[Page 153]
MEDITATIONS AND DEVOTIONS 153
ENVOY
BE of good cheer!
What but the glory of the Light of Light Could cast such shadows on a world forlorn? If our hearts whispered not the hope of morn
Would we so hate the horror of this night?
What is it else than desperate bitter fear
That drives the troops of evil, who know well Their hour is come, to vent their dying rage Upon the people of this heaven—lit age
And seek by every means they may to sell
Their lost dominion dear?
Be of good cheer! The very depth of our perplexity Amid this whirling world of strife and care Where disillusion beckons to despair Is of itself a call for help, a cry That angels’ hearts will not be slow to hear. For it is ever in such a time as ours, When man has ransacked sea and land for rest And never sought the heaven in his own breast, That God reveals once more His hidden powers And in His might draws near.
Be of good cheer!
Though all things change, Truth’s kingdom is secure. The forms of faith come, go, and are forgot, ! But that which they enshrine can perish not.
Altars may crumble, worship will endure. 5
Those holy things that God bids man revere
Reign on unchecked by man’s satanic will; Wisdom and love are of a higher birth Than these frail phantom forces of the earth
And take their deathless power from Him who still
Above all change stands clear. ‘1
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154
THE MISSION OF Bahá’u’lláh
Be of good cheer! What kings desired in vain God gives to you And in this wondrous day before our eyes Unseals His ancient book of mysteries Making all things in earth and heaven new. Truth hath come down from some far flaming sphere; L0, in our midst her sacred fires bum! And see—trace back these countless rays of light To the One Point wherein they all unite, And how your forehead in the dust to learn That God Himself is here!
