World Order/Volume 11/Issue 1/Text

←Volume 11 Index

World Order Volume 11 - Issue 1

Issue 2→

Return to PDF view Proofread once

[Page -1]

WORLD
ORDER

APRIL, 1945

ESSENTIAL BAHÁ’Í TEACHINGS—Horace Holley

A NEW ATTITUDE IN EDUCATION—Phyllis Hall

A NEW RHYTHM, Editorial—Garreta Busey

THE POWER TO UNIFY THE WORLD—Seymour Weinberg

“LET DEEDS, NOT WORDS BE YOUR ADORNING”—Mary A. McClennen

TEACHING BY THE EARLY AMERICAN BELIEVERS—Mariam Haney

VISION, Poem—Clara E. Hill

SPIRITUAL HOUSECLEANING—Marguerite True

WITH OUR READERS

15c

THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE

[Page 0]

World Order was founded March 21, 1910 as Bahá’í News, the first organ of the American Bahá’ís. In March, 1911, its title was changed to Star of the West. Beginning November, 1922 the magazine appeared under the name of The Bahá’í Magazine. The issue of April, 1935 carried the present title of World Order, combining The Bahá’í Magazine and World Unity, which had been founded October, 1927. The present number represents Volume XXXVI of the continuous Bahá’í publication.

---

WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, Ill., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Garreta Busey, Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.

Editorial Office
Mrs. Gertrude K. Henning, Secretary
69 ABBOTSFORD ROAD, WINNETKA, ILL.

Publication Office
110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILL.

C. R. Wood, Business Manager

Printed in U.S.A.

APRIL, 1945, VOLUME XI, NUMBER 1

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $1.50 per year, for United States, its territories and possessions; for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 15c. Foreign subscriptions, $1.75. Make checks and money orders payable to World Order Magazine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Entered as second class matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette, Ill., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1944 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent Office.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED
ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE

[Page 1]

WORLD ORDER

The Bahá’í Magazine

VOLUME XI   APRIL, 1945   NUMBER 1

---

Essential Bahá’í Teachings

HORACE HOLLEY

I.

BAHÁ’Í: NAME OF A WORLD FAITH

BAHÁ’Í is the name of the World Faith which in less than one hundred years has spread to sixty countries, translated its sacred literature into forty-two languages, and brought into spiritual fellowship a host of persons who had been estranged by prejudice of race, class and creed. A point of unity, a center of agreement, a basis of reconciliation for the diverse peoples of mankind!

The word Bahá’í means glory. A Bahá’í is one who accepts the Faith founded by Bahá’u’lláh, whose name means Glory of God. His Faith brings a mighty renewal of hope in the triumph of righteousness on earth; it quickens the spirit of understanding which binds the soul to God; it offers a source of pure and undefiled spiritual knowledge; it rekindles the flame of devotion and love which are the true happiness of man.

“O Son of Man!” the Prophet reveals, “I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.”

When you hear or see the name Bahá’í, think of it as a sign-post pointing you along the safe highway leading through the turmoil, the suffering, the chaos and the upheavals of this day to the haven of certitude and peace. The Bahá’í Faith offers each of us a glorious gift—perfect trust in the fulfilment of the Creator’s promise to mankind. Have we turned away from that promise as an illusion of the childhood of the human race? Have we abandoned even the idea of a Divine promise as a superstition which will not endure the test of modern science? Have we lost hope in the coming [Page 2] of justice because creeds and sects have disagreed? Do we feel discouraged because strife, prejudice and materialism have so far brought every mighty people and proud civilization to eclipse?

There is a clear Bahá’í answer to these arguments of doubt and unbelief.

It is that for every Divine promise there has been a time and also a way of fulfilment. To attain to assurance of this supreme spiritual mystery is the greatest privilege bestowed upon human beings.

Time and way of fulfilment: The time is whenever the Manifestation of God, the holy Prophet and Messenger, comes to earth, age after age, to revive faith, restore the Divine law, and to enlarge the foundation of civilization. The way is through the living spirit of faith, sacrifice, unity and understanding which He inspires among men. From earliest times, revealed religion has demonstrated the validity of God’s promise, for through its power, and its power alone, has civilization been re-created out of wreckage and destruction.

“Every one of them,” says Bahá’u’lláh of the Prophets, “is the way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His truth, and the signs of His glory.” “The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race,” the Bahá’í teachings declare, “and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men.” “There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God.”

Our very time, the Bahá’í believes, is the Promised Day of the gathering together of the long-scattered peoples and their welding together, in the flame of a common agony, into one organic union, one race, one faith, one mankind. Our worldwide suffering is the outer sign that the limitations of the past, the separations, the prejudices, are one by one being overthrown by the force of the truth that man is one. “The whole human race hath longed for this Day,” Bahá’u’lláh has said, “That perchance it may fulfil that which well beseemeth its station, and is worthy of its destiny.”

II.

WHAT ARE THE BAHÁ’Í PRINCIPLES?

“Heavenly teachings applicable to the advancement in human [Page 3] conditions have been revealed in this merciful age,” the Bahá’í Faith declares. “This reformation and renewal of the fundamental reality of religion constitute the true and outworking spirit of modernism, the unmistakable light of the world, the manifest effulgence of the Word of God, the divine remedy for all human ailments and the bounty of eternal life to all mankind.”

Why are new truths and spiritual principles necessary? Because our characters and our virtues reflect the needs and conditions of an age that has passed away. Human beings have become adapted to life in relatively small, self-sustaining and independent societies. Our outlook and our habits were formed when no one had to consider what people might be doing or planning in other parts of the world. Therefore humanity is today in dire need of a broadening of outlook, a clarification of vision and a re-education in ideas and habits, so that we can master the problems of a civilization that has suddenly expanded to include the whole world. Science has created this new and greater world, but men’s emotions are still trying to lag behind in the village of yesterday.

The Bahá’í principles are world principles. They produce men and women who can rise above prejudice of race, class and creed and meet the tasks which destiny has set for us in this new age. They are the first lessons we are to learn in order to develop our latent powers and resources as members of a human race which has come to its hour of supreme destiny.

Ponder the significance of these principles, for they offer our souls and minds the tools they must have in order to solve the problems of our time.

There are thirteen of these principles in the following summary:

“The oneness of the world of humanity. The protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The foundation of all religion is one. Religion must he the cause of unity. Religion must accord with science and reason. Independent investigation of truth. Equality between men and women. The abandonment of all prejudices among mankind. Universal peace. Universal education. A universal language. Solution of the economic problem. An international Tribunal.”

What is the source of these truths?

The Bahá’í teachings declare that spiritual truth is revealed to man by the Manifestation of God, and to attain it we must have faith in its divine source and origin. To accept spiritual truth [Page 4] we must practice it in our lives, for passive belief is a form of denial and not a proof of acceptance. The new life offered to us by the Bahá’í Faith calls for heroic action and true understanding. In essence, the Bahá’í principles mean that human nature can and will be regenerated, and this inner change of spirit is what distinguishes revealed truth from philosophy, policy or partisan program.

The Bahá’í answer to the problem of transmuting world chaos into world order sounds both warning and assurance. “People are holding to the counterfeit and imitation, negligent of the reality which unifies, so they are bereft and deprived of the radiance of religion. . . . The world of humanity is walking in darkness because it is out of touch with the world of God. . . . When a divine, spiritual illumination becomes manifest . . . when divine instruction and guidance appear, then enlightenment follows, a new spirit is realized within, a new power descends and a new life is given. It is like the birth from the animal kingdom into the kingdom of man.”

It is yesterday’s limited and divided world which is being purified and reshaped on the anvil of universal war. Tomorrow’s world is to arise when this process is complete—a world which answers to the ancient promises of religion in all races and to the deepest hopes in the heart of all peoples of earth. The sufferings through which we pass are no mere historical incident but a manifestation of the Will of God. Therefore the victory of truth is assured, but the path is the path of sacrifice until we become worthy to serve the cause of truth. “Unity is the expression of the loving power of God,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said.

III.

THE BAHÁ’Í CONCEPT OF MAN

“O Son of Man! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.”

These words of Bahá’u’lláh summon us to seek and find a true understanding of our own beings. They create a place of peace where for these few moments we may open our souls to new light, new truth and new life. For Bahá’u’lláh continues this majestic theme of man’s spiritual nature and his victory over death and hate and fear:

“O Son of Man! I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.”

“O Son of Spirit! Noble have [Page 5] I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created. . . . Wherefore, free thyself from the veils of idle fancies and enter into My court, that thou mayest be fit for everlasting life and worthy to meet Me. Thus may death not come upon thee, neither weariness nor trouble.”

Age after age the Creator speaks through the words of His Manifestations, establishing on earth a Source of love and truth and law—a wellspring where the sincere soul may find comfort and strength. Centuries have passed since the Messenger walked among men to be their quickener, their educator and their guide. The souls of men have become darkened, devoid of assurance in immortality, uncertain of the path, and unconscious of the social laws and principles which fulfil God’s purpose on earth. Hence the gradual development of problems between race, class, nation and creed, incapable to all seeming, of solution through peaceful means. For peace had left the human heart, and when peace leaves the heart, conflict becomes the principle of existence.

Now the Manifestation has returned to earth for the renewal of the spiritual life, and in the words of Bahá’u’lláh we find the consolation, the courage, and the meaning, without which our lives become a burden and a torment.

“O Son of Spirit! The spirit of holiness beareth unto thee the joyful tidings of reunion; wherefore dost thou grieve? The spirit of power confirmeth thee in His cause; why dost thou veil thyself? The light of His countenance doth lead thee; how canst thou go astray?”

The Bahá’í teachings also have a less mystical explanation of the reality of man:

“Man is intelligent, instinctively and consciously intelligent; nature is not. . . . Man is the discoverer of the mysteries of nature; nature is not conscious of these mysteries herself. It is evident therefore that man is dual in aspect; as an animal he is subject to nature, but in his spiritual or conscious being he transcends the world of material existence. His spiritual powers being nobler and higher, they possess virtues of which nature intrinsically has no evidence; therefore they triumph over natural conditions. . . . Therefore you must thank God that He has bestowed upon you the blessing of life and existence in the human kingdom. Strive diligently to acquire virtues befitting your degree and station. . . . Ascend to the zenith of an existence which is never beclouded by the fears and forebodings of non-existence.”

[Page 6] Man’s soul, like the fruitful tree, appears first in the condition of the seed. That is why the materialists deny spiritual reality —they look at the small, hard husk of the seed and feel that the tree can never develop from it. They look upon physical personality and condemn as unscientific the faith that supernatural powers and immortal being are latent and concealed within. That is why the Manifestation of God returns to the world in its hour of doubt and denial. He is the Divine Gardener who cultivates the soul of man, guiding its development until the fruitful tree of faith and assurance stands in the Paradise Of the love of God. “The purpose of the creation of man is the attainment of the supreme virtues of humanity through descent of the heavenly bestowals.”

IV.

RELIGIOUS UNITY

The crucial task of this age is to establish cooperation as the fundamental law of human life. Power must be found to create world unity or the nations perish.

We have seen the principle of strife and competition develop down the ages from tribe to city, and from city to nation, until now the world is overwhelmed by war. In modern times, when the nations were not in conflict, class and race dissension arose to imperil the structure of civilization. The condition we call “peace” has not been peace but preparation for renewal of violence. No moral or ethical force existing in the past has been able to prevent this development of strife nor transmute the agencies of civilization into instruments for the promotion of the law of God.

Why could not the nineteenth century, with all its knowledge and culture, attain the goal of universal peace? Because, as the Bahá’í Faith steadfastly upholds, mankind was fatally divided in its allegiance to its divine Creator. Without unity of faith and agreement on the spiritual teachings which set forth the purpose of human life, the aim of our existence, and the laws and principles which come from God and are to be obeyed by governments as well as by peoples and races, there can be no political nor economic unity. Spiritual unity is the source and cause of all true cooperation among men. Singleness of faith is the gate which stands between the age of war and the age of peace, between a war-torn humanity and a humanity which has attained the blessings of God.

But just what, I ask, is religious unity? The Bahá’í teachings illumine this vital question with calm, radiant light. Religions unity is union in acceptance [Page 7] of and obedience to the prophet and messenger whom God sends to each age. Religious unity is union in the spirit and in the law of God. The worldly conception of tolerance between conflicting creeds and sects is not unity—it is merely agreement to disagree. In such an attitude there is no true conception of brotherhood among men nor oneness of divine Truth.

Bahá’u’lláh utters the true call to unity in these words: “O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the source of contention amongst you. Then will the effulgence of this world’s great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and its inhabitants become the citizens of one city, and the occupants of one and the same throne. . . . There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God.”

The mysterious connection between spiritual truth and world unity was set forth by Bahá’u’lláh more than seventy years ago in this statement: “That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled an all-powerful and inspired Physician.”

The Bahá’í teachings have given the world an entirely new perspective on the history of religion. The Bahá’í looks upon each successive Revelation as an added chapter in the Divine Book. The Bahá’í acknowledges that all the prophets and messengers came from the one God and were one in spirit and in purpose. Each prophet has renewed the spirit of faith, and revealed a greater degree of truth to meet the needs of an evolving race. Again we turn to Bahá’u’lláh for the essence of the matter: “Know thou assuredly that the essence of all the Prophets of God is one and the same. Their unity is absolute. God, the Creator, saith —there is no distinction whatsoever among the Bearers of My Message. They all have but one purpose; their secret is the same secret. To prefer one in honor to another, to exalt certain ones above the rest, is in no wise to be permitted.”

Thus it becomes clear that the basis of universal spiritual agreement has been firmly laid, since the followers of each Prophet are [Page 8] required to recognize that all other Prophets were divinely inspired. The contention and dispute about matters of truth and conscience has been annulled. The substitution of man-made creeds and philosophies for Revelation has been forbidden. The eternal path to God has been cleared of the debris which for so long has hidden the Way. “The Prophets of God should be regarded as Physicians whose task is to foster the well-being of the world and its peoples, that, through the spirit of oneness, they may heal the sickness of a divided humanity.”

V.

THE ONENESS OF MANKIND

In this great age of the maturity of mankind, the very essence of spiritual truth has been revealed in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. Former times, because of conditions of limitation, could only realize as prophetic hope what today has become the fundamental principle of human existence. Yesterday our life was the life of race, or class or nation; today our life has become dependent upon the consummation of the unity of all mankind.

Step by step the successive faiths disclosed the coming of a kingdom of righteousness and peace. Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration of the oneness of mankind signalized that this our day and age will realize the divine assurance of victory.

Bahá’u’lláh declared: “The utterance of God is a lamp, whose light is these words—Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship. He Who is the Day Star of Truth beareth Me witness! So powerful is the light of unity that it can illumine the whole earth.”

“In this way,” the Bahá’í teachings explain, “His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh expressed the oneness of mankind, whereas in all religious teachings of the past, the human world has been represented as divided into two parts, one known as the people of the Book of God, or the ‘pure tree’ and the other the people of infidelity and error or the ‘evil tree.’ The former were considered as belonging to the faithful and the others to the hosts of the irreligious and infidel; one part of humanity the recipients of divine mercy and the other the object of the wrath of their Creator. His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh removed this by proclaiming the oneness of the world of humanity and this principle is specialized in His teachings for He has submerged all mankind in the sea of Divine generosity.”

But the Bahá’í teachings likewise [Page 9] warn that spiritual truth, once revealed, cannot be evaded nor annulled by human device. “Humanity has, alas, with increasing insistence, preferred, instead of acknowledging and adoring the Spirit of God as embodied in His religion in this day, to worship those false idols, untruths and half-truths, which are obscuring its religions, corrupting its spiritual life, convulsing its political institutions, corroding its social fabric, and shattering its economic structure. . . . The chief idols in the desecrated temple of mankind are none other than the triple gods of Nationalism, Racialism and Communism, at whose altars governments and peoples . . . are, in various forms and in different degrees, now worshipping.

“The theories and policies, so unsound, so pernicious, which deify the state and exalt the nation above mankind, which seek to subordinate the sister races of the world to one single race, which discriminate between the black and the white, and which tolerate the dominance of one privileged class over all others— these are the dark, the false, the crooked doctrines for which any man or people who believes in them, or acts upon them, must, sooner or later, incur the wrath and chastisement of God.”

All our conceptions of life have been plunged into the cauldron of world conflict, but what will emerge is the pure gold of truth, free from the dross of traditional pride and prejudice which has set one people against another in all generations of past history. Those who can realize the oneness of mankind in this hour have attained the strong foundation of assurance which nothing can impair.

As the Bahá’í teachings reveal: “The real brotherhood is spiritual, for physical brotherhood is subject to separation. The wars of the outer world of existence separate mankind but in the eternal world of spiritual brotherhood separation is unknown. Material or physical association is based upon earthly interests but divine fellowship owes its existence to the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual brotherhood may be likened to the light while the souls of humankind are as lanterns. The incandescent lamps here are many, yet the light is one.”

VI.

THE BAHÁ’Í HOUSE OF WORSHIP

With the help of donations made by Bahá’ís of the Orient, Europe, Africa and South America, the American Bahá’ís are constructing an imposing and beautiful edifice to serve as the House of Worship of a world [Page 10] Faith. Here is the real “interreligious” activity and program of our age, for the Bahá’ís whose devotion and unity have raised this Temple entered the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh from the different inherited creeds and sects of Christianity, Judaism, Muhammadism and the religions of the Far East. By their solidarity and agreement, Bahá’u’lláh’s call to the oneness of the religion of God has been given substance and reality.

The Bahá’í House of Worship is located beside Lake Michigan, in Wilmette, Illinois, a few miles north of Chicago. Its architectural design and its method of construction have succeeded notably in creating an adequate physical symbol of the divine truth which Bahá’u’lláh revealed for the needs of this age.

The visitor in approaching the building sees first the great circular dome, then the clerestory and gallery, and last the main-story, the pylons and the eighteen circular steps surrounding the structure at its base and leading to the nine entrance doors. The Bahá’í House of Worship is a nine-sided structure, and later this basic principle of nine will be carried out in a scheme of gardens and walks When the landscaping work is done.

The outside diameter of the eighteen steps is 202 feet. The dome stands 136 feet above the main floor. The main floor itself has a diameter of 153 feet.

What the visitor finds most interesting is the treatment of the outer surface of the building. This consists of an intricate scheme of decoration embodying the symbols of former religions, carried out in architectural concrete, the units of which were cast in molds made from hand-carved models. This new plastic medium is a mixture of crushed quartz and white cement, producing a brilliant white surface.

But these considerations, while interesting, are to the Bahá’ís only important because the edifice is like a mirror which can reflect into the outer world the spirit and meaning of an entirely new revelation of God. Otherwise they would not have attempted to add one more to the thousands of churches and temples already in existence. The universality of religion is enshrined in this new edifice for the world to recognize and revere, when the needs of a broken humanity to build a new, world civilization on the shattered ruins of the past become so powerful that mankind will willingly leave the struggle and conflict of creed and sect behind. The Bahá’í House of Worship reflects the new age because it is an agency for the unification and reconciliation [Page 11] of the people and not an instrument for their continued separation in the name of faith. The proof and evidence of this universality, already attested by the diversity of religious origin of the believers themselves, is clearly indicated 1n the fact that in this House of Worship there will never be any professional clergy or religious leader, no sermons and no ceremonial. Those who enter will find themselves in an atmosphere of prayer and meditation, and the only words to be uttered are the words of the Prophet of God. To the Bahá’ís, daily life is the arena, for the practice of spiritual truths, and worship is a mysterious invocation of power to live according to His will.

There is no need for human imagination or dogma when we have such sublime utterances as these words of Bahá’u’lláh: “O Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from the same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest.”

Just as the coming of the physical springtime is revealed by the appearance of the new leaves and buds, so the spiritual springtime of the new Prophet becomes manifest in new truths which stir the heart of mankind. “The gift of God to this enlightened age,” the Bahá’í teachings declare, “is the knowledge of the oneness of mankind and the fundamental oneness of religion.”

Human beings today have been given the greatest mission ever laid upon mankind; the construction of a society of justice and peace. Before we can build, we must have the pattern of peace in our hearts and the practice of justice in our lives. This is the meaning of the Bahá’í House of Worship, its distinction and its glory—those who follow Bahá’u’lláh build upon the pattern of peace which God has ordained!

These scripts were presented over Station WAIT, Chicago, in six consecutive broadcasts during September and October, 1942, under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly.

[Page 12]

A New Attitude in Education

PHYLLIS HALL

MR. WILLIAM SAROYAN in his book Inhale and Exhale tells of a supermouse who exhorts his fellow mice in their basement chamber with these words: “They’ve got traps up there now with cheese in them. You go to get the cheese and something comes down over you and kills you. . . . Stay away. . . . It is better to go hungry and be alive than to get a little piece of cheese in your mouth and then be killed.”

It is easy for us in the world of man to understand the traps for mice, but there are traps for men, too. One of these is the habit of evading facts, because of the comfort this escape brings to our emotions. Life will not allow of our evasions; by its harshest law we must either go forward or back. When the path seems too difficult, we often refuse to go forward and fall back, flee, avoid the issue and fall into the trap of evasion that kills the freedom of spirit that is every man’s heritage.

Bahá’u’lláh brings these words to help us rise from the basement chamber of our undeveloped selves; “Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning. . . . ”

On the whole we do not find it easy to follow this advice. We find it easier to go right on disliking or being afraid of people and customs that we do not understand. It is hard to call our dislikes and fears to a reckoning each day, and to see them for what they are.

Yet, when race riots, political wars, religious bigotry, or too tardy acceptance of scientific discoveries, kill something that we hold dear, we are apt to blame God for the misfortune. It would be more honest to blame our refusal to subscribe to the principle of the independent investigation of truth. Our refusal to go forward with a questing mind and an open heart brings us into a cul de sac where circumstances either destroy us, or force us to scale the wall of blindness that blocks our progress.

Dr. John Granrud, Superintendent of Schools, in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, is the leader of an educational plan that was suggested to his community by the 1939 National Conference of Christians and Jews.

[Page 13] Springfield is a typical American city, where more than forty different nationalities and their fusions compose a tapestry of divergent backgrounds for its citizens. Here, indeed, is a setting where neighbor might well misunderstand his neighbor; and suspicion of the unknown run rife.

Dr. Granrud’s theory is that prejudice is a virulent disease of the spirit, based on ignorance, and that it must be prevented and controlled intelligently, just as we work to circumscribe the spread of contagious diseases of the body. His plan is to inspire honest and disciplined thinking in the community as a whole. Although he works primarily with the children in the schools, he reaches adults through the press, radio, cinema, libraries, churches, and study and service clubs.

From the pre-school days to the graduation of the Springfield child, the school system attempts to help him eliminate the fear of the unknown with the tool of honest, courageous, friendly and spirited investigation.

Pamphlets explaining what the small child will encounter upon enrollment in the nursery school reassure all concerned, and encourage pre-entry visits to the school to familiarize the youngsters with the setting for their new experience.

The teachers themselves have no fear that racial, religious, or political prejudice will jeopardize their own professional positions. The group responsible for hiring school personnel is deliberately made representative of divergent racial and religious groups. Well publicized methods of choosing teachers on a merit basis give these school employes a feeling of personal security that helps them create a sympathetic and friendly atmosphere for the children.

In these classrooms the differences in the ethical origins of the boys and girls are not the cause of unfriendly suspicion, but rather serve as delightful points of departure, through which they, as a group, can explore more of the wonders of this wide world.

Thus the Springfield schools try to build a social structure consonant with the needs of this world, where the goal of brotherhood pyramids from a broad foundation of divergent allegiances and particular loyalties.

As the young people continue through the grammar grades in the Springfield, Massachusetts, public schools, another potent fear is subtracted from their social attitude, and that is the fear of making a mistake. Mistakes are faced as facts without emotional overtones. When a mistake is made, the energy often squandered in useless blame and [Page 14] recriminations is harnessed to an honest effort to correct the mistake.

The history of the world, the story of what their forefathers accomplished both in this country and in the nations of the old world, is studied objectively. They learn that then, even as now, mistakes were made, and they look at the results and try to render a just account. Although they find that none of the heroes of the past or of the present hold a flawless record, yet they discover that they can profit by their good example. They note that in the long run the ideas that bring the greatest good to the greatest number survive, no matter what furor of antagonism surrounded their birth.

Through the social studies these pupils try to bring to light the reasons why people will listen to and believe malicious rumors. Here these young people learn to guard against the common human weakness of following blindly anyone who will put into words any dissatisfaction with life that lies voiceless in the heart. Through their studies, they discover the necessity for keeping informed, in order to guard against being hemmed in by misinformation, for they learn that people who are ignorant of the facts readily trust anyone who feels as they do and sympathizes with their plight, and who seems to speak with authority, even though he offers no intelligent solution to their problem.

When these children reach the Junior High School, the entire social science course is devoted to the study of how our own governmental procedures have grown out of the practices of older civilizations. Those whose ancestry stems recently from the countries abroad take particular pride in the contributions that their freedom loving ancestors have made in overcoming tyranny. The knowledge that the love of freedom and justice is old in the heart of humanity strikes root-depth in all their hearts.

The growing awareness of the fact that American democracy is the fruit of the ideals of people from all over the world gives them the feeling of the flexibility of their government, and of their own power and responsibility to improve its expression through their own lives. This is in accord with the words of Shoghi Effendi in The Goal of a New World Order. “ . . . Legal standards, political and economic theories are solely designed to safeguard the interests of humanity as a whole, and not humanity to be crucified for the preservation of the integrity of any particular law or doctrine.”

Further on in the course of [Page 15] study, the points of similarity in the great world religions are studied, and a sympathy and respect for the faith of their fellows replaces the ignorance and ridicule that too often attend sectarian belief. In harmonizing divergent convictions of faith, the common denominator struck by the Word of God in all religions is emphasized, e. g. the principle of treating others as we would wish them to treat us.

On entering High School, these budding men and women, in further search for the common ground that binds them, first trace their own family trees, then study those of other students. Together, they learn the climatic conditions, history, language, tradition, thought and habits that differentiate the peoples of the world.

From this study of their own family lives, they trace the growth of human social evolution —trace it from the formation of tribal solidarity, through the constitution of the city-state, expanding into the institution of independent and sovereign nations. Here in the microcosm of their classroom they can envisage the possibility of “a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life . . . and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units.”

When the pupil is ready to graduate, if he wishes to enter the working world, he is recommended for employment on the basis of skill. If a business firm calls for the best worker they have in a certain line, the best worker in the graduating class is sent, regardless of his complexion, or the land of his birth. If the potential employer is prejudiced in the area of race, religion, or nationality background pertinent to the potential employee, the school confers with the firm, and often persuades them to give the young man or woman a chance to prove through merit his worthiness to hold the job. These tyros in the field are usually retained, and become efficient ambassadors of good will, promoting better public relations for others of their particular minority group.

Dr. Granrud and his fellow educators in Springfield, Massachusetts, are helping the children in their schools to build an attitude of wide loyalty to the welfare of the generality of mankind. They create this feeling, not with words alone, but by attempting to have the school community function in a manner that is imperative to the claims of a unified world, for only through function can effective structure be built.

This article is one in a series which will present signs of progress in world affairs.

[Page 16]

Editorial

A NEW RHYTHM

THERE is considerable stress in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh on regularity in certain observances. Why is this important? If one tries to live in accordance with the broad fundamental principles given to us for this day. is not that enough? Why should there be so much emphasis on the daily prayers, on attendance at the Nineteen-Day Feasts, and on the regularity, not the amount of one’s gifts to God?

One reason for this is that the repetition of such observances sets up a rhythm within the lives of individuals and in the Community as a whole, which adds to their power and which must eventually spread throughout the world.

Few of us realize how dependent we are for our well-being on the rhythm by which we live. Physically we require sleep every twenty-four hours and food three times a day. Life would stop were it not for the beating of our hearts and the expansion of our lungs with unfailing regularity. And our minds as well as our bodies work more efficiently if they are subjected to regular discipline.

So it is with the spiritual aspect of our lives. As our bodies become emaciated without the daily intake of food, so without daily prayer, our souls dwindle and grow weak. As our bodies need regular exercise, so also do our souls: the spiritual energy which we attain by prayer must be given out in regular service to God and to humanity. This principle of systole and diastole applies also to our material resources. In proportion to what we take in, we must give out, with a regularity that in itself may affect our capacity for giving.

But there is a larger beat to the rhythm of the Bahá’í life, marked by the Nineteen-Day Feast. Here is renewed that companionship in the love of God which is as important to our nourishment as are our daily devotions. Worshipping together, consulting together, breaking bread together, we feed that sense of unity which is the foundation of the new order and remove any obstructions to the flow of community spirit which may have grown up between us. This regular association with our fellows, this periodic renewal of unity in [Page 17] the worship of God, will, as it extends to all men, become the pulse, the mighty heart-beat of mankind.

The Bahá’í year rises to its highest point in the spring of the year. After the purifying period of the fast, the new year is inaugurated on the first spring day with the joyous feast of Naw-Rúz, followed a month later by the Riḍván, greatest of all festivals, twelve days which commemorate Bahá’u’lláh’s announcement of His mission and which see the renewal of Bahá’í institutions throughout the world. A cluster of commemorative events in the fall refresh the spirit of devotion and prepare the Community for the winter, which comes to an end with the fast.

The rhythmical patterns of our lives are not our own, but are imposed upon us by the civilizations in which we live. Indeed many of the difficulties which we experience today, in this shift between civilizations, are due to the fact that, whether we realize it or not, we are moving to two rhythms, one of which has become mechanical and comparatively lifeless. It is a little like trying to dance to two orchestras, one playing three-four, the other four-four time. The result is helpless staggering.

The old rhythm persists and we still dance to its measure, but the original musical content has been lost. Sunday is becoming, instead of a day of worship and rest, a “week-end” of pleasure-seeking. The climax of the year is still Christmas, haggard from inordinate, compulsory buying, the most materialistic of our holidays. The others also—Thanksgiving, New Years, Easter— drained for the masses of their spiritual significance, have become only family reunions or periodic landmarks in the pursuit of pleasure.

The old rhythm persists, but a new beat may even now be heard, and a new harmony. One hundred years ago, when the Báb proclaimed Himself to be the Primal Point in a newly created world and foretold the advent of Bahá’u’lláh, only eighteen persons could hear the opening prophetic strains of that earth-shaking symphony. It set their lives in a new rhythm, which pulses throughout the world with such increasing volume and intensity that it must soon shatter the old patterns and construct life anew. Only as we move with that music and follow the insistent regularity of its beat shall we become imbued with its harmony and thoroughly informed of its theme, the majestic reiteration of the nearness of God. —G. B.

[Page 18]

The Power to Unify the World

SEYMOUR WEINBERG

“HISTORY has shown that there have always been wars and that there will always be wars,” is the current expression of pessimism today. History, however, far from being merely a record of man’s wars, is actually the story of the growth and evolution of peace.

In the earliest days the area of peace was confined to the family. Warfare consisted of struggles between families, that is, family feuds. The struggle or survival and the necessity for cooperation resulted, however, in the expansion of the area of peace to the tribe, a federation of families. Warfare no longer consisted of strife between families but of struggle between tribes.

The evolution of peace continued through the development of cities, states and eventually of nations. Although they have during the last one hundred years become physically and economically united, the nations are at war. The growth of science, the interpendence of national economies, and the unity of the world in the physical spheres of travel and communication have changed the character of that warfare so that it is now disastrous to both victor and vanquished. It can no longer be permitted. The area of peace must, if civilization is to survive, be extended to the international area. That point in the evolution of the world has been reached where the area of peace must and will be extended to the international sphere. And when that happens, the dream of lasting peace uttered by the poets, seers, and prophets of old, will become a reality, for no area will remain outside the realm of organized government.

The ideal of universal and lasting peace is no longer a utopian dream but a vital necessity. It is the most logical step in the evolution of peace from family to tribe to city-state to nation and finally to world-government. Yet, while the establishment of a World Commonwealth would he the ideal solution to the problem of lasting peace, it appears that something more is needed. The war has created a strange paradox; while it has forced an increased consciousness of the oneness of the world upon humanity, it has also increased the intensity of prejudice—religious, racial, [Page 19] patriotic, economic and political —which prevent the establishment of a world government.

There is an antidote to hatred and prejudice, an antidote which can nullify and remove the obstacles to a World Commonwealth and that antidote is love, love of fellow-men. The message of unselfishness, love and cooperation, preached by the founders of all great religions and most specifically emphasized by Jesus, can certainly abolish hatred and prejudice. The problem is to inject the antidote into the hearts of the people.

But even if we could overcome the obstacles of hate and prejudice, the task of establishing a World Commonwealth would still be difficult. The peoples are too diversified in language, customs, social and religious codes, and economic practices to permit such a unification. It would not stand up even if the major powers agreed, because the forces tending towards disunity seem to be stronger than those tending towards unity.

Indeed if there only were a unifying force strong enough to overcome the disunifying forces of nationalism, different social and religious codes and economic practices, a World Commonwealth could be sustained.

Let us examine history to see if such a force exists. There is only one force which has exhibited the required power, one force that has moved and transformed millions of men in the past: religion. Religion—the force that raised the Jews from slavery to the highest state of civilization in the world; the force that promulgated Christianity in all the four corners of the globe; the force that Muḥammad brought to the wild, savage tribes of the Middle East to raise them miraculously from barbarism to the highest state of civilization—is the force for which we are searching.

It is clear that religion, the love of God, is the one factor capable of unifying the world, and not only has religion the required power, but its qualities— love, unselfishness and cooperation —would automatically eradicate the hates and prejudices which are now arbitrarily dividing an otherwise unified world.

If there only were a religion which everyone—Jews, all sects of Christians, Muḥammadans, Hindus and Buddhists—could really believe in and accept as true; if there only were a one Universal Cause, one Common Faith which could unite all the peoples of the earth, a World Commonwealth could he organized and lasting peace could be established.

There is one Universal Cause, one Common Faith which can and [Page 20] will unite all the peoples of the world; and despite the fact that this great religion contains everything that constitutes a great religion;—an amazing origin, Holy Scriptures, prayers, traditions and most important of all a Prophet—a Divine Revelator— and in one hundred years has attained millions of followers, the West knows very little of it. “Born about the middle of the nineteenth century in the darkest Persia, assailed from its infancy by the forces of religious fanaticism, this Faith has, notwithstanding the martyrdom of its Forerunner, the repeated banishment of its Founder, the almost life-long imprisonment of its chief promoter and the cruel death of no less than twenty thousand of its devoted followers, succeeded in diffusing quietly and steadily its spirit throughout both the East and the West and has established itself in no less than sixty countries of the world.”

Despite the steady growth and spread of this Faith, despite an amazing origin and history, comparable to that of Judaism, Christianity and Muḥammadanism, despite the existence of a body of literature revealed by its Prophet over seventy years ago, dealing specifically with problems of the world today and moreover specifically solving them; the Western World—in the midst of a struggle which has “deranged its equilibrium, sundered its nations, disrupted the homes of its peoples, wasted its cities, uprooted its institutions and harrowed the souls of its inhabitants” —remains wrapped in the darkness of materialism and unbelief; for it continues to ignore the one movement that can actually realize the “four freedoms” as well as establish the universal, lasting peace which everyone craves.

This religion is known as the Bahá’í Faith and it was founded by a great prophet, Bahá’u’lláh, which is an Arabic name meaning “Glory of God.” Bahá’u’lláh did not deny the stations of the Prophets before Him but rather reaffirmed them. Moses is extolled as “He, who conversed with God”; Jesus as the “Spirit of God”; and Muḥammad as “The Apostle of God”; while Bahá’u’lláh claimed to be the Father promised by the Hebrew Prophet, Isaiah, the return of Christ in the “Glory of the Father,” the Mihdi foretold by Muḥammad and the Great One promised in the Holy Books of all the revealed religions. His Mission, He repeatedly stated, was to unify mankind, effect the Brotherhood of Man, and usher in the Golden Age and establish the Kingdom of God on Earth, [Page 21] “the day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation nor learn of war any more.”

Over seventy years ago while imprisoned in the fortress city of ‘Akká, Palestine, “Bahá’u’lláh formulated the principles of that new and divine civilization which by His advent He claimed to have inaugurated.” These principles have been summarized by ‘AbdulBaha, the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh and the appointed Interpreter and Exemplar of His teachings, as follows:

1—Mankind is one organic whole.

2—The foundation of all religion is One.

3—The independent investigation of Truth must be made by each individual.

4—Religion must be the cause of unity.

5—Religion must he in accord with science and reason.

6—Prejudice of all kinds must be forgotten.

7—Men and women must be given equal opportunities

8—Universal Peace must be brought about.

9—All must be educated.

10—The solution of the economic problem is spiritual.

11—A universal language must be chosen.

12—An international tribunal must be established.

From prison, Bahá’u’lláh wrote to Queen Victoria: “That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its people in One Universal Cause, One Common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired physician.”

How can one determine that Bahá’u’lláh is the skilled, all-powerful, and inspired physician, that the Faith He founded, the Bahá’í Faith, is the One Universal Cause, the One Common Faith which can and will unite all the peoples of the world? One can determine this by:

1—The amazing origin of this Faith, comparable, indeed surpassing the origin of all other great religions.

2—The tremendous power which this Faith has already exhibited in the welding together of Jew, Christian and Muḥammadan, white and colored—all sects, all the different peoples of this earth into a true, real brotherhood of man, a power similar to that which was exhibited by Christianity.

3—The very lives of its Forerunner, the Báb, and its founder, Bahá’u’lláh, again [Page 22] paralleling the lives of the previous Prophets.

4—The Teachings of the Faith, reaffirming as they do, all the spiritual teachings of the past Prophets and adding thereto that which the world so vitally needs today.

5—The very spirit, fullness and atmosphere of this Faith containing as it does that which is found in every true religion.

Added to all this, the Bahá’í Faith is the only religion that specifically deals with the problems of lasting peace facing the world today and is the only religion that specifically solves them.

If Bahá’u’lláh did come to usher in the Golden Age and to establish the Kingdom of God on Earth, why are we in the midst of this terrible war? Did Noah come before or after the flood? Did Jesus come before or after the fall of the Roman Empire? Bahá’u’lláh as the Prophets before Him had done, offered humanity the Ark, the Ark of Religion, to prevent them from being drowned in the flood—the flood of materialism. “In a hundred volumes,” Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith, has written, “the repositories of priceless precepts, mighty laws, unique principles, impassioned exhortations, reiterated warnings, amazing prophecies, sublime invocations, and weighty commentaries, Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed as no prophet before Him had done, the Mission with which God had entrusted Him. To emperors, kings, princes and potentates, to rulers, governments, clergy and peoples, whether of the East or of the West, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim or Zoroastrian, He addressed for well-nigh fifty years and in the most tragic circumstances those priceless pearls of knowledge and wisdom that lay hid within the ocean of His matchless utterance”—and He was denied! Today the flood has overtaken and surrounded us as He predicted it would.

“Must humanity,” the Guardian of the Faith has asked; “tormented as she now is, be afflicted with still severer tribulations ere their purifying influence can prepare her to enter the heavenly kingdom destined to be established on earth? Must the inauguration of so vast, so unique, so illumined an era in human history he ushered in by so great a catastrophe in human affairs, as to recall, nay, surpass the appalling collapse of Roman Civilization in the first centuries of the Christian Era? Must a series of profound convulsions stir and rock the human race ere Bahá’u’lláh can be enthroned in [Page 23] the hearts and consciousness of the masses, ere His undisputed ascendency is universally recognized and the noble edifice of His World Order is reared and established?

“The whole of mankind is groaning, is dying to be led to unity and to terminate its age-long martyrdom. And yet it stubbornly refuses to embrace the light and acknowledge the sovereign authority of the one power that can extricate it from its entanglements.”

God has not forsaken His children. The solution to the problem of lasting peace is here, a gift from God. But the battle for universal, lasting peace must be won not on the battlefield but in the heart of every individual. That is why it is incumbent upon everyone to examine the Bahá’í Faith honestly, with an open mind, an unprejudiced eye and a pure heart.

---

“Let Deeds, Not Words Be Your Adorning”

Mary A. McClennen

I dreamed that a multitude walked in the valley, a stricken host in the darkness of the trees, with no sun and no joy. They circled the foot of the hills desperately longing for the touch of the sun. In my dream I saw the sun, where the green pastures sloped up, and the grass shone in its light. I cried out for joy and ran to attract attention, but not one person even turned his face. Then I knew that I was not worthy, and turning my face to the sun I implored its grace: “O Thou my God, behold me standing ready to do Thy will and Thy desire, and wishing naught else except Thy good pleasure.”

This faded soul of mine became alive at the touch of the Sun, this longing heart found abundant joy, this person found a direction forever,—and this spirit soared high over the hills in the light of the Sun of Truth.

In the midst of this joy, a hand touched my sleeve, and a voice close to my ear whispered, “Brother, from whence comes the dazzling light that is shining on your face?”

[Page 24]

Teaching by the Early American Believers

MARIAM HANEY

TEACHING consisted not only in sharing the Message with new souls, but the believers themselves were being taught, and they realized more and more that theological dreams had to be set aside and only the reality of religion accepted and passed on to others. The unknown tomorrow was not a matter of concern. There might be tests and trials in the vista of the future (and there were, many of them) but those dear pioneers could sing, “Joy to the World, the Lord is Come,” with a clarified vision for at long last the real history of the beginning of the Faith in the land of its birth (Persia) had been brought to them by teachers from the Orient.

Bahá’í teachers from the Near East were sent to this country by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as early as 1898 to further instruct and assist the believers. In the early part of 1900 Abdel Karim Effendi of Tihrán, Persia, gave a series of talks in New York City and Chicago. In 1900, also, Mirza Khorassani of Cairo, Egypt, and others, spent some time in this country, particularly in Chicago; and from about 1901 to 1905 Mirza Abu’l-Fadl, who was considered in the Orient the greatest religious historian of his time, was in this country. This great teacher was saintly, completely severed, impersonal, and rendered inestimable services to the Bahá’í Cause in every city he visited. He served with all heart and soul and put all his spiritual gifts and graces into the work in New York City and nearby places; in Chicago, Washington, D. C., and other centers. He was also a spiritual gift to Green Acre, in Eliot, Maine, where his great intellect and spiritual graces and fervor were used to the glory of God and to the furtherance of His Cause. Mirza Abu’l-Faḍl was explicit in his statements: he had the gift of teaching and was exact and accurate in the thoughts he conveyed. Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís benefited greatly while he was in this country, and teaching had a tremendous impetus. In 1902 his book, The Bahá’í Proofs, was printed and published in Washington, D. C.

[Page 25] Another impetus to teaching was through the early pilgrimages of very fortunate Americans who traveled to ‘Akká and Haifa to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Some went as early as 1898, and every succeeding year in all this pioneer period Bahá’ís made the longed-for pilgrimage to the Prison in ‘Akká, regardless of the almost insurmountable difficulties attending the journey. How it was all accomplished with Turkish soldiers and officials of the Old Turkish regime always on guard is another one of those stirring events in the Bahá’í Cause which may well be classed as a miracle. Without exception these pilgrims felt the marvelous influence of the Spirit emanating from the Master, the superhuman benignity always manifest, the magnetism of His personality; they heard the Holy Words and teachings directly from Him; they were able to talk and walk with Him.

On their return these American pilgrims would always bring back to the friends a record of the teachings and instructions they received. These notes were like manna from heaven, and teaching would again be greatly accelerated, for these holy instructions acted like magic on the spirits and many a soul became confirmed through them.

As the years passed the believers were growing more and more in the knowledge of God and in wisdom and were daily more eager to convey the Bahá’í Message to others. Accents of hope and praise could be heard at all times; there were always discoveries and more discoveries about the great Spiritual Light of the Cause, about the power in the teachings; knowledge was deepened, belief was sacred and precious. Bahá’í communities were increasing; many, many classes for teaching the Bahá’í Faith were formed all over the country; the friends acted as if not one single waking moment of life could they afford to lose, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Bible); responsibility implies accountability. The little groups were aflame; life itself was of tremendous import; not a single moment was insignificant. Day and night the believers were thinking how best to serve the Cause; there were no compromises, “The time of superficiality (had) gone by and the Cycle of Reality (had) appeared” (Tablets, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá); God spoke through His Manifestation, and there was no middle ground.

From the very beginning the believers made contact with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá through sending a letter to Him indicating their acceptance of the Faith and asking [Page 26] innumerable questions. Tablets were received in reply, and gradually these Tablets assumed very large proportions. The greatest spiritual teaching in all history was accomplished through the receipt and dissemination of these Tablets and the instructions therein, for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá not only answered all these questions, but interpreted and elucidated the teachings of His Father Bahá’u’lláh, solved intricate problems and upon His followers showered His divine love and kindness.

As it was necessary to share these precious instructions, certain believers voluntarily arose in different parts of the country and had the great privilege of making typewritten copies of these Tablets which were given wide circulation among the Bahá’ís not only in this country and Canada, but throughout the world, and this effort might in truth be called the first Bahá’í teaching service from America to other countries. One friend in particular developed what might well have been called an International Bureau of Information, for it was a big teaching activity. Through these tablets ‘Abdu’l-Bahá bestowed the Water of Life Eternal not only upon the recipients of the Tablets but upon many others.

No matter what question was asked and answered (and every conceivable question was presented to Him from the naming of children to the most complicated scientific and philosophical subjects and the most profound spiritual and religious doctrines), ‘Abdu’l-Bahá invariably stressed over and over again very specific subjects such as firmness in the Covenant, unity of the believers, the peace of the world, the oneness of mankind, and the greatest of these was firmness in the Covenant for upon this depended success in every effort and in all teaching plans. This instruction so often repeated, prepared His followers in no uncertain way to meet the inevitable tests and trials which would come to them some day, for they could not always carry on amid such spiritual sweetness and peace as characterized the very early days.

Proceeding further with this historical sketch of our early Bahá’í days in this country, we seem suddenly to be living and functioning in that precious group of devoted pioneer friends. What a thrill the Spirit gives us as we picture Lua Getsinger, the first woman teacher of our Faith in this country, as she carries the Bahá’í Message to California [Page 27] in the early summer of 1898, for the Pacific coast also was, by the bounty of God, to he a planting ground for the seeds of the Bahá’í Truth at the beginning of this period. With inspired intensity of feeling, with the ardor of the zealot, Mrs. Getsinger traveled from New York to Chicago, and then to San Francisco to give the Bahá’í Message to Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst and a group of her friends.

It was Mrs. Hearst and some members of that same group who were among the first American Bahá’ís to visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the Most Great Prison in ‘Akká, Palestine. The Hearst party, so-called, divided into groups, some sailing from New York in September 1898. Stopping en route in Paris and Egypt, a few of the group finally arrived in the Presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in December 1898; others of the party arrived in February 1899.

During that memorable year of 1899 the Bahá’í pioneer teaching began at the home of Mrs. Helen S. Goodall in Oakland, California, after the return of her daughter, Ella Goodall Cooper (who was one of Mrs. Hearst’s party). From this center the Bahá’í Cause spread to the surrounding communities of Berkeley, Fruitvale, Burlingame, and several other towns around the Bay, as well as to Geyserville and other places.

The home of Mrs. Goodall in Oakland remained the Bahá’í Center for northern California for many years. What a bounty it was for all those who participated in the teaching work continually accomplished there week after week! The powerful spiritual forces which were at work manifested in the lives of the various personalities, and Mrs. Goodall’s attitude of firmness and devotion was an example and encouragement to all.

Strong convictions, a charm devoid of worldliness but definitely spiritual, purity of purpose, capacity to distinguish Truth from error, the genuine from the counterfeit, the ideal and very real longing to live in peace and unity with their sisters and brothers in Faith were some of the memorable characteristics of that early group.

Is it any wonder that the Revealed Word went forth from that Center! Every friend who became a regular attendant spread the Bahá’í Message as far and as widely as possible; they ceased to look through the spectacles of their former faiths, and concentrated on the Revealed Teachings of today so generously bestowed upon them, and the way the Revealed Words were treasured was so beautiful [Page 28] a thing to witness that one feels a chapter will one day be recorded on this subject at the proper time and in the proper place.

As to southern California: the pioneer days of the Bahá’í Faith there undoubtedly began in 1901 when Mrs. Emily Goodwin who lived in Hollywood (part of Los Angeles) was en route to Alaska for a visit, stopped off in San Francisco and Oakland and contacted Mrs. Goodall who gave her the Message. It was not until 1903, however, that Mrs. Goodwin told her friend, Mrs. Rosella Dennis, about the Bahá’í Faith. Immediately Mrs. Dennis communicated with Mrs. Goodall in Oakland and invited her to come to Los Angeles. This Mrs. Goodall did almost at once, and while there gave Mrs. Dennis further teachings and instructions and confirmed her in the Faith, as well as sharing with her all the available Bahá’í literature.

From this small beginning in southern California, the Bahá’í Teachings eventually spread to the nearby cities, such as Pasadena, Glendale, Santa Barbara, San Diego and other cities.

Number two in a series of notations on Bahá’í activity in North America from 1893 to 1921.

---

VISION

Clara E. Hill

Life now rides high—the sea to me is singing,

Golden the turning waves of glittering sheen,

Over and over against the shoreline flinging

Foam ripples—breaking, falling glossy green.

Among mist-minted rose the mountains dream;

Still as a picture silhouetted pine.

Space is no more save where the white sails shine.

Here visions of new worlds come to my mind,

Most beautiful, wrought of tranquility.

I know once more that hope and faith are kind

To bring the ways of man to harmony.

“Reach higher, soul, the Infinite is near,”

Sea-songs at sunset speak in accents clear.

[Page 29]

Spiritual Housecleaning

MARGUERITE TRUE

NOW that most of us have finished our spring housecleaning, and set our homes in order, I am wondering how many of us have ever thought of the need of housecleaning our minds and hearts? We clean house because we wish to be in tune with the new season, that season when everything in nature is renewed, when the spring rains have freshened the earth of its wintry accumulation of dust and dirt, and when the spring winds blow the useless branches from the trees. All nature is revived, and we feel the need of reviving the homes in which we live. So we spend much time and money, remodeling a house, refurnishing and scrubbing up a room, in order that we may be in the same atmosphere of the newness of spring.

But have we ever stopped to think how much longer we live with our souls than we do with our houses? For that soul with which we have lived so long is the part of us that lives on after our body has ceased to live. Therefore, since the soul may be likened to our “spiritual” house, should we not consider it to see if it is in tune with the springtime, and up-to-date, and very habitable, too? For Bahá’u’lláh tells us: “O son of being! Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.” Many of us may feel that there are many cobwebs of doubt and uncertainty lingering in our hearts and our minds, that there is the dust of accumulated traditions, customs, and creeds still collected on the shelves of our conscience. And yet, we shrug and think, “Some day I’ll tackle it, but not now.”

To be living harmoniously with oneself, one must develop in all ways—spiritually, physically, mentally. Therefore, if one concentrates only on the physical or mental planes, little wonder that he is often “frustrated”. For he may be up to date in his dress, but is he up-to-date in the most basic part of his living—his spiritual living? Or is he still trying desperately to reconcile the teachings of past ages with the needs of today?

When we clean our houses, and get into the cupboards, and drawers, we examine each thing [Page 30] we find there, to see if we really need it or not. If we do, we keep it; if not, we discard it. This same principle of “independent investigation of truth” applied to the spiritual realm by Bahá’u’lláh, would help us greatly in doing our spiritual housecleaning. We would find many old prejudices, out-moded customs and traditions, still tucked away in our spiritual closets, and used at certain times each year. But if we really investigated these prejudices, customs, and traditions, we would find them out of place in a changing and modern world. And we would see that the only reason that we cling to them is that we have not found anything better and we are therefore afraid to give them up.

But if, when cleaning house, we see that our old curtains are too much in need of repair to put up again, we discard them and search for some new ones, ones that blend in with the background we already have, but which also add something “new” to the room to freshen it and bring life into it. In the same manner, we should discard the things in our thoughts and hearts which are not in accord with the needs of our day, and search for something new which will answer the needs of our age.

To many thousands in the world today, the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh have supplied just that—the new teachings which are the Divine Remedy to the ills of today. For many years have our learned leaders striven to improve the conditions of the world and yet we seem to be farther from it than ever before. We are beginning to realize that man-made teachings are not enough. Just as we sometimes need an expert’s advice in decorating, or refurnishing a home, so we seem to need an Expert’s advice on setting our spiritual house in order. And when the world needs some housecleaning, God sends His Prophet or Manifestation to advise the world what to do. Usually, the world ignores the Manifestation, and tries to patch its troubles up as best it can; but usually it sees even at that time, that it needs more than just human intelligence to prescribe the remedy. And then years after the Manifestation dies, the people study His teachings and see that, after all, they were the perfect remedy.

Today, we would do well to study the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, and to see if His Words do not supply the necessary impetus for our work on a better world!

[Page 31]

WITH OUR READERS

NEWS from the worldwide celebration of the Bahá’í Centenary last May still comes to us, this time from New Zealand. Canon C. W. Chandler is one of New Zealand’s outstanding Episcopalian clergymen and also writes a daily column for one of New Zealand’s daily papers. The following selections from this column reflect Canon Chandler’s thoughts after attending the New Zealand Centenary banquet:

“All great religions are the lengthened shadows of single individuals, and many great names are permanently linked with single causes— Lincoln with anti-slavery, and Bahá’u’lláh with the oneness of mankind. The fact that He has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth is one of many Christian truths that has been well nigh lost to our age and generation. Well might God have sent another prophet into the world to proclaim again this message of unity. Before passing judgment let us heed the advice which Gamaliel gave to the Sanhedrin with regard to Peter and John who were charged with preaching in the name of Jesus: ‘If this thing be of man it will come to naught, but if it be of God it cannot be stopped.’ Because men have loved darkness rather than light, they have, in every age, been light quenchers and in consequence of this they still grope in the darkness of unbelief.

“It was as one of three hundred guests at the Bahá’í dinner last Tuesday night, when the Bahá’í community in ————— together with other assemblies throughout the world, were celebrating the centenary of the commencement of Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic mission, that these thoughts came to me. I would that many other clerical representatives of various Christian and non-Christian denominations had been present. As it was, the Jewish Rabbi, a Chinese minister, another Anglican priest and myself were alone, although many apologies had been received. We were not there as representatives of our respective congregations, but as individuals who appreciated the significance of the gathering.

“The Bahá’ís, who place their emphasis upon the oneness of all religions, and upon the need of an inter-racial and international fellowship, on the urgent task of building a New World Order (of which phrase they are the originators) have a mission which is as distinctive as it is important. There is so much nationalism in our established churches that nothing short of the violent impact of a new enthusiasm for basic truths that lie buried beneath our forms and ceremonies can rekindle apostolic zeal for the wider issues of universal fellowship and peace. . . .

“Religion, reduced to its least common denominator, is the love of God through love of one another. As things are today, one wonders whether this lofty ideal will ever be realized. Last Tuesday’s happy function helped to confirm my own instinctive belief that it will, and that from this long night of infamy and shame, mad dreams and momentary awakenings, we shall emerge triumphant— [Page 32]cleansed, purified and ennobled, and able to see God in the humblest of His creatures, as well as ‘in the star and in the stone, in the flesh and soul, and in the clod.’”

* * *

Those who are not familiar with Bahá’í teachings, as well as those of us who claim that we are, will find Horace Holley’s article “Essential Bahá’í Teachings” most valuable in its comprehensive and straightforward setting forth of the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, and will see and feel how perfectly these teachings supply the desperate need of the world today. Mr. Holley is well known as the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada and as one of the editors of this magazine.

The thoroughgoing plan for education for true democracy which is being successfully carried out in the public schools of Springfield, Massachusetts, is receiving the attention of progressive educators and publicity on the radio and in magazines. In her article “A New Attitude in Education,” Phyllis Hall gives us some of the outstanding features of this plan. This is Miss Hall’s first contribution to World Order. She is a teacher in the Goodrich, Michigan, public schools and was formerly a member of the Detroit Bahá’í community. This is the third in our “Formation of a World Society” series showing signs of progress toward Bahá’í standards.

Garreta Busey’s editorial “A New Rhythm” suggests a meaning to Bahá’í Holy days, Feast Days and other institutions for this New Day which perhaps some of us had not thought about before.

Seymour Weinberg is a new Bahá’í who learned of the Faith when he was stationed in an army camp in Georgia. Our readers will remember his statement of faith which we printed in this department in November last. That statement and his contribution to this issue entitled “The Power to Unify the World” testify to his deep conviction as to the Source of the unifying Power.

In our February number we began a series of reminiscences by Mariam Haney telling of the early days of the Bahá’í Faith in America which make us familiar with our early pioneers in America and how the Cause was spread. As we pointed out in the February number, Mrs. Haney herself was one of the active ones. This issue contains the second installment of the series which was crowded out of the February number.

Mrs. Marguerite True whose article “Spiritual Housecleaning” appears in this issue is a frequent contributor to World Order. Mrs. True is secretary of the Bahá’í National Contacts Committee. Her home is in Grosse Pointe, Mich.

The World Security Conference to be held by the Allied Nations in San Francisco this month has the possibility of inaugurating the “Lesser Peace” foretold by Bahá’u’lláh. In honor of this momentous occasion we are publishing a Supplement containing Bahá’í teachings on universal peace.

* * *

The following is taken from a letter bringing a gift subscription of World Order magazine to a Junior College: “The more we can circulate this magazine containing such wonderful writings, the sooner will we reach the masses which our Guardian wishes us to do. . . . It seems the magazine improves with every new copy.” —THE EDITORS

[Page 33]

Bahá’í World Faith

This book contains a representative selection of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and is the largest collection of Bahá’í literature in English translation now available in one volume.

A detailed Table of Contents and an Index make the Bahá’í teachings readily accessible for study as well as reading and meditation.

The plan of the book arranges the contents in nine chapters, as follows:—

Part One—Writings of Bahá’u’lláh

Chapter One—The Great Announcement

Chapter Two—The Promised One

Chapter Three—The Life of the Soul

Chapter Four—Laws of the New Age

Chapter Five—The Mystery of God

Part Two—Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Chapter Six—The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh

Chapter Seven—Soul, Mind and Spirit

Chapter Eight—The Loom of Reality

Chapter Nine—The Divine Plan

Each of these chapters has been treated as a unit of significance, and the sequence of the nine chapters conveys a sense of the unfoldment of the Bahá’í Dispensation in the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, His Will and Testament, the Tablets and Addresses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and in His Testament and Plan for the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.

The passages selected have been taken from fifteen different publications as well as from the National Archives.

Printed on thin light paper and bound in green fabrikoid. 465 pages. Per copy, $1.50.

BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois

[Page 34]

Words of Bahá’u’lláh

Inscribed Over the Nine Entrances of the
House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois

1. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.
2. The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me.
3. My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure.
4. Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.
5. Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.
6. I have made death a messenger of joy to thee; wherefore dost thou grieve?
7. Make mention of Me on My earth that in My heaven I may remember thee.
8. O rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.
9. The source of all learnings is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory.