extended to it by Bahá’u’lláh
that constitutes the strength of the
Bahá’i Community and gives to its
members that certainty and peace
without which they would be unable
to attain their goal. It is precisely
that certainty and peace which the
people of our age so sadly lack. The
growing economic distress and
* Shoghi Efiendi, “The Goal of a New World Order.”
political agitation, coupled with an unprecedented and increasing drift towards atheism and irreligion, have so much shaken the foundations of our social order that people are losing faith in the efficacy of every power, whether spiritual or otherwise, to save humanity from its perilous state. People are getting more and more bewildered, and their outlook upon life is becoming dark and pessimistic. There is nothing to which they can firmly cling.
And while a large proportion of mankind is suffering from the inevitable results of such a terrible mental and physical condition, the followers of Bahá’u’lláh, fully confident in the blessings and in the triumph promised to them by God, and united more than ever under the aegis of their divinely-appointed Administration, are ceaselessly toiling for the gradual establishment of that Divine World Order destined to save and redeem mankind. Inspired by a zeal which no human power can quench, and wholly conscious of their manifold privileges and responsibilities under this new Dispensation, they are continually working in order to hasten the approach of the day when that “City of God”, so beautifully visualized and so clearly depicted by Augustine will have been established in all its fullness and splendor.
“All prejudices whether of religion, race, politics or nation, must be renounced, for these prejudices have caused the world’s sickness. It is a grave malady which, unless arrested, is capable of causing the destruction of the whole human race. Every ruinous war with its terrible bloodshed and misery has been caused by one or another of these prejudices.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
“In every one of the Verses, the Supreme Pen hath opened doors of love and union. We have said–and our saying is Truth–‘Consort with all the (people of) religions with joy and fragrance.’ Through this utterance, whatever was the cause of foreignness, discord and disunion has been removed.”—Bahá’u’lláh.
WHEN this generation is gone, none will be left who can tell the world about meeting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Center of the Covenant of the Bahá’i Movement, and what He said to them and how His great and gracious presence impressed them. It was on May 31, 1932, in Lublin, Poland, that I met a distinguished Roman Catholic, Dr. Joseph Kruszynski, President of the celebrated Roman Catholic Theological University, Lublin University. What he told me of his visit to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1914, what the latter prophesied for Poland, and the conversation of these two men about the relation of the Bahá’i Movement to Roman Catholicism is thrilling and I relate to you very simply.
I found President Kruszynski a tall, handsome, scholarly, kindly-interesting man with eyes full of light. Any one just to look at him would say: “He lives the life!” His whole expression beamed a welcome and hospitality to the writer because he knew that she too, had known ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
“PLEASE TELL me all about your
meeting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá”, I said,
“and may I ask too, if you are the
Roman Catholic Priest who visited
Him in Palestine in 1914 and was the first, so far as is known, who ever knew and wrote about the Bahá’i Movement in Poland?” He replied that he was that priest. This University President said that on his second visit to Haifa, Palestine, in 1914, a Russian Doctor one day mentioned to him about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, such a world-renowned spiritual teacher living there. The Roman Catholic Priest said: “I shall go to call upon Him;” and the Russian Doctor pleaded: “O father, if you go, I wish to accompany you!” Together they went to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s home in Haifa.
“How well I remember that day”, said President Kruszynski, “it was July 14, 1914, the fete day of the French Revolution; I went at eleven o’clock in the morning, to visit Him. My card, I recall, read “Joseph Kruszynski, Roman Catholic Priest, Doctor and Professor of Old Testament in Wloclawek Roman Catholic Seminary, Wloclawek, Poland.” He received me so courteously and with such friendliness. He led me to his drawing-room and had me sit at His right, beside Him on the divan. He expressed how glad He was that I was in His home and we spoke of many matters; our discourse was very interesting!”
The President explained to me that with them, that morning, was a secretary who was also an interpreter, but they did not have him interpret as both the Catholic and ’Abdu’l-Bahá knew Arabic. “And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá knew Persian and Arabic extremely well; I was impressed by His command of these languages,” said the President, “and He always used the intimate word ‘thou’ in addressing me, it was very pleasant.”
First they spoke of Poland and Polish writers, and the Catholic said He was astonished that this Persian scholar knew so much about the history and sufferings of the Poles and that He had read their literature. He said that ’Abdu’l-Bahá told Him that Sienkiewicz’ works had been translated into Arabic, he had read them and considered Sienkiewicz a great man, but added: “Tolstoy was a great man too; there was no greater writer in Europe than Tolstoy.”
Dr. Kruszynski asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá what He thought of conditions in Europe and the latter replied: “There will be a great war in all Europe and after the war, Poland, thy fatherland shall be free. I will pray to God that thy fatherland shall be free!” The President said that this touched him profoundly and he always remembered it. He related to me how, on the voyage when the Russian ship on which he traveled had left Constantinople, some Russian passengers had loudly proclaimed that there must be war and that Constantinople must belong to Russia; it was necessary for the greatness of the Russian Empire.
--PHOTO--
Dr. Joseph Kruszynski, President Lublin University.
THESE REMARKS about political, national affairs and about writers only were the introduction to the real topic of the visit which was religion. “I asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá”, said Dr. Kruszynski, “what is Baháism”! And He told me that it is a religion of brotherhood. He explained to me about a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, a great Bahá’i Temple which is being built near Chicago, and He gave me a picture of it; I have it here. ’Abdu’l-Bahá said that after many years Bahá’ism will be very great, that there will be many believers in this religion; He said it was His hope that all people can be united in these Teachings. He foretold that many in America, later, will believe.
The President told me how ’Abdu’l-Bahá served them Persian tea and then after many farewell greetings, they left. They visited His beautiful garden, and later they went to ‘Akká to see the Prison where Bahá’u’lláh, His Father, had been incarcerated, and they went last to Bahji, just out from ‘Akká to visit the Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh. Dr. Kruszynski said that the custom in the Orient is that the first born son bears the name of his father, but ’Abdu’l-Bahá Abbas had taken the name of the Servant of His Father. “You see”, he said, “Bahá was His Father’s name and ‘Abdu’l means servant; so He was ’Abdu’l-Bahá the ’Servant of Bahá’. Abbas His last name means Master. He was evanescent, selfless, humble; He always spoke of His Father, ’not My Teachings, but those of My Father Bahá’u’lláh’.”
DR. KRUSZYNSKI said that as soon
as he returned to Poland he wrote
an article describing his visit to
’Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa, Palestine;
he stated in this article that there
would be a great world war in all
Europe and at its close, Poland
would be free, because ’Abdu’l-Bahá
had said so. He took this article to
the editor of a Warsaw paper, but
the editor did not wish to print it,
he refused it. “Just one week later
the war exploded”, said President
Kruszynski, “and I kept the article
in my library till the end of the war
and when Poland attained her independence,
I took this same article
to a Polish editor and it was published
in full in Slowo Kujawskie,
in Wloclawek. I have seven volumes
of this newspaper, I shall try
to find the article and send it to
you.”
Certainly it was illumining to hear from one of the great Catholic University Presidents of Central Europe that ’Abdu’l-Bahá had made this prophecy about the independence of Poland and that this Rector of the university had seen it fulfilled before his very eyes. This New Poland, this nation of 32,000,000 people, statesmen think, is becoming a bulwark of Western civilization and a powerful factor making for the equilibrium of Europe and the peace of the world.
THIS GRACIOUS President showed
me his university, introduced me to
some of his students and then I
dined with him before taking the
train back to Warsaw. He was so
hospitable, so thoughtful, it gave me
a picture of Polish courtesy at its
highest. During the dinner we
spoke of religion, of Roman Catholicism
and the Bahá’i Movement.
“What do you, a Roman Catholic
scholar, think of the Teachings of
Bahá’u’lláh?"’, I asked, and he replied:
“Bahá’u’lláh as a reformer
of religion and as a philosopher is
very great. From my viewpoint as
a Catholic, I can say that I like this
Bahá’i concept of religion because
it is a religion of brotherhood, and
’Abdu’l-Bahá wished all men to be
united as brothers.”
“I asked ’Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘who is Christ?’ and He answered that Christ was only one of the great Prophets, World Teachers, that Moses was a great Prophet but that Jesus Christ was greater than Moses and came to make the world better than it was in the time of the Jews. He said that Muhammad came to make the people better and now in our time all these religions are not sufficient, and Bahá’u’lláh
came (‘not I, but My Father Bahá’ulláh came’, He said to me), to make better the Muhammadan religion, the Christian religion, the Jewish religion, all the religions. “Abdu’l’Bahá also said that Bahá’u’lláh’s religion was better for this epoch than Christianity and Muhammadanism.”
“I told Him”, continued Dr. Kruszynski, “that the correction of His Father is very great, but only for the Muhammadan religion, because the Muhammadan religion is an exclusive one, but His Father has made religion less exclusive and more a religion of brotherhood. However, in the Christian religion, we believe in a revealed religion; we believe the Bible is a Revelation direct from God and that Jesus Christ is God and man in one, and this cannot be changed. I know that among the Christian believers are abuses, faults, but the idea of our religion is correct. And ’Abdu’l-Bahá considered that the religion of His Father, Bahá’u’lláh is the last and best religion.
“So between our viewpoints,” the President concluded, “there was just this difference, that I cannot think that Bahá’ism is the last and best religion. I honor the religion of Bahá’u’lláh, but I cannot believe it is the best and the last. I believe the Bahá’i religion has many principles for the social life. I believe the foundation of Bahá’ism is suited to our times; questions of the social life in our age are very great. The relation of Bahá’u’lláh to Moses and Muhammad I think is correct, but the relation to Christ is not correct. ’Abdu’l-Bahá knew very well about Christianity, I was convinced of this, but the Teachings of Christ are inspired, the Books of the New
Testament are inspired and I believe in these Revelations.”
Again Dr. Kruszynski said: “I believe the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are the Teachings of a very great philosopher. I consider that Bahá’u’lláh has been the greatest philosopher in our times. He has given the world a system uniting religious beliefs with social foundations. I remember one sentence I said to ’Abdu’l-Bahá, I believe your reformation is very great, very good for Muhammadans because they are intolerant, very exclusive, they will not participate in or associate with other religionists; Christians are more tolerant. For example, I believe in my religion, but I myself honor your religion. A Muhammadan would be intolerant to all other religions. You have reformed religion so that your believers will be more friendly, more cordial to the Catholics. I thank you very much, ’Abdu’l-Bahá, because you are bringing people nearer to the Catholic religion than Muhammad brought them.” And ’Abdu’l-Bahá responded, “Yes, yes, you are right! Our believers are more cordial to the Catholic faith than Muhammadans are!”
My conversation with this kind, great Catholic President was so interesting that the hour came all too quickly to leave Lublin, but it was train-time. He had served me so generously with delicious Polish foods, though he himself had eaten only yogurt. He blessed me, wished me success and put me into his own carriage and his own coachman drove me to the station. Sitting in the railway carriage returning to Warsaw from this ancient city of Lublin, I pondered in my heart all that he had told me.
This concludes the series under the title “Letters Home” begun by Keith Ransom-Kehler in the January 1932 issue of this magazine. In this series we have traced her world pilgrimage through Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, the Holy Land, and then her prolonged travels in Persia, a pilgrimage terminated by her sudden and tragic death in that land last October. Following is the second part of the author’s description of difficulties encountered in her travels thru rural districts between Babul and Rasht.
THE keeper of the Coffee House welcomed us to his home, the most pretentious in the village. The better houses are built of logs plastered with thick mud; the roofs are high gabled (not flat as in the desert portions of Persia), and thatched. When I inquired how much it would cost to build such a house the man said thirty tumans; the tuman at par is worth one dollar.
There were two rooms and a partially enclosed porch. We took the living-room and kitchen-porch where all the cooking was done. There were no windows in the house and even Najmiyyih had to stoop to pass the low lintel. This small opening furnished the only light and ventilation, making the room warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
At one side was a mud ridge under a mud mantel and a hole in the ceiling just above the door some distance from this hearth furnished the only outlet for the smoke of the newly kindled fire. The opening led to the attic reached by stairs improvised from an oblique tree-trunk in which regular notches had been cut for a foot-hold. The light from the opening in the roof, where the smoke finally emerged, revealed the rafters hung with dried fruit and vegetables, pickled I would think, beyond nourishment from hanging in that chimney.
The wood stood upright against the wall the thick flange of dried
mud holding it in place. The beams and ceiling were burnished the most beautiful vivid black by constant incrustations of smoke. I never knew that black could be so vibrant and lovely!
There was a narrow mud platform or dais on one side of the room, on which stood a chest, the only piece of furniture in the house; a triangular shelf about four feet from the ground spanned every corner and a little thick lip of mud extended from the west wall marking the Giblih, or direction of Mecca; on it was kept the mohr or sacred earth from the blessed spot compressed in a tablet on which the forehead is pressed at the time of the frequent daily prayers. An iron kettle suspended by three chains from a rafter kept the dried meat from marauding animals.
Once more the cots were set up, and since it had now begun to rain again and walking was impossible, we reclined nearly all day to keep below the level of the smoke whose stinging acrid bite penetrated eyes and nostrils with a sharp hurtful tang.
THE WOMEN of this village of
Amirrud (named for the river) are
extremely comely. Our hostess had
refined regularity of features and
beautiful even teeth. The costume
was picturesque: a very full bright
skirt reaches the knees, a loose
blouse covered with a sleeveless Eton jacket embroidered in silver or strong colors is worn atop, while a snug little pill-box of a hat from which dangles the woman’s dowry in silver is covered with a small head-shawl.
When we first arrived, while Alai was making the arrangements, I sat in the car the cynosure of uncramped village curiosity. The woman nearest, with her brood hovering round her, announced frankly, “In the village we don’t see many sights!” And I certainly looked one with my unwashed face, uncombed hair and muddy, mussed clothes.
When I told our hostess that she is pretty she said simply, “Sorrow has aged and changed me; I have never been able to bear a child; five have now been taken; but Inshallah (God willing) this one will live.”
The women do all the hard work, the men idly watching as they tug their lives away. Children are not an economic responsibility but an actual commercial asset, and the family fortunes are built by having one every year. It is a common sight to see a young woman, an infant tied to her back, one astride her shoulders, a third, the eldest trudging behind, a fourth expected, walking with her produce or weaving to the distant village fair.
Our hostess climbed up the steep tree-trunk ladder to transact business in the attic, twenty times a day. She lifted enormously heavy containers of water or rice for the coffee-house, brought wood for the fireplaces, washed, cooked, carried, never sat down. Hordes of women in America of a corresponding social class would pick up the first loose object and break a man’s skull
if he ever suggested her working like this.
Once she came into our room and with great ceremony unlocked the chest with a key tightly fastened on a cord to her girdle. It seemed a quite solemn occasion as she unhasped and unstrapped it lifting the lid carefully removing what appeared to be very precious objects, until she found a small bag which I thought must contain the family wealth if not diamonds or pearls. After everything had been painstakingly replaced and the chest secured again, I discovered that she had extracted a package of black pepper! If by accident I ever found any of that vile condiment in my possession I would hastily bury it for fear the dog might get it, since I do not consider it fit for consumption by man or beast; and here was this dear soul treasuring it.
The corner shelf nearest the fireplace contained a copy of the Qur’án. “My husband can read it, but he can’t read anything else,” said the wife naifly. When questioned he said that though a Moslem he new nothing about the history of Islam, nor when or where Muhammad lived. We tried to speak to him of Bahá’u’lláh, but he had no idea what we were talking about.
THE LONG RAINY day drew to a
close and a muggy night fell. We
could neither go nor return. Our
gasoline had been greatly depleted
by our frequent stalling and heavy
going. We paid no more attention
to punctures and engine trouble
than to mosquito bites under such
circumstances. Reports from the
river told us that the mail car was
still washed by the rolling waters;
the road car drifting nearer the sea.
Alai hired a man to go with his son to a nearby village across the river, one of the king’s villages, supervised by a young Bahá’i. “Tell him of our plight and don’t return without gasoline,” was the command.
At four o’clock, the rain having again stopped and the sun come out, we were delighted to have the rescued road-car draw up and say that the river was now passable. “Then we ought to go right away,” I said, “before the rains start again.” “And spend another night like last night by the roadside?” inquired Rahmat.
“I’m sure we were all very happy by the roadside,” I said smilingly. “We were so grateful for warmth and shelter, so thankful to God for having safely passed such dangers, so joyful for any experience in the pathway of His service. But it is true that we might not be so fortunate another time. Whenever there is any question or doubt among Bahá’is they must invoke the great principle of consultation,” I continued.
Though Hasan Aqa left Tihrán a Moslem he was by now a Bahá’i, so the five of us prayed, offered our opinions and voted. There were the two opposite views; first, that the man hadn’t come with the gasoline; it was late and the road-menders had gone; so that if we stuck we would have to stay there; and secondly, the possibility of being confined to this village for a week if the rains started again.
There were three votes to stay against two to go, so we settled down with perfect satisfaction to fleas, inadequate covering, smoke-saturated atmosphere and all the comforts of home, for another night.
Great cosmic forces are evidently embraced in consultation. It never fails that where it is used exactly as directed “all its ways are happiness and all its paths are peace.” Though this was one of the most formidable streams that we crossed we forded it easily and without assistance the next morning.
ABOUT FIFTEEN kilometers farther
on there was a three day accumulation
of cars on either side of the
stream. If we had left our village
the night before we would have had
only the ardor of loading and unloading
for our pains for we could
have come seven miles and no
further, provided we had safely
crossed the Amir rud.
Here was a wide river with the bridge partially swept away. The ford was a quarter of a mile from the highway nearer the sea. An army of men were lined up to reap a harvest pushing the cars across.
Najjie and I rode over on horseback, Alai and Vahid were carried pick-a-back by stout peasants, the car was stripped, the engine muffled and with a great shout of “Ya Ali” the dangerous passage was begun. It rolled three-fourths of the way without trouble and then all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t budge it. I couldn’t bear to look at the strained and futile efforts of the crew to start it. At last after I had given up the idea of its completing the passage, they pulled an enormous bundle of drift wood from under the front wheels and made the shore.
The greatest peril that we encountered was still ahead of us, however: reaching the highway again. The grade to and from the river brink to the road had been
hastily made by loose, fresh, wet loam carried in donkey panniers and lightly dumped to form a fill down the hillside. As the car started up, the men still pushing, the road simply rolled away under the weight of the car and there was imminent danger of its turning over and crushing the men on that side. They had no firm place on which to stand to steady the car and it was inclining at a treacherous angle. “Ya Baha-ul-Abha,” I cried in a frenzy of apprehension lest some one be killed. By another evident miracle it righted itself and made the highway.
WE HAD NOW spent three nights,
cold, bedraggled, covered with fleas,
without removing our clothes, half
suffocated with wood-smoke, on
flimsy cots, but except when in actual
peril, we had managed to keep remarkably
cheerful and happy. Some
way, in our hearts we felt that such
hardships were a very little thing to
guage the reality of our devotion to
the service of Bahá’u’lláh; and remembering
the “last full measure
of devotion” offered by thousands
at His Threshold in martyrdom that
His Faith might live, this all seemed
very trivial and ordinary. Whatever
apprehension we had was quite
evidently for each other. All except
me had families of growing
children; I was the only one who
could really be spared for my family is grown and scattered; each felt a great responsibility for the other, however. In the whole course of our adventure I did not hear one complaint—one regret; though I confess we were all too preoccupied to laugh when Alai, like a motion-picture comedy, turned pot-black with mud in a twinkling while trying to push our mired car, which showed that our attitude at last was not superficial.
This is only the merest outline, the high-lights of our experience; there were a score of other things that seem too slight to mention although ordinarily we would think that they had spoiled a trip. Unfortunately we were unable to get the right films for our camera in Babul, so that this experience must go unrecorded except as I have written it.
At last by the grace of God we found the Friends waiting for us in Shaksavar, where I rudely left them to bathe and sleep the clock around in a quiet little room high in an orchard of orange blossoms.
How grateful we were to Bahá’u’lláh for providing against every need of our journey. How near such experiences bring us to Him. The promise of the Báb that “God will assist all those who arise to serve Him,” had been spectacularly fulfilled.
“Man must become evanescent and self-denying. Then all the difficulties and hardships of the world will never even touch him. He will become like unto a sea that although on its surface the tempest is raging and the mountainous waves rising, in its depth there is complete calmness.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The author is well qualified to speak of the importance of the newspaper for he is on the staff of the New York Times. Previously he was connected with the Progressive Education Association as Executive Secretary. As editor and writer he expresses admirably the importance of the daily newspaper in the life of the individual and of the community.
THE newspaper gives a complete picture of contemporary life, a continuing story of events, an appraisal, material for cultural study, and opportunity for stimulating discussion. However, it gives only what you take. If you read casually, not seriously; if you do not digest and reflect, the newspaper is not giving you full return.
The important thing is the attitude of the reader. The newspaper must be accepted as a public institution, making a substantial contribution to the public welfare. To develop the habit of reading the newspaper with profit, one must first consider that the newspaper, for example, whose motto is “All the news that’s fit to print,” treats news as fact, not fiction; that such news, to be acceptable for print, must be part of a continuing story of events which help the reader interpret life and his part in it.
To read intelligently one must desire truthful information, possess some background of knowledge of affairs, reflect on the significance of events, and to form opinions based on weighing subsequent events. Intelligent reading develops powers of analysis, habits of reflection, and ability to form substantial judgments. A simple pattern to follow is Selection, Digestion, Reflection, Deduction. One by-product of organized
reading of the newspaper is the ability to grasp values quickly from the printed page without complete subjection to “The tyranny of print”; to note what to omit, what to skim and yet absorb, what to read entire and reflect upon.
To accomplish these ends, one should acquire the knack of knowing how to find the news.
One should learn to distinguish between national and local news, and where regularly to find it. It is advisable to note first the content of the front page, and the balance of important articles. A study of headings and sub-headings not only provides a key to the articles themselves but often is sufficient. News style gives the reader in the opening paragraphs the answers to the questions What? Where? When? Who? Why? This portion often makes further reading unnecessary. The editorial page is a study in itself,–the subjects chosen, the viewpoints, the collateral columns of comment, and those devoted to “Letters from contributors.” This page is the public Forum.
AFTER ALL, is the newspaper merely
a purveyor of news, a restless,
eager busybody, gadding about to
find that which satisfies the curiosity
of the public? As we said before,
it gives only what you take.
If you look only for sensation, you will find it. If you want to share in the process of history in the making, the newspaper is your textbook, teacher and counselor.
The world is in a constant state of flux. Events crowd upon each other, revising our judgments, changing our decisions and acts. The newspaper is the most immediate and comprehensive agency to give us the facts. It spreads before us a mobile world creating and reshaping history, economics, politics, government, finance, industry, commerce, science and the arts. Most of all it offers the spiritual implications inherent in the human drama through ethical and religious reports and commentary. Right use of the newspaper and conscientious deductions made, tend to create good citizenship. Reading current accounts of the progress in science and the arts develops appreciation of art, music and the drama, and enables one to utilize scientific discovery for personal skills. Accounts of medical discoveries reflect in healthier human beings. Stories of invention, discovery and travel widen the horizon of knowledge. All tend to a larger social consciousness. The newspaper gives one the data, the tools, the stimulus.
A certain school prints this statement in its catalog: “The traditional school curriculum is subordinated to cultivating the mind by thinking through meaningful problems and to the building of ideals that will function in the world as we know it.” It refers to the well-organized use of the newspaper in its classes. It is interesting to note, therefore, that the newspaper is not merely the reporter of news. For example, can one follow the daily
record of the National Recovery Act without observing the various reactions to the codes, and without responding to the new spirit of cooperation that is sweeping the land? Can one read the reports of activities in Germany, Italy, and Russia without recalling the liberal provisions of our own forefathers which guaranteed freedom of speech, universal education, religious tolerance, and the right to individual initiative?
The daily factual accounts of business and finance are more than facts and statistics. Business is more than trade: it is economics applied to social service. And economics connotes history, political science and sociology. Even in the mere world of creature comforts the newspaper reveals man’s wants, the product he uses, and how to get it. Business has a pattern and a philosophy, and citizenship is inherent in its practice. Can any serious student of human interests fail to see underlying the ebb and flow of investment, finance, and trade the operation of laws,—the laws of supply and demand, changing price values, the relation of taxation to manufacture and consumption, with all the conclusions necessary for individual and social welfare?
The revelations recorded in the daily press of banking investigations conducted in Washington; the revelations of civic management in the New York City political campaign; the strike of Western farmers; the recent recognition of Soviet Russia; the onward sweep toward repeal of the eighteenth amendment; the backwash of the Insull system; the plan of the President to raise commodity prices
through the control of gold—these and many other vital issues all carry much more than their factual values.
THEREFORE one should read the daily newspaper in light of individual reactions and social goals. To form opinions from others’ expressed opinions after the event is not enough. An enlightened democracy can come only through the mind of the individual reacting to the passing show as it passes, receiving the impression, noting its implication, keeping in abeyance a
judgment until the cumulation of events spends itself. Then the judgment, derived by following the course, will be sure and substantial.
What is a newspaper? Mr. Robert H. Davis wrote the following: “I am the voice of today, the herald of tomorrow. . . . I am the record of all things mankind has achieved. . . . I am light, knowledge, and power. . . . I epitomize the conquests of mind over matter. .. I am the printing press.” The newspaper is in many ways the fullest expression of this force.
MIRRORS OF TRUTH
THE pages of swiftly appearing newspapers are indeed the mirror of the world; they display the doings and actions of the different nations; they both illustrate them and cause them to be heard. Newspapers are as a mirror which is endowed with hearing, sight and speech; they are a wonderful phenomenon and a great matter. But it behooveth the writers (editors and others) thereof to be sanctified from the prejudice of egotism and desire and to be adorned with the ornament of equity and justice; they must inquire into matters as much as possible in order that they may be informed of the real facts and commit the same to writing.”
A MAN begins with a little selfish view of Good limited to himself; after a time he learns more wisdom and his view of Good enlarges to his own household. Then with more wisdom comes the realization that Good must include his family, no matter how large. Again more wisdom, and his family becomes his village, his village his city, and in turn, his city his country. But this is not enough; as his wisdom grows, his country becomes his continent, and his continent the world—his family has become mankind. It is the duty of the Press to teach this wisdom to mankind for it is the wisdom of God. It is the work of a true Press to teach this wisdom of God.”
THOSE newspapers which strive to speak only that which is truth, which hold the mirror up to truth, are like the sun, they light the world everywhere with truth and their work is imperishable. . . How are people to know the truth if it is veiled from them in their journals.”
“It is a great power to have a strong will, but a greater power to give that will to God.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
NELLIE TURNER grew to womanhood at a time when America was beginning to rub its sleepy eyes and stretch its strong young arms from coast to coast. With the casual mind of youth, Nellie took for granted all that she saw and believed that anything might happen. Like her America, she reached to the four winds, eyes bright with anticipation, head back, breast heaving, crying, “Now let me live!” Yet she was not altogether happy. Her faith was suffering serious alterations. A man named Darwin thot that the world was far more than six thousand years old, and young Robert Ingersoll made her vaguely uneasy. She put away those things that could not honestly be faced and went to New York to work in the slums. There she found human nature in the raw, and a thousand perplexities where before there had been one. The vague unrest increased. She married, then, a young newspaper man, Joseph A. Beecher, grandnephew of the famous Lyman Beecher, “father of more brains than any man in America”. Never were two human beings more wierdly unmatched. The unrest became tumult. “Why?” she asked herself. “Why did not God make it easy?”
As she had once chosen tinsel to cover a void in her heart, now she
1 Chapters 1, 2 and 3, were published respectively in the October, November and December numbers. Each chapter is a unit in itself.
wore the heavy robe of labor. “I will work in the church”, she told herself. “Then I will be most close to God”. She was appointed to train women for leadership in the Presbyterian churches of southern New Jersey. She looked upon her work with a critical eye and saw that it was good. Yet the tumult remained.
“I will do something civically fine and constructive”, she told herself. And she did. The Temperance League held out hungry arms to her. She spoke with fiery eloquence to thousands and edited a weekly magazine dedicated to that Cause. Her idealistic young husband praised her work and for a brief moment they almost touched hands across the ever-widening chasm that destiny had set for them.
AT ONE point, prison reform opened
its yawning gates and quite successfully
swallowed her up. One
could surely submerge oneself and
one’s longings in prison reform!
Here was suffering that obliterated
one’s own. Her work was largely
with men. And then an invitation
came to become a member of the
Board of the Trenton Reform
School for Girls. She told me
about it one day as I was preparing
to talk to a group of young high
school girls.
“Your audience will be cultured, well-trained, receptive”, she said. “What would you talk about if they were criminals?”
“I would not discuss the prodigal son,” said I laughing.
She smiled a smile that broke out in hundreds of little ninety-year-old wrinkles, and I caught the light of retrospect in her eyes. “What would you say?” I asked.
“It makes me think again of the platform in the Reformatory auditorium where we sat after my first Board meeting”, she replied. “I can see it yet, the sea of white faces looking up at us, sullen and bitter. One in particular fascinated me, for it was at the same time beautiful and terrifying. It made me think of marble statuary, shot thru with living, breathing hate. The girl sat in the front row.
“One after another of the men arose and told them how thankful they ought to be; and what they did not actually say about their characters, they insinuated with cutting accuracy. Hate flashed back at them. Feet shuffled. Suddenly their eyes turned to me. I mentally groped for something to support me, and realized that I must have been called upon to speak. My heart sank for I had not prepared a word to say. My legs carried me to the front of the platform, but I could only stare foolishly. Pity drove me. God had meant them to be beautiful.
“‘How many of you,’ I heard myself ask, ‘would like to be beautiful?’
“Every hand shot up but one. My marble goddess looked at me from under half lowered lids and sat immovable. I told them that there were two kinds of beauty, but
that the inner kind endured to the end; that God loved this beauty, for His image was in it; that loving one another and loving Him made that kind of beauty possible, and that He had made every one of them without exception to be beautiful. I told them stories, too, and loved them in a fierce, protective sort of way, until that love began almost to hurt me. I might almost have been their mother.
“The shuffling ceased, and many wept openly. The matron rose when I had finished and said that every girl who desired to talk with Mrs. Beecher personally might come into the library. I found them there, all of them, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a chair fixed for me in the midst of them. No sooner had I seated myself than I heard a choking sob, and turning, saw my dark-eyed little beauty stumbling toward me, trampling blindly over the luckless ones in her path. Throwing herself down at my feet and burying her head in my lap, she cried, ‘Do you think that even I might be beautiful?’
“That was only the beginning. The passing months found me often with my girls and always with the same desire to love and protect them. They had sinned. So had I. They had suffered. So had I. Amazingly my work with them brought me far closer to God than had my church work.”
“What became of the little wild creature?” I asked.
“I saw the child of hate grow into lovely flower, full of charm and grace. She was later adopted by a wealthy family who gave her every advantage and she finally married a young mar of high attainment. She became an influential, Christian
woman, greatly beloved by all who knew her.”
“It sounds like a fairy story,” I breathed.
“There are no fairies,” she replied smiling, “but there is God.”
Yet I doubt that God had remained always reachable to her in those years that followed the incident of the Reform School. Frustration and disappointment greeted her on every hand. With it all, her faith was tottering; not faith in God and in Christ, but faith as she had known it. Wherever she turned with her questioning heart, she received only a blur of contradictory doctrine which further confused her. “Why?” she cried again. “Why are not all things made plain to me?” Even her work failed to lull her into insensibility to her poignant needs. Nor could she lean securely on domestic happiness, but rather found herself thrown back again and again upon the necessity of finding the God of comfort.
One summer she took her child to visit the old homestead at Simsbury. He became ill during that visit, so ill that the doctors told her that he would die. She sat beside the wasted little form and saw all that was most dear to her passing slowly out of her world. At last she felt that more could not be borne. Turning to her sister who wept silently at her side, she said, “I am going into the garden. If there is the slightest change, come to the window. If he is worse, lower the shade. If he is by any chance, better, raise it.” She slipped out then, and walked across the little bridge where as a child she had played beside the water. The sky, reflected in the pool, was deeply blue and beautiful. The trees were mirrored clearly in its pure
depths. She walked on, her heart measuring out its lonely dirge. Returning, she saw again the pool, no longer calm, but ruffled and disturbed. “How like my heart”, she thot. “It cannot reflect God because it is so busy with its own disturbance.”
SHE SEATED herself under a tree
where she could watch the window.
A mother hen stalked by, surrounded
by her chicks. Suddenly a wagon
clattered down the road, drawn by
a runaway horse. Every chick flew
under cover this way and that. Long
afterward she could hear them
cheeping pitifully in the growing
dusk. The persistent clucking of
the mother hen drew them at last to
her protecting wings. The woman
watching was aware of a sense of
comfort. They had a haven and
they were no longer afraid. Or
were they? She listened, and heard
the distant peeping of the tiny
things, and as she watched she could
see their little feet stepping, restlessly
stepping about beneath the
protecting shelter of their mother,
unwilling to completely accept the
promise of a solace. She herself
was like that, she thot. She knew
that there was a God, but somehow
the thot did not always protect her.
Again she wondered why. Then one
by one the tiny feet stopped stepping
until at last every foot was
still, and with that final stillness
came the benediction of a mother’s
wings dropping over them. The
woman mother saw them drop,
quietly and without ado, and something
gave way in her feverish
heart that had been like an iron
band. She thot that she heard a
voice, soft as a breeze, saying, “And
when will you stop stepping?”
It could be as simple as that then,
to stop stepping. “When my heart is still enough”, she thot, “it will all be given to me, the full solace of complete protection. O God, I will accept everything quietly and know that Thy purpose is in it. I will stop stepping and find the perfect comfort of Thy wings. And when I have become still enough, Thou wilt guide me into all truth, and I will take refuge in Thee forever—and ever.”
A faint rustle came indistinctly to her ear. With a rush of joy she knew before she lifted her eyes to the raised curtain of that fateful window, that beautiful, that blessed window, that even in the face of terrific
possibilities, she had stopped stepping. The protection of God was in every circumstance, yea, even in this. She knew that she could have lost her child and said, “Thy will be done.” And in some strange unaccountable way, she knew, too, that there was in the world at that very hour, a full answer to all of life’s perplexities and that something of the radiance of it surged thru her and around her in this garden. She could afford to wait, for time seemed such a puny thing. She would search and watch and pray. In the twinkling of an eye the beaten, lonely thing that was herself had arisen resurrected and victorious.
This series of brief biographies of the leading followers of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh was composed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1915 and published in Haifa in 1924 in Persian. These translations into English have been made by the request of Shoghi Effendi. The aim, has been to render them into colloquial English rather than to follow a literary translation. This work was done specially for the Bahá’i Magazine. The translator states that she does not consider these translations final.*
THE twelve gates of Tihrán are soon to fall, and people who are old fashioned and unwilling to part with something that used to be beautiful hate to see them go. But the city is growing, moving up across plains to the mountains, up toward the heights where in the not so distant future the Bahá’is are going to build Persia’s first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. And besides the gates are crumbling of themselves, their intricate patterns of green and yellow enamel are peeling away, they are too narrow for motor
* This series of stories have appeared monthly, beginning in the October 1933 issue.
trucks to get through in comfort. The Shemirán Gate for instance—the one which pilgrims go out from when they leave for Mashhad—is typical; a quiet, bright structure, not unlike a mosque, with ogival archways, a mud lump of a dome, and six crumbling towers tipped with sky-blue tile. Like many inanimate things that people live with, it has become dimly human through the years; one is sorry to see it, stuck here in the old moat which is also doomed to disappear—and to feel that departing caravans
are soon to lose half their meaning, with no gate to mark their journey, no archways to echo the beating of their bells.
THE TWELVE gates of Tihran are a
Bahá’i memorial, built by one of
those personages who responded to
the summons of Bahá’u’lláh when
such a response meant death. Ustad
Hasan was considered a remarkably
handsome young man, and he
was absolutely fearless; when he became
a follower of the Báb and
Bahá’u’lláh, he was soon known all
over Tihrán as “Ustád Hasan the
Bábi”. At a time and in a country
where work was anything but sacred,
Bahá’u’lláh taught that every
individual should have an occupation,
that work was a form of
prayer, and many early Bahá’is
turned to some labor or trade.
Ustád Hasan became a builder,
one of those designer-masons
who are the Persian equivalent of
architect. It happened that a big
mosque was being planned by the
Sipah-Sálár, and Ustád Hasan was
among the builders working on it.
According to the story, the other
architects, wishing to humiliate
him because he was a Bahá’i, assigned
him the meanest, most inconspicuous
section of the mosque; his
work was to build a small roof that
would never be noticed, over an outbuilding
of the Mosque. Ustád
Hasan set to his task, and his roof
was a masterpiece; the Sipah-Sálár
looked at it, and had him build the
whole mosque. In time he became
the Sháh’s architect-in-chief, and
built among other things the old
Imperial Bank, the Palace of the
Gulistán, and the twelve gates. It
was Ustád Hasan who designed the
Grand Hotel in the heart of Tihrán,
and public opposition to this work was tremendous, as rumors spread that the Bahá’is were daring to put up a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
USTAD HASAN was often beaten in
the streets. He would invite large
gatherings to his house at a period
when even small groups could not
come together, and more than once
the mobs broke in and plundered.
He lived in the old quarter of Sar-i-Qabr-i-Áqá,
in what was then the
worst part of the city. Great numbers
of the Tihrán Bahá’is lived in
this quarter then; they were poor,
and hunted down, and often the mud
lanes ran with blood; the place was
especially known for its immense
graveyard, where generations of
dead were crowded. Not long ago
the Persian Government condemned
this graveyard, and made it into a
public park; so that today it is a
favorite walk, known as Báq-i-Firdaus—the
Garden of Heaven;
the bodies of Bahá’is that were
buried there now lie in the Bahá’i
cemetery.
In his later years Ustád rode everywhere on a fast donkey, and kept one of his saddle bags filled with coins for the poor. One afternoon he was carried into his daughter’s house, bleeding and faint; mullás had seen him outside the door, and had set a gang of street rowdies to beat him; they had struck him over the head, and broken his arm with a stone pestle; the saddle-bag was gone. His eldest grandson, then a small child, still remembers the alarm in the house, the running for water and bandages.
USTAD LIVED to be quite old, in spite of dangers and hardships. He
received tablets both from Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the originals of which, on thin yellow paper in still glossy ink, are treasured by his descendants and are soon to be placed in the Bahá’i archives. Bahá’u’lláh wrote to him: “He is the Utterer, the Wise! The fire of illusion and fancy has encircled the world, and the Great Debasement has come on creation, yet none is aware. Justice like the phoenix is now only a name; the spirit of fairness has fled from the forces of darkness to hide in high tabernacles; and heedless, men spend their days in unspeakable desires. Beg thou of God that He will light the world with shining sight, and grant men a share from the chalice of knowledge. Fortunate art thou; well is it with thee that thou hast heard my cry. . . . Glory be on thee and on those who bear witness to this mighty Day.”
A tablet from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reads: “O servant of God! It behooves you to raise up a house that will stand forever—so speaks the True Architect. The floor of the building is knowledge, the roof is assurance, and God’s love is the light of its lamp. Rear this strong building, raise up this palace, so that you may become a sound builder, a faultless designer. Upon you be greetings and praise.”
The gates may go, the buildings may gradually be replaced by others, but it is probable that Ustad’s real work will never be dust. His life bore constant witness to the coming of a new Manifestation of God, the beginning of friendliness and peace on earth; he traded comfort and safety for humanity’s future. For a long time the influence of such lives will continue, perhaps for as long as Demavand rises above the plains of Tihrán.
“Man in this age has learned the weight of the sun, the path of a star, the movement of an eclipse—the advance step now is to learn the expansion of the inflexible law of matter into the subtler kingdom of spirit, which contains a finer gravitation which holds the balance of power from age to age unbroken. Blessed is that soul who knows that against all appearances, the nature of things works for truth and right forever. . . . The emancipated soul sees with the eyes of perfect faith because it knows what vast provisions are made to enable it to gain the victory over every difficulty and trial. Yet man must ever remember the earth plane is a workshop, not an art gallery for the exhibits of powers. This is not the plane of perfection, but earth is the crucible for refining and moulding character.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
readjustment of many of our ways of thinking and, therefore, of many of our social and economic arrangements . . . Civilization cannot go back; civilization must not stand still. We have undertaken new methods. It is our task to perfect, to improve, to alter when necessary, but in all cases to go forward.”
ONLY through perils and upheavels can the nations be brought to further development.
“It is in times of economic distress such as we experience everywhere today that one sees very clearly the strength of the moral forces that live in a people.
“Shall we worry over the fact that we are living in a time of danger and want? I think not. Man, like every other animal, is by nature indolent. If nothing spurs him on, then he will hardly think, and will behave like an automaton.”–Albert Einstein.
“NEVER BEFORE was man more powerful, never did he have more mechanical aids, and never was he less able to see what the morrow would bring forth. . . . The violent transformations of our material values and of economic life has found no corresponding developments in respect to new political and moral creations. We look for some kind of redemption. We yearn for new values that will make life worth living. . . .
“You ask what recipe I would recommend. Well, my own private recipe is that we must make every effort not to do anything that could increase the suffering in the world—and
at the same time we must try to make the distance that separates men and beasts as wide as possible.”—Paul Valery. Living Age.
“THE DEFECT of religion up to now has been its attempt to dominate the whole of human experience through one faculty of its sensorium, the emotional. The defect of nineteenth century science was its attempt to subject vital experience to the test of a single aspect of human endowment, the analytical. The demand now of a mechanised hasty outer life to dominate the contemplative necessity by the dynamic is equally defective. Yet these attempts at domination were signs of a true movement in human progress; not a movement towards domination of the whole of life by any one or two of its phases but of a future free interaction of all phases of human endowment; in short, a movement towards synthesis.
“When the process of interaction is sufficiently advanced, the religion of the future will have begun to emerge. Its intuitional assumptions, mental illumination and emotional expansions will have been pondered by philosophy, tested by science, expressed by art, incorporated in life.”—James H. Cousins, The Young Builder.
“MAN’S INVENTIVE genius has placed within mankind’s reach boundless wealth, sufficient for every inhabitant of this planet to enjoy life without encroaching upon supplies of any of his fellows.
“And yet amidst all this abundance, we are inundated with myriads of starving, ragged people, all because we have not the intelligence to see that the old economic theories have become fallacies, . . . and that just as our productive methods to which we owe this age of plenty have been revolutionized, so our entire economic system must be reorganized.” Arthur Kitson, British engineer, inventor and economist. Living Age.
“TO MEET three ardent Bahá’is in Shanghai the other evening was like a breath of fresh spiritual air from the pure land of God. There were four of us, two Persian, one Chinese, and I, American. I did not realize until this moment of writing, I had not thought until now of the fact that in physical origin we were of three races. And I am sure the others, during our happy evening together, were quite as unconscious as I, of the differences of racial origin. We realized in profound feeling the unity and comity of mankind. We were one in the spirit of comradeship in the great cause of bringing God and brotherhood to mankind.
“I write in my diary: This was a night of joy and illumination. Mr. Ouskouli wrote in my autograph book: Tonight is one of the best nights in my life, for I have enjoyed this evening. Dr. Y. S. Tsao wrote: In and out the five continents all are brothers This is an improved version of a great saying of Confucius. And Mr. Sulieman wrote: Glory is not his who
loves his country, but rather his who loves his kind—a translation from the words of Bahá’u’lláh”—Dr. R. F. Piper, Syracuse University.
“WHEN I speak of education as an absolute prerequisite for self-government, I mean education. I mean more than that. I mean universal education. . . . I know that without a highly educated electorate our system of government cannot be maintained; certainly it cannot be developed and perfected. I know that an intelligent government and an intelligent citizenship do not spontaneously grow. They must be fashioned by carefully fabricated, highly intelligent tools. Our chief interest as a government, therefore, is education. . . .”—Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior.
“Under our very eyes, journalism has become world-minded, vitally interested in events beyond its own horizons. Not since the World War has international news bulked so large in American newspapers as it does today.
“The newspaper of tomorrow will select, classify, interpret, and evaluate with greater discrimination than its brother of yesterday. I look for more informational articles recording progress in architecture, drama, music, literature, the leisure arts, science and religion, written by specialists who bring to their task keen intellects, well furnished minds.
“Humanity is a field. Only the newspaper can find and tell the amazing story, only the newspaper can lead the way over the distant hills.”—H. F. Harrington, Director, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University.
THE PROMULGATION OF UNIVERSAL PEACE, being The Addresses of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America, in two volumes. Price, each, $2.50.
BAHÁ'U'LLÁH AND THE NEW ERA, by Dr. J. E. Esslemont, a gifted scientific scholar of England. This is the most comprehensive summary and explanation of the Bahá'í Teachings as yet given in a single volume. Price, $1.00; paper cover, 50 cents.
THE WISDOM TALKS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHÁ in Paris. This series of talks covers a wide range of subjects, and is perhaps the best single volume at a low price in which 'Abdu'l-Bahá explains in His own words the Bahá'í Teaching. Price, paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1.00.
BAHÁ'Í SCRIPTURES. This book, compiled by Horace Holley, is a remarkable compendium of the Teachings of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá. It contains a vast amount of material and is indexed. This Paper Edition (only ¾-inch thick) Price, $2.50.
THE BAHÁ'Í WORLD, a Biennial International Record (formerly Bahá'í Year Book). Prepared under the auspices of the Bahá'í National Assembly of America with the approval of Shoghi Effendi. Price, cloth, $2.50.
All books may be secured from The Bahá'í Publishing Committee, Post office Box 348, Grand Central Station, New York City.
FIVE MONTHS' subscription to a new subscriber, $1.00; yearly subscription, $3.00. Two subscriptions to one address, $5.00. Three subscriptions to one address, $7.50. Ten new subscriptions to one address, $25.00 (in United States and Canada). If requested, the subscriber may receive one or more copies and have the remaining copies sent to other addresses.
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Single copies, 25 cents each; ten copies to one address, $2.00. Address The Bahá'í Magazine, 1000 Chandler Bldg., Washington, D. C.
The Herald of the South, G. P. O. Box 447 D, Adelaide, Australia.
Kawkab-i-Hind (Published in Urdu), Karol Bagh, Delhi, India.
La Nova Tago (Published in Esperanto), Friedrich Voglerstrasse 4, Weinheim, Baden, Germany.
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