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WORLD ORDER
JUNE, 1945
MANKIND CAN ESTABLISH PEACE — G. A. Shook
PIONEER JOURNEY—PARAGUAY — Virginia Orbison
SIGNS OF THE TIMES — Annamarie Kunz Honnold
ENFORCEMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL LAW, Editorial — Horace Holley
GOD’S NEW DAY, Poem — Edwinna Powell Clifford
BAHÁ’Í YOUTH IN PERSIA — Rustam Paymán
THE TABLETS OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ, Book Review — H. Emogene Hoagg
PILGRIMAGE TO ‘AKKÁ
THE AMERICAN PIONEER PERIOD — Mariam Haney
WITH OUR READERS
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
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.
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JUNE, 1945, VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3
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 1945 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent Office.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
WORLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine
VOLUME XI JUNE, 1945 NUMBER 3
Mankind Can Establish Peace
G. A. SHOOK
MANY peace plans have been proposed in the past and many are now under consideration. We are concerned here, however, with somewhat specific injunctions that have come to us through the writings of the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’u’lláh. These have been amplified by His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the expounder and interpreter of the Faith and also by the Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi.
Like all great world teachers, Bahá’u’lláh laid the foundation for a new civilization. During His exile, through numerous letters, He called upon the leaders of the world to establish, what He termed, the Most Great Peace. This, as we all know, they failed to do and then He admonished them with the words, “Now that ye have refused the Most Great Peace hold ye fast unto this, the Lesser Peace, that haply ye may in some degree better your condition and that of your dependents.”
Commenting upon this Lesser Peace Bahá’u’lláh addresses the rulers of the world with these significant words, “Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions. . . Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest. . . . Should anyone among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice.”
And this cannot take place
without a supra-national state,
which includes an “. . . International
Executive adequate to
enforce supreme and unchallengeable
authority on every
recalcitrant member of the commonwealth;
a World Parliament
whose members shall be elected
by the people in their respective
countries and whose election
shall be confirmed by their respective
governments; and a
Supreme Tribunal whose judgments
[Page 66] will have a binding effect
even in such cases where the
parties concerned did not voluntarily
agree to submit their case
to its consideration.”
When the states (nations) of the world relinquish some of their unfettered national sovereignty and form a Commonwealth of Nations (a federation) with a world Super-State, as described above, then and only then will world peace and world justice be possible and permanent.
The Lesser Peace is concerned primarily with the cessation of warfare. It is universal, yet it, in itself, cannot bring forth the new civilization, the Golden Age, which prophets, poets and seers have predicted for thousands of years but it is the beginning of this Golden Age.
World peace cannot be brought about without some kind of world justice. World domination is not world peace. It is clear to every intelligent person that anything less than world peace, that is, universal peace, cannot be enduring. The machinery for establishing this peace, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá warned us many years ago, must be the concern of every individual on earth.
Today after blundering into a second world war we see the imperative need of a Commonwealth of Nations sustained by a world government or world Super-State. The nations must be firmly bound together. But this Commonwealth of Nations must be something more than a mere association. It must be a living organism which exists for the sake of the people of the world, all that dwell on earth. A world state which is merely an association of independent nations manifestly cannot establish world justice. If each nation maintains its own army and navy and has the right to make war, then it is obvious that wars will continue.
There are then, two important things about this Commonwealth of Nations and these are stressed in the Bahá’í Peace Plan.
In the first place, it must exist for the people of the world.
In the second place, each nation must necessarily give up certain rights to govern itself.
We need hardly to add that there must be some sovereign power to which each nation surrenders some of its rights. The League of Nations had no such sovereign power.
These two principles are inseparable,
interdependent. You
cannot have a Commonwealth of
Nations which exists for the people
unless the independent nations
surrender certain rights. If
[Page 67] the nations surrender no rights,
if they retain their complete independence,
then the Commonwealth
of Nations exists for the
nations and not for the people.
This government of ours exists for the people of Massachusetts as well as the people of New York and consequently the inhabitants of both states enjoy the same rights. But suppose that New York for example, should prevent the flow of interstate trade by high tariffs, could we then say that our government exists for the people? Let us remember that there are some rights which each state willingly surrenders to the sovereign power, in this case the central government in Washington.
Now of course no nation today is willing to yield any, or at least not much, of its sovereign power. Each nation desires to maintain its present independence. This is only natural, but a little reflection will show that no “civil society”, so called, could be established or maintained if every individual within the society retained the right to govern himself, that is, retained his complete independence. Moreover, if we will reread the history of the United States we will see that no state has suffered anything by surrendering in order to establish a government by and for the people. To be sure, it took a civil war to make this point clear to every section of the country but it is clear enough now.
On the other hand, there are real dangers in a strong central government with too much power and it is therefore very significant that in the Bahá’í concept of a Super-State this objection is covered. In discussing the general problem of world unity, the goal which we are now approaching, Shoghi Effendi says, “The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded.”
And again, “Let there be no
misgivings as to the animating
purpose of the world-wide Law
of Bahá’u’lláh. Far from aiming
at the subversion of the existing
foundations of society, it seeks to
broaden its basis, to remold its
institutions in a manner consonant
with the needs of an ever-changing
world. It can conflict
with no legitimate allegiances,
nor can it undermine essential
loyalties. Its purpose is neither
[Page 68] to stifle the flame of a sane and
intelligent patriotism in men’s
hearts, nor to abolish the system
of national autonomy so essential
if the evils of excessive centralization
are to be avoided.”
Surely no one could object to a plan which seeks to broaden the basis of the existing foundations of society.
At present we cannot grasp the full significance of Bahá’u’lláh’s plan for world solidarity but we can indicate, in a general way, the direction in which the world must move in order to establish an instrument for the consideration of world peace.
The world leaders of today who have passed beyond the limits of a narrow and brutal nationalism realize that some kind of world conference must be held so that we can seriously consider the question of universal peace.
Over seventy years ago Bahá’u’lláh, anticipating the tentative plans that are now under consideration, wrote, “The time must come when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá elaborates upon this theme in several places. In a letter written by Him to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, the Hague, 1919, He speaks of the formation of the Supreme Tribunal by humanitarians well versed in international matters. The members of this Supreme Tribunal are to be chosen from a larger number of delegates who represent all the nations of the world.[1]
There is a question in the minds of those who would really like to see a new order, namely, suppose we do establish universal peace in our time, what assurance do we have that the world will not return again to infantilism and indulge in warfare. Perhaps the clue to this question lies in the very word “universal”. When peace becomes universal it will be permanent. Does anyone imagine that the United States, for example, will ever return to a confederacy in which each state has the right to declare war? We have evolved into this stage of interstate unity with its concomitant of interstate peace, and naturally we are not going to return to a condition of state anarchy.
The Bahá’í Faith stresses a
principle that makes the return
[Page 69] to a stage of anarchy inconceivable.
It maintains, and with the
sanction of history, that the collective
life of humanity is evolving.
World unity, world federation,
implies the coming of age
of humanity. Just as man reaches
a stage of maturity so the collective
life of humanity reaches its
stage of maturity. It is now passing
through the stages of adolescence
which is the stage of
making blunders.
Let no one imagine, however, that this process of evolution is something that works automatically. It requires ceaseless endeavor on the part of those who have vision and courage. The sudden flare for religion that we witness today cannot be cited as evidence that the world is just naturally becoming more spiritual. Man is becoming more spiritual because he is facing a catastrophe which he would have gladly avoided. Man is the victim of forces which he can neither understand nor control.
Should anyone imagine that world unity is impracticable let him but glance over the history of the Bahá’í Faith. There are Bahá’í communities in over sixty countries of the world and in each of these communities the ideal of world unity, world solidarity, and universal brother hood is fearlessly upheld. The citizens of these centers are an integral part of and are loyal to their respective governments, for loyalty to one’s government (the Bahá’ís believe) is a divine command. Moreover in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh there is no “. . . attempt to suppress the diversity of ethnical origins, of climate, of history, of language and traditions, of thought and habit, that differentiate the peoples and nations of the world. It calls for a wider loyalty, for a larger aspiration than any that has animated the human race.” These citizens have attained to this “wider loyalty” and this “larger aspiration.”
This should convince any fair-minded reader that World Federation is not utopian, impracticable.
If we admit that small heterogeneous groups can be found in which “national rivalries, hatreds, and intrigues” have ceased and where “racial animosity and prejudice” have been replaced by “racial amity, understanding and cooperation,” we must admit that the same condition can obtain on a larger scale. For this universality is not of any one class, creed, or race, but rather it is common property of human beings who have been revived and sustained by one common Faith.
[Page 70]
In conclusion it may be well
to utter a word of warning. The
various events to which we have
alluded such as the end of the
war, the Lesser Peace, the advent
of world justice and the spiritualization
of the world, cannot
be divided up as isolated events
in time which follow one another
in some kind of sequence. This
should be obvious to any observer
today.
Taking the world, as a whole, we cannot say that at some particular hour or day warfare will cease and then the rulers will begin to make plans for the Lesser Peace, following which the new age will begin to dawn. Even if all warfare should suddenly cease, and this is highly improbable, is there any indication that racial animosities, to mention but one of the world’s acute problems, will also cease at the same hour?
As far back as 1920 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote, “the ills from which the world now suffers will multiply; the gloom which envelopes it will deepen. . . . The Balkans will remain discontented. Its restlessness will increase. The Vanquished Powers will continue to agitate. They will resort to every measure that may rekindle the flame of war. . . .”
Those who read these words and realized their import never imagined for a moment that World War I was a war to end war. On the contrary they saw, at least vaguely, the operation of those disruptive forces that made another war inevitable.
As we know, the work of recovery has really begun. The forces of integration and destruction are both operating and they are conspiring to bring forth a new age. Moreover they will continue to operate for several decades. The aftermath of this war will be far more devastating than the war itself.
In this political confusion and economic distress the majority of the world’s recognized leaders, forgetful of the fact that we are living in a rapidly evolving world, are trying to uphold outworn institutions, obsolescent social theories and antiquated traditions.
To be sure some see the handwriting on the wall but they lack courage. How, they confidently ask, can we convince any nation that the only way to safeguard the interests of its peoples is to surrender enough of its sovereignty to create a World Federation?
A few have courage and they see the significance of the hour.
These are they who must establish the Lesser Peace.
One more point, which is
[Page 71] stressed over and over again in
the Bahá’í writings, must not be
overlooked. Mankind—not natural
law, climate, or any other
agency—is responsible for this
internal disintegration of society,
and mankind must suffer.
In the words of the Guardian, “Adversities unimaginably appalling, undreamed of crises and upheavals, war, famine, and pestilence, might well combine to engrave in the soul of an unheeding generation those truths and principles which it has disdained to recognize and follow.
“A paralysis more painful than any it has yet experienced must creep over and further afflict the fabric of a broken society ere it can be rebuilt and regenerated.”
However, we should not dwell too much on the immediate future which is dark and oppressive. Instead let us reflect a little upon the kind of civilization that will obtain when the human race is freed from the curse of war and injustice. “Who can doubt that such a consummation—the coming of age of the human race —must signalize, in its turn, the inauguration of a world civilization such as no mortal eye hath ever beheld or human mind conceived?” This will come with The Most Great Peace which implies “. . . the spiritualization of the world and the fusion of all its races, creeds, classes and nations. . . .” This will take a very long time and cannot be established by the unaided efforts of man. It requires a common Faith. Bahá’u’lláh calls upon the rulers of the world to establish the Lesser Peace. But He does not ask the religious leaders to establish a universal religion. This is beyond them. His words are explicit. “That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of 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.”
- ↑ Bahá’ís look at the San Francisco conference as an encouraging step toward the organization of the world, but it is plain that the plans proposed do not fulfill Bahá’u’lláh’s plan for the Lesser Peace since all nations are not represented and it is not proposed that nations give up sovereignty.—Editors’ Note.
The contrast between the accumulating evidences of steady consolidation that accompany the rise of the Administrative Order of the Faith of God, and the forces of disintegration which batter at the fabric of a travailing society, is as clear as it is arresting. Both within and outside the Bahá’í world the signs and tokens which, in a mysterious manner, are heralding the birth of that World Order, the establishment of which must signalize the Golden Age of the Cause of God, are growing and multiplying day by day. . . .
—SHOGHI EFFENDI
Pioneer Journey—Paraguay
VIRGINIA ORBISON
THE teacher in foreign lands has a special agony, and to follow the devoted and selfless Elisabeth Cheney, who had established a small group of believers two years before under great handicap, was not easy to contemplate. However, the last look at Santiago da Chile, with its morning veil of smoke and mist, from the plane as it circled before the flight over the conquered Cordillera of the Andes, was a symbol and omen of what might transpire on the new venture. It seemed fitting that Roberto Herrera Ramírez, the first aviator to fly over the Andes with a passenger—twenty-two years ago —a Chilean, and destined to be one of the first believers in Bahá’u’lláh in Chile, should come to the airport with his brave wife, Eugenia, to bid me farewell. They, while still young, see his dream of continental air travel realized, his effort, with its tragic result of crash and long illness, recognized and rewarded by his government.
The hour’s flight over the brown and snowy white mountains seemed but a few minutes of smooth ecstacy. About fourteen years ago Martha Root wended her way over the steep and tortuous trails on muleback. For her, there was no lolling comfortably, gazing out in rapture, or reading of the morning paper while skimming over the dangerous gorges and past the menacing peak of the Aconcagua. Martha had to hang on every minute for days, desperately trying to avoid sliding down the mule’s neck, or slipping into eternity over a precipice.
The four hours over the Argentine pampas revealed only a vast flat cultivated plain, without any visible gauchos. The biggest bus in all experience carried us into Buenos Aires, South America’s most modern city, but there is much reminder of Paris in its tree-lined boulevards, sidewalk cafes and European architecture, now being crowded by the new.
During the two weeks’ stay in
Buenos Aires, I met most of the
Bahá’ís, and as usual, deep roots
of friendship were quickly put
down. South America’s first
Bahá’í martyr, May Maxwell, by
her love and sacrifice, seems to
have inundated these lands with
her spiritual presence. She could
never endure the cold, they
say, especially spiritual coldness.
Now the warm and shady peace
of Quilmes is her abode, and
[Page 73] the refuge of all who approach
it. The hours spent there with
Etta Mae Lawrence, dear dedicated
pioneer, and Haig Kevorkian,
will not be forgotten. Courage
to face Paraguay was gained
there, I think.
The mystic chain of Bahá’í love is strong; in Montevideo it also held our hearts. The friends everywhere are growing through tests and obstacles secured by love. The Guardian has indicated great and important responsibilities for Argentina. These devoted friends have the will and capacity for accomplishment.
The early morning hydroavión trip started with a long and profound swoosh through the waters of the Rio de la Plata before its release into the air. The Delta and Tigre, seen from the air, were quite unlike the place of waters, boats, flowers and sweet-colored colonial houses that I had visited some days before. Flying up the wide and later twisting, turning river—stopping at several small and primitive towns, we came, after about five hours, over Asunción, set in a bend of the river in the midst of the tropical lush plain that is Paraguay. Across the river from the small but modern port could be seen only green trees, undergrowth and the red, red earth—the smoke, blue misty, of charcoal burning in the distance.
As I emerged from the port alone, after the usual customs procedure, I found it a bit surprising to see a few cows wandering about loose; not many people were about, as it was the middle of the day and siesta time. It was rather lonely. The hotel, with its dark columned interior patio was nearby. I could hardly wait to meet the Bahá’ís. Only one who has tried it can imagine the sensations of the first days. Panic was in my heart. I began to appreciate Elisabeth Cheney’s task, and uttered supplications for the fruition of her great labors. Soon the two devoted believers, Josefina Plá and Centurion Miranda, were found by directions and much walking—there are few telephones in Asunción. They had kept alive the Faith in spite of obstacles and inexperience.
In the small gathering of our
first Feast celebrated together,
two persons who had been loyally
studying, declared themselves believers.
This was great encouragement,
but the encountering of
the “waiting servants” in a country
strange, and with few opportunities,
presented a baffling
problem. Then one day, in a
most miserable moment, came a
letter from our beloved Guardian.
It arrived with its divine
encouragement and mysterious
action-provoking effect. Then my
[Page 74] perturbation ceased!
Shortly, I found myself established in a private home recently turned into a pensión. Here were discovered the first of the new crop, as the dueña and her talented daughter soon became believers. Through them and the other friends new contacts were made. Soon a radio interview was proposed, on the subject, Motion Pictures. After writing the script the night before and having the Spanish corrected the next morning, we went on the air, and the Sacred Name of Bahá’u’lláh was mentioned for the first time from Paraguay. It was a precious moment when the Name soared clearly by short wave over all of South America. The interviewer became a believer soon after, and also a young technician.
Later there were invitations to sing on the radio. By helping thus on a program in honor of one of Paraguay’s poets, I gained the opportunity of meeting writers and musicians. Abilities seem to sprout in most extraordinary ways on a pioneer venture. The equipment of a diplomat, psychologist, accountant and physician would be no small advantage!
How well the Guardian foresaw needs when he advised me in a cable to “exercise patience”! Having patience while eternally waiting for believers, or anything at all, in these lands of slow tempo, is a state which anyone must cultivate, should he wish to remain in one piece.
Many meetings, celebrations, Feasts took place in what had become for the time, our Bahá’í Center. Every day brought someone to hear of the Faith, or a chance to present it. Talks were given to the Theosophists and to the Rosicrucians. At a banquet, the guest of honor, Sir Eugene Millington Drake, well-loved Englishman known all over Latin-America for his generosity, charm, and the direction of Cultural Affairs for Great Britain, was seated between two Bahá’ís. There, for the first time I encountered the brilliant young poet Augosto Roa Bastos, later to become much impressed by the Faith.
Wandering about the streets of
Asunción, picking one’s way
among the sharp cobblestones
and admiring the sweet little
donkeys, laden with vegetables,
meat, fruits, and their little (always)
women riders with long
hair in a knot sticking out in
back, and nearly always with a
cigar in their mouths and, in hot
weather, a large, black umbrella
aloft, is the accompaniment to
sowing the Greatest Name in the
atmosphere of this land. Brilliant
blue is the sky when not convulsed
[Page 75] with thunder storms.
Feathery flowering trees of violet
jacarandá bloom. Flaming colors
are everywhere. Curious flat-twigged
trees with bunches of
yellow-pinky flowers bursting out
of the ends, later to sprout large
waxy green leaves, are the
jasmine-mango trees. Papayas,
guayavas and kapoc trees are
abundant. The latter have trunks
like coca-cola bottles with thorns
sticking out all over them. The
flowers are like orchids, and the
fruit like huge avocado pears.
And then the kapoc silk pops
out and runs over with a most
fantastic effect. At Feasts we
used quantities of large gardenias
as they cost only six cents
for a dozen!
Our Bahá’í house, being typically Paraguayan, had rooms in a long row, all opening onto each other, and also having huge double doors opening onto the long patio. The well was nearby and a small grove of orange trees and jasmine vines grew in the cleanly swept garden. And pensionistas were bound to hear of the Faith. Some Brazilians and some Argentinians left with a new outlook and the determination to find the Bahá’ís in their country.
Many persons who do not become believers right away are excellent “carriers” and there is always the hope that sometime they will convince themselves in an ardent moment.
Speaking of the Faith in the village of Luque, which we reached by means of a little wooden-car train drawn by a round fat locomotive followed by two little cars full of fuel wood, chugging, spewing smoke, and then the return in the evening, watching sparks from our engine (not so different from the huge lantern-eyed fireflies) are nice to remember.
The poet, Julio Correa, gave a
party there in his lovely old
quinta, in honor of a neighboring
poet. Many of us, including
Josefina Plá, and Gertrude Eisenberg,
trouped there that day. His
colonial house, shaded by huge
old trees, had a column-supported
porch all around it. Cows
stalked about, not bothering to
hide their disapproval of so
many strangers taking their
shade. Chickens wandered in and
out of the house. The poets recited
their latest poems, although
during business hours,
they might be bankers, engineers,
philosophers or actors. Sila
Godoy played his intimate and
exquisite instrument, the guitar,
like a young Segovia. Barbecued
pork (delivered in wheelbarrows),
dulce de caña (sugar
cane drink), empanadas (a sort
of meat pie seen with variations
all over South America) and
[Page 76] potato salad were devoured on
the porch near the immense
bread-fruit tree.
Life is still fairly simple in Paraguay in spite of the struggle between the old ways and the new which are fast taking possession. Unbelievable changes are under way, such as the huge new airport, new hospitals (where goats and families will not be permitted to live with the patient), new roads, sanitary systems, and public health programs. Of these gifts and importations from the United States, many have been fearful, but others begin to see the deep significance of all this physical activity as the preparation for the spiritual and material union of the countries of the Western Hemisphere. The North Americans charged with these works, have as yet no conception of the deeper meaning and are not interested in knowing. Paraguay is emerging in a phenomenal manner from its age-old slumber interrupted by tragic wars which lately have destroyed most of its male population. Its disturbance is tortuous, and occurs under protest, but its awakening is inevitable.
With Gertrude Eisenberg, their pioneer and teacher, the Bahá’ís of Asunción del Paraguay, as the fruit of Elisabeth Cheney’s initial impulse and many sacrifices, established their first Spiritual Assembly in April, 1944.
A multitude of persons have heard of the Faith in this mysterious flowering land. A curious acceleration of confirmation has taken place—the wishes of the beloved Guardian have had their effect. The destiny of this loved country is being seized and is animating an awaiting people.
I shall remember Paraguay for its poets, its perfumed music under the brightest of moons beside the Southern Cross, its flaming flowering trees, its loving sensitive souls, eagerly listening to the creative Words of Bahá’u’lláh which tell of their liberation from age-old cares. The Guardian wrote: “We are at last beginning to see the first tangible response to Bahá’u’lláh’s words addressed in the Aqdas to the Presidents of the American Republics: ‘The lights of the Faith are kindling in these distant lands and will shine, no doubt, with a wonderful brilliance in the days to come’”.
O Son of Man!
For everything there is a sign. The sign of love is fortitude under My decree and patience under My trials.
—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
Signs of the Times
ANNAMARIE KUNZ HONNOLD
AS SHOGHI EFFENDI so aptly states, “The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve—is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. . . .” So powerful is Bahá’u’lláh’s Plan that in less than one hundred years following His teachings “the world’s equilibrium hath been upset. . . .” “Both within and outside the Bahá’í world the signs and tokens which, in a mysterious manner, are heralding the birth of that World Order . . . are growing and multiplying day by day.”
Hardly a day passes without our discerning signs pointing in the direction of tomorrow’s world order. Take our newspapers, for example. We read of the incredible destruction caused by the wars. But we read, too, of an International Business Conference, of an International Civil Aviation Conference, of a Dumbarton Oaks or World Security Conference. Regardless of what we may think of all the preliminary plans and undertakings —be they right or wrong—we are impressed with their international aspect. Here representatives of many nations sit peacefully around the conference table in an attempt to iron out problems common to all in a harmonious manner.
Speaking of newspapers, let us examine for a moment but one, The Sunday New York Times Book Review and Magazine sections. Such reviews are excellent sources through which to feel something of the pulse of our age. New books are reviewed with skill; outstanding thinkers contribute thoughts pertaining to present-day problems. And while reading, the Bahá’í often is deeply moved as he discovers still further signs of the times.
The sections appearing on November 19, 1944, will serve as a sample. In the Magazine Section Morris D. Waldman gives us A Bill of Rights for All Nations in which he says:
“It is obvious, of course, that
the questions of world organization,
spheres of influence, World
Court and international police
are the basic elements upon
which the future of world peace
revolves. But realists in international
affairs are painfully aware
that no system of world organization,
no matter how magnificently
[Page 78] idealistic or realistically
practical, can long endure in a
world full of minor tensions. A
super-plan for world peace must
first be created, but if it is to
succeed it must provide a means
whereby people of diverse backgrounds
may live together in
peace and harmony. Without
such planning to supplement the
master blueprint for world peace
there exists little hope for an
enduring peace. The problem of
racial and religious minorities is
thus one of vital importance.”
The Bahá’í here finds a vision beyond the Lesser Peace, an unconscious striving toward Bahá’u’lláh’s Most Great Peace. In another article Russell W. Davenport praises the energies which Wendell Willkie, who, we know, outgrew the limitations of a political figure, exerted “in every waking moment” during his last months toward the cause of “One World.” And here Eduard Benes, president of Czechoslovakia, looks to the post-war era and says that if we look far ahead we need not feel pessimistic. He sees man in his fight against the evil systems in the world but says it “will be part of a greater struggle for a moral and ideological renaissance which is to transform the life of whole classes and nations.” And in the Book Review section appears a review of Franz Werfel’s Between Heaven and Earth. Werfel predicts that in the “culmination of the realistic outlook,” as the reviewer puts it, man will be aroused to a spiritual revolution. The book is “a serious call for a spiritual man to become vocal and active in world renewal.”
In recent months an astonishing number of books and articles on proposed ways to world peace and order have appeared. Space permits us to mention but a few found in the Times. In The Time for Decision Sumner Welles advocates the speedy establishment of the basis for a world organization and the use of force to maintain peace (July 23, 1944). Hugh Gibson in The Road to Foreign Policy (July 23, 1944) recommends for this country a “policy of international collaboration”, as the reviewer states, “to promote world peace through the preservation and strengthening of representative government”. Clair Wilcox, Professor of Economics at Swarthmore College, says in a Magazine article entitled “We Can’t Live Alone and Really Live” (October 8, 1944):
“What is needed today is a multilateral convention pledging all the nations of the world to simultaneous and sharp reduction of all the barriers of trade.”
And then again Charles Rumford
Walker (November 5,
[Page 79] 1944) speaks of the sacrifice
necessary to have peace:
“We must pay in terms of liquidated prejudices and long overdue reforms in the treatment, for example, of our racial minorities.”
Speaking of races, the Bahá’í sees hopeful beginnings on the racial front. Lillian Smith, a white woman in the deep South, vividly portrays the plight of the Negro in Strange Fruit and in writing of her novel (May 28, 1944) says it “is concerned with this restricting, crippling frame of segregation”. The Times also printed “A Negro’s Plea for Understanding” (November 12, 1944). Here Harry V. Richardson, Chaplain of Tuskegee Institute, states that “Only as all have opportunity to attain similar advantages is anyone secure in an advantage he happens to hold.”
The Bahá’í views religion as the bedrock of a lasting peace and world order. In this connection it is of interest to learn that Alfred M. Bingham in The Practice of Idealism (September 24, 1944) sees man not only in a war but also in five revolutions, one of which is the struggle of “tribal religions against a dawning world religion of universal brotherhood”, as the reviewer puts it.
These brief thoughts give but a superficial glimpse of signs of the times which have appeared in but one newspaper over a period of a number of months. However, they give evidence of the “universal fermentation” of the Plan and Spirit of Bahá’u’lláh. Be it understood, nevertheless, that no other present-day plan and spirit correspond precisely to those of Bahá’u’lláh. His plan overshadows all others in depth and vision, in wisdom and inclusiveness. The Bahá’í is hopeful in discovering frequent signs leading to the only perfect way—the world order of Bahá’u’lláh.
This article is one in the series which
will present signs of progress in world
affairs.
The revelation of Bahá’u’lláh . . . should be viewed not merely as yet another spiritual revival in the ever-changing fortunes of mankind, not only as a further stage in a chain of progressive Revelations, nor even as the culmination of one of a series of recurrent prophetic cycles, but rather as marking the last and highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man’s collective life on this planet. The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture . . . should . . . be regarded . . . as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society. . . . —SHOGHI EFFENDI
Editorial
ENFORCEMENT OF THE SPIRITUAL LAW
THE pressure of social necessity has in recent times laid upon the civil state responsibility for the application of legislation of a type previously associated with the affairs of religion, ethics or social philosophy. Government today has become controlled by opinions and beliefs reflecting rapid changes in the environment which call for programs and policies exceeding the traditional functions of the state.
The very basis of government is, of course, concern with the moral code. Protection of life and property has been the essential purpose of social organization in historic times. Without the Mosaic code society could not evolve beyond the meager and hazardous experience of the early tribe. There is no inherent reason why the civil state should not become the guardian of ideals and virtues revealed since Moses, though history records the lamentable fact that governments have followed and not led the masses along the road of spiritual evolution.
One of the first examples of the new development in legislation was socialism. All governments during the past century have enacted measures of a socialistic nature. In certain cases socialism has become the whole philosophy of the state, replacing traditional economics with a legal code and substituting state power for the adjustments of individuals and private firms. So far no one can assert that this trend is anything more than experiment, for the socialistic structure has not been created but taken over without compensation, in the form of expropriation or taxes, from the wealth previously accumulated. The fact to emphasize at the moment is that, for many people, the attainment of socialistic legislation is the fulfilment of moral responsibility. When we can make the state do it, there is no longer any reason why the individual should sacrifice himself for others.
Another example of effort to
transfer responsibility from the
individual to the state was the
prohibition of liquor. Generations
of ethical education and
spiritual struggle seemed to terminate
when the state forbade
the manufacture and sale of intoxicating
liquors. The result
[Page 81] proved conclusively that there
are either aspects of truth which
cannot be applied by the police,
or stages in the evolution of society
when individual conscience
may not rely upon the collective
social will.
Today a third example comes into view as various legislative bodies in the United States, including the federal legislature, concern themselves with specific measures aimed to prevent the element of racial and religious prejudice from determining the conditions of employment. The employer, under such legislation, will be obliged to accept employes on some standard of personal fitness without reference to the color of their skin or the doctrines of their church. That is, the right of the citizen as citizen becomes supreme over the exigencies of any creed, race or class. The whole mass of the people, through their one collective agency, the state, decide that prejudice no longer has any right to assert itself in the economic field, and take such steps as may be necessary to bring the individual employer into obedience with the new conception of society.
These examples have intense interest to the Bahá’ís, for the Bahá’í knows that new spiritual laws and principles have been revealed by Bahá’u’lláh which revolutionize human life, removing the barriers behind which political, theological and economic infections start, and disclosing the majesty of a divine plan for the entire world. The Bahá’ís know that the working out of the new era will be evolutionary, one stage at a time, and therefore to see the operation of the Plan one must be aware of the Revelation which is its source, its motive power and the guarantor of its realization.
There are two considerations which come to us as we ponder the process of social regeneration at its present stage.
First, the civil state is called
upon to do the work of religion
in so many instances because the
division of the ancient religion
into many denominational bodies
denies the people any unity of
moral example and expression.
While the Bahá’ís make race
unity a matter of virtue, the
former faiths make it a matter
of state legislation. The state has
become more representative of
the moral needs of the people
than the churches. Second, the
effectiveness of legislation intended
to apply justice to human
relations is not the power of the
police but the power of virtue—
that is, of conscious obedience to
the higher will. What we are witnessing
[Page 82] is the bankruptcy of institutional
religion. It is no
longer possible for any church
to inculcate the necessary virtues
into the intricate, internationalized
society of today. Therefore
it has become incumbent
upon the states to create humanitarian
legislation. But there remains
a vast distinction between
the soul and government; to remove
this fatal abyss there must
needs be further stages in the
disintegration of the old order
and the rise of the new.
GOD’S NEW DAY
Edwinna Powell Clifford
- NO longer alone on a storm-tossed crest
- Need stand a soul, of peace bereft.
- God’s voice, that spoke through the Prophets of yore,
- From Sinai’s plain or Jordan’s shore,
- From India’s isles, or Arabia’s sands,
- Hath spoken today its loving commands,
- And the heart that is plowed and narrowed by pain
- Can still find peace and live again.
- “Come,” the voice of Bahá’u’lláh cries,
- “Come, all ye that are men, arise!
- Come, ye humble; come, ye poor,
- Enter at last the open door.
- With the word of power I now proclaim
- The Oneness of God, His Truth the same;
- His children, one vast family, all,
- Who never in vain on Him shall call.
- “This Truth of God, His flaming light,
- Shall scatter superstition’s might
- This Word of God, the Spirit’s Sword,
- Shall conquer all hearts in the name of the Lord.
- His holy Prophets, a glorious band,
- Revealed to us now, united stand,
- And the shining hosts of the faithful throng
- Sing all together the Triumph Song:
- “The Kingdom of God on Earth shall stand,
- And His Spirit reign o’er every land;
- United, all men shall bow the knee,
- And, with clearer vision, His Glory see.
- Oh, great is the message Bahá’u’lláh brings,
- Harken ye learned, bow down ye kings,
- The dark clouds of night shall soon pass away,
- Arise, greet the dawn of God’s New Day!”
Bahá’í Youth in Persia
RUSTAM PAYMÁN
YOUTH the world over are interested in action. They like to go places and do things. It is no accident that they have figured prominently in nearly every revolutionary movement of the last three decades. Youth may not always see clearly or act wisely but they show the will to set things right rather than be content with conditions that are admittedly bad. Lame arguments to the effect that things have always been this way or that they could be worse fail to appeal to young people.
The Bahá’í Faith, with its emphasis on action and its elevation of service to mankind to the rank of prayer, naturally makes sense to young minds which are not confused with prejudices and fears. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá will forever be the best of examples for young people for He embodied courage, strength of purpose, and self-sacrifice, and had a sense of humor. Turning farther back in the pages of Bahá’í history, we find the Radiant Youth who gave His life for human unity and the multitudes of God’s heroes whose deeds of matchless devotion remain a constant challenge to all men of good will. Other movements have called forth sacrifice, but has any other cause changed the heart of man in such way as to cause him to regard all his fellow human beings as brothers? This unique and blessed Faith does not claim exclusive possession of truth and goodness but requires its followers to associate with people of every creed and of no religion, and with those of every racial group, class, and nation in a spirit of friendship.
The power of the Bahá’í Faith to ennoble human character has been amply demonstrated in the land of its origin for, under its influence, members of other religious communities who had been looked down upon have been exalted. Minorities, instead of being despised, are accorded a place of honor; individuals are not condemned for following the beliefs of their forefathers but are accepted on the basis of personal merit. In a Bahá’í election, if two individuals have equal capacity and fitness for office, the one who has come from a minority group, such as Jewish or Zoroastrian, is given the preference.
The reader may be surprised
to see that a Persian is writing
[Page 84] about administrative questions
instead of more mystical topics.
Americans think of Persia as a
country of nightingales and
roses, of jasmine-scented gardens,
of romance and song. They
expect the Persians to be dreamers.
But this is only part of the
picture and as Persia and
America come closer together
spiritually and materially, similar
hopes and desires and common
ways of thinking will come
to light. Let us go on to the
activities of the Persian Bahá’í
youth.
The affairs of the Bahá’í youth are directly in the hands of the National Youth Committee, a body appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly of Persia. The number of members may vary but it has recently been thirteen. The same persons serve on three subcommittees which have charge of correspondence, education, and the annual youth symposium. The members are not necessarily youth; I was the only member under twenty-one and there were several past forty. It is recognized that whenever qualified youth can be found they should be appointed and the National Youth Committee has recommended that youth be appointed to local committees when they have the required ability.
Both the main committee and the subcommittees meet weekly. The officers are chairman, secretary, treasurer, and recording secretary. The subcommittee on education plans training for all the Bahá’í youth in Persia. The one on correspondence handles all communications from local youth committees and from the National Youth Committees of other countries but letters in reply are submitted to the National Youth Committee for approval before sending. The Symposium subcommittee plans for Persia the meeting that is held annually throughout the Bahá’í world. The questions put to the youth in connection with this event vary from year to year but they are invariably related to action designed to make life in Persia healthier and happier. In 1943, the central question was, “How can you aid the poor to attend school?” The youth were not content to say that they believed in universal education but they really did something about it. In 1944, they were asked:
How can you contribute to the health and hygiene of the people?
1. If you can give money, specify the amount.
2. Can you furnish medicine? How much (value or quantity)?
[Page 85]
3. If you can give soap, state the
number of bars or amount.
4. If you are able to lecture on these topics, how many hours could you devote each week? (Doctors were sent to localities without medical facilities.)
5. If you can provide a room for lectures, conferences, or treatment, how many hours a week would it be available?
6. If there is no bath in your village or town, how much money or labor would you donate for the building of one or more?
7. Write any other suggestions you may wish to offer concerning the promotion of public health or any other field in which you think youth may be of service.
These lines give only a glimpse of the many duties of the National Youth Committee; the official description of its functions covers three typewritten pages.
The Ṭihrán Youth Committee has put forth great efforts for the spread of the Faith and for social betterment in general. The main body has numerous subcommittees dealing with:
- 1. Teaching inquirers
- a. Beginner’s class
- b. Advanced class
- 2. Music
- 3. Physical education
- 4. Special Bahá’í youth meeting
- 5. Bahá’í education
- a. Deepening knowledge of teachings and their application to everyday life.
- b. Cultural subjects such as English, Arabic, history, etc.
- 6. Finance
The youth have taught their elders. The subcommittee on education arranged classes for those friends who could not read or write. A great deal of attention has been given to physical training. The Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds has a gymnasium for sports and the grounds feature tennis courts. Some of the young Bahá’ís have been outstanding athletes.
The youth of Ṭihrán and other communities have devised a novel way of reaching other young people. They form groups of five. Each group invites one or two non-Bahá’ís to a party or other social affair at which religion is not discussed. As the young people get to know each other, the Faith is gradually mentioned and discussed. This is in line with the teaching of Muḥammad that we should make the way of the seeker easy by saying agreeable things. There are about sixty of these groups in Ṭihrán.
There is also a great deal for
every youth to do individually
[Page 86] for the responsibility of teaching
has been placed on each of us.
Many youth have gone forth as
pioneers under conditions that
appear very difficult. They have
left the comforts of home and
their kith and kin to live in remote
and hostile regions. Travel
in the Middle East is extremely
slow and arduous, not at all like
the de luxe plane and pullman
service enjoyed by Americans.
In these strange localities, the
Bahá’í pioneer may have to face
not only difficulty in earning a
humble living but actual physical
violence. It is one thing for people
to think that your ideas about
religion are queer but quite another
for fanatics to plot against
you and beat you. Word has
come that already in the first year
of the second Bahá’í century, two
young Persian pioneers have
been martyred.
The example of the American friends in taking the Faith to every nation, state, and province in this hemisphere has served to stimulate pioneering among the Persians. We watch the activities of our American brothers and sisters very closely and lovingly. The Master favored spiritual competition and it will advance the interests of the Faith in both Persia and America to have greater exchange of information and ideas. I am sure that as the days go by, the youth of Persia and America will come into ever closer contact with each other. We students who have recently come to America cannot express our gratitude for the kindness shown us by the American friends. It is really as though we had never left home. Although our countries are situated on opposite sides of the globe, we are united in one common Faith. There is a Persian saying that the hearts find a way to each other. The best and most lasting way is the path of Bahá’u’lláh, the Master’s “chosen highway”.
Consider! The people of the East and the West were in the utmost strangeness. Now to what a high degree they are acquainted with each other and united together! How far are the inhabitants of Persia from the remotest countries of America! And now observe how great has been the influence of the heavenly power, for the distance of thousands of miles has become identical with one step! How various nations that have had no relations or similarity with each other are now united and agreed through this divine potency! Indeed to God belongs power in the past and in the future! And verily God is powerful over all things!
—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ
The Tablets Of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Book Review
H. EMOGENE HOAGG
THE Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá written to the followers of the Bahá’í Faith in the United States of America, are of the most precious and educational value.
During the first years of the establishing of the Faith in America, one can say that the spiritual impulse for its growth derived from the Tablets (Letters) arriving from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. To the early believers they were the greatest source of joy and enlightenment,—enlightenment relative to the spiritual and material problems of daily life as well as those of deeper significance.
As there were then no English translations of the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, these early Tablets were the avenue through which the understanding of the New Revelation was most clearly conveyed to the Western world. They were an inspiration and confirmation which strengthened and encouraged the followers of this new Revelation, and created the spiritual unity of belief that formed the nucleus for the future growth of the Faith in this country.
While the Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (original in Persian with the English translation) were addressed to individuals or groups, in answer to letters received by Him, the messages contained always were of general interest and application, and formed subject-matter for both individual and group study.
Each Tablet received was eagerly shared with the friends: the translation immediately copied and sent to individuals in the different centers, and these were recopied and distributed within each particular radius— sometimes extending to more than one state.
As the Faith spread, the number of Tablets arriving increased accordingly.
In the Tablets, now comprising three volumes with a fourth ready for publication (addressed to American believers with few exceptions), one finds profound teachings on abstruse spiritual questions as well as a clarification of prophetic truths and other instructions, given in clear and concise language: a fund of knowledge relative to the Revelations of Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb.
Among the Teachings given one finds the following quotations: “The prophecies of all the Prophets have become manifest and are fulfilled in this holy and blessed age.”
“Each Manifestation is the heart of the world and the proficient Physician of every patient.”
On universal love: “The essence of the Teachings of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh is Universal Love, which comprehends all the virtues of the world of humanity, is the cause of eternal life and the progress of all the individuals of the human race.”
“Love is the mystery of Divine Revelations.”
Religion is given a vital meaning: “The descent of the New Jerusalem is the heavenly religion which secures the prosperity of the human world and is the effulgence of the
The Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’, Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1916.
[Page 88] illumination of the realm of God.”
Education: “. . . education and training are recorded in the Book of God as obligatory not voluntary.” And: “They must strive by all possible means to educate both sexes, male and female, girls like the boys, there is no difference whatsoever between them. The ignorance of both is blameworthy . . . the training and culture of daughters is more necessary . . . for these girls will come to the station of motherhood and will mould the lives of the children”
“By Faith is meant, first conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds.”
Detachment: “If thou art desiring Divine joy, free thyself from the bands of attachment.”
Humility: “If thou seekest eternal glory, let thyself be humble and meek in the presence of the beloved of God.”
Sacrifice: “Sacrifice thyself for the well-being of the people, and be thou a kind comforter to all the inhabitants of the world.”
Servitude: “The service of the friends belongs to God, not to them.” And: “Service is the magnet which attracts the heavenly strength.”
Steadfastness: “He who is steadfast shall grow, and he who is straightforward shall succeed.”
Prayer: “Be firm in the worship of God, fasting, praying, imploring and invoking unto thy God, the Generous; so that He shall destine to thee the honor of sacrifice in the Path of thy Beloved, the Ancient.” “Much prayer is needed so that God may help and protect.”
Unity: “Night and day endeavor to attain perfect harmony: be thoughtful concerning your own spiritual development and close your eyes to the shortcomings of one another.” And, “The manifestation of the Light of Unity is for binding together the people of the world. If this unity is not attained the tree of life is made fruitless, the heavenly bounty is not utilized.”
Bahá’u’lláh in the Tablet of the Branch says: “. . . through Him every mouldering bone is quickened . . .” Writing to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá He says: “We pray God to illumine the world through Thy knowledge and wisdom. . . .” And again: “We have made Thee a shelter for all mankind . . . a shield unto all who are in heaven and on earth.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was not only the “Center of the Covenant” and the Interpreter of the Revelations of Bahá’u’lláh after His passing, but the center of Bahá’í administration: advisor, center of consultation and cooperation—both legislative and administrative. And except during ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s memorable visit to America in 1912, it was primarily in the Tablets that His instructions, and interpretations of the Teachings reached the Bahá’í groups in the West.
It is only since the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that Shoghi Effendi, the appointed Guardian of the Faith, has put into an affective administrative order the laws and instructions left by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. As the Guardian says: “The rise and establishment of the Administrative Order—the shell that shields and enshrines so precious a gem—constitutes the hall-mark for this second and formative age of the Bahá’í era. . . . The central and underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Bahá’u’lláh.”
This is one in a series of articles on Bahá’í books.
Pilgrimage to ‘Akká
ALTHOUGH the secret of the
Power and Beauty of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá[1] lies in the eclipse
of His personality and shining
forth of the Spirit Itself in His
perfect servitude to God and
man—although what impressed
me most was His impersonality
—yet I find I cannot forget the
face, the features and the man
so loved by the people of Bahá
throughout the world. To meet
Him is to come under the charm
and spell of the Spirit, but notwithstanding
the inner realization
memory holds up the winsome
picture of the personality
to the outer eye. Knowing that
the Light within the Temple is
the Reality, I will describe the
Temple itself. After climbing
the long flight of steps leading
from the inner courtyard we
were taken into a large, light
room immediately to the right.
A soft divan extended completely
around it. There we
waited, welcomed in succession
by several Bahá’í brothers, until
Miss Barney arose and announced
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He was
clothed in a long black robe open
at front disclosing another robe
of light tan—upon His head a
pure white turban. The face was
Light itself; the voice ringing
with happiness. A man of medium
height, strongly and solidly
built, weight about one hundred
and seventy pounds, alert and
active in every movement, the
head thrown back and splendidly
poised upon the shoulders, a profusion
of iron gray hair bursting
out at the sides of the turban
and hanging long upon the neck,
a large, massive head full-domed
and remarkably wide across the
forehead and temples, the forehead
rising like a great palisade
above the eyes, the eyes themselves
very wide apart, their
orbits large and deep, looking
out like soul-windows from under
the massive overhanging brows;
strong, perfect nose, generous
ears, the mouth and chin kindly
and tender yet fixed in unswerving
decision, complexion a
creamy white, beard same color
as His hair, worn full over the
face and carefully trimmed at
almost full length—this is a very
insufficient word picture of a face
which in its composite is haloed
with love and expressive majesty.
The focus of the soul of
this wonderful being is in the
eyes. Love lingers in their
depths, and tenderness quivers
in flashes of sympathetic light
upon the lids. If the tongue were
[Page 90] silent the eyes would voice the
Spirit’s messages in tremulous
thrills of eloquence. When the
full battery of this winsome personality
is turned upon the soul,
you are immersed in an ocean of
love, you see that which was
hitherto invisible, hear the inaudible
and attain knowledge
which had seemed unknowable.
As to His Power there can he
no doubt. The secret of His
spiritual Beauty lies in the
eclipse of His personality. The
Spirit of God is manifest in this
perfect Temple of Servitude, this
Incarnation of Love.
One morning about a week
after our arrival we saw Him
in the narrow garden strip which
borders the sea just inside the
crumbling stone wall. He was
standing under a small evergreen,
looking out over the blue
Mediterranean, His face turned
upward into the sunlight, silent,
motionless, reflective, perhaps in
prayer. A short distance away
from Him stood a group of ten
believers, all of them patriarchal
men, holy and picturesque in
garb and attitude, the very reproduction
of the group of disciples
who attended the Christ
of Nazareth nineteen hundred
years ago. Some of them wore
pure white gowns and turbans,
some with the green turban indicating
lineage from the Prophet.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in full black
with a white turban. All stood
motionless for a long time, then
the central figure began to walk
slowly to and fro inhaling the
fresh breeze coming down from
the pure laboratory of the
Lebanons. When He stopped they
stopped; when He walked they
followed, always maintaining a
distance and evidencing love and
reverence in their movements.
Love haloed the picture. The
scenes of long ago had come
back in living reality before our
eyes, so accustomed to different
pictures in the West. After awhile
Mírzá Assad’ulláh arrived at
the gate of the garden carrying
a large bunch of roses, which he
gave to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá who took
them aside, buried His face in
them a long time, then slowly
separated them into small
bunches, giving one to each of
the brethren. As He did so they
held His gift to their lips, then
placed the floral treasure in the
bosom of their loose flowing
gowns. Altogether it was a heavenly
picture—these bronze faces
luminous with the light of Love
—splendid looking men—but
doubly glorious in their spiritual
beauty—pictures of what
men should be—of what men
must ultimately become when
humanity is uplifted by the grace
of God into His Spiritual Image.
God is manifest in any man who
has the power of transforming
[Page 91] hearts into this semblance. These
loving souls had been drawn together
by divine attraction from
different walks of life, and still
more significantly, from different
forms of religious belief.
Among them were Jews, Muḥammadans,
Parsees and Christians
—now all Bahá’ís—now loving
each other as Christ taught. One
Friday morning we saw another
picture which carried us back to
scenes in old Jerusalem and by
the waters of Galilee. It is the
custom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá each
week, on Friday morning, to distribute
alms to the poor. From
His own scanty store He gives
a little to each one of the needy
who come to ask assistance. This
morning about one hundred were
ranged in line, seated and
crouching upon the ground in the
open street of the court where
‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s house stands. And
such a nondescript collection of
humanity they were. All kinds
of men, women and children—
poor, wretched, hopeless in aspect,
half-clothed, many of them
crippled and blind, beggars indeed,
poor beyond expression—
waiting expectant—until from
the doorway came ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
attended by His brother, Badiulláh.
He was clothed in pure
white from foot to turban. Quickly
moving from one to another,
stopping sometimes to leave a
word of sympathy and encouragement,
dropping small coins
into each eager outstretched
palm, touching the face of a
child, taking the hand of an old
woman who held fast to the hem
of His garment as He passed
along, speaking holy words of
light to old men with sightless
eyes, inquiring after those too
feeble and wretched to come
after their pittance of help and
sending them their portion with
a message of love and uplift—
this is what we saw with our
Western eyes untrained to holy
scenes—this is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
the Servant of God, as He is.
Light and Love seemed to emanate
from Him. As we looked,
our eager, rushing, selfish,
money-grasping life in the West,
beyond the peaceful blue of the
Mediterranean horizon, seemed
dwarfed, insignificant, little—
and our hearts turned wearily
away from their burdens to the
rest of these quiet, holy scenes
in a land made holy by. such
service, such sacrifice, such love.
A few days later we said goodbye
to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; saw Him
standing radiant and beautiful at
the top of the long staircase
which leads down to the inner
court where the fountain plays
and roses bloom all the year.
The Light of Love was still upon
His face—it is always there—
it is a face of Love—and so I
shall ever see Him.
- ↑ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as seen by an early pilgrim.
The American Pioneer Period
MARIAM HANEY
A COMMUNITY of Bahá’ís was by now existing in many of the large cities, as well as small towns, of the United States, and in Montreal, P. Q., Canada. In these Bahá’í communities were gathered former Protestants from many sects, also Christian Scientists, Catholics, Jews, Muḥammadans, Theosophists, and some who had never before been interested in any religion, as well as a representation from different races— all happily cooperating and enjoying true fellowship. Through the effect of the Holy Revealed Words in this Dispensation, Bahá’ís had taken a new flight, antagonisms had vanished, the Light of the New Age precluded hatreds and suspicions, they communed together sympathetically, brotherhood and true fraternity had become an actual fact. “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord and His Name one.” In the pioneering days the Bahá’í Faith was not organized. Of course religion in its purest spiritual realities, that is, the fundamentals, the essential or spiritual teachings of the Word of God, cannot be organized; but there is a second division—the laws and ordinances which concern human transactions and relations. Briefly, there was nothing in the way of official committees to administer the affairs of the Cause except in certain cities, for instance in Chicago the House of Spirituality,[1] in New York the Board of Council, and in other cities there were committees designated as Working Committees, Service Committees, etc. They were in one sense official for in some cases the friends elected them. Aside from these committees, the affairs of the Cause were administered by individuals who seemed naturally to have the necessary ability to function. However, even the committees did not preclude the friends from serving and teaching in accordance with their own guidance. Those were the days when the “rugged individualism” of the Americans was greatly in evidence in the promulgation of the Cause.
As the years passed it was evident
that these committees were
rendering most valuable services.
It was the House of Spirituality
in Chicago that initiated the work
of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in supplicating
[Page 93] to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for permission
to build a Bahá’í House
of Worship in this country. This
request was granted. From its
very inception the Bahá’í House
of Worship was still another
teaching effort of the utmost importance,
for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s
statements in many of His Tablets
and in notes of pilgrims witness
to the glory of this effort
and its definite linking with
teaching, in fact one seemed to
be inseparable from the other.
“It is an expression of the elevation
of the Word of God” said
‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Another important undertaking during the pioneer period was the publication of the Bahá’í Magazine, it was called The Bahá’í Bulletin, published by the Bahá’í Publishing Society in New York in 1909. It was short-lived (there were about six or seven issues), but it was an effort in the right direction. In 1910 a Bahá’í Magazine was started in Chicago. It was called The Bahá’í News. Some time later it was developed further and called The Star of the West; as the years passed it grew still further and was called The Bahá’í Magazine. Its publication continued down the years, and now the magazine is called World Order. Just to what extent this truly inspired publication has, through the years, served teachers and teaching cannot be estimated. It has always been called a traveling teacher.
A very important teaching activity for Bahá’ís themselves was organized during this period, namely, the inauguration officially of the Institution in the Cause known as Unity Feasts, which are observed every nineteen days. The program for, and conduct of, this meeting, has been a teaching and training medium for Bahá’ís.
Number four in a series of notations on Bahá’í activity in North America from 1893 to 1921.
- ↑ A term used to differentiate the Committee from a world organization.
Launched in every continent of the globe, at first intermittent, haphazard, and unorganized, and later, as a result of the emergence of a slowly developing Administrative Order, systematically conducted, centrally directed and efficiently prosecuted, the teaching enterprises which were undertaken by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh in many lands, but conspicuously in America . . . constitute, by virtue of their range and the blessings which have flowed from them, a shining episode that yields place to none except those associated with the exploits which have immortalized the early age of the Bahá’í Dispensation.
—SHOGHI EFFENDI, in God Passes By
WITH OUR READERS
OUR readers will remember the article by Artemus Lamb in our November, 1944, number on the “Fulfillment of Mormon Prophecy,” and the comment upon the article in this department of our February issue. Now a letter comes from Mr. Lamb in Punta Arenas, Chile, the southernmost city in the world, where he is helping establish the Bahá’í Faith. He writes in part:
“The February issue of World Order has just come into my hands and so I am hastening to write a further word about my article, “The Fulfillment of Mormon Prophecy” which appeared in the November issue of World Order. If you would care to publish any of this in “With Our Readers,” I would be happy for you to do so. Personally I find this section always interesting and believe that more of such discussions and explanation of articles would be very stimulating and interesting.
“First of all, let me thank you for your clarification of the points in question. I do not know the actual contents of the letters received by you but would like to express my complete approbation of the statements made by you and my gratitude for your taking the matter into your hands for even air mail to this distant spot, the most southerly city in the world, requires usually at least two weeks in a one way transit. . . .
“In my original article I made no statement whatever of any Bahá’í viewpoint of the station or mission of Joseph Smith and had none in mind for I know of no place in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or the Guardian, where Joseph Smith is mentioned. . . . As you summed it up, my whole intention was to acquaint the Latter Day Saints with the same knowledge that the followers of all established religions are coming to, namely, that The Promised One has Come, so that they, too, might find peace and assurance and the fulfillment of their highest destiny. If my article is serving this end, it will accomplish its purpose.”
Then Mr. Lamb writes a word of appreciation of World Order which we share with you: “I would like to add a world of congratulation on the recent issues of World Order. It seems to be getting steadily better, especially in regard to the quality and variety of the material. You will be interested to know that it is being read in this part of the world by English speaking people as well as by Spanish speaking people who use it as a means of practicing English.”
• • •
A number of people have expressed appreciation of our April issue. One friend reports that the editorial by Miss Busey and the article by Seymour Weinberg furnished good material for her discussion group. Another friend writes: “Mr. Holley’s article in World Order is a wonderful summary. I am passing my copy on to a man here who said to me, ‘I have never heard of the Bahá’í church.’ I said, ‘when you read this you will have a clear idea, and will know that while it is a religion it is not a church.’”
The editors, of course, like to receive
[Page 95] such comments and we pass
them on because it is the contributors
who make the magazine and deserve
the praise. We are constantly in need
of more well written articles setting
out the various aspects of Bahá’í
belief in a fresh, strong way.
This department welcomes letters from our readers containing questions, suggestions for teaching, stories of successful teaching, spiritual experiences which might be helpful to others, suggestions for improving the magazine. Many can write brief interesting letters who do not wish to undertake a longer article. Address such communications to World Order, Dep’t WOR, 69 Abbottsford Rd., Winnetka, Illinois.
• • •
News from Bahá’ís in other countries is most welcome. The following letter from John Eichenauer tells about his happy visit with Bahá’í friends in Paris. Our readers know John as our youngest pioneer who spent several years spreading the Bahá’í Faith in Central American countries. He is now with an army medical unit in France.
“Providentially, I believe, it was possible for me to visit the Bahá’ís of Paris. In making preparation for the trip I made sure to take along all the current Bahá’í literature I had received, assuming that because of the disruption of the war, the friends would be in need. Fortunately I had the December and November numbers of World Order magazine which I left with Miss Edith Sanderson, . . . Little did I know last summer what would become of the God Passes By I ordered. It is now with the Paris friends, as are Bahá’í Centenary and . . .” (several books and pamphlets are mentioned).
“There are eight Bahá’ís in Paris and when communication has been reestablished with the interior several cities will be found to have isolated Bahá’ís including Marseilles and Lyons. It was a special treat to meet a young Persian believer in Paris, Mr. Parvíz Vhorsand. The Persian youth seem to radiate the purity of the Báb in all their actions, so courteous and loving. Mr. Charles Kennedy, an English believer, and Mrs. Edwin Scott were two others that I met. How great is the happiness one finds in knowing the friends in foreign lands.”
• • •
As we go to press the attention of the world is focused on the conference of the United Nations in San Francisco. By the time this issue of World Order is in the hands of our readers some decisions will doubtless have been reached which will either increase or diminish our hopes for the early establishment of an institution to promote peaceful relations between nations. But whatever the outcome of this conference we feel that the article by Glenn Shook, “Mankind Can Establish Peace” is timely for it is positive and assuring. Bahá’ís are steadfast in their belief that the nations can and will, in the not too distant future, establish the Lesser Peace in spite of setbacks and that eventually “the Most Great Peace shall come.” Dr. Shook has contributed valuable articles to World Order for a number of years. His last previous one, “Science and Society” appeared in our February, 1944, issue. Dr. Shook is professor of physics and astronomy at Wheaton College, Massachusetts.
Altogether too little is the news we
get from our pioneers in North and
South America, so we welcome especially
Virginia Orbison’s “Pioneer
[Page 96] Journey, Paraguay.” Our readers
will remember the letters from Paraguay
by Elisabeth Cheney which we
published in 1942 and 1943 and will
be much interested to know what
happened next in Paraguay. For
nearly three years, Miss Orbison has
served as a pioneer in several South
American countries, among them
Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay,
and Chile. Her “Pioneer Journey to
South America” appeared in the
April, 1943, issue of World Order.
Miss Orbison is now in Guayaquil,
Ecuador, and news has just come
that the first Ecuadorian Spiritual
Assembly was formed in that city on
April 21st of this year.
“Signs of the Times,” by Annamarie Honnold makes a good supplement to Dr. Shook’s article showing as it does how much effort has been put forth and is being put forth to educate and encourage the public in its understanding of the need for organizing the world for peace. This is another in our series “Forming a World Society.” Mrs. Honnold is secretary of the Regional Teaching Committee for Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and lives in Cheverly, Maryland. Her last previous contribution to World Order was “If You Desire Friendship” in our December, 1943, issue.
“Bahá’í Youth in Persia,” by Rustam Paymán takes us directly to the country where the Bahá’í Faith was born and where there are more followers of the Faith than in any other one country. The author was formerly recording secretary of the National Youth Committee of Persia. He arrived in America last summer (1944) and is now studying at Columbia University. A member of the New York Bahá’í Community, he has been appointed to the Center and Special Events Committees and was elected vice-chairman of the Youth Committee. His services have ranged from painting the floor at the Center to lecturing at public meetings. Robert L. Gulick, Jr., has assisted Mr. Paymán in the preparation of this article.
In our January issue we began a series of articles designed to acquaint our readers more thoroughly with our many Bahá’í books. Emogene Hoagg’s appreciation and survey of The Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the third in this series. Mrs. Hoagg is one of the earliest of our American believers and for many years was director of the Bahá’í International Center at Geneva, Switzerland. She has been a pioneer in Cuba and South Carolina, taught at Bahá’í summer schools and served the Cause in many ways for many years.
“Pilgrimage to ‘Akká” takes us back to the early days of the Bahá’í Faith. It is taken from a booklet now out of print in which a footnote says simply: “‘Abdu’l-Bahá as seen by an early pilgrim.” We believe our readers will appreciate having this loving and true picture of the Master available in print once more.
“The American Pioneer Period” continues the Mariam Haney series concerning the early days of our Faith in the United States. As we are stepping off into the second century of our Faith we know that the pioneer days are by no means past and these articles not only acquaint us with the names and deeds and personalities of those who started pioneering here but inspire us to follow in their footsteps. Mrs. Haney has done her share in pioneering and continues to serve the Faith in Washington, D.C.—THE EDITORS
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
THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
- Recognizes the unity of God and His Prophets,
- Upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth,
- Condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice,
- Teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand in hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, and ordered and progressive society. . . .
- Inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes,
- Advocates compulsory education,
- Abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth,
- Exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship,
- Recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language,
- Provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.
—SHOGHI EFFENDI