| ←Issue 10 | Star of the West Volume 7 - Issue 11 |
Issue 12→ |
 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:
|
STAR OF THE WEST
"We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; that all nations shall become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men shall be strengthened; that diversity of religion shall cease and differences of race be annulled. So it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the 'Most Great Peace' shall come."—BAHA'O'LLAH.
Vol. VII Masheyat 1, 72 (September 27, 1916) No. 11
The New Work Now Before Us
Extracts from a letter written by Mrs. Ella G. Cooper of San Francisco to the President of the Bahai Temple Unity, regarding the Tablets published in the last issue of the STAR OF THE WEST.
THE great Tablets have come. Abdul-Baha himself gives us the plan, and it is as clear as daylight—that we should instantly drop every other consideration and concentrate all our energies and resources upon this great work. This is a call to the whole body of believers. The very first thing to do is to arouse all the friends to the tremendous significance of this new work, this "superhuman service" as Abdul-Baha so justly calls it. Indeed it is so big that we should lose no time getting at it. The friends here in the West are alive to the supreme opportunity and we feel sure that their joyous enthusiasm is going to carry them through and make their work effective.
It seems to me that the natural division of the work is just as Abdul-Baha himself has divided it, East, West, South, Central States and Canada. Of course we should have general consultation and mutual assistance but for a beginning at least, each section can be cared or by combined assemblies in that section. If each Assembly would appoint simply a treasurer, to collect this teachers' fund (which of course must be separate from the Temple fund) and then forward it to the larger centers, as San Francisco for the West, New York for the East, etc. that would be the most expeditious, as well as the most simple way. The groups of assemblies in each section could then decide upon their teachers and direct their itinerary. Conditions are changing so rapidly now that not only are the hearts ready to hear the Glad Tidings, but the Bahais themselves are "growing" so fast that the time of fruitage is much nearer than we have believed.
It seems to me we cannot hope to measure the tremendous effect this new work is going to have upon the fortunes of the Mashrak-el-Azkar, in fact, upon all of our hopes and plans. All reforms are bound to follow it as natural results—peace among them. Therefore it stands to reason that if we lay everything else aside and plunge at once into this glorious new work we will be confirmed to establish very quickly the one basis upon which the Temple will be built and universal peace be founded.
Regarding the teachers: It might be well if they could go two by two. Abdul-Baha approves of that. Our idea is that if two or three relays were to follow one another a few weeks apart perhaps, it might be a very good thing, because that always keeps up the interest in the subject among the people.
Naturally we have not made any very definite plans yet, waiting to hear from the Eastern friends but this is what has developed already. It may serve as a "starter." Beside Mrs. Gillen's settled plan to go to Idaho's largest
city, Mrs. Latimer wrote that she wished she might go to Wyoming a little later, as she knows that state so well. It may be possible for her to meet Mrs. Brittingham there and open the way for both of them to give the Message. A very fine woman has lately gone to Arizona (a pupil of Mr. Dunn's) with her hands full of Bahai literature as her heart is full of the spirit of Abdul-Baha; she can open the way perhaps. Then as Nevada is on our "list" mother* wrote to Mrs. Ralston, who spent the summer there, asking her if she couldn't "mount a mule" and take the message over the country. She answered in a most beautiful and enthusiastic letter that she had been busy giving the Message for the past months,—seemingly she caught the vibration from the wonderful Tablets even before they were received,—and that the way was prepared for some one to come and carry it further. Mr. Dunn has been in Reno from time to time and a Mr. Baker, (formerly of New York) is at Virginia City; at both these places it will be easy to get openings for public talks. So probably Mr. Dunn and Dr. D'Evelyn can go there and to Carson City which will just about cover the state of Nevada. Already a good beginning is made at Salt Lake City, but the dear Killius people are already stopping there. When they received mother's letter at Spokane, they were just on the point of leaving for the East. They would have left the day before only they were not able to get accommodations. Upon receiving the Tablet, which stirred them to the depths of their hearts, they changed their route and instead of going further east determined to spend their short time in the middle West, taking in Salt Lake City and Denver. They wanted to visit Springfield, Ill., their old home and York, Kansas, where they had given the Message last spring (you remember they were so busy doing that, that they did not get to the Convention at all) so they did not lose one minute, you see, in responding to this call. Another response all on fire with enthusiasm comes from Denver and another from Los Angeles, all eager to serve as two dear maid-servants who are footloose, offer themselves as teachers to go into the states mentioned in the Tablet, earning their living as they go, one as stenographer and the other as nurse. I tell you this to show you what an effect just one of the series of five Tablets has had upon the friends already. One of our dearest Bahais, Mrs. Susan Rice, spent her vacation in Alaska, and her account of her trip all alone way up the Yukon to Dawson is most interesting. At the little town of Eagle (I think) near by, she gave the Glad Tidings to everybody there. This may prove to be a beginning which will eventually lead to our reaching the Eskimos (mentioned in the Canada Tablet and perhaps even to Greenland) who knows? Mrs. Rice left believers and interested inquirers at Fairbanks, White Horse and Dawson, as well, and one lady who traveled with her and heard the Message with great eagerness went to stay at Wiseman, the most northerly point that is now inhabited. Mrs. Rice is in touch with all these places. Mr. Dunn has also a sister-in-law in Alaska.
Right here another suggestion—any of the friends who have points of contact in any state should write to the sections where the Tablets have been received, so that all such information can be in hand as soon as possible.
Like all Bahai work planned for us by Abdul-Baha, it is so much bigger than we realize, that wre will have to grow up to it, and do it quickly too. It will take every bit of energy, every bit of money (pennies and dollars) available, every bit of all the resources we can muster to make even a beginning of the great work he is calling us to do. Unless we have "an eye single" to this one
*Mrs. Helen S. Goodall, San Francisco.
command (which in reality includes all other commands) we will not fulfill his desire that the whole of America even to the Arctic Circle shall be set ablaze with the divine fire of the Most Great Glad Tidings, and we cannot divide our attention among a multitude of activities. This new command should supersede all former commands (except the Temple work) for surely it is the greatest and the most inspiring work he has yet given us to do. Considering what we hope for 1917 it is simply overwhelming in its possibilities! Those who can give money will joyfully do so, those "pure and severed souls" who are free to travel and teach will serve that way, and those who can do neither of these things can remain at home and enthuse the others, and all can pray. In the meantime many of us in all centers can do an immense amount of local work for the opportunities right around us are increasing at an astonishing rate.
How marvelous is Abdul-Baha! He never asks us to do what is impossible even though he does set us some tasks worthy of our maturity! How impossible it would be for us to unite on every tiny point of detail in any matter, but he gives us in this great day two big points upon which it is easy to unite. In reality they are one. First he bids us "build the Temple." Now" in his love and wisdom and pity for our human limitations he sends us this new word, in which he shows us how to build the Temple! Dividing up the country into sections is his plan. Let us embrace it quickly, joyfully. Let us recreate our own ideas anew to keep up with him! "This is the time!" Let this be our watchword. Let us everyone engrave it on our hearts and run to meet the descent of the heavenly confirmations just waiting to pour down upon our obedient heads, the moment we all arise to answer his thrilling call!
Ella G. Cooper.
—"THIS IS THE TIME"—
Letter from India
Gratie Azam Khan, Agra, India,
July 9, 1916.
My dear brother Latimer:
Thank you for yours of the 29th. The glad tidings of the departure [death] of Lua have been coming to me from various quarters during the last week. Blessed is her lot. You perhaps know that she bestowed her blessing upon my marriage, and I consider that as she was in India in response to the invitation of Abdul-Baha, it was he in her person. It was both her and my wish then that the first daughter born to me should be named Lua after her.
The news of the [proposed] building of the Mashrak-el-Azkar on the 100th anniversary of the birth of BAHA'O'LLAH was a piece of real good news. I am writing to the Bombay assembly asking them to allow me to join them in sending some little mite towards the building fund. I am very sorry that I did not begin earlier, for I should have taken the first opportunity of submitting the 1/19th of my inheritance, but now it is not practicable. I am therefore only able to submit one thousand rupees, which is about 1/15th of my possessions, but about 1/30 of what I had inherited. My wife however has subscribed the full 1/19th, i. e., one hundred and twenty-five rupees. I know that this is nothing for the building fund, yet I at least shall have the satisfaction to think that I have tried to add my mite.
Yours in His love. Hashmatullah.
STAR OF THE WEST
PUBLISHED NINETEEN TIMES A YEAR
By the BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, 515 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A.
Entered as second-class matter April 9, 1911, at the post office at Chicago, Illinois, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Terms: $1.50 per year; 10 cents per copy.
Make Money Orders payable to BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A.
To personal checks please add sufficient to cover the bank exchange.
Address all communications to BAHAI NEWS SERVICE, P. O. Box 283, Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.
TABLET FROM ABDUL-BAHA.
HE IS GOD!
O thou Star of the West!
Be thou happy! Be thou happy! Shouldst thou continue to remain firm and eternal, ere long, thou shalt become the Star of the East and shalt spread in every country and clime. Thou art the first paper of the Bahais which is organized in the country of America. Although for the present thy subscribers are limited, thy form is small and thy voice weak, yet shouldst thou stand unshakable, become the object of the attention of the friends and the center of the generosity of the leaders of the faith who are firm in the Covenant, in the future thy subscribers will become hosts after hosts like unto the waves of the sea; thy volume will increase, thy arena will become vast and spacious and thy voice and fame will be raised and become world-wide—and at last thou shalt become the first paper of the world of humanity. Yet all these depend upon firmness, firmness, firmness!
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
Vol. VII
No. 11
—"THIS IS THE TIME"—
"Let not these Golden Days slip by without Results"
From Diary of Mirza Ahmad Sohrab
Ramleh, Egypt, October 29, 1913.
Dear friends:
Mrs. Stannard left this morning for Cairo, to prepare herself for the trip to India. Before her departure Abdul-Baha called her into his presence and spoke to her as follows:
"Consecrate all thy time to the service of the Kingdom of God and the propagation of its principles. Let thy one supreme concern be the promotion of the word of God. Thou wilt ever be surrounded by the invisible angels of confirmations and they will always come to thy assistance. Whenever thou dost enter a meeting, raise thy voice and say:
"'O ye believers of God! This day is the day of your attraction! This day is the day in which you must diffuse the fragrance of God! This day is the day that you must unfurl the banner of the kingdom of Abha! This day is the day of peace and concord! This day is the day of the proclamation of the Oneness of the world of humanity! This day is the day of forgiveness and leniency! This day is the day of truth and righteousness! This day is the day of conciliation and beatitude! This day is the day of awakening and enkindlement!
"'Waste not your precious time in fault-finding and backbiting. Polish the surface of the mirrors of your hearts from the dross of human frailties. If you live according to the standard of other communities, then what difference does there exist between you and them? BAHA'O'LLAH has summoned you to such a lofty summit that the very thought thereof is too dazzling a prospect! He has not chosen you to be satisfied with water and clay!'
"Thou must live in such a spiritual condition that thy very presence in the meetings may transform the audience into the congregations of the elect and set aglow in the hearts the fire of the love of God. Exalt thy ambition. Universalize thy ideals. Spread thy wings of compassion over all the regions of the
globe. If some people come to thee alone complaining against each other, don't listen to them, don't let them breathe the faults of others in thy presence. Tell them: 'I have not come here to engage my time with these things. I am not a judge. I have come to summon the people to the Kingdom of Abha, to call you to unity and accord, to raise the dead, make mindful those who are unaware, awaken those who are asleep, breathe new life into the mouldering bones and sound the trumpet of resurrection. Friends, it is high time for you to throw away these tales, these barren stories. God is not pleased with them, humanity is not pleased with them. Your time is too costly to be expended on these trifling events. You are made in the image and likeness of God. Your birthright is more valuable than all the treasures of the empires. Arise with heart and soul and let not these golden days slip by without results. This day is the day of the splendors of the Sun of Reality. This day is the day of the Lord of the Kingdom. This day is the day of the fulfillment of glorious promises. This day is the day of joy and fragrance. These petty backbitings and jealousies make one lose all the traces of spirituality, excommunicate a person from the divine company of the worthy ones, submerge one in the sea of phantasms, suffer one to become cold and pessimistic and throw him headlong into the death of despair and haunting hopelessness.'
"You must not listen to anyone speaking about another, because no sooner do you listen than you must listen to someone else and thus the circle will be enlarged endlessly. Therefore, O friends! Let us come together, forget all our self-thoughts and be in one accord, and cry at the top of our voices 'Ya-Baha-el-Abha!'"
Later someone spoke of recent news from the Persian Gulf and how one of the Bahais has been persecuted. Abdul-Baha said:
"Happy is his condition, for in this latter part of his life he has become the object of sufferings in the path of God! May we all attain to this great gift!"
In the afternoon Abdul-Baha started off for a walk. Having reached the telegraph of office at the Bacos station, he ascended the few steps of the modest building and sat on the chair which was offered him by the chief operator. Abdul-Baha used to come often to talk with him, or in other words, to "elbow with men and mix with them," right in the market place. How wonderful it seems to me, his power of adaptability to all people, under most peculiar circumstances! How he brings himself to the intellectual or moral level of the listener and how he enjoys the free and unimpeded association of men! Here was Abdul-Baha sitting in a small telegraph office of Ramleh, talking heartily in Arabic with an operator and how he listened to him. First he spoke about the brother of the Khedive, and how he met him in America and France, praising his progressive ideas and intelligence. Then he said:
"When I was in America I was most busy. Often I addressed three meetings a day, and gave innumerable interviews from early morning till midnight. In Europe I spread certain divine teachings which will insure security to the human world, and taught them that the foundation of the religions of God is one and the same. Now I have returned to Egypt in order to rest from the effects of this arduous journey; but while I am here correspondence is uninterrupted with all parts of the West. All the newspapers and magazines published my addresses and the western world is ringing with this call. I have done this, not because I expected the praise of men. Far from it! How foolish are some people who may think that we have accepted all these hardships and undergone forty years of imprisonment by Sultan Abdul Hamid, in order to receive the commendations of men! How
thoughtless they are! Neither their adulation or blame shall reach me. I have done my work! I have sown my seeds, and leave it to the power of God to cause their growth! You wait a few years longer and you will then hear the notes of this melodious music!
Once upon a time there was a poor fellah (farmer) who cultivated a patch of ground with cotton. His neighboring farmers were all rich landlords and Pashas and so they prevented in a high handed manner this poor fellah from receiving his just share of water wherewith to irrigate his parched farm. He appealed several times to their fair sense of justice but they laughed him out of their presence. Finally, realizing that his cotton would dry and his labors fail, he went one midnight and changed the current of the stream toward his own farm and irrigated it most thoroughly. When in the morning the landlords saw what their daring neighbor had done, they sent for him and rebuked him severely. Not being satisfied with this, they bastinadoed him very hard. While he was undergoing this cruel punishment he cried out: 'O ve men! I have already irrigated my farm; this will do you no good. I have saved the destruction of my crop by the drought! Why do you inflict upon me such a useless torture? The earth is watered.'
"In a similar manner we have done our work; the censure and criticism of all mankind will not undo it. It is said that late at night a man was passing a house. He saw a man digging patiently and laboriously and quietly at the wall. 'What art thou doing?' he asked. 'Oh, I am digging away the foundation' the man in the dark answered. 'For what purpose?' 'To rob the house.' 'But no one hears the noise of thy hammer, how is that?' 'There is yet time; tomorrow they will hear it. Its noise shall fill the whole town.' Now, before long the people of the Orient will be awakened and hear the great tones of the new music of God!"
Bidding the delighted operator good-by, he arose from his seat and returned homeward.
Mrs. von Lilienthal and Mrs. Beede called on Abdul-Baha and had many spiritual questions to ask. One question was about the fishes and the five loaves.
"The five loaves," he explained, "are the five different kinds of teaching with which Christ satisfied a hungry multitude and the twelve baskets left over were the disciples."
When the interview came to an end, he said:
"My hope is that in this dark world you may become like brilliant torches, illumining the gloomy path of the wandering travelers."
(Signed) Ahmad Sohrab.
—"THIS IS THE TIME"—
Let There be Peace
Talk by Abdul-Baha given in Paris, France, November 23, 1911, during the war between Italy and Tripoli.
THEY say that a train fell in the Seine river and twenty-five persons were drowned. Today on account of this tragedy there, will be a detailed discussion in parliament. They have arrested the manager of the railroad. Great disputes will take place—fierce disturbances! I was very much astonished that for twenty-five persons who fell in the river and drowned, such a strange tumult appeared in the parliament; but for Tripoli, where thousands are being killed in a day, they never say a word. Undoubtedly, so far at least, five thousand persons have been killed. It never occurs to the parliament that these
persons are human. It is as if they were stones. What is the reason that the parliament is in this way disturbed over twenty-five persons and never speaks of the five thousand? The twenty-five are human and the five thousand are human. All are descendants of Adam. The reason is that the five thousand are not of the French nation. It does not matter if they are cut in pieces. Behold, what injustice, what senselessness, what ignorance! Although these helpless ones in Tripoli have father, mother, son, daughter and wife, they cut them into shreds. What harm have they done? I read in the paper that even in Italy the cry and the wailing of the people is rising. The weeping and wailing of both the Arab and Italian women are rising. The eyes of the mothers are filled with tears; the hearts of the fathers are drowned in blood; the weeping and crying of the children reach to the summit of heaven. Behold, how bloodthirsty are human beings! Behold, how deceitful is man, how heedless of God! If, instead of using knives, swords, bullets, guns, men should rejoice, be glad, feast and associate with one another in harmony and love; if, in the state of tranquillity, they should become intoxicated with the wine of happiness, if they should become friends and companions and embrace each other, would it not be better? Which is better: to be like thankful birds and fly together, or to be as bloodthirsty wolves and attack, and devour one another and shed each the other's blood?
Why should man be so heedless? It is because he does not know God. If men knew God they would love one another: if they had spiritual susceptibilities they would have unfurled the banner of the great peace and if they had listened to the exhortations of the prophets unquestionably they would have established justice. Therefore, pray, implore and supplicate God to guide them, give them mercy, give them reasoning minds and give them spiritual susceptibilities. Perchance these helpless human beings may live in peace. The wise man weeps day and night over the condition of mankind. He cries and sighs that perchance the heedless ones may be awakened, the blind may see, the dead become alive and the oppressors grant justice. I will pray. You must also pray.
Translated by Dr. Zia Bagdadi, June, 19, 1916, Chicago, Ill.
—"THIS IS THE TIME"—
"Love is the foundation of everything"
Notes of Miss Ethel J. Rosenberg, London, England, taken in Akka, January, 1909.
I ASKED Abdul-Baha what could be done to increase our numbers and make the work more effective.
He said the one essential, the only thing to do was that the members of the little groups should love each other very much and be devoted friends. The more they loved each other, the more the meetings would attract and draw others, and the more they loved, the more their influence would be felt. He said we must consider all people—not only believers—to be good. He hoped every one would be good.
He added, "I say this for you in English. I do not often do that; but I say also in English, that you may understand how much I mean it, that love is the foundation of every thing and that all must be good."
While looking from the window, Abdul-Baha said: "We hear the murmur of the sea always continuing. It never ceases. Were it to cease, the world would
be dead, stagnant, lifeless. But the waves of the mind of man are far greater than those of the sea; they also are ceaseless. They never stop for one instant. This movement is good. If these waves of the mind are few, the man is dull and quiet. What pearls and jewels are contained in the depths of the sea! But the pearls and jewels hidden in the mind of man are the knowledge, virtues, capabilities, etc. These pearls can grow and increase in lustre forever, but the pearls of the sea remain always the same. These waves from our minds go forth and create movement and thought in other minds. From one strong thought of love what great results may be produced!"
A question sent by a Bahai: "What is the meaning of Christ's eating the fish and honey after his resurrection?"
Abdul-Baha answered: "All these things, the fish, the honeycomb, etc., are symbols and were meant to be understood spiritually, just as the resurrection itself was a spiritual resurrection. But because the people who received these teachings from the first teachers were ignorant, they understood them literally."
Abdul-Baha said: "We know that the body or form has nothing to do with spirit or spiritual conditions. When the spirit is disconnected from or leaves the body, that is no reason for thinking it can be re-absorbed or joined with the whole of spirit, as the drops of water are absorbed or lost in the sea. The earth is one unit, yet how many beings and separate parts it contains! The body of man is one unit, yet it has an infinite number of separate and individual parts that compose it—such as eyes, fingers, etc.; so, in like manner, spirit is one, but consisting of many differentiated parts."
During a former visit to Akka, when conditions for the prisoners were most severe, Miss Rosenberg was deeply distressed and asked Abdul-Baha why he, who was so perfect, should have to endure such sufferings.
He answered: "How could they (God's teachers) teach and guide others in the way if they themselves did not undergo every species of suffering to which other human beings are subjected?"
Abdul-Baha says:
"If any troubles or vicissitudes come into your lives—if your heart is depressed on account of health, livelihood or vocation, let not these things affect you. These things should not cause unhappiness. Heavenly food has he prepared for you; everlasting glory has he bestowed upon you. Therefore these Glad Tidings should cause you to soar in the atmosphere of joy forever and ever. You must render thanks unto God forever so that the confirmations of God may encircle you all."
—"THIS IS THE TIME"—
A New Friend from Persia
A Tablet introducing Mirza Mahmood Khan of Shiraz, Persia, who is studying at Valparaiso, Indiana:
"Through Mr. Wilhelm to the believers of America—upon them be greeting and praise! O ye real friends, O ye people of unity! His honor Mahmood Khan is a true friend and is firm and steadfast in faith. He has traveled to the United States for the acquirement of material knowledge. Exercise toward him and show him respect and give him place in great assemblies."
(Signed) ABDUL-BAHA ABBAS.
