World Order/Volume 12/Issue 1/Text

←Volume 12 Index

World Order Volume 12 - Issue 1

Issue 2→

Return to PDF view

[Page -1]

[Page 0]

World Order was founded March 21 1910 as Baha’ News, the first organ of the American Bahá’ís; In March, 1911 its tltle was changed] , ‘_'_2ito Star of the West Begmnmg N ovember, 1922 the magazme appeared:

‘ under the name of The Bahá" Magazme. The Issue of Apnl 193557-15: earned the present tltle of World Order, combmmg The Baha z, Maga-iji‘; 1‘" zme and W orld U mt? , Wthh had been founded October, 1927 The T3" L_ipresent number represents Volunte XXXVI of the continuous W1 ubhcatxon " ‘ - r ' ‘ " ‘ ‘ '2 IE:

..;:;::-wom ORDER :3 published monthly 1“ WM“ 111 l" d” I “bh‘h‘ME "5' _'-Commlttee of the National spintual Assembly Of the B3113 of the United? . "-g‘istates and Canada. EDITORS Garreta Busey. William Kenneth mamiiieig

11.39 K. Henmng, Horace Holley, ,_ in Hyde Kirkpamck, 12-32";

Eduanal Office

69 ABBO’I'I'SFORD ROAD, WINNEI'KA, BL.

_2 Pubhcanon Office . 110 Lmnnu Avsm Wmum ILL.

\ R Wood. Bwness Manager '

sions. for Canada Cuba, Menco, Central and Sand: Amenca. Single” coma [Foreign subscnpnons. 81.75 Make c .ks‘and money orders payablemm W01 1

0“!” Mame, no Lmden Avenue. ' W‘ 1“: "

- at U. 5 Patent Office. 2 ,_

CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ' 1 ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE '1

[Page 1]WORLD ORDER

The Bahá’í Magazine

VOLUME XII

APRIL, 1946

NUMBER 1

The WOrld Beyond Victory

WILLIAM KENNETH CHRISTIAN

HE drama of mankind has

assumed planetary proportions, for we live in an heroic age. We have passed the days marking the end of military conflict. We already know some of the problems that press for solution. The extent of many of these we have no way of measuring at the present time. But we do know that deep and lasting will be the scars. Dark are the forces of hatred that have been created in the last decades and intensified by the chaos and suffering that have marked the last six years. Perhaps we can say that all the questions which we face, are divisible into large problems; first, the problem of living together—not in small communities, but in the world community which the airplane and other inventions have now made an actual fact; and second, the problem of world organization, so that a firm structure which can represent the highest social evolution of the human race, can be

the safeguard for the liberties, and the sanctity, and the dignity of human beings everywhere.

A Bahá’í definition of peace might be: a world organically united, possessing law, order, and _the institutions guaranteeing continuity, consciously founded on the recognition of the oneness of mankind.

When we speak of the Bahá’í peace program, we'do not speak of a set of principles or a nice program which has been developed in the heat of the recent conflict, or which came out of the interest in peace of the'last twenty years. Instead, we speak of a program which is the living fabric of '21 Faith, world-wide in scope, which, from an humble beginning in 1844, has been gradually extended throughout the five continents. Woven into the fabric of this Faith are those principles and plans which we call the Bahá’í peace program.

Two figures were chiefly responsible for this living Faith,

[Page 2]2 WORLD ORDER

and for the ideals and the principles which I shall discuss briefly. A young Man called the Báb in 1844 began to teach in Persia -—a country at that time not touched at all by the liberalism of Europe, filled with prejudice, ruled by a bigoted, backward, medieval religious state. To these people, with their crystallized minds and their sacred traditions, the Báb proclaimed a new spiritual age in which a new order would be formed on the earth, and the men and women of all faiths be brought together. For this enlightened view, He was blessed with imprisonment and death by the clergy and the people who could not appreciate the significance of His message.

But six years of life was all He needed to inflame the whole land and to cause His followers to Spill out beyond the boundaries of Persia and carry the message of the new spiritual age that was forming.

The second figure was Bahá’u’lláh, one of the few who escaped the blood purge visited upon the followers of the Báb. Bahá’u’lláh, especially between the years 1863 and 1892—the year of His passing, enunciated those ideas which today are the marks of citizens of the world; which today are the marks of enlightened people, of cosmopolitan, forward-looking people. And

the principles which I will discuss were enunciated by Him during that period.

Bahá’u’lláh possessed a dee passion for justice. He looked at all social problems in the light of justice and saw clearly the necessity for establishing it. Justice is the keynote in the purpose for which Bahá’u’lláh outlined social institutions for the world.

To achieve justice in the modern world, requires a world government. Nothing less will do. Only a world government can clearly and adequately com with the great problems which we face. The economic and political anachronisms of national sovereignty must be removed. They can be removed only by the creation of a world sovereignty which can function above them.

And so the Bahá’í pattern for the future world society includes a world federal-governmentwith a world executive; with an international parliament composed of representatives of all the peoples of the world; and with a world tribunal which would adjudicate all disputes between nations, not merely disputes between those nations which wish to submit, but all disputes according to a body of world law. This international executive w o u l d have at its call a world police to enforce its decrees. Unless we' can see this framework organized

[Page 3]BEYOND VICTORY 3

federally for the entire world, with all the nations members in it, we cannot have the basis of a world community with law, order, and continuity.

There must be a means of protecting and defining the personal rights of individuals. This will very likely mean a world Bill of Rights written into international law.

To help release the creative energies of people and to enable a world government to function, we must have a world free press.

We need also to consider certain practical things which bind people together and raise these to the international plane, removing the national restrictions which now bind them. These practical things are money——for we must have an international currency;

communications—for we must have an international system of communications; and languagefor we must have an invented or chosen language to add to the mother tongue of the various peoples. Thus there will be clear and definite means by which people may communicate easily one with another.

All these things were passionately advocated by Bahá’u’lláh before 1892. They are means for establishing a world community with law,' order, and continuity. They are means for achieving a

justice extended to and including all men and women.

But to obtain the structure of a world government, and to enable it to work once it is built, means that people must be firmly united. Unity cannot come through posters and publicity, through the agitation of committees, or by government decree; and we need a greater unity than the unity precipitated by fear in a crisis. We need a unity which also rises above selfish, common interests.

We need that creative type of unity where men have respect and deep affection for all groups and peoples—a unity which has to do with men’s feelings as well as their thoughts. And we need such a unity in order to reinforce, to support, to make practical any structure of world organization which might emerge in the next few years as the stepping stone toward a world federal state.

Suppose the United Nations Organization should attempt vigorous operation in tackling world problems and seeking justice for all peoples on a common basis. Where is the world community of feeling that could be depended upon, year after year, to support it? What strong feeling will there be to persuade groups which, from their long traditions, are antagonistic, to c00perate? We must, besides a structure, have a

[Page 4]4 WORLD ORDER

means of breaking down the barriers between groups. More and more, the problems that confront us are not problems which two people can sit down and discuss, but problems of group attitudes multiplied far beyond the na tional scale multiplied internationally. There must be, therefo re,

strengthening principles to enable a World government to work; principles which, by breaking down the barriers b etween groups, would enable international p a tri oti s m to grow; strengthening principles that would provide the soil where world citizenship will flourish. T h e s e strengthening principles are as important as the structure of world government itself.

First, we should shake ofi our traditional thinking. We should regard the world and its problems anew. We should have an attitude of independent investigation of truth. The nationalistic bifocals of the nineteenth century will only distort our vision of the world confronting us.

In an amazing fashion the world has been stirred and revolutionized in these past fifty or sixty years, and yet, our culture preSses upon us the old modes of thought, the modes of thought that were satisfactory when we functioned under an agricultural economy; when our lands were

protected by the barriers of the Atlantic and the Pacific; and when time was a far more significant factor in travel than now. We must truly regard our problems anew, independently examine them, and discern the values that affect us.

Second, we must rise above our group prejudices. We need a loyalty to the human race; a dedication to the oneness of mankind must be born and must function as a living feeling in the hearts of men.

And there are many types of group prejudices. It is not just the racial prejudice, difficult as that is, but the religious prejudice, and the smugness that goes with it—the exclusive feeling of salvation. And the nationalistic prejudice which blinds people to

.the gifts and capacities of other

cultures. All these must be regarded as barricades in our path of advance— things that bind men in, warp them, create fears which can set one group against another. Trust must grow instead of fear if the creative capacities of men everywhere are to flourish.

Third, there are certain parts of the. world where the equality of the sex’es must be recognized. We have made great progress in the west in this, but many areas of the earth still need to take the first steps in freeing women from

[Page 5]BEYOND VICTORY 5

the restrictions of an inferior position.

F ourth, we need .also compulsory education in every nation, and we need an international curriculum of education so that certain ideals and ideas can be commonly taught to the children everywhere in the world.

These are strengthening principles; sinews that would help bind together the. great groups of people who comprise the total of two billion humans on the planet. Above all, and the purpose for which these strengthening principles are given, is the recognition of the oneness of humanity. This is the only basis upon which a world order—durable, decent, and for all men—can be built.

In one of His talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “Mere knowledge of principles is not sufficient. We all know and admit that justice is good, but there is need of volition and action to carry out and manifest . . . The ways and means must be provided . . . All of us know that international peace is good, that it is conducive to human welfare and the glory of man, but volition and action are necessary before it can be established.”

What motive power can provide the volition, the desire, great enough to stir many of these two billion humans so that the start

can be made? Only religion can provide the answer; only something that can awaken the hearts of men. Not through fear in crisis; not through the limited and corrosive goal of personal gain; or the warping view of group triumph———but through the uniting power of religion.

Men must rise through the cleansing and impersonal devoa tion to God. That has always been the power of religion, and that is why the great revealed religions of the world have been the foundation of culture. That is why they have provided those intangible, those invisible sinews which have bound men together in common work, century after century, until new types of civilization have been deve10ped.

Let us remember that before Christ, Europe was full of localisms north of the Roman Empire, and that religion was in a very primitive state with sex marking the worship people indulged in. Then, with the collapse of the Roman Empire over a period of time, there rose this new force through the influence of Christ and His message, and it triumphed against the disintegration of the Empire and the ignorance and the primitiveness that marked the people of” northern Europe. Through that dedication to religion grew a great culture with tremendous cities and

[Page 6]6 WORLD ORDER

great works of art—a culture which carried its gifts to all parts of the world and helped bring fine ideals to this continent.

We can go farther back and see what Judaism did when the tribe was the highest unit of social life. Through the ten commandments of Moses, a measuring rod for civilized communities was established. Our culture is richer because of the impetus He was able to impart to the people.

And we can see the achievements of Muhammad. Muhammad who stood among antagonistic people and preached to them the worship of one God in opposition to their idolatry, who preached a brotherhood of faith to men who had known the lesser honors of revenge-killing and the blood-thirsty loyalty to the tribe. To these men of ignorance, He gave a love of science.

Our whole world history points out that the great Activators of Culture have been those who have borne the Word of God to an age which had lost its direction and which had slipped deeper and deeper into the dark and perilous valleys of disunity.

Yes, religion can provide the motive for us, for religion is a founder of civilization. That is the place where the Bahá’í Faith offers the solution to our modern world. For if we look, we can see

that, in the words of Bahá’u’lláh: “This is the eternal faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future”.

The whole history of the Bahá’í Faith shows an ability to

“awaken a deep dedication to the

oneness of mankind against all opposition and traditionalism, against the threat of death itself. Is it any wonder that Jowett, the famed translator of Plato, felt the Bahá’í Faith contained “the promise of the future”?

Yes, working silently and steadily, and transforming the thinking and acting of many men and women, the Bahá’í Faith has spread throughout the world. It has been a world growth so that now a world community exists. The pattern has already been started; the motive power, the desire, the volition has been released by Bahá’u’lláh in calling men to dedicate themselves to the will of God. It is the experience of all Bahá’ís that the teachings and the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh are the consummation of all the faiths of the past; it is the restatement, the renewal of all the highest ideals and the goal of the great historic faiths. And so men rise through this to a sense of tremendous destiny, a feeling of consummation, a feel-. ing of greater loyalty to the best in their own spiritual tradition,

[Page 7]BEYOND VICTORY 7

and to a sense of world citizenship.

Already people of thirty different races have come into the Bahá’í Faith and that it is established in over sixty countries. These principles I have sketched are being applied in the relationships of Bahá’ís everywhere. Bahá’ís are not waiting for some dim, distant time when it can be declared, “Let us start now to do these things”. Representing as they do a cross section of all human life, and thus facing all the fundamental problems of human relationships, Bahá’ís are applying these principles and methods in an embryonic world order.

Before 1892 this plan of world order was advanced by

Bahá’íu’lláh. The ways and means for creating a world culture He clearly provided. A world culture is already forming in the Bahá’í Faith itself. Here is promise for the dark days beyond victory. The goal is world civilization. “All men have been created to carry forward an evera d v a n c i n g civilization.” The Bahá’í Faith calls men to the stature of heroic living—living in consonance with the needs and the great opportunities of our age. And Bahá’u’lláh has written: “That one, indeed, is a man, who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race?’

This article is based on a talk given in Washington, D. C., April 16, 1945, at a symposium on “The Problems of a Lasting Peace”.

The flames which His Divine justice have kindled cleanse an unregenerate

humanity, and fuse its discordant, its warring elements as no other agency can cleanse or fuse them. It is not only a retributory and destructive fire, but a disciplinary and creative process, whose aim is the salvation, through unification, of the entire planet. Mysteriously, slowly, and resistlessly God accomplishes His design, though the sight that meets our eyes in this day be the spectacle of a world hopelessly entangled in its own meshes, utterly careless of the Voice which, for a century, has been calling it to God, and miserably subservient to the siren voices which are attempting to lure it into the vast abyss.

God’s purpose is none other than to usher in, in ways He alone can bring about, and the full significance of which He aIOne can fathom, the Great, the Golden Age of a long-divided, a long-afflicted humanity. Its present state, indeed even its immediate future, is dark, distressingly dark. Its distant future, however, is radiant, gloriously radiant—so radiant that no eye can visualize it.

-~SH0GHI EFFENDI

[Page 8]Bahá’í Children and the Peace

AMY BRADY DWELLY

ITI'LE children live in the “Here and Now”. They have forgotten yesterday. Tomorrow, they cannot vision. Only today is real. Only today.r is alive. So today, we must teach those blessed principles that Bahá’u’lláh desires the children to be taught. Living the life, is by far the most important way to teach children spiritual truths. They may not be able to name such attributes as loyalty, kindness, truth, justice, love but they sense them and know when they are absent. Each day becomes a new day with the setting of the sun, according to the Bahá’í calendar. Each fresh day renews the challenge to again live the Bahá’í life in the presence of the children. What a challenge it is! To live the life for one’s own spiritual progress is a glorious thing but those associated with children have the additional blessing of knowing that such a life will influence the developing child, spiritually.

But what of peace? What special attributes must we attempt to develop in children to insure the peace of the world? What must our children know to live in a world destined for peace? What our children need

to learn, we, too, must learn. The foundations for peace must first he established in our relationships with members of our own families and our own neighbors, within our schools and among the peoples of our own country. Also we must recognize the fact that without the twin pillars of justice and love raised throughout the world there can never be a lasting peace, no matter how brilliant, how logical, how powerful world statesmen may be. “The elect of humanity are those who live together in Love and Unity. They are preferable before God because the Divine Attributes are already manifest in them”.

Bahá’u’lláh says, “If thou regardest Justice choose thou for others that which thou choosest for thyself.” How can we teach justice? Children are endowed with a sense of justice. We need only to develop and encourage this natural desire. Also we must be certain that children are receiving fair treatment from both the adults and other children in their environment. This then is the pattern; that all shall receive their fair share of affection, of material possessions, of discipline when necessary and of

[Page 9]I"

BAHA I CHILDREN 9

kindness. Under such treatment quarreling among children is cut to the minimum. No Bahá’í parent will ever take unfair advantage of a child because, as three year old Tania put it, “I am so little and you are so big.”

There are other factors that enter into the pattern for peace. One is a sense of responsibility for those weaker than oneself. Here again child nature is with us. We need only to recognize and delight in the child’s spontaneous acts. of kindness to those younger than himself and to animals. Our responsibility is to guide, direct and encourage this natural impulse. Oh yes, he may pull the kitten’s tail, not because of any unkind impulse. He is living in a wonderful world in which he is experimenting with both live and inanimate objects. He needs to be taught, but not to be accused of cruelty. So often such acts are punished while acts of altruism are passed over unnoticed. Bahá’í parents will not ignore these little budding bits of kindness that spring from the garden of the child’s heart.

If we are to have peace there . must be no fear. F ear of the unknown is common among children. Therefore they must be made acquainted with habits, customs and appearances of a great variety of persons. They must be shown the beauty in di versity. Similarities and differences should both be noted and pointed out as desirable. Children delight in the thought of themselves as flowers in a garden. If they can see gardens with great varieties of flowers, woods filled with birds of many kinds, streams where fishes of various sizes and colors glide by, they will thrill to the profusion of nature with her infinite species and varieties. They will accept diversity and differences as the pattern for the beautiful world of nature and will find no difficulty in accepting variety among the races of the human family. Prejudice is such a foolish cruel thing to plant in the heart of a child. From The W isdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá we read. “Concerning the prejudice of race: it is an illusion, a superstition pure and simple, for God created us all of one race . . . In the beginning also there were no limits and boundaries between the different lands: no part of the earth belonged more to one people than to another. In the sight of God there is no difference between the various races. Why should man

invent such prejudice? How can

we uphold war caused by such an illusion? God has not created men that they should destroy one another. All races, tribes, sects and classes share equally in the bounty of their Heavenly F ather.

[Page 10]

10 WORLD ORDER

“The only real difierence lies in the degree of faithfulness, of obedience to the laws of God. There are some who are as lighted torches: there are others who shine as stars in the sky of humanity.”

It is so easy to teach young children that all are leaves of one tree, waves of one ocean. In this thought children will 'find great security and hence less fear of 'the unknown. Oneness gives a feeling of unity and closeness. Diversity and differences give color and beauty. Both thoughts are compatible to children.

Children can soon learn that to serve Bahá’u’lláh is to serve others. Bahá’u’lláh says, “0 son of man! If thou regardest mercy, look not to that which benefits thyself; but hold to that which will benefit thy fellow-men . . .” One soon loves the one he serves; and the world of peace will need the services of spiritual men and women if the peace is to continue.

Certainly in the world of the future a common language must be taught. Thus many misunderstandings can be settled. Young children frequently get into difficulties because their own language is inaccurate and undeveloped. Adults make allowances and try to understand what the child is saying. Children do not make such allow

ances for each other. Misunderstandings may easily arise and lead to quarreling. The same may be true even of nations at present. Children learn languages easily when they are young, so that it will not be difficult for them to learn a universal language as well as their mother tongue.

Appreciation of one another is a quality we must instill in our children. Mankind must learn to appreciate the music, the art, the literature and indeed the civilizations of all the peoples of the world as it grows smaller day by day. Appreciation delights the soul of all and spurs it on to greater creative activity. Those youngsters who are taught to appreciate the efforts of others without envy or smallness of spirit will develop habits of right thinking and of reacting which will be of immense help to them in their relationships with the entire human family. This too will help to consumate the peace.

Now we come to distinction! For several years little children in fantasy, have been “killing the Japs”. Behind rose bushes, I have seen them hide, making their realistic little noises of ackack and pretending with long sticks, sometimes branches with the leaves still green upon them, to shoot down their enemies. I have seen them pretending that

[Page 11]BAHA’I’ CHILDREN 11

brightly colored kindergarten beads were bullets with which to shoot and always ‘kill’ some unfortunate child slated to play the part of the foe, and woe upon the “dead” child if he wearied of his part and arose to be a little boy again. Children reflect in their games the emotions and activities which surround them. Psychologists have thought it was wise to let them release pent up emotions in this way. Be this as it may, the killing in the adult world is over and so the children too of their own accord will cease this game and find another. But in some form or other there will be the game in which some children will play the major role while others will follow. Is it not possible that we might instill in our children the meaning of true distinction as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has taught us? He says, “The lovers of mankind these are the superior men, of whatever nation, creed or color they may be.” This thought is too big for a small child to grasp but just as a prism separates white light into the rainbow colors so a truly Bahá’í parent

can and will give this spiritual truth to his child in a way that he can understand it. Such a parent will see in his simple childish actions the beginnings of upward trends toward love of mankind or downward steps toward selfishness and greed. The former traits in the child, parents will help to strengthen; the latter, he will discourage and eradicate.

If we are to preserve the peace won at so costly a price and are to hasten the coming of the Glors ious Day of God, we must develop little children to carry this responsibility in the years ahead. It will be the major role that our Bahá’í children will have to carry and so upon us is placed the tremendous but joyous undertaking in preparing them for this truly spiritual assignment.

“O friends! Consort with all the people of the world with love and fragrance. Fellowship is the cause of unity, and unity is the source of order in the world. Blessed are they who are kind and serve with love”.

The child must not be oppressed or censured because it is undeveloped;

it must be patiently trained.

—‘ABDU’L-BAHA

[Page 12]Successful Marriage ELEANOR, SWENEY HUTCHEN S

AHA’lS visualize a world in which the nations are united, cooperating for their mutual development. Such a world is dependent upon unity and harmony within the nations themselves, and that national oneness is in turn possible only when the fundamental social unit, the family, is harmonious. Successful marriage, then, is of the utmost importance in the building of world civilization.

In some nations marriage partners are chosen by the parents and the young person does not need to make the decision as to whether he shall marry. or remain single. There

is a choice, however, in this na-'

tion: the women know that they are capable of supporting themselves without marriage, and men sometimes postpone marriage or avoid taking the responsibility of a family. Among those of the Catholic faith, the decision to remain single is one fraught with spiritual significance. A few Westerners have even come to feel that marriage is an outmoded institution and have experimented with other forms of attachment.

To all of these Bahá’u’lláh’s

command is, “Enter ye into wed 12

lock that one may rise up in your stead.” Marriage is not only a matter of individual preference; it is the basis of a perpetuating society, and its primary function is the rearing of children. There is no other institution which provides adequately for the future generations. When asked if marriage as we know it may become displaced by another form, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “Know thou that the command of marriage is eternal. It will never be changed or altered. This is divine creation and there is not the slightest pos sibility that change or alteration

affect this divine creation.”

In former days it was considered that marriage was condoned by the Church in recognition of human frailty, but that the truly Spiritual ones would abstain from it, taking the oath of chastity and devoting their lives to the worship of God. Bahá’u’lláh declared that the piety of the monks and nuns will be remembered by God, but that in this day there should be no celibacy. Men should leave solitude, go out among their fellows in active service, and marry, bringing forth children whose spirituality will equal their own.

Granted that young people de [Page 13]SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE 13

cide that they wish to marry, what is the next step? The high divorce rate has been of concern to sociologists who have conducted research hoping to form some conclusions that will prevent future mistakes. They point out that often marriages occur before the man and woman become fully aware of each other’s character traits. To those who have yet to choose a mate, they make these suggestions after the study of thousands of marriages, successful and unsuccessful.

1. Happy marriages run in families, and children whose parents were happily married are more likely to grow up to be the kind of people who will make good husbands and wives.

2. Those who have had happy childhoods are probably individuals who have learned to make adjustments and who will be happy in marriage also.

3. Those who have not had serious conflicts with their parents are less likely to have conflict with their marriage partners.

4. Those who were disciplined wisely, neither spoiled nor ruled so harshly they have become resentful, are more likely to make good mates.

5. Those who have a wise attitude toward sex and can face the physical implications of marriage without fear are more likely to be happy. Young people

are now advised to talk over their marriage with a physician or to read an authoritative book on sex before their marriage.

6. Those who are emotionally mature, not expecting to be babied are more likely to take their full responsibilities in marriage and be happy.

An understanding of these principles may assist a husband and wife to understand each other and to make adjustments if one of these factors is lacking in the background.

Bahá’ís believe that difference in nationality, in social position, in racial background, and in religion should not be considered in themselves a barrier to marriage. Bahá’ís are allowed perfect freedom in the choice of their mates, but they are trained in the qualities of character and spirit, and are encouraged to look beneath the surface in making their choice.

When a young man or woman of the Bahá’í faith has chosen one to share his life, their subsequent marriage is dependent upon a significant requirement. The parents of both the man and the woman must give their full consent before the marriage can take place. Bahá’u’lláh explained: “Verily in the Book of the Bayan, the matter is restricted to the consent of both (the bride and the bridegroom).

[Page 14]14- WORLD ORDER

As We desired to bring about the love and fellowship and unity of the people, therefore We made it conditional upon the consent of the parents also, that enmity and ill-feeling might be avoided.”

The Bahá’í ideal of unity requires that there be no friction in families, even among “inlaws”. There can be no unity if loyalties are torn between parents and mates. This law is very strong, and to one who had written hoping to get special dispensation, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá -wrote: “Do not be in a hurry. Deliberation and patience are necessary until her mother giveth her consent and thy father and mother also acquiesce. This is the divine commandment! Take thou hold of it with a true firmness. Verily this is better for thee under all circumstances! Verily thy Lord is gracious to His servants and He facilitates ere long every straight cause. But thou must submit to and rely upon God under all conditions and He will bestow upon thee that which is conducive to thy well-being.”

In most cases parents are eager for the happiness of their children and would withhold their consent only if their wisdom and experience lead them to feel that the person chosen had serious character defect. If the consent is refused, however, and the couple

feel that prejudice rather than good reason was the basis for the refusal, they have a higher court of appeal. They may plead before the Spiritual Assembly of their community, and that body, after due consideration, may plead with ,the parents to alter their decision. Unity is the greatest goal even at this stage.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes, “the Bahá’í egagement is the perfect communication and the entire consent of both parties. However they mustshow forth the utmost attention and become informed as to one another’s character and the firm covenant made between each other must be everlasting affinity, friendship, unity and life.”

Bahá’í M arriage

The Bahá’í marriage ceremony itself is very simple but extremely solemn; for it is a covenant with God. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá desoribes it as follows. “The bridegroom must, before the bridesman and a few others say, ‘Verily we are content with the will of God.’ and the bride must rejoin, ‘Verily we are satisfied with the desire of God.’ This is Bahá’í matrimony.”

Story books are inclined to say, “And they lived happily forever after.” But our own eyes and the records of the divorce courts indicate that there is nothing automatic about the proph [Page 15]SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE 15

ecy. Marriage must be built patiently and lovingly during the whole of a lifetime. It can become the most satisfying of all human relationships, or it can become the most disappointing. Let us consider some of the things that can contribute to its success.

In an inspiring and beautiful marriage tablet, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá instructs the couple to love each other devotedly until their whole lives seem to be filled with love. This is the first pre-requisite of happiness. We can see many ways in which that love will show itself.,Love will help us to forgive the faults that are sure to appear, since all of us have faults. Perhaps forgiveness is one of the primary requirements. in a marriage. There should be no end to our forgiveness. When the disciple asked Christ if he should fo r- giv e his neighbor seven times, Christ answered, “I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven.” And He told a parable to show that by His answer he did not mean four hunudred and ninety times, but that He meant they should forgive always as they hope God would always forgive them.

Bahá’ís are told, “Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art a sinner”, and they are told, “Look always at the good and

not at the bad. If a man have ten good qualities and one bad, look at the ten and forget the one; and if a man have ten bad qualities and one good, look at the one and forget the ten.” How much more happiness the practice of this would bring to our homes. It is the petty bickering, the constant fault-finding that destroys the marriage of even very righteous and sincere people.

It is easy for us to see the good qualities of Abraham Lincoln, but his wife looked at the bad, engaging in such nagging that his home life became a tragedy. Dale Carnegie in his H ow to Win F riends and Influence People, which has several chapters on more successful marriage, describes Mrs. Lincoln as follows: “She was always complaining, always criticizing her husband; nothing about him was ever right. He was stoop-shouldered, he walked awkwardly, and lifted his feet straight up and down like an Indian. She complained that there was no spring in his step, no grace in his movement; and she mimicked his gait and nagged at him to walk with his toes pointed out as she had been taught at Madame Mentelles boarding school in Lexington.

“She didn’t like the way his huge ears stood out at right angles from his head. She even told him his nose wasn’t straight,

[Page 16]16 WORLD ORDER

that his lower lip stuck out, that he looked consumptive, that his feet and hands were too large, his head too small . . . Mrs. Lincoln’s loud, shrill voice could be heard across the street, and her incessant outbursts of wrath were audible to all who lived near the house.” Lincoln avoided his home whenever possible. How much more successful her marriage‘ would have been if Mrs. Lincoln had been able to look at the ten good and forget the one bad quality in her husband.

No human being is perfect, nor should we strive to make each other over; but our love for each other will help each of us to develop more and more good qualities.

Loyalty, of course, is an imp o r t a n t characteristic, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá enjoined the utmost loyalty and faithfulness in marriage. But He eXpressly warned against jealousy, which “like unto poison vitiates the very essence of love.” The Shakespearean tragedy, Othello, dramatizes the subtle and devastating effects of jealousy.

Here are a few suggestions for the building of a successful marriage. You may be able to think of others.

1. Be courteous to each other. Let your love be expresSed in the way you make your requests, in your attitude of appreciation

when some effort has been made for your comfort. Don’t save your politeness for strangers.

2. Try to understand each other. Exchange ideas and show interest in each other’s thoughts and work.

3. Share friends, and make your hospitality so warm that people will enjoy coming to see you.

4. Do things together. Share hobbies or sports or creative endeavors. (gardening, golf, painting, music, reading, collecting).

5. Plan and work for your home together, .taking common interest in repairs and improvements.

6. Plan together the care and training of your children.

7. Worship together.

Over and over again ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taught that marriage is a spiritual as well as a physical relationship.

In the Art Institute of Chicago is a sculptured _ marble group by Lorado Taft, called the “Solitude of the Soul”. The poetic conception is beautifully expressed. As one faces the group, one sees -a feminine and a masculine figure wrapt in revery emerging from a rough core, only their fingertips touching. The souls of many husbands and wives are solitary, hardly their fingertips touching. Bahá’ís believe that it is possible to in [Page 17]SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE 17

crease the unity of husband and wife until they become almost a single soul. This is possible only when both turn their hearts toward God in worship and unite in service to His Cause.

Most marriages are on the physical basis alone and are at an end with the death of the physical bodies, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, but those marriages which are spiritual as well as physical may last throughout eternity. To a Bahá’í who wished to marry a non-Bahá’í, He wrote: “She must not rest until she has made him her spiritual as well as her physical partner in life . . . The marriage of Bahá’ís means that both man and woman must become spiritually and physically united so that they may have eternal unity throughout all the divine worlds and improve the Spiritual life of each other. This is Bahá’í matrimony.”

In another place He wrote: in more detail: “As to thy question concerning the husband and wife and the tie between them and the children given to them by GOd: Know thou, verily, the husband is one who hath sincerea 1y turned unto God, is awak ened by the call of the Beauty of EI-Baha and chanteth the verses of Oneness in the great assemblies, the wife is a being who wisheth to be overflowing with and seeketh after the attributes of God and His names; and the tie between them is none other than the Word of God! Verin it causeth the multitudes to assemble together and the remote ones to be united. Thus the husband and wife are brought into affinity, are united and are harmonized, even as though they were one person. Through their mutual union, companionship and love, great results are produced in the world, both material and spiritual. The spiritual result is the appearance of divine bounties. The material result is the children who are born in the cradle of the love of God, who are nurtured by the breast of the Knowledge of God, who are brought up in the bosom of the gift of God, and who are nurtured in the lap of the training of God. Such children are those of whom it was said by Christ, ‘Verily they are the children of the Kingdom.’ ”

O Son of Man!

Neglect not My commandments if thou Iovest My beauty, and forget not My counsels if thou wouldst attain My good pleasure.

-——-BAHA’U’LL£H

[Page 18]‘_—€c[£tor£a/

N ALL the existing religions ' which are in practice today we find the prophecy of the return of that Spirit made manifest by God through His Revelators. In the Muhammadan Faith the Shiahs and the Sunnis have been promised the return of the Prophet in the Qa’im and the Mihdi respectively. The Christians await the return of the Christ; the Zoroastrians, the Shéh-Bahram; the Jews, the Messiah; the Hindus, the Krishna; the Buddhists, the fifth Buddha. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh and His F orerunner, the Báb, fulfill these prophecies. That is why Bahá’ís believe that we are no longer living in the Day of Prophecy; we are living in the Day of Fulfilment — fulfilment of these prophecies of the past.

The thinking provoked by this editorial comes from the chapter on the execution of the Báb in the Guardian’s history of the Bahá’í Faith, Cod Passes By. In comparing the likeness of the Bab to Jesus Christ, Shoghi Effendi says that “nowhere in the whole compass of the werld’s religious literature, except in the Gospels, do we find any record relating to the death of any of

THIS IS THE DAY OF FULFILMENT

the religion-founders of the past comparable to the martyrdom suffered by the Prophet of shiréz (the Báb) . . . The passion of Jesus Christ, and‘ indeed His whole public ministry, alone offer a parallel to the mission and death of the Báb . . . We cannot fail to discern a remarkable similarity to the distinguishing features of the career of Jesus

Christ.”

The Guardian says that the Bab is to be regarded not only as an independent Author of a divinely revealed Dispensation, but also He must be recognized as the Herald of a new Era. This new era is the Bahá’í Era and it is the beginning of a new and great universal prophetic cycle. The coming of the Báb closes the Adamic Era and opens the Bahá’í, the “Cycle of F ulfilment”. This then is the Day of Fulfilment in which we are living. The prophecies and promises of all of the Prophets of the past ages have been fulfilled through the coming of the Báb (18441853) and Bahá’u’lláh (185-31892).

The. unique station of the Báb

paved the way for the advent of Bahá’u’lláh Who was to be the

18

[Page 19]DAY OF FULFILMENT 19

“Center and Object” of the Covenant. The Báb bridged the way between the old systems of religion and the new all-inclusive

World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.

How wonderful it would be if the peoples of the world, unprejudiced and searching for truth, would recognize the fact that we are living in the Day of Fulfilment, a New Day, and that we stand at the threshold of that Golden Age when peace on earth and the maturity of man shall be a certainty.

In this time of disregard of social and moral law it is incumbent upon each individual that he investigate the Manifestation of God for this day; and if he is spiritually able to graSp His message, that he accept His Revelation. To refuse acceptance not only denies him a harmonious way of life, but limits his ' ability to live an abundant and useful kind of life. Furthermore, to deny the Prophet shows a lack of understanding of God’s great creative plan and asks for proof for belief in Him, inasmuch as it is only through His Manifestations that we know God.

The nucleus of a “divinelyordained, world-embracing Community” has been formed in the establishment of th e Bahá’í World Faith in many parts of the world. The world religion of

the future has been proclaimed incorporating not only spiritual and humanitarian teachings, but in addition, administrative principles which will develop into a world-wide administrative System, which when more widely established, will bring a civilization the world has never known in practice, but has only known as a promise.

In anticipation of a world which shall reflect the Bahá’í teachings Bahá’u’lláh has written: “This is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind,_ on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.

“Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have likewise, yearned to attain it . . .”

—G. K. H.

[Page 20]The Dawn-Breakers BAHiYYIH RANDALL FORD

HE DAWN-BREAKERS is

the Story of the beginning of the Bahá’í Cause. It is an account of the Will of God and man’s struggle and blindness in relation to it. It shows what happens when a tremendous influx of the Holy Spirit focuses upon a corner of the earth submerged in ignorance and superstition. The battle that ensues is worldshaking in its efiect. There are deeds of almost unbelievable heroism, man at his greatest, and the forces of jealously and greed fighting with a fear that knows no bounds. It is. life at its most intense moments. We are caught up out of our complacent selves, the story is so moving and dramatic, and we see with startling clarity what happens when men place God first in their lives, and what happens when He is placed last!

The story took place in Persia and Arabia. It began a little over a hundred years ago. A handful of men became convinced that it was time for the fulfillment of prophecy, the day of a Messenger from God, in fact, according to the Holy Books of the world, two Messengers from God. Overcoming all obstacles, they began

The Dawn-Breakers, Nabil’s narrative of the early days“ of the Bahá’í Revelation. Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1932.

20

a search for the Promised One feeling that He was already upon earth. Irresistibly, their steps were led in the direction of Shíráz, a city in southern Persia. There beside the city wall at the hour of sunset on May twentysecond,- eighteen hundred and forty-four, Mullá Ḥusayn, the leader of the inspired little band, met face to face a Youth who was to change the destiny of Mullá Ḥusayn, his country and the world.

That Youth, who became known as the Báb (Gate) invited Mullá Ḥusayn to his home, a modest dwelling in an obscure part of the city. There, as evening faded into night and the city slept, the Báb proclaimed to Mullá Ḥusayn that He was the answer to his search, that He was the Promised One and a fore-runner of yet Another to come. Mullá Ḥusayn was shaken to the very core of his being with doubt. Could this Youth of twenty-five be that Man of unsurpassed holiness who was to reveal a Cause of tremendous power? The Prophet never comes as men expect Him to, and yet . . .

What happened at that historic interview has never been recorded before. Where in all history is there an accurate account

[Page 21]THE DAWN-BREAKERS 21

of the new Mouthpiece of God making His initial Declaration to the man who was to become His first. disciple?

After that memorable night the events in the story move in swift succession. The Báb was to have six years and a few months for His Mission. He arose with resolute and dauntless courage to the task of regenerating men’s hearts, and preparing them for the Day of God that was to follow after Him. The magic of His speech, His copious and brilliant writings, His peerless character and charm were overwhelming, even to those who sought His Presence as avowed enemies. The Call that it was a new Day was raised by His disciples in every corner of Persia, and the country was thrown into a great tumult. The Shah, himself, sent his trusted personal representative to investigate the claim of the Prophet of $_hiraz and this most erudite and sincere man fell under the spell of Bab even as the humblest peasant.

Such power could not go unchallenged and the combined civil and ecclesiastical forces of Persia arose to stamp out the new Message. The Báb was insulted, suffered bodily harm, was arrested, and finally after three years, imprisoned, on a remote and. dangerous mountain top on the frontiers of the Ottoman and

Russian Empires. His followers were made to suffer every conceivable form of torture and death. Thousands of them gave their lives. The unyielding devotion of each one only served to feed afresh the ever mounting flame of the Cause, and the army of recruits grew hour by hour. Finally with a sense of terror and d e s p a i r the authorities plotted to take the life of the Báb, Himself. Surely, when He is gone, they reasoned, the people will forget- this insanity. On Sunday, July ninth, in the year eighteen hundred fifty, just at noon, the Báb was hung by ropes from a barracks wall in Tabríz. Ten thousand had gathered to witness the sight. The fire of seven hundred and fifty muskets was aimed at His body, but God is ever mer’ciful. When the smoke had cleared away the Báb had disappeared. Only the ropes had been cut by the bullets. He had slipped from their coils untouched. One final miracle at the culmination of a superb lifethat the people might still, at the final hour, pause and take heed. But the veils that hinder light can be very thick, and when the Báb was found in a nearby room finishing a conversation with His secretary, the only thought was that He must be brought out again at once,~ and hung upon the same wall. This

[Page 22]22 WORLD- ORDER

time His body was riddled with bullets. The onlookers had ringing in their ears His final words: “0 wayward generation, . . . The day will come when you will have recognized Me: that day I shall have ceased to be with you.”

From one end of Persia to the other the Bábis were hunted and killed until only a scattered remnant remained. But among that small group was one leading figure. From the first year of the Bab’s Declaration He had arisen fearlessly to champion the new Cause. He protected the Báb’s disciples, guided their steps, clarified issues that arose and gave of His wealth with lavish generosity. But even that was not enough, He suffered arrest and torture, sharing at every turn the cup that touched the lips of the Bab. To Him the Báb sent His seal and ring before His martyrdom. This great figure was Bahá’u’lláh. Only one decree meted out to the Báb was denied Him at that hour, that of death. Our story closes with the banishment of Bahá’u’lláh to Baghdad. The heroes of the Faith had suffered

almost complete annihilation but the seeds of the new day had been planted. The .future would show how great had been the triumph.

This is but the barest outline of Nabil’s Narrative, the record of The Dawn-Breakers. Nabil was in his early teens when he heard of the Báb and believed in

Him. Many of the scenes he so

graphically describes he, him self, witnessed. He went into exile with Bahá’u’lláh and only finished his writing and research a little before the passing of Bahá’u’lláh in 1892.

This first volume, which is half of the Narrative, was translated into English by Shoghi Effendi and published in nineteen thirty two. It is a big book and not always easy to read but Nabil was not writing a novel, rather a painstakingly accurate record of the world’s greatest religious drama as he saw it lived, and as he w a t c h e d its unfoldment through the years.

We who stand bewildered at the threshold of an age of atomic power can gain a new perspective from this story of the greatest of all power, the power of God.

Thus ended a life (the Báb’s) 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.

SHOGHI EFFENDI

[Page 23]The New Civilization

BEATRICE IRWIN

HE drama that has been un folding itself before our eyes in the past five years is one of a universal moral retribution, for in its process it embraces all countries and even remote islands, and all have been forced to change their living conditions and their outlook. Perhaps the deepest significance of these happenings lies in the fact that they were an essential preliminary t0 the birth of a new and global civilization.

Hitherto, civilizations h a v e arisen here and there on our planet, but now a unified worldstructure is in the making. History reveals the fact that all outs t a n d i n g civilizations have sprung from belief in a divine Messenger, who came to reveal a new and eXpanded design for living, which was transmitted in books of wisdom, which inspired a minority to adopt and circulate its laws, and to rear buildings in its honor.

Broadly speaking civilizations have had four roots in common.

(1) Need for an eXpanded design for living.

(2) Need for a renewal of spiritual faith.

(3) Need for a collective urge

23

to obey evolution’s law of progress.

(4) Necessity for adoption of key-words that summarized immediate needs and objectivesvof achievement.

Analyzing those fundamentals, we find that they have sprung from an urge to resist the encroachment of material on spiritual life. A sense of mental suffocation suggested the trial of various material remedies, but as these failed it was realized that a spiritual cure was called for. Then having lost faith in themselves and in each other, they found that the need for an inspired leader was paramount. This collective receptivityr and demand, brought forth the Messenger or Prophet who revealed the new plan.

This plan was diametrically opposed to existing conditions but was always in conformity with evolutionary law of progress, and though presented at first to a minority, it was capable eventually of influencing humanity as a whole.

The development of the plan was stressed by focalizing the needs of the hour in key words of moral significance.

[Page 24]24 WORLD ORDER

It is important to note, that in world crises, though philosophers, scientists, artists, and even martyrs have influenced thought, it is the Prophet alone whose worldly detachment and far reaching vision commands the faith that founds civilizations.

In India we find the Prince Siddhartha, who revolted against oriental luxury and autocracy, and adopted the .life of a penniless nomad under which guise he became known as the Buddha, or enlightened one, founding a faith that has molded the outlook and inspired the works of Asia for many centuries. Buddhism has left two immortal echoes on the air—resignation and d e t a c hment.

And then came Christ, whose overwhelming radiance conquered and eclipsed the arrogance of the Caesars, restoring to earth those freedoms which are home of humility and self—sacrifice. The loving purity of this Master rebuked the passionate sensuality of Rome, and Christ, the carpenter’s son, vindicated the meaning and dignity of labor, and foreshadowed a civilization of democracy, making spiritual equality and humility the passports to a new era.

His followers founded the Church, and they reared the Ca thedrals of Europe whose in credible spires seem to touch the stars themselves.

Perhaps Christ visioned the need for man’s further subjugation on the path to peace, and also the distortion of His teachings in the Crusades and in the Inquisition, when He said—“I come not to bring you peace but a sword.”

This sword of retribution was later offered by Muhammad in lawless Arabia, where conditions permitted of no more advanced manner of establishing order, and cleansing a block of humanity, corrupted by sects and superstitions. In face of the mthless disorder prevailing in Arabia, “Inshallah”, became the key word of Muhammadanism, signifying obedience to one God.

Idols were renounced, and images or pictures of any kind were forbidden in the mosques, whose gracious towers and domes proteCt the austere simplicity of interiors, where the only figures seen are those of the faithful who pray five times a day.

Out

tural

of this faith grew a culcivilization of highest value, especially to Persia, Spain, North Africa, and India, in which land, the Mogul dynasty brought forth such Emperors as Baber, Akbar, and $_hah Jehan whose records as social

[Page 25]NEW CIVILIZATION 25

~educators and benefactors equal those of any in history.

And now against this tapestry of the ages, there rises once more a royal Messenger who brings mankind a new design for living, and a guidance out of chaos into peace.

Preceding His advent, came the dark ages, the terrors of medievalism, a growing arrogance of the church for worldly power, the weakness of self-indulgent kings, corruption of statesmen, successive wars, and finally the enslavement of humanity, by every kind of injustice. This apex of materiality, at which history shows that all civilizations crumble, began to manifest itself in our midst in 1844. At that moment in darkest Persia, arose the “Bab”, who heralded the coming of a “Manifestation of God”, for which proclamation He was martyred in Tabríz, followed at later date by 20,000 other souls who gave up their lives in hopes of the fulfilment of His promise. This was achieved in 1863 in Baghdad, when Mirzá Husayn ‘Ali, son of a minister at the court of Persia proclaimed himself as “The Promised One”, henceforth to be known as Bahá’u’lláh which means The Glory of God.

Justice and unity became the clarions of the Bahá’í Faith,

which is the life-giving source of the new civilization which we see arising in our day.

The manifesto and written works of Bahá’u’lláh, already t r a n s l a t e d into forty-three tongues enjoins the permanent abolition of war, the permanent foundation of world peace, and the recognition of a federated world.

These difficult objectives could only be brought about by a humanity practicing greater justice and freedom than was hitherto known, or even possible.

T he I e f o r e Bahá’u’lláh, ordained as stepping stones to the goal,

(1) Recognition of the oneness of humanity.

(2) Abolition of prejudices of creed, cast and color.

(3) Independent investigation of reality. '

(4) Equality in education and opportunity for men and women.

(5) Cooperation of science with religion.

(6) Economic equalization... no idle rich, no starving poor;

(7) Use of a universal language.

(8) A universal tribunal composed of representatives of all the peoples of the world.

.For announcing these “heresies” to the rulers of the world, Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned for forty years, but when He as [Page 26]25 WORLD ORDER

cended in 1892 He appointed His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as His successor. In a mission which lasted until 1921, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá again warned the world’s leaders that unless justice, as outlined by his father, could be established, a more “grievous calamity” would beset the world than anything hitherto known.

But the indifference of the rulers and the majority brought forth the hydra-headed gorgon of world-war. Yet from this global purge, already we see new 011tlines on the horizon, and for the first time in history, universal justice is becoming the professed aim of the rulers. During the past hundred years, a minority scattered over the earth, has heeded and cherished the words of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. They have circu lated their writings, believed in

their laws and raised buildings in hopeful honor of their faith.

These buildings are known as the Bahá’í universal houses of worship. The first of these was erected at ‘Isqabad in Russia, the second stands at Wilmette, Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan, and the third is in project outside Ṭihrán, Persia.

The temple at Wilmette is symbolic throughout its structure. Its dome, the fifth largest in the world, unifies the religious symhols of every faith in a harmonized pattern, and in doing so, it exalts those principles of unity and justice which are the destined and guiding stars of a new day and a new civilization, long dreamed of, sought, and promised to the sons of men, for in this day of God, the old order will “be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.”

Shake off, 0 heedless ones, the slumber of negligence, that ye may behold the radiance which His glory hath spread through the world. How foolish are those who murmur against the premature birth of His light. O ye who are inly blind! Whether too soon or too late, the evidences of His effulgent glory are now actually manifest. It behoveth you to ascertain whether or not such a light hath appeared. It is neither within your power nor mine to set the time at which it should be made manifest. God’s inscrutable Wisdom hath fixed its hour beforehand. Be content, O people, with that which God hath

desired for you and predestined unto you.

w Bahá’u’lláh

[Page 27]The Day of God

WORDS OF Bahá’u’lláh III

0 YE that have strayed and lost your way! The Divine Messenger, Who

speaketh naught but the truth, hath announced unto you the coming of the Best-Beloved. Behold, He is now come. Wherefore are ye downcast and dejected? Why remain dcspondent When the Pure and Hidden One hath appeared unveiled amongst you? He Who is both the Beginning and the End, He Who is both Stillness and Motion, is now manifest before your eyes. Behold how, in this Day, the Beginning is reflected in the End, how out of Stillness Motion hath been engendered. This motion hath been generated bv the potent energies which the words of the Almighty have released throughout the entire creation. Whoso hath been quickened by its vitalizing power, will find himself impelled to attain the court of the Beloved; and whoso hath deprived himself therefrom, will sink into irretrievahle despondency. He is truly wise Whom the world and all that is therein have not deterred from recognizing the light of this Day, who will not allow men’s idle talk to cause him to swerve from the wav of righteousness. He is indeed as one dead who, at the wondrous dawn of this Revelation, hath failed to be quickened bV its soul-stirring breeze. He is indeed a cantive who hath not recognized the Supreme Redeemer, but hath suffered his soul to be bound, distressed and helpless, in the fetters of his desires.

0 My servants! Deprive not yourselves of the unfading and resnlendent Light that shineth within the Lamp of Divine glory. Let the flame of the love of God burn brightly within your radiant hearts. Feed it with the oil of Divine guidance. and protect it within the shelter of your constancy. Guard it within the globe of trust and detachment from all else but God, so that the evil Whisperings of the ungodly may not extinguish its light. 0 My servants! My holv. My divinely ordained Revelation may be likened unto an ocean in. whose depths are concealed innumerable pearls of great price, of surpassing luster. It is the duty of every seeker to bestir himself and strive to attain the shores of this ocean, so that he may, in proportion to the eagerness of his search and the efl’orts he hath exerted. partake of such benefits as have been pre-ordained in God’s irrevocable and hidden Tablets. If no one be willing to direct his steps towards its shores, if every one should fail to arise and find Him, can such a failure be said to have robbed this ocean of its power or to have lessened, to any degree, its treasures? How vain. how contemptible, are the imaginations which your hearts have devised. and are still devising! 0 My servants! The one true God is My Witness! This most great, this fathomless and surging Ocean is near, astonishingly near, unto you. Behold it is closer to you than your life-vein! Swift as the twinkling of an eye ye can, if ye but wish it, reach and partake of this imperishahle favor, this God-given grace, this incorruptible gift, this most potent and unspeakably glorious bounty.

27

[Page 28]Robert Turner LOUIS G. GREGORY

ARE outlines of the story of Robert Turner, the first American Negro to become a Bahá’í, have been related to the writer, over a long period of years. Those who mentioned him have been Mrs. Lua M. Getsinger, probably the first American woman to embrace the Faith and one of the most active and effective early teachers; Dr. Edward C. Cetsinger; Mrs. May Maxwell; Mirza ‘Ali-Kuli Khán; and Madame Khan. There is agreement in the statements coming from such well known sources and, although few, they establish essentials of a strong and abiding faith and are worthy of being recorded as a fitting memorial of a truly great soul.

Robert Turner was the butler of Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, early Bahá’í and mother of the well known publisher of that name. Robert Turner’s post was one of unusual responsibility, carrying with it largely the stewardship of his wealthy and socially prominent employer. He was faithful, dependable and wise.

When Mrs. Hearst was given the Bahá’í message by Mrs. Getsinger in Paris, Robert Turner, from the vantage ground of his service station, listened with

28

eager interest to words not addressed to himself. He sought opportunities to know more about so wonderful a Faith, was taught and became a firm believer. In the year 1900 he accompanied the Hearst-Getsinger party to ‘Akká, Palestine, to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, still a prisoner under despotic and corrupt government rule.

When the party entered the room of the Master, they assumed that Robert Turner who was with them would of course follow. After greeting them with H i s W e 1 c o m e, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá waited with His face turned toward the door, in evident expectation. The ladies looked around, and to their surprise they found that Robert was not in the room. The Master then went to the door on the outside of which Robert stood in an attitude of deepest humility. At sight of the Master he dropped upon his knees and exclaimed: “My Lord! My Lord! I am not worthy to be here!” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá raised him to his feet, giving him a most affectionate, fatherly embrace. The exceedingly great kindness of the Master to Robert Turner was most impressive.

On one occasion the honor

[Page 29]ROBERT TURNER 29

was bestowed upon him of sharing the Master’s servitude. He was also assured that if he remained firm and steadfast until the end, he would be a door through which a whole race would enter the Kingdom.

During those early days the confirmations were mighty, but the tests and trials were also great. Many trees were uprooted by the storms of trials. But those that were firm took deeper roots. Robert Turner, with what Our Persian b r o t h e r 5 call “Iron Sight”, had his clear vision of reality. Henceforth he refusedto use his own expression—to “let the world throw dust in his eyes.”

After a few years there came to him an illness which proved fatal. It came at a time and place that surrounded him with non-Bahá’ís. His attendants heard him often repeat, even when delirious, an expression strange

and unknown. After his passingw

inquiry revealed that his las’.

word was the Greatest Name. Thus he measured up to the divine standard of faith and loyalty, and constantly increasing are those who owe so noble a character gratitude and reverence. Following his death, which was really the portal to a richer and more exalted life, a Bahá’í burial ring-stone was placed upon his finger by M’irza ‘AliKuli Khan.

An incident closely connected with this sketch is that Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, prompted no doubt by' her experiences at ‘Akká and her esteem for Robert Turner, upon returning to her Washington, D. C. home, invited there a number of the most prominent educators of the colored race to meet her. They were entertained in her sumptuous home not only. by material attractions, but with heavenly food, the glad tidings and the Great Message. Radiantly she announced to them that the Deliverer of mankind had indeed come!

In the esimation of God there is no distinction of color; all are one in the color and beauty of servitude to Him. Color is not important; the heart is all-important. It matters not what the exterior may be if the heart be pure and white within. God does not behold differences of hue and complexion; He looks at the hearts. He Whose morals and virtues are praiseworthy is preferred in the presence of GOd; he who is devoted to the Kingdom is most beloved. In the realm of genesis and creation the question of color is of least

importance.

m‘ABnU’L-BAHA

[Page 30]

WITH OUR READERS

HAT the Bahá’í Faith is con cerned with the final triumph of man’s higher nature over his lower and with the manifestation of this triumph in a world government which shall insure lasting peace is known by readers of this magazine and students of the Bahá’í Faith. In his article “The World Beyond Victory” William Kenneth Christian brings a fresh approach and renewed emphasis to this all important goal. This contribution was first used as an address at a public meeting at Washington, D. C. Mr. Christian serves the Bahá’í Faith in many ways. He is a member of the editorial committee of this magazine, a member of the Louhelen School program committee and previously was chairman of the New York regional teaching committee and of the Bahá’í college speakers’ bureau, a frequent speaker on the Bahá’í platform and contributor to these pages. At present he is located at Lansing, Michigan and is instructor in the. department of Written and Spoken English at Michigan State» College, East Lansing.

The importance of right care and training of children can hardly be overestimated and Amy Brady Dwelly is well qualified to write on this subject both because of her familiarity with Bahá’í teachings and because pre-school education of children is her chosen field of work. After graduating from Ohio State University Mrs. Dwelly did graduate work under a Laura Spellman Rockefeller scholarship in child develop 30

ment at Cornell University. . . For several years she was state supervisor of nursery schools for New Mexico and is now county supervisor of child care in Escambia County, F lorida, with her office in Pensacola. She is the author of both stories and poems for children and has previously contributed to World Order. “Bahá’í Children and the Peace” is a companion piece to “Bahá’í Children in War Time” which appeared in our November, 1943 issue.

“Successful Marriage” contributed by Eleanor Sweney Hutchens might be considered as a supplement to Canon Townshend’s “Joined by God”, an article on the same subject printed in our July, 1945, issue, as it combines some of the best thought of today in regard to marriage with Bahá’í standards. Our recent F ebruary number contained Mrs. Hutchens review of “Bahá’í World Faith”. Mrs. Hutchens is a graduate of the University of Illinois and was for a number of years active in the Urbana Bahá’í community. Her home at present is in Palos Heights, Illinois.

Gertrude K. Henning’s editorial, “This is the Day of Fulfilment” reminds us again forcefully that the events we are passing through have been foretold and are a culminating stage iri God’s redemptive plan for mankind. Mrs. Henning is secretary of the editorial committee of World Order and lives in Winnetka, Illinois.

[Page 31]WITH OUR READERS 31

The review of The Dawn-Breakers by Bahíyyih Randall F 0rd is an important addition to our Bahá’í literature series, which has been running for over a year, especially since some of our newer believers have not yet become acquainted with the details of the early history of our Faith as narrated by Nabil in The Dawn-Breakers. This is Mrs. F ord’s first contribution to World Order. Both she and her husband, Mr. Harry F 0rd are active workers for our Faith in our summer schools, in public talks and study classes. As a young girl Mrs. Ford visited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Haifa with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Randall and she» was among the children bountifully blessed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when He was in America. Her home

is in Little Falls, New York.

The connection between the great religions of the world and the rise and fall of the great civilizations of the world is only beginning to be studied by historians and philosophers. In her article, “The New Civilization”, Beatrice Irwin helps us in our thinking along this line. Miss Irwin has lectured extensively in Europe, Latin America, the United States and other countries and is the author of two books, The New Science of Color, and The Gates of Light. Her lectures have been on similar topics and on subjects connected with her travels as well as on direct Bahá’í subjects. Miss Irwin was born of British parents in the Himalaya Mountains, graduated from Cheltenham College and Oxford University and later became an American citizen. Other things from her pen, both essays and poems, have been printed in our pages. Her last

previous contribution was a poem, “The Day of God” which appeared in

our F ebruary, 1945 issue. She is now living in San F rancisco, California.

In our December and January issues we have printed Words of Bahá’u’lláh under the title, “The Day of God,” with the hope that those reading these clear and sublime words will understand that we are now living in “The Day of God.” It is only by understanding this truth that we can understand and evaluate the tremendous changes taking place throughout the world. This is the final group of selections in this series of three.

Louis Gregory tells us the story of Robert Turner, the first American Negro to accept Bahá’u’lláh. All Bahá’ís know Mr. Gregory for he has traveled and taught the Faith much, especially in the southern states, has been a member of the National Spiritual Assembly for many years and is always present at the annual convention in Wilmette. We understand that he and Mrs. Gregory have spent the winter months with friends in Columbus, Ohio.

A few additional and interesting items from Australia have been received through Robert Reid, whose article “The New Age” was printed in our March number. Because such details help us to realize how similar are the problems of Australia and the United States, both in the country at large and in spreading the Faith we believe our readers will be interested in some things Mr. Reid writes. He was removed, he tells us, from Wollongong where he and his wife worked to establish the Bahá’í Faith for eighteen months to Melbourne a city of 1,100,000 inhabitants, which,

[Page 32]32 WORLD ORDER

he says, “Offers a big field for Bahá’í work. At one time there was a local assembly here and down through the last twenty-four years there has been a great amount of work done and we hope to capitalize upon that work in our projected activities. . . . We are greatly cheered by the reports of your activities in America, and it gives us great pleasure to read, per medium of The Bahá’í News, of your publishing program, your publicity. and your lecturing and teaching ar‘ rangements which are far in advance of our activities here. There is a vital need in Australia for missionary or pioneer activity and if some of your people were moved to come here and settle here it would be of great benefit. The difficulty is, of course, (here as all over the world) we have a terrific housing problem and also an employment problem caused by the return to peace time production.”

We wish to give tardy recognition to two contributors whose poems have recently appeared in our pages. We are often unable to speak of contributors of poems in this department because short poems are slipped

in as fillers when the final dummy of the magazine is made up. Nell Griffith, whose poem “Song of Tomorrow” appeared in our January issue, won first prize, we are told, in the national poetry contest conducted by the Chattanooga Author’s and Artist’s Club. Her home is in Kenwood, California.

Ruth Foster Froemming whose poem, “Bahá’í” was in our February number is a woman of wide interests. She studied journalism at the University of California and has published a book of poems, taught piano and composed music, was Ziegfield Follies girl in 1919, is public speaker on world brotherhood, the founder and president of the St. Francis Animal Protective League in Milwaukee, the wife of Major Paul Froemming (manager of the Veterans’ home in Milwaukee) , the mother of four children with one son in service. Needless to say, she writes, “I am grooming myself to forcefully present 'the Bahá’í teachings to a world suffering from spiritual famine.”

—THE EDITORS.

[Page 33]

Tins book contams a; representanve selecuon of the Wntmga Of Bah u’llah and of ‘Abdu’l Baha, and 18 the largest collectlon ef- Bnhé’i7:7? " " 'gf.§;j....gghterature 1n Enghsh translatlon now avallahle 1n one volume ‘ “ l, 1 A detalled Table of Contents and ‘an Index make the Bah i teach IDES readlly acmelhle for study as well 88 1'68de “ml meditanon

The Pl‘j‘n of the hook arranges the contents 1n nme chaptem, as Eif°n°W5 "7‘ , , _ e _ J . . .-_ .

fjij> Part One—Wrmngs of Bahá ’Ilah .. . ,_._ -.

C Liter One—The Great Announcement H's‘II-g‘iChapter T wo—The Framed One ‘ '1 1’ "5 fChapter ThreeL—The Ltfe of the Soul ~ . [I hfltfii'vChapter Faur—Laws of the New Age ‘ ' 7 Chapter Fwe-The Mystery 0] God

Part Two—Wntlngs of ‘Abdu’l Baha _. " ‘ .ijgffChapter Szx—The F wk of Bahá’u’lláh _ «5:15 5; Chapter Seven Chapter Nme—-The Dwme Plan” ‘55 9"” 7’7 )‘.

will and Testament the Tablets and Addresses of ‘Abdu’l ma,__.;naz_ 3m HIS Testament and Plan for the World Order of Bah u’llah

The passages selected have been taken from fifteen dlfierent pub

hcahons as well as from the Nanonal Al'ChlVES ' ‘ ' t ‘

Prmted on thln fight paper and bound 1n green fahnkcnd 465 Egpagee Per copy, 81 50 . . A .