World Order/Volume 11/Issue 4/Text

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WORLD
 ORDER

JULY, 1945


THE PEACE IN SAN FRANCISCO—Marzieh Gail


CHARACTER AND YOUTH TODAY—Charlotte P. Timm


JOINED BY GOD—George Townshend


SPIRITUAL EDUCATION, Editorial—Gertrude K. Henning


TRAINING THE CHILD—Olga Finke


HE BROUGHT PEACE, Book Review—William Kenneth Christian


STUDY OUTLINE FOR “GOD PASSES BY”—Horace Holley


WITH OUR READERS


15c

THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE



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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.

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Printed in U.S.A.

JULY, 1945, VOLUME XI, NUMBER 4


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




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WORLD ORDER

The Bahá’í Magazine

VOLUME XI   JULY, 1945   NUMBER 4



The Peace in San Francisco

MARZIEH GAIL


THE stage shows four gold bars standing against a curved backdrop of sky-blue, that is slashed with a row of forty-nine flags. Gold chairs near the footlights, and tables; a light blue rostrum below, jutting out of the pit, with a carved green wreath on it. Burnt-orange plush chairs for the audience. In the orchestra, each delegation’s row of seats is marked by its country’s name on a white sign. The United Nations Conference on International Organization has met under harmonious surroundings, in San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House, to plan for peace.

These weeks are a memorable point in time; history is unfolding there on the stage, instead of “Carmen” or the “Ring Cycle,” and these days Will go down in the books forever.

Viewed from the balcony, the delegates prove themselves far ahead of the man in the street. They are actually trying to build something that he still thinks is only a utopian dream. So many people on the outside ask one another cautiously: Do you really think the Conference is getting anywhere?

It seems to us that even the physical fact of the delegates’ presence together, is important and has a meaning for the world. The fact that they have traveled thousands of miles to be here and struggle for peace. The fact of their constantly reiterating such phrases as “united nations”, “world court”, “world charter”, “bill of human rights”, “world security” “world justice”—has an enormous psychological effect.

To Bahá’ís the Conference shows how humanity is: going in the direction Bahá’u’lláh impelled it to go, toward world unity. For a century the Bahá’ís have spread these ideas around the world, and we have usually been ignored, usually considered utopian. To Bahá’ís, the Conference is also of particular meaning because of what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said when He visited Sacramento, the state capital in [Page 98] 1912: “Inasmuch as the Californians seem peace loving and possessed of great worthiness and capacity, I hope that advocates of peace may daily increase among them until the whole population shall stand for that beneficent outcome. . . . May the first flag of international peace be upraised in this state.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s wish seemed almost incapable of fulfillment at that time, when California was the remotest point in one of the most isolated of countries. A proposed United Nations flag, four red bars perpendicular on a white background, has actually been flown in San Francisco this month.

The fact of the Conference is a good omen, and much more. Experts whose names we seldom hear, are working day and night on the technical aspects involved. The infra-red and ultraviolet connotations of the Conference are more significant than is generally understood.

a The men of the Conference do not yet go as far as the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. Recently a famous correspondent expressed this by saying he does not think that in our time we shall get a world court whose decisions will automatically be enforced by the Security Council, because our intellectual and social development is still inadequate. What Bahá’u’lláh teaches as to the world’s future far surpasses what the delegates are now doing—but their direction is right and that’s the main thing.

It is a good sign that they are not aiming too high. They are most diffident. Over and over they say, “This isn’t perfect, but it’s better than we’d hoped.” They are more workmanlike, less operatic, than the men of Versailles; the other day a chairman reporting for his commission said, “Speeches and the literary aspect have been suppressed.” They are more aware now of what modern warfare is. And they refuse to theorize; they are sticking to one job—the creation of an international organization that their forty-nine governments can accept.

The men of this Conference are not yet functioning as world citizens, “trustees of the whole of mankind”. They are not one people, but forty-nine. It is obvious, looking down at them from the balcony of the Opera House, that they urgently need some integrative power to bring them together. They need a supreme motive for oneness. They need a reason for peace that will be neither national nor racial nor political nor economic —because none of these reasons is big enough.

They do not speak one language [Page 99] but five: English, Russian, Spanish, French, Chinese. That is, the Conference recognized two working languages, English and French, and a total of five official ones, plus any other used by an individual delegate. Often a talk is translated first into English, then into French, on the spot. This is very clumsy. An American judge near us the other day whipped out a copy of the Reader’s Digest when one of the delegates began to speak in a foreign tongue; “I brought it along for just such emergencies,” he said. An international language, as directed by Bahá’u’lláh, is badly needed.

Women are conspicuously absent. According to the latest official directory, the United States, China, Brazil, Canada, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay have one woman delegate each. That is all. We mean of course, full delegates; there are some women advisers, consultants and other assistants, but it is a man’s conference. It does not express the Bahá’í principle of equal opportunities for both sexes. The very fact that a United Women’s Conference has been held shows that women are somehow considered outsiders.

The American Negroes, about fifteen million strong, are voiceless at the Conference. This is an interesting contrast with the Bahá’í Centenary Conference held in Wilmette last year, when Negro delegates were among the most vocal, because of merit not race, and the featured Bahá’í speaker at the Hotel Stevens banquet in Chicago was the young Negro lawyer, Miss Elsie Austin. The American Indian— some three to four hundred thousand in population—is voiceless here. Of course Indian and Negro blood strains are well represented in Latin American, Ethiopian, Haitian, Liberian and other delegates.

Religion is not much in evidence. The Conference opened officially not with a moment of prayer, but a moment of meditation. This was fair enough, but it is striking just the same. It means that the Bahá’í principles, that all religions are essentially one and that religion is the greatest source of order in the world, have not yet spread throughout the masses. It also means that many here are agnostic and atheistic.

However, the men of the Conference are conscious that theirs is a “sacred task”, and that people all over the world, now and to come, are looking toward them here in San Francisco. They have the historic sense of what they are doing. It is not just another conference. They are chastened.

[Page 100] The death of President Roosevelt has afforded these men a point of contact, something beyond the physical; the meeting has been consecrated by this death; the delegates all share a respect for the late President, they share his memory. History allows some men this consecrative power, this bringing people together in their memory, because of the ideals they stood for.

The constant references to the late President show among other things how much they want a common loyalty. But there is no provision made in the international world as now visualized for that loyalty principle without which no society endures. A need which is met in the Bahá’í world community.

A vital Bahá’í principle, that science and religion, “the two most potent forces in human life,” must cooperate, is exemplified at the Conference in this sense, that the experts here are devoting their knowledge to the cause of peace—to life instead of death. So much knowledge, during these years, has gone into blotting man out.

The Conference has produced at least one great orator, Brigadier General Carlos P. Romulo, the eloquent spokesman for the Filipino delegation. The Opera House audience keeps absolutely silent when he speaks; everyone’s mind snaps to the one focus; even the photographers listen. General Romulo says: “The spirit of justice and freedom must permeate the whole world, else it’s useless to speak of peace.”

In evaluating the San Francisco Conference, you have to decide again what man is on the planet for.

Roughly, there are two kinds of people in the world today. Those who believe that man just happened, and those who believe he was created—that he is the product of conscious will and intelligence.

If you think man just happened, you limit his individual life to his 80 or 90 years above ground. You subject him to leaders who do not consider themselves responsible to a Supreme Being and who act accordingly. The verb “subject” is designedly used, since a democratic society can flourish only if the individual is living under spiritual law. When he is not, he becomes too dangerous to be left free—he has to be spied on and coerced. His “conscience” cannot be relied on since it mirrors his environment.

If you think man was created, then you allow him a great deal more significance. Then he has another place in the universe, he is more than just the best animal. Then the long line of Prophets [Page 101] is explained, whereas the “just happened” idea does not explain them. Then Moses is explained, and Abraham and Zoroaster; the Sermon on the Mount becomes clear; Muḥammad’s farewell to His followers, delivered in the hills over Mecca, has meaning for us.

The Bahá’í Faith proclaims that the most important happening in history is the emergence of a Prophet of God. This Manifestation is “the supreme embodiment of all that is lovable”. He is the “Fountain-head of infinite grace . . . in Whose presence all the world’s abundance fadeth into nothingness.” The rest of life is secondary; it comes next.

The Báb produced such an effect on His first disciple, at their first interview, that the disciple reported: “The universe seemed but a handful of dust in my grasp. . . .”

A follower of the Báb who met Bahá’u’lláh has said: “I was then an old man, bowed with age. How lovingly He . . . took me by the hand! . . . In those days I was so poor that most of the time I hungered for food. I felt so rich, however, that all the treasures of the earth melted away into nothingness when compared with that which I . . . possessed.”

The world is slow, but as Galileo noticed, “Still, it moves.” It is beginning to hear of that long-ago April in the garden at Baghdád—the spot where legend places the first Garden—when the new epoch was declared. It is becoming aware of those twelve spring days, when Bahá’u’lláh and His followers lived in tents in the Riḍván, and He revealed to them His mission as the Promised One. (Every morning the gardener would fill Bahá’u’lláh’s tent with roses—so many roses in the middle of the tent that the disciples could not see one another across them. Every night the nightingales were so loud in the rosebushes that only those men who were quite close to Him could hear His voice as He walked and spoke in the garden.)

Bahá’u’lláh proclaims the oneness of the human race and the dawn of world civilization. He affirms that man was created for a purpose—to know and worship God and to abide in the mercy of God forever. He reveals endless teachings which make man fit for world unity—which raise collective man to levels he has never reached before.

The world is gradually establishing Bahá’u’lláh’s principles, whether aware or not of His advent, with its enormous spiritual and social meaning. The world is progressing toward the Bahá’í principles. As these become realized, [Page 102] humanity will turn toward the establishment of Bahá’u’lláh’s laws, will modify and develop its behavior. There will be a world, instead of local, moral standard, for instance. There will be world attitudes which one does not find in San Francisco today, because it is too soon. And besides the principles and laws, in time mankind will discover the spiritual riches which Bahá’u’lláh has disclosed, wealth which we can never use up, the values of the spirit which make the values of this world seem of little moment.

There has to be a supranational, beyond-the-physical agent to fuse all mankind; a global influence, a universal spirit. Many people both secular and religious felt this when in the 19th century they prophesied the coming of a Messiah. Wilhelm Weitling came strikingly close to describing Bahá’u’lláh, the Persian nobleman of great means and station Who lost everything He had and died a Prisoner in order to declare His Faith. Weitling said, “A new Messiah will also come to bring about the teachings of the first.” “He will come down from the heights of wealth into the abysses of poverty, where the despised and the rejected shelter, and will mingle his tears with theirs.”

Psychologists tell us that all of us today are in some degree or another victims of hatred. It is to replace this hatred with love that Bahá’u’lláh has come.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “In the hearts of men no real love is found, and . . . unless their susceptibilities are quickened by some power so that unity, love and accord may develop within them, there can be no healing, no agreement among mankind.” Again He says, “Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the heart of man”.

You see the faces of millions of people turning toward these men in San Francisco who are struggling to write a world charter. And you know there are other representatives on the stage here at the Opera House. Delegates of the present human race: shabby and starved people, and diseased people, and prisoners; delegates of those who have been killed; and unseen displays on the stage, of mountains of dead, of artificial limbs, of rubble from what used to be homes where people lived.

It is these that Bahá’u’lláh was remembering when He accepted imprisonment in the Black Pit, and chains and prison and exile, and the laughter of His enemies, to bring love back into the world.




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Character and Youth Today

CHARLOTTE P. TIMM


IT IS the youth of today who will be the administrators of the new World Order of tomorrow. Training for citizens in that new World Order is afforded in the present Bahá’í community. Therefore, increasing the participation of Bahá’í youth in community affairs, developing workers in the Bahá’í youth groups, and training the members in the technique of consultation and other Bahá’í procedures, should be one of the main responsibilities of the local Spiritual Assemblies, if the Cause is to grow with the years.

In Bahá’í homes and Bahá’í Centers youth must be given adequate guidance and opportunity for expression in order to develop the necessary qualifications which will enable them to serve in their local communities and in world affairs. One of the most potent influences in molding a young person’s life is his home. Other factors being favorable, a child will become the sort of person he sees around him every day as he is growing up. The importance of the home in satisfying human needs cannot be over-estimated nor the necessity on the part of parents and other adults who are in contact with young people to study the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and to live a Bahá’í life as a pattern for youth.

A young person who is living a Bahá’í life has a wholesome personality, is well-adjusted, well-integrated, consistent, adaptable, efficient, and contented. He has learned to meet life’s problems with a positive and optimistic attitude. He has attained an equilibrium which enables him to understand himself and other people in most situations. This state of spiritual development is largely the product of the formation of proper habits and attitudes in early life. Also, a young person’s bodily condition can exert a profound influence —either healthful or destructive —upon his mental and spiritual state of development.

Recent studies in endocrinology have revealed the importance of considering the general constitutional type and of stimulating or retarding endocrine secretions in certain individuals. On the other hand, mental processes or experiences can influence profoundly, both favorably and unfavorably, the physiological processes. This interaction is particularly true in relation to [Page 104] nervous, glandular, and circulatory functions. Therefore, it is important for parents to maintain both the bodily and mental health of a young person if he is to develop into a well-balanced personality which will function harmoniously in the new world order of Bahá’u’lláh.

Some common attitudes in the home which produce maladjustment on the part of a child are over-protection, rejection, favoritism, and inconsistency in contradicting commands, or in threatening a child and then never carrying out the threats. These attitudes and inconsistencies bring about a disinclination on the part of the young person to pay any attention whatsoever to the adult’s words. Disobedience in the home or in the classroom is usually the parent’s or teacher’s fault. If a child is stopped in everything he starts to do and if all his requests are refused, even though they are reasonable, naturally he will feel resentful and will disobey.

Likewise, the constant use of temper tantrums by a child is always the fault of the parents. Either one or both parents has set an example of temper displays in front of the child or he has been scolded, nagged, or thrashed when the parent felt angry. Usually a parent causes a child to be “nervous” by being nervous and talking about it. If you think your child is nervous, first ask yourself these questions: Do I cause my child to be nervous or to have temper tantrums by being nervous myself; by telling him about it so that I may have his sympathy; by constantly reminding him of how nervous he is; by telling other people in his presence how nervous, queer and odd he is; worrying over his health and habits; worrying him with my worries about him; coddling him physically and mentally; denying him independence of thought and action; expecting too much from him and driving him all the time; constantly changing my attitude so that he never knows what to expect; keeping him overexcited and not giving him enough rest; giving him his way when he has a tantrum; or by bribing him to stop rather than reasoning with him.

A positive approach to a youngster’s place in the home is that a child should always be made to feel “wanted”—enough love and affectionate display should be given to insure a sense of security in the child, but not so much as to produce dependence. A child should be encouraged to grow into independence of thought and action. If a family is a true democracy, it respects the talents, needs, and rights of [Page 105] all its members. Each one must feel as if he belongs to the whole, yet is a distinct individual. Parents should be well-mated, with a history of a happy childhood or the determination to avoid in their children a repetition of an unhappy childhood. Most of all parents need to have an intelligent love and respect for the growing needs of personality in their children as they develop into adolescents and then into adults.

In general, if parents are using these positive approaches to the solutions of childhood and adolescent difficulties, their youngsters will become well-balanced, efficient young people. Such young people will try to understand the facts of life and then will face them squarely as they are, no matter how disagreeable or forbidding they may seem to be. Unadjusted young people, however, attempt the solution of their difficulties by resorting to a great variety of subterfuges, tricks, and blinds to conceal their failures, shortcomings, or dissatisfactions. They dodge reality and retreat from the ugly facts of life into an illusory, subjective state of mind.

Some of the causes of young people’s difficulties are obstacles in the physical or social environment, such as economic factors, separation of the parents, and similar conditions. Personal defects or limitations may be based on real or imaginary physical or mental inadequacies; antagonistic impulses and drives that produce thwarting of inner urges; and conflicts between feelings, ideas, ideals, and attitudes; or in emotional repressions.

A mental conflict is a rivalry or struggle between two or more opposing or incompatible psychophysical tendencies. Under modern conditions a young person is constantly forced to adapt himself to the complex environmental conditions with which he is confronted. He is frequently obliged to make a choice between a number of courses of action which may be quite incompatible. Generally, mental conflicts or emotional disturbances are produced by the attempt to banish or suppress one of the conflicting cravings, motives, or ambitions. The ideas or desires that clash may or may not be clearly apprehended by the young person as being antagonistic, and the nervous strain produced by the conflict may be more or less unconscious. The conflict may exert a very injurious effect upon the individual’s mental and emotional stability.

Sometimes these mental conflicts are expressed in various bodily conditions. The suspicious somatic signs that sometimes (although, [Page 106] of course, not always) serve as conflict indicators include: restlessness, fidgeting with the fingers, moving the feet, scribbling quasi-automatically with a pencil, scratching the head, wringing the hands, picking the nose, nail biting, tics, or other automatisms and choreiform movements.

The mental symptoms of conflict include: anxieties, worries, dreads, and fears; apathy, idleness, and distaste for work; inability to respond freely, stuttering; sensitiveness; mental disabilities; inhibitions; irritability and hostility; tendencies toward secretiveness, concealment, withdrawal from social contacts, shut-in-ness, and infantile regressions. Other mechanisms for escaping from the dreaded world of reality with which the young person may be in conflict are over-compensation or exaggerated development of the opposite traits. In extreme cases, mental dissociation may ensue, followed, unless adequate treatment is obtained, by definite mental and nervous diseases.

“Don’t Fence Me In” is a very popular song with young people because it expresses their yearning for freedom. If there is anything a young person dislikes, it is being “fenced in” and being considered “different.” Having to wear “different” clothes, or being branded queer because of race, national, or religious background, physical or mental differences may cause a great deal of concern to an adolescent and lead to serious maladjustment. Bobby socks and baggy sweaters are just one means of achieving identification with the group. Therefore, it is particularly important for parents to help their growing youngsters to overcome the feeling of separateness from which most adolescents suffer as they begin to observe individual differences with the coming of maturity.

Bahá’í parents, especially, need to stress the fact that the Bahá’í Faith is an inclusive religion, not an exclusive one. Young people of all religious beliefs, racial, and national backgrounds are welcome to attend Bahá’í young people’s meetings and to gather for prayer, meditation, instruction, and good fellowship at the Bahá’í summer schools which are conducted in different parts of the country. It should be stressed that the Bahá’í schools in Maine, Colorado, California, and Michigan are not “retreats” just for those who have accepted a special point of view in regard to religion, such as the Methodists, Catholics, and other Christian denominations have, but are open to all who have faith in God or [Page 107] are seeking a fuller understanding of the Truth.

Use of the Bahá’í Center by young people should be encouraged by parents because it provides a place for youngsters of both sexes to meet each other in a wholesome, religious atmosphere. Active participation in teaching study classes of younger people than themselves gives adolescents a feeling of responsibility and usefulness which they need. Taking care of the books in the library and keeping the Center clean and attractive is an excellent outlet for physical energy and for the emotions, as well as being a helpful stabilizer during this period of uncertainty and adjustment to new demands. Bahá’í literature, all of which should be readily available at the Center, provides for mental and spiritual stimulation. Reading is an outlet for emotions that otherwise are inhibited and it relieves tensions due to inhibition. It helps young people to understand the meaning of life and helps them to find assistance through Bahá’u’lláh in working out their own problems of adjustment. Independent investigation of truth through reading non-Bahá’í as well as Bahá’í books helps to develop tolerance, loving kindness to others, and deeper spirituality.

The best results will be obtained at Bahá’í Centers where there is cooperation between adult leaders and youth leaders in establishing and being responsible for the operation of the Center. For example, young people can be given the responsibility for serving the food at the Nineteen Day Feasts. They can act as hosts and hostesses, directing people to their seats, at public lectures. Young people love to plan and conduct special entertainment features with the help of adults which may be used to precede public Bahá’í lectures, special Bahá’í study class programs, and the Naw-Rúz celebration. They can help to fix up the rooms and to clean up after each program that is held at the Center. They also may assume the responsibility for getting the cooperation of other young people to assist them with putting up posters and helping with other forms of publicity regarding Bahá’í programs.

A Bahá’í Center cannot exist without continuous adult leadership, however. Even in youth groups, adult leadership is necessary for the maintenance of continuity of program, because an adult who has had experience in program planning can act as a guide or counselor for the young people. An adult leader must keep constantly aware of the interest pulse of the young people [Page 108] by meeting with a committee of them at least every two weeks to find out what their needs and desires are. In these meetings the youth themselves will volunteer to be responsible for certain jobs that need to be done. They in turn can recruit non-Bahá’í youth to work with them. Each member of a youth group should be asked to assume responsibility for a specific activity and to carry that responsibility for at least a month. At the end of each month a new schedule should be made. The purpose of this plan is to develop capacity in all members of the group to provide variety in the type of programs arranged for by the different members of the group.

Opportunity for non-Bahá’ís to work with Bahá’ís should encourage volunteer assistance and increase membership in the adult group as time goes on and the young people reach the age of twenty-one. Regarding the participation of Bahá’ís young people in Nineteen Day Feasts, the following principle has been adopted by the National Spiritual Assembly: that the children of believers can attend the Feasts and other intimate gatherings and Bahá’í meetings, but when they reach the age of fifteen years, the local Assembly should request from such young people a declaration of their interest in the Cause and their intention to become voting members when they reach the age of twenty-one. Other young people, not children of Bahá’ís, can also attend Nineteen Day Feasts and other Bahá’í meetings after reaching the age of fifteen years by making a similar declaration to the local Assembly. Since these meetings may be regarded as the very heart of our Bahá’í community life, it is especially important that young people be encouraged to attend them so that they may feel they are an integral part of the community.

As the National Spiritual Assembly has said, “When properly conducted, and attended by a Bahá’í community which fully appreciates their importance, the Nineteen Day Feasts serve to renew and deepen our spirit of faith, increase our capacity for united action, remove misunderstandings and keep us fully informed of all important Bahá’í activities, local, national and international in scope.” The same results may be gained from attendance at the summer sessions at the Bahá’í Schools. In addition, these several weeks of intimate association with Bahá’ís from other parts of the country is a very broadening experience for young people and helps them to realize the magnitude and diversity of the Cause.




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Joined by God

GEORGE TOWNSHEND


THE Day of God is come. Mankind is approaching maturity. Its spiritual powers and susceptibilities are ripening. It is able at last to understand the true nature of marriage and to make the home what God intended it to be. Holy Writ therefore in this Age gives us pronouncements, counsels, exhortations and commands which call the closest attention of every believer to the sacred institution of marriage and which with all the authority of revelation, assign to it a key-position in the material and spiritual order of human life.

What was taught by precept was confirmed in practice. The Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Exemplar of the Faith, were all married men and fathers of families; and the homes of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, known to so many western visitors, stands as a pattern of what the ideal home of the New Era ought to be.

“Know thou,” wrote ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “that the command of marriage is eternal. It will never be changed or altered.” True marriage is a spiritual relation between united lovers—a particular state of being to which special blessings are attached by God. “No mortal can conceive the union and harmony which God has designed for man and wife.” If they are united both spiritually and physically and if the foundation of their affection is laid “in the very center of their spiritual being, at the very heart of their consciousness” then they will have “eternal unity throughout all the divine worlds and improve the spiritual life of each other.” Such union “is a splendor of the light of the love of God.”

Bahá’u’lláh commends marriage, but He does not make entrance into it easy. The initiative lies with the lovers themselves; they are free to choose. But they are strictly enjoined to give to this choice conscientious and deliberate thought. They are to acquire knowledge of each other’s characters and to make sure beforehand that their outlook on life is in accord on both spiritual and physical matters. They are to be frank and open with each other and if their mutual consent is finally given it is to be complete and entire.

Thus they are expected to employ reason as well as emotion, commonsense as well as instinct, in order that they may reach a sound and firm decision; and [Page 110] their union is to represent knowledge as well as love.

When their own consent is given they must obtain before marriage is possible the consent of all their four parents, if living; they must in other words submit their proposed union to the objective judgment of those who know and love them best and who are next to themselves most closely concerned with their happiness. Once this consent is obtained the marriage may go forward.

Thus a Bahá’í marriage is not only a personal matter between two united lovers but also a social matter between them and the community and a spiritual matter between them and their heavenly Father. When these relationships are justly combined together, and when as commanded in the Bahá’í revelation the lovers live as equals and can thus help one another to the full limit of their capacity, then is the union real and perfect.

It is not for this earth only. It is intended to be and must be by them regarded as an eternal binding, an everlasting communion and friendship. A true unity of hearts once attained on earth is not dissevered in any of the worlds of God. “I love thee,” cried the poetess to her husband, “with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life; and if God choose I shall but love thee better after death.” The fulfillment of this hope is one of the great truths about the eternal realms, revealed by Bahá’u’lláh.

The marriage ceremony contains the three elements, the personal, the social, the spiritual. But its unique impressiveness and beauty and power are due to the spiritual meaning which inspires it and the spiritual aspiration which it enshrines. The bride and bridegroom stand before the bridesman, the witnesses and the Bahá’í reader of their choice, but they stand also in heart and soul before the Mercy Seat of their Great Father on High. Through their joint declared submission to His will and desire they win the privilege of a sacred union truly made in heaven. From God they seek blessing, happiness and strength for the years to come and to Him they are directly responsible for the due performance of the precious divine trust they have undertaken.

How often has ‘Abdu’l-Bahá written and spoken of the importance of unity in a home, basing it always on spirituality and telling of the radiance which it sheds afar and of the blessings which it draws down from heaven. With what power and what exaltation of joy does He in His “Marriage Tablet” exhort united lovers to this unity!

[Page 111] He tells lovers how to meet the special tests and strains to which their union may be subjected. “The bond which unites heart most perfectly is loyalty,” He writes. “True lovers once united must show forth the utmost faithfulness one to another.” But He adds at once that they are to dedicate themselves first of all to God and that their hearts are to be “spacious, as spacious as the universe of God.” He bids them to beware above all of jealousy (which “vitiates the very essence of love”), of any kind of hypocrisy, of nursing a grievance or making it known to others: rather they are to consult together on their problems in private and to show to one another the greatest frankness and understanding. They are to turn their hearts and their minds towards high, happy, heavenly things and discuss with one another their noblest thoughts and aspirations. Their home is to be “a haven of rest and peace,” for others as well as themselves. “Be hospitable, and let the doors of your house be open to the faces of friends and strangers. Welcome every guest with radiant grace and let each feel that it is his own home.”

They are to be examples of perfect love so that whosoever enters will “cry out from the heart, ‘here is the home of love.’” And that people will say to one another: “it is as though from all eternity God had kneaded the very essence of their being for the love of one another.”

Their children are a sacred trust from God to whose instruction and guidance they are to consecrate themselves.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá bids them nourish continually their union with love and affection: for it is, like a tree, a living, growing, expanding, deepening thing bearing fruits of love and unity that will be “for the healing of the nations.” In one beautiful image after another He bids them fill their hearts with love, give themselves up to love, know nothing but love. They are to dwell in a paradise of love, “build your nest in the leafy branches of the tree of love. Soar into the clear atmosphere of love. Sail upon the shoreless sea of love. Walk in the eternal rose-garden of love. Bathe in the shining rays of the sun of love. Be firm and steadfast in the path of love. . . .” In these and all the other love-laden phrases which He uses He does more than urge in many forms again and again a lesson hard enough for imperfect beings to learn and apply. He reveals in these objective, external images the real existence of a universe of love which only a lover knows and which only a lover can enter. [Page 112] This sweeter fuller life may be a sea on which to sail, a sky in which to soar, a rose-garden in which to walk, a sun in whose rays to bathe, a path, a tree, a flower, a melody, an ocean full of pearls: but always it is a real world created for lovers, offered to lovers, laid open for their use, a world of unshadowed beauty and infinite delight wherein they may go forward together passing from discovery to discovery, from happiness to further happiness.

If this world be hidden from men it is hidden in the heart of Truth and the veil that blinds unloving eyes is the veil of inexperience and ignorance. It is, He shows, of the essence of existence. If the lover sees his beloved transform for him the living earth around him, this is not an idle dream:

“Yours is not a conscious art;
’Tis the wild magic of your heart.
You but speak a simple word,
Often said and often heard,
When before my wondering eyes
An unveiled Paradise
Bursts about me into flower.
Here each nimble-footed hour
Daft with all the fun that’s in it
Dances like a madcap minute.
All the earth in light enfolden
Seems a chamber green and golden
Dight for love’s festivities;
And a thousand harmonies
Softer sweeter more endeared
Than my heart had ever heard,
Gush from every bank and rise
Fill the woods and touch the skies.
Wind and cloud and leaf and stream
Notes of purest music seem,
And all nature, like a choir
Tuned to the sun-god’s lyre,
In new hymns of jubilee
Chants her ancient ecstasy.”

Love is the true revealer and the passage of time takes nothing from such a vision. United lovers who through all the years have fought side by side the rugged battle of life unyielding, who have shared anxiety and trial and sorrow, who have mingled their tears together—tears of grief as well as tears of joy, who have seen one another falter and stumble and go on again, who have helped and been helped, have forgiven and been forgiven, they know as none other can know how precious is fellowship in love, and with a fuller illumination and a deeper thankfulness than of old they say again the sacred verse that made them forever one: “We are content with the will of God; We are satisfied with the desire of God.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the exemplar of the perfect life, and to His word God gave creative power. This Tablet of His is itself a Marriage Song so exalted, aglow in every part with overflowing, heavenly love that it makes love seem the Reality, the Essence of all existence, and puts all unlovingness to shame.




[Page 113]

Editorial

SPIRITUAL EDUCATION


THE Spiritual teachings of the Divine Educators have always guided the moral conduct of the world. But the Spokesmen of God have not been recognized by the people to whom They came because of the depraved condition of society at the time these revelations were given; rather, They have been stoned, exiled and imprisoned for the teachings They would offer. Such truly was the case with Jesus, Muḥammad, the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.

On the wake of these periodic heavenly outpourings come great civilizations. God, the All-Bountiful, foresees the calamities besetting humanity and reveals the divine remedy many years before the tumultuous crises occur— crises which in time turn men’s hearts to God for help. Divine education is provided promptly, but only a few seem to recognize its presence and accept its source. Until such a time when great numbers of people accept the restated eternal truths, it is these few who carry on the work of teaching. We have only to examine the last two thousand years in history to see the two great civilizations which were built on the Christian and Muḥammadan dispensations and the record of their beginnings.

In these times of global turmoil it is evident to the seeker of truth that mankind is in need of a restatement of God’s laws. That has been made, starting with the revelation of the Báb one hundred and one years ago and continuing with that of Bahá’u’lláh and being completed with His ascension in 1892. The sacred scriptures revealed by Bahá’u’lláh are replete with advice and admonition, love and mercy, principles and ordinances on which a new race of men shall be built in this century and by which a new era in human history is begun. In speaking of the historical significance of the execution of the Báb, Shogi Effendi has written in God Passes By: “Thus ended a life which posterity will recognize as standing at the confluence of two universal prophetic cycles, the Adamic Cycle stretching back as far as the first dawnings of the world’s recorded religious history and the Bahá’í Cycle destined to propel itself across the unborn reaches of time for a period of no less than five thousand centuries.”

But this spiritual education [Page 114] provided by the Prophets of God does not mean that ordinary education is neglected. In His writings ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains clearly the need for an academic training in the arts and science. Academic education is most necessary for the elevation of man; for without study and research the mineral, vegetable, and animal creations would remain undeveloped. But this education which develops man’s material life is only part of his progress. Man has two powers: one, material; the other, spiritual; and unless they balance each other the greatest possibility for development into a state of maturity is not attained. Man’s intellectual capacity is great and perfection of the intellect can be gained only by submission to the spiritual teachings revealed by God’s most recent Manifestations.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá says: “Man is said to be the greatest representative of God, and he is the Book of Creation because all the mysteries of being exist in him. If he comes under the shadow of the True Educator and is rightly trained, he becomes the essence of essences, the lights of lights, . . . and the receptacle of divine inspirations. If he is deprived of this education he becomes the manifestation of satanic qualities, the sum of animal vices, and the source of all dark conditions.” So we are told that man may attain to great heights if he is trained in the teachings of the Prophet and that through practice of and obedience to His laws he may be the recipient of divine guidance. If man does not heed God’s laws the result is an existence which is utterly depraved and one which is enveloped in wicked and unjust conditions.

“The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His Glory, and this cannot be attained save through the knowledge of His Divine Manifestation.”

“Appreciate the value of this precious Revelation, move and act in accordance with it and walk in the straight path and right way,” for spiritual education builds for you “such houses as the rain and floods can never destroy, which shall protect you from the changes and chances of life” and teaches you to love and serve all fellowbeings, for service to God and humanity is the greatest achievement you may attain. “Let your thoughts be fixed upon that which will rehabilitate the fortunes of mankind and sanctify the hearts and souls of men . . . It behoveth you to refresh and revive your souls through the gracious favors which in this Divine, this soul-stirring Springtime are being showered upon you.” —G.K.H.




[Page 115]

Training the Child

OLGA FINKE


“The Old Testament of the Bahá’ís consists of all the heavenly books revealed through the former prophets, while their new testament comprises the tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, which in fact reconcile these books and contain the interpretation and explanation of them.”


IN VIEW of the fact that the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh contain the explanation and interpretation of the teachings to be found in the Old Testament, it would seem of value to examine some of the Old Testament commandments regarding the training of children and link them up with the explanations to be found in the Bahá’í sacred writings.

One of the Ten Commandments which God gave to Moses was addressed to children in particular “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

In this commandment God promises long life to the child who honors his parents. The child who disobeys his parents is always in danger. Both his physical and his spiritual life are constantly in jeopardy. Parents are cognizant of pitfalls and precipices, but the child who has not been taught to listen to its mother’s voice, is subject to every kind of disaster. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá once write a Tablet to a child in which He penned these words—“Be obedient and kind to thy father and thy mother—.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá further elucidates this subject in another Tablet—

“There are also certain sacred duties of children toward parents, which duties are written in the Book of God, as belonging to God. The (children’s) prosperity in this world and the Kingdom depends upon the good pleasure of parents, and without this they will be in manifest loss.”

The above quotation taken from a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá seems to be in complete accord with the commandment given to Moses and also with a verse found in Proverbs—“A fool despiseth his father’s instructions; but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.”

If we are agreed that the child should he taught obedience to parents, the question of discipline then arises. What kind of discipline should be used? In the minds of some parents the verse to be found in Proverbs seems to be the logical answer. “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” These people [Page 116] will be likely to tell you— “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” Other parents are very reluctant to use corporal punishment. In the above verse quoted from the Book of Proverbs, we note, however, that the word “chaseteneth” is used in the same sense as the word “rod”. According to the dictionary definition to chasten means to correct, to purify, to refine, which does not necessarily mean to use corporal punishment. Moreover, the word rod is used numbers of times in the Old Testament, making it very clear that at least some of the time by rod was not intended a stick or whip. Take for example, the verse found in the Book of Isaiah—

“But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

It is possible for parents to discipline their children with the rod of their mouths and with the breath of their lips. It may take a little longer than some of the methods in use today, but it is a constructive method, for every time a child does wrong, is a golden opportunity to teach him what is right. There are times, however, when a child will deliberately do the thing which he knows to be wrong, in such cases punishment must be given.

“The structure of world stability and order hath been reared upon, and will continue to be sustained by, the twin pillars of reward and punishment.”—Bahá’u’lláh

Parents need to remember the other pillar, that of reward, more often, praising the child when he does well, encouraging him to advance and rewarding him when he has done something that is outstanding.

Another question upon which educators do not seem to agree is, when to begin training. In Proverbs we are told:

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

A mother was heard to make the remark that she was going to begin to train her child when it was twelve years of age. Some educators in our universities believe that we should not begin to educate the child until he has reached his sixth birthday. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has given us a very lucid reply to this question—

“Consequently, O thou maidservant of God, go unto the maid-servants of the Merciful One and tell them from the tongue of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: ‘O maid-servant of the Merciful! It is incumbent upon you to train the children from their earliest babyhood! It is incumbent upon you to beautify their morals! It is incumbent upon you to attend to them under all aspects and circumstances, inasmuch as God (glorified and exalted is He!) hath ordained mothers to be the primary trainers of [Page 117] children and infants. This is a great and important affair and a high and exalted position, and it is not allowable to slacken therein at all!’”

The matter of the kind of curriculum to be taught in the school has also been a subject for much controversy. Some educators contend that religious education should not be given at the same time with the secular. Bahá’í children are to receive divine and material education at the same time. They are to learn the prophecies in the Gospels, and this Revelation. Every child is taught Bahá’í history, the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, and they should he made to memorize some of the verses. The purpose is to prevent the children from doing the things forbidden, but it must not injure the children by resulting in ignorant fanaticism and bigotry. At the same time the children must be taught the sciences, arts and crafts with the utmost diligence.

“Many elementary sciences should be made clear to them in the nursery; they should learn them in play, in amusement. Most ideas must be taught them through speech, not by book-learning. One child should question the other concerning these things, and the other child should give the answer. In this way they will make great progress. For example, mathematical problems should be taught in the form of questions and answers. One of the children asks the question and the other should give the answer. Later on the children will of their own accord converse with one another on these subjects. Even so in God-like affairs oral questions should be asked and the answers should be given orally.”

Every child should be taught to write and when the House of Justice has decided on one universal language, this should be taught to the children in the schools.

Some educators today believe that children should have pets. If, however, they are not taught very carefully how to care for these pets, they may, unawares, be exceedingly cruel to the animals.

“Educate the children in their infancy in such a way that they may become exceedingly kind and merciful to the animals. If an animal is sick they should endeavor to cure it; if it is hungry, they should feed it; if it is thirsty, they should satisfy its thirst; if it is tired, they should give it rest.”

“This sympathy and kindness is one of the fundamental principles of the divine kingdom. Ye should pay great attention to this question.”

The prophets acknowledge that education has a great effect on everyone, and that without education all would remain savage. The innate capacities of children are not all alike, for some learn very quickly and some are slow. We must not therefore expect identical results, even though the education may he the same. All must be educated, nevertheless, [Page 118] for it has great influence even on dull minds.

Great responsibility is placed upon parents. They are to place a part of what they earn in charge of a trustworthy person to be spent in the education Of the children. If the parents fail to do this, if they are rich, the trustees will have to recover from them the amount needed for the education of the children. If they are poor, the matter will devolve upon the House of Justice. If a babe were to die in infancy, it would be better than for it to grow up ignorant.

“Education and training are recorded in the Book of God as obligatory and not voluntary. That is, it is enjoined upon the father and the mother, as a duty, to strive with all effort to train the daughter and the son, to nurse them from the breast of knowledge and to rear them in the bosom of sciences and arts. Should they neglect this matter, they shall be held responsible and worthy of reproach in the presence of the stern Lord.”

“This is a sin unpardonable—”

“Beware! Beware! that ye fail not in this matter.”



It is incumbent upon thee to nurture them (children) from the breast of the love of God, to urge them towards spiritual matters, to turn unto God and to acquire good manners, best characteristics and praiseworthy virtues and qualities in the world of humanity, and to study sciences with the utmost diligence; so that they may become spiritual, heavenly and attracted to the fragrances of sanctity from their childhood and be reared in a religious, spiritual and heavenly training. Verily I beg of God to confirm them therein.

—‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ




[Page 119]

He Brought Peace

WILLIAM KENNETH CHRISTIAN


1912 was a national election year, and the bitterness of political charge and countercharge filled the minds of many Americans . . . Women did not yet have the national franchise, but the suffrage movement had made great progress . . . Arizona and New Mexico were admitted to the Union, completing the structural growth of continental United States . . . The Atlantic was so wide that the cracking of the walls of western civilization could not be heard by many in this hemisphere.

It was thus in America when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came, with the years of His imprisonment behind Him, and despite the difficulties of advanced age, He came to visit the American friends that the basis of a world order might be laid in the new world, before the first phase of the ordeal of our time should blaze forth with an assassin’s bullet at Sarajevo.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá came as the peace-maker to the people whom He believed were destined by God to be the heralds of world civilization. To the hearts of many troubled individuals, He brought calm and an inner peace. He asserted, with passionate faith, that world peace and the union of the earth’s people is attainable. He discussed on public platforms and at informal gatherings the principles and techniques from the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh which are the warp and woof of a new civilization. He brought to fruition His teaching work among the western Bahá’ís, a work which, for over a decade, had been principally carried on by correspondence, by long discussions with pilgrims who visited Him in Haifa and ‘Akká, and by sending to America of special messengers. In the eight months spent in the United States and Canada, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá trained the believers so that they might form the nucleus for a new social community.

Most of the talks given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during that memorable trip have been published in The Promulgation of Universal Peace.[1] A reading of this book will show us the interweaving of themes as the implications of the Bahá’í teachings were slowly unfolded. Upon His arrival, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had stated: “It is my purpose to set forth in America the fundamental principles of the revelation and [Page 120] teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. It will then become the duty of the Bahá’ís of this country to give these principles unfoldment and application in the minds, hearts and lives of the people.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá emphasized that the purpose of man’s life is to achieve unity. He analyzed the various types of unity—racial, family, national, economic, religious, political—but insisted that, for the needs of the present age, these bases of unity were inadequate. Men must now think in world terms, rising above the limitations imposed by narrow and false methods of selection.

The material progress achieved in the United States He admired, but the spiritual vacuum created by acute materialism He pointed out again and again. The spiritual civilization, necessary as an antidote to the slavery of materialism, He proclaimed as the finest heritage of the human race, the fruit of pure religion. To develop a truly moral and enlightened civilization, men must turn again to the Messengers of God, Those who have recurrently pointed out the path of divine guidance to the people.

Fearlessly, simply, logically, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá upheld the cause of revealed religion. To people who witnessed daily the power of the machine, He explained the age-old power of faith and the transforming energy of the Holy Spirit. To agnostics, He showed how religion lifted man from the dusty rut of his existence and gave him such a sense of the eternal beauty of God that arts could flourish and men could labor without rest that ever-finer forms of civilization might be born. He proclaimed to the Jew the divine mission of Jesus, hailing Him as the Messiah and the spiritual King Whom Israel had expected. He spoke to the Christians of Muḥammad the Prophet, and detailed the great spiritual blessings which had come from that Arabian expression of the Word of God.

Again and again in His talks He spoke of the “oneness of religion,” of how the one God of all men had chosen in each historic age a Messenger, a Manifestation, to show the people the unfolding divine purpose. This is the greatest drama of which the human mind can conceive. Is it any wonder that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reiterated the story, patiently, patiently explained the acts of the drama as at different times He spoke of Moses or Jesus or Muḥammad or Bahá’u’lláh standing forth against the world, uttering the call to faith, and, tearing aside the curtain of custom and tradition, setting the stage for the drama of a new age.

The companion theme, “the [Page 121] oneness of humanity,” we find constantly recurring. The basic Bahá’í principles which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá discussed on so many occasions are all means for the achieving of this great social goal. The possibilities in human life, in both the individual and social sense, cannot be realized, the genius of the human race will be unable to flower, unless and until a world civilization removes the cramping fears and both the subtle and gross inequities which mark our complex inheritance from the past.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá denounced the institution of war and urged men to dedicate themselves to the achievement of peace. But He realistically urged that it be a peace made practical by an international government. He showed that the recognition of the oneness of religion could enable men to unite in the powerful stream of faith and create the conditions and the institutions by which the oneness of humanity will be realized. “The heavenly Jerusalem is none other than the divine civilization, and it is now ready. It is to be and shall be organized and the oneness of humanity will be a visible fact.”

To the Bahá’ís who had already risen in answer to Bahá’u’lláh’s call, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá urged unfailing effort, tireless patience, the creation of unity and harmony, the development of a constant love—that evil men might pause and wonder, that scoffers might be amazed, that the self-seeking and the sectarian might be put to rout, and that the men of faith, the lovers of God of all colors and creeds, might be attracted to the standard of a universal Faith.

To enable an organic spiritual community to rise in America, He explained the purpose of the Covenant. A social community without protection against ruthless ambition and negative social forces, could not maintain any unity. The Covenant, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained, protects the Faith from the denominationalist and from the individual desirous of personal authority, challenges men to live by principle and challenges men to love truth above all persons and things, not by personality. The clarity and significance of the Covenant is a unique feature of the Bahá’í Revelation.

As we read through the many talks, we can glimpse the heights of character which He wished us to attain. “I desire distinction for you. The Bahá’ís must be distinguished from others of humanity. But this distinction must not depend upon wealth—that they should become more affluent than other people. I do not desire for you financial distinction. It is not [Page 122] an ordinary distinction I desire; not scientific, commercial, industrial distinction. For you I desire spiritual distinction; that is, you must become eminent and distinguished in morals. In the love of God you must become distinguished from all else . . . I desire this distinction for you.”

When on December 5, 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke on board the Celtic before sailing from New York, He gave “final words of exhortation” and, in so doing, summarized certain of the themes which had occupied much of His attention during His continental tour. “I have repeatedly summoned you to the cause of unity of the world of humanity. . . . The world is one nativity, one home, and all mankind are the children of one father. . . . You must be free from prejudice and fanaticism. . . . Beware lest ye offend any heart. . . . Your efforts must be lofty. . . . Consider how the prophets who have been sent . . . have exhorted mankind to unity and love. . . . You are informed of the mysteries of God.” And then the flat challenge, the inescapable fact: “You have no excuse to bring before God if you fail to live according to His command, for you are informed of that which constitutes the good pleasure of God.”


This is one in a series of articles on Bahá’í books.


  1. ↑ Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1922.



“In proportion to the acknowledgment of the oneness and solidarity of mankind, fellowship is possible, misunderstanding will be removed and reality becomes apparent.”

“Character is the true criterion of humanity.”

“Until man acquires perfections himself he will not be able to teach perfections to others.”

“As long as a man does not find his own faults he can never become perfect. Nothing is more fruitful for man than the knowledge of his own shortcomings.”

“The important factor in human development is the mind.”

“We cannot give of our wealth to the poor unless we possess it. How can the poor give to the poor?”

“Service to humanity is service to God.”

“The virtues of humanity are many but science is the most noble of them all.”

“Until love takes possession of the heart no other divine bounty can be revealed in it.”

—Excerpts from The Promulgation of Universal Peace




[Page 123]

Study Outline for “God Passes By”

HORACE HOLLEY


FOREWORD

IN God Passes By the Guardian has given the Bahá’ís a work which combines and correlates exposition of the Teachings, summary of the historical events, presentation of the Persons of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in their spiritual significance, and statements on their principal Tablets and Works. To grasp so great a range of material, frequent reading and rereading are essential, for the essence of this book lies in its unity of treatment of diverse aspects of all that constituted the origin and development of the Faith in its first century.

There are, however, recurrent themes and subjects which can be brought together for purpose of closer study and fuller understanding —great avenues down which we can proceed in order to concentrate attention upon the organic themes one at a time.

This Study Outline attempts to provide access to six different themes which are dominant in all sections of the book. It is therefore a subjects index which can be used for continuous study and discussion by a group, or occasional reference by the individual student. In addition the outline supplies a list of supplementary references, as for example those which indicate the successive passages in which the Guardian deals with the enemies who have assailed the Cause from within.

Experience has shown that attempts to conduct classes on God Passes By find it a formidable undertaking. Some type of outline is needed to facilitate assimilation of this great work by the Bahá’í community, and the present treatment is offered as at least a temporary assistance.


GOD PASSES BY

Subjects and References

I. THE BAHÁ’Í DISPENSATION

A. The Báb
1. His Revelation and Claim, pp. 4, 6-7, 10
2. The Greater and Lesser Covenant, pp. 27-31
3. Significance of the Báb, pp. 54-60
a. His Independent Revelation
b. Herald of a New Era
4. Tablets and Works of the Báb, pp. 22-27

[Page 124]

B. Bahá’u’lláh
1. Birth of the Bahá’í Revelation, pp. 91-93
2. Nature and Implications of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, pp. 93-103
3. Promulgation of Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pp. 213-216
4. Distinguishing Principles and Precepts, pp. 216-219
5. The Institution of the Covenant, pp. 237-240

II. TABLETS AND WORKS OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH

1. First Writings, pp. 120-121
2. Writings in ‘Iráq, pp. 137-138
3. Kitáb-i-Íqán, pp. 138-139
4. Hidden Words, pp. 139-140
5. Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, pp. 140-141
6 Tablet of the Holy Mariner, p. 147
7. Tablet of the Howdah, p. 157
8. Writings in Adrianople, pp. 171-172, 177
9. Writings in ‘Akká, pp. 205-206, 216, 219-220

III. EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF THE MANIFESTATION

A. The Báb
1. The Báb’s Declaration to Mullá Ḥusayn, pp. 5-6
2. Enrollment of the Letters of the Living, pp. 7-8
3. Pilgrimage to Mecca, pp. 8-9
4. Examined by Representatives of the Sháh, pp. 11-12
5. Arrest in Shíráz, p. 13
6. Sojourn in Isfáhán, pp. 13-16
7. Confinement in Máh-Kú, pp. 16, 18-19
8. Confinement in Chihríq, pp. 19-21
9. Second Examination of the Báb; Public Assertion of His Claims, pp. 21-22
10. Correspondence with Bahá’u’lláh, p. 31
11. Inauguration of the Bábí Dispensation; Conference of Badasht, pp. 31-34
12. Documents, Seals and Rings Sent to Bahá’u’lláh, p. 51
13. Martyrdom of the Báb, pp. 50-54
B. Bahá’u’lláh
1. Leadership After the Death of the Báb, pp. 67-70
2. Imprisonment in Siyáh-Chál, pp. 71-72
3. Exiled to Baghdád, pp. 104-106, 108-109
4. Retirement to Kurdistán, pp. 119-120, 122-124
5. Return to Baghdád, p. 126
6. Challenge to the Clergy, pp. 143-144
7. Exile to Constantinople, pp. 148-149, 157
8. Declaration to His Followers, pp. 151-155
9. Exile to Adrianople, pp. 159-162
10. Proclamation to the Kings and Religious Leaders from Adrianople, pp. 158-159, 170, 172-176
11. Imprisonment in ‘Akká, pp. 179-182
12. Interrogation by Governor of ‘Akká, pp. 190-191
13. Release from Confinement, pp. 192-193

[Page 125]

14. On Mount Carmel, p. 194
15. Leadership, pp. 194-195
16. Proclamation to the Kings and Religious Leaders from ‘Akká, pp. 206-213
17. Ascension Of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 221-223

IV. THE MINISTRY OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ

1. His Station, pp. 240-243
2. His Mission, p. 252
3. Shrine of the Báb, pp. 273, 276-277
4. Investigation by Plenary Commission of the Sulṭán, pp. 269-272
5. Two Journeys to the West, pp. 280-281
6. Exposition of Bahá’í Principles, pp. 281-282
7. In America, pp. 287-290
8. Source of the Administrative Order, pp. 324-326
9. Will and Testament, p. 328
10. Nature of the Administrative Order, pp. 326- 327
11. Prophecies, pp.315-316

V. THE UNFOLDMENT OF WORLD ORDER

1. Inauguration of Formative Period, p. 329
2. Establishment of Administrative Order
a. Preliminary Steps, pp. 329-330
b. Local Spiritual Assemblies; Ordination of, pp. 331-332
c. Local Spiritual Assemblies; Functions of, p. 331
d. National Spiritual Assemblies; institution of, pp. 332-333
e. National Committees, p. 333
f. Bahá’í National Constitutions, pp. 334-336
g. Incorporation of Local Assemblies, p. 336
h. National and Local Endowments, pp. 337-339
3. Collective Bahá’í Undertakings
a. Hazíratu’l-Quds, pp. 339-340
b. Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, p. 340
c. Summer Schools, pp. 340-341
d. Youth Activity, pp. 341-342
e. Nineteen Day Feast and Other Factors, p. 342
f. Public Conferences, pp. 342-343
g. Contacts With Civil Authority, pp. 343-345
h. World Administrative Center, pp. 345-346, 347-348
i. First Mashriqu’l-Adhkár of the West, pp. 348-351
j. Teaching the Cause, pp. 376-377, 379, 386-387
k. Martyrs and Heroes of the West, p. 400
l. Development of Publications, pp. 380-383
4. Unfoldment of Administrative Order Under Impact of Hostile Forces
a. Emergence of World Community, p. 354
b. Seizure of Keys of Holy Tomb, p. 355
c. Developments in ‘Akká and Haifa, p. 356
d. Seizure of House in Baghdád, pp. 356-360
e. Disruption of Communities in Turkistán and Caucasus, pp. 360-361

[Page 126]

f. Repression of Community in Germany, pp. 361-362
g. Restrictions Imposed in Persia, pp. 362-363
h. Pronouncement of Islamic Court in Egypt, pp. 364-366, 368
i. Civil Recognition in Palestine, p. 369
j. Bahá’í Status Maintained in Persia, pp. 369-372
k. Civil Recognition in the United States, pp. 372-374
l. Independence of Faith Proclaimed in India, ‘Iráq, Great Britain and Australia, p. 374

VI. RECAPITULATION AND MEANING

1. The Four Periods of First Bahá’í Century, pp. xiii-xv
2. Opening of Bahá’í Era, p. 3
3. Last Three Years of Ministry of the Báb, pp. 17-18, 31
4. The Báb’s Cup of Bitter Woes, pp. 49-51
5. The Fertile Seeds of World Order, pp. 79-80
6. Oppressions of the Bábí Era, pp. 89-91
7. Inauguration of Bahá’u’lláh’s Ministry, pp. 106-108
8. Turning Point in Bahá’í History, pp. 127-128
9. The Steed of Victory, pp. 144-145
10. The End of the Second Decade, pp. 157-158
11. Opening of Last Phase of Bahá’u’lláh’s Ministry, pp. 183-185
12. The Bahá’í Era to the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 223-224
13. From the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh to the Proclamation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 244-245
14. Effects of the Master’s Journeys to the West, p. 294
15. The Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 295-296, 307-308, 314-315
16. The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 323-324
17. Spread of the Cause in First Century, pp. 378-379
18. Recapitulation of Bahá’í History, pp. 402-410
19. Future Tasks and Victories, pp. 410-412


SUPPLEMENTARY REFERENCES

1. God-Sent Upheavals, pp. 61-62
2. Fate of Enemies of the Báb, pp. 81-85
3. First Phase in Unfoldment of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, pp. 109-111
4. The Center of Sedition; Disintegration of the Bábí Community, pp. 112-115
5. Ascendency of Bahá’u’lláh; Regeneration of Community, pp. 132-134
6. Beginnings of Bahá’í Community in Adrianople, pp. 176-177
7. Mírzá Yaḥyá Cast Out, pp. 163-164, 165-167, 169-170
8. Death of the Purest Branch, pp. 188-189
9. Fate of the Enemies of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 224-233
10. Fate of Mírzá Yaḥyá, p. 233
11. Rebellion of Muḥammad-‘Alí; Crisis Not Schism, pp. 245-251
12. Covenant-Breakers Denounce ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the Government, pp. 263-265
13. Fate of the Covenant-Breakers, pp. 317-320
14. Violation of the Will and Testament, pp. 327-328
15. Achievements of American Bahá’í Community, pp. 396-400




[Page 127]

WITH OUR READERS


Corporal Alvin Blum, a Bahá’í serving in our armed forces somewhere in New Zealand has found many opportunities to speak for the Bahá’í Faith. The following excerpts from one of his letters tell a little of his experiences:

“For the last seventeen months I have been stationed somewhere in New Zealand. New Zealand is a wonderful country and I know I’ll came back this way after the war. . . . When I first arrived here I contacted the Bahá’ís here and it has been wonderful associating with them. They promptly put me to work and I have spoken to many different groups here about the teachings. . . .

“Martha Root has planted many seeds throughout New Zealand and after the war the pioneers must come to water them. I have met many people who remember Miss Root and they all speak highly of her spirit, humility and love. I have spoken to many clubs and organizations that Martha Root addressed, and I feel very humble to be following in her footsteps. I thank God every day for giving me the insight to recognize the station of Bahá’u’lláh. . . .

“While here in New Zealand I have become very friendly with a Church of England minister by the name of C. W. Chandler. . . . He writes a weekly column in a local paper and these writings show that he has caught the spirit of the New Day. He invited me to speak in his church several months ago, and I gave a short talk on the Oneness of Mankind. The following day in his parish hall I gave a talk on The New Age and without mincing any words told them about Bahá’u’lláh and his Message.”

Our readers will recall selections from Canon Chandler’s column written after the New Zealand Centenary banquet which we printed in this department in our April issue.

* * *

Those familiar with Bahá’u’lláh’s comprehensive plan for a World Order which will insure enduring peace are anxiously asking how nearly the organization worked out at the San Francisco conference of the United Nations approaches to this plan. “The Peace in San Francisco,” by Marzieh Gail, is a first hand report of this all-important conference by a Bahá’í and in reading it our readers will find their questions answered. Mrs. Gail is well known to readers of World Order through her previous contributions. “‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America,” “Primer for Bahá’í Assemblies,” “Headlines Tomorrow” are among her more recent contributions. Mrs. Gail is now living in Pedro Valley, California.

The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá set high standards for family life, child training and family relations. Three of our contributions this month tell us something of these teachings, apply them to present day conditions, and link them up with the best ideas in modern education.

“Character and Youth Today,” by Charlotte P. Timm is her first contribution to World Order. Mrs. Timm lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she is a member of the local Bahá’í [Page 128] Assembly while professionally her work is with the department of education in the University of Michigan from which she recently received her master’s degree.

George Townshend, who contributes “Joined by God,” has made several contributions to World Order. The most recent is “The Mission of Bahá’u’lláh” in our February, 1945, issue. He is the author also of The Heart of the Gospel in which he dwells on the note of expectancy of another Messenger from God which runs through the Gospel, and The Promise of All Ages, in which he shows that Bahá’u’lláh fulfills this expectancy. Canon Townshend is Canon of St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Church of England) in Dublin and Archdeacon of Clonfert.

Olga Finke, who contributes “Training the Child,” is a graduate of the Child Education Foundation, a training school for teachers founded by Dr. Maria Montessori when she was in New York City. She has taught for several years in nursery schools in New York City and the south and is now head teacher of The Pryor Street Nursery School in Atlanta, Georgia. Miss Finke writes briefly of how she became a Bahá’í:

“When a very young girl I read a number of books by Leo Tolstoy and was particularly influenced by the one entitled War and Peace. I believe this prepared me for the Bahá’í Message. In 1927 I asked some friends of mine, Dr. and Mrs. W—————, who are not Bahá’ís but who have spent a summer in Eliot, Maine, if they could advise me where to go to spend my summer vacation, saying that I was looking for inspiration. Dr. W————— advised me to go to Green Acre. I spent three whole summers at Green Acre. But I was greatly interested in the League of Nations at that time and in 1930 I visited Switzerland. Less than two years after that I became a believer and the following year I went down to Piney Woods, Mississippi, as a pioneer. I organized a nursery school for colored children in this colored school where I taught for three years and tried to teach the Bahá’í Cause whenever I was permitted to do so. In 1937 I came to Atlanta from New York City, which was my home, as a pioneer to establish an Assembly in this city and have been a member of the Atlanta Bahá’í Assembly since its inception.”

Miss Finke has contributed several articles to World Order.

The article “He Brought Peace,” by William Kenneth Christian, is one in a series of articles on Bahá’í books. Mr. Christian is a frequent contributor to World Order. His most recent articles have been “Thanksgiving” and “The Oneness of Humanity” in the November and June issues of last year. His home is in Greenville, North Carolina.

The editorial by Gertrude Henning supplements the three articles devoted to family life and child training and points out that no education is complete or sound without development of the spiritual nature.

As a help to those reading and studying God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi’s history of the Bahá’í Faith, we are publishing in this issue a study outline for this book worked out by Horace Holley. We believe teachers and pupils in Bahá’í summer schools will find this outline a timely help and all those studying the book will use it as a real help in coordinating events in Bahá’í history.

—THE EDITORS




[Page 129]

Bahá’í Literature


Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion, the soul, the basis of civilization and the oneness of mankind. Bound in fabrikoid. 360 pages. $2.00.

The Kitáb-i-Íqán, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (The Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past, demonstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purposes of Revelation. Bound in cloth. 262 pages. $2.50.

Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The supreme expression of devotion to God; a spiritual flame which enkindles the heart and illumines the mind. 348 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.00.

Bahá’í Prayers, a selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each Prayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, $0.35.

Some Answered Questions. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's explanation of questions concerning the relation of man to God, the nature of the Manifestation, human capacities, fulfillment of prophecy, etc. Bound in cloth. 350 pages. $1.50.

The Promulgation of Universal Peace. In this collection of His American talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the basis for a firm understanding of the attitudes, principles and spiritual laws which enter into the establishment of true Peace. 492 pages. Bound in cloth. $2.50.

The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, by Shoghi Effendi. On the nature of the new social pattern revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the attainment of divine justice in civilization. Bound in fabrikoid. 234 pages. $1.50.

God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi. The authoritative documented historical survey of the Bahá’í Faith through the four periods of its first century. The Ministry of the Báb, the Ministry of Bahá’u’lláh, the Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the Inception of the Formative Age (1921-1944). In these pages the world’s supreme spiritual drama unfolds. xxiii plus 412 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.50


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




[Page 130]

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.
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