World Order/Volume 12/Issue 1/Text
WORLD ORDER
APRIL, 1946
THE WORLD BEYOND VICTORY — William Kenneth Christian
BAHÁ’Í CHILDREN AND THE PEACE — Amy Brady Dwelly
SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE — Eleanor Sweney Hutchens
THIS IS THE DAY OF FULFILMENT, Editorial — Gertrude K. Henning
THE DAWN-BREAKERS, Book Review — Bahiyyih Randall Ford
THE NEW CIVILIZATION — Beatrice Irwin
THE DAY OF GOD — Bahá’u’lláh
ROBERT TURNER — Louis Gregory
WITH OUR READERS
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
World Order was founded March 21, 1910 as Bahá’í News, the first organ of the American Bahá’ís. In March, 1911, its title was changed to Star of the West. Beginning November, 1922 the magazine appeared under the name of The Bahá’í Magazine. The issue of April, 1935 carried the present title of World Order, combining The Bahá’í Magazine and World Unity, which had been founded October, 1927. The present number represents Volume XXXVI of the continuous Bahá’í publication.
WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, Ill., by the Publishing
Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United
States and Canada. EDITORS: Garreta Busey, William Kenneth Christian,
Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
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Mrs. Gertrude K. Henning, Secretary
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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. Content copyrighted 1946 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title
registered at U. S. Patent Office.
ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
WORLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine
VOLUME XII APRIL, 1946 NUMBER 1
The World Beyond Victory
WILLIAM KENNETH CHRISTIAN
The 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 a 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,
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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 deep 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 cope 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 government—
with 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 would
have at its call a world police to
enforce its decrees. Unless we
can see this framework organized
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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 language— for 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 cooperate? We
must, besides a structure, have a
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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 national
scale multiplied internationally.
There must be, therefore, strengthening principles to enable a world government to work; principles which, by breaking down the barriers between groups, would enable international patriotism to grow; strengthening principles that would provide the soil where world citizenship will flourish. These strengthening principles are as important as the structure of world government itself.
First, we should shake off 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 sexes 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
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the restrictions of an inferior
position.
Fourth, 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 devotion 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 developed.
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
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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 Muḥammad. Muḥammad 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 feeling
of greater loyalty to the best
in their own spiritual tradition,
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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’u’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 ever-advancing 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 alone 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.
Bahá’í Children and the Peace
AMY BRADY DWELLY
Little children live in the
“Here and Now”. They
have forgotten yesterday. Tomorrow,
they cannot vision.
Only today is real. Only today 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 be 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
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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. Fear 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 diversity. 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 Wisdom 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 Father.
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“The only real difference 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, “O 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 allowances 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 consummate 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 ack-ack
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]
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 Glorious 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.
Successful Marriage
ELEANOR SWENEY HUTCHENS
BAHÁ’ÍS 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 nation: 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 wedlock 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 possibility 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 decide
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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 Bayán, the matter is restricted
to the consent of both
(the bride and the bridegroom).
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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 “in-laws”. 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 engagement is the perfect communication and the entire consent of both parties. However they must show 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 Marriage
The Bahá’í marriage ceremony itself is very simple but extremely solemn; for it is a covenant with God. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes 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 prophecy.
[Page 15]
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 forgive 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 hundred 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 How to Win Friends 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]
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 important 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. But Bahá’ís
believe that it is possible to increase
[Page 17]
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 sincerely turned unto God, is awakened by the call of the Beauty of El-Bahá 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! Verily 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 lovest My beauty, and forget not My counsels if thou wouldst attain My good pleasure.
Editorial
THIS IS THE DAY OF FULFILMENT
IN 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 Muḥammadan Faith
the Shíahs and the Sunnís have
been promised the return of the
Prophet in the Qá’im and the
Mihdí respectively. The Christians
await the return of the
Christ; the Zoroastrians, the
Sháh-Bahrám; the Jews, the Messiah;
the Hindus, the Krishna;
the Buddhists, the fifth Buddha.
The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh
and His Forerunner, 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, God Passes By. In comparing the likeness of the Báb to Jesus Christ, Shoghi Effendi says that “nowhere in the whole compass of the world’s religious literature, except in the Gospels, do we find any record relating to the death of any of the religion-founders of the past comparable to the martyrdom suffered by the Prophet of Shíráz (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 Báb 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 Fulfilment”. 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 (1844-1853) and Bahá’u’lláh (1853-1892).
The unique station of the Báb
paved the way for the advent of
Bahá’u’lláh Who was to be the
[Page 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 “divinely-ordained, world-embracing Community” has been formed in the establishment of the 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 . . .”
The Dawn-Breakers
BAHÍYYIH RANDALL FORD
The Dawn-Breakers, Nabíl’s narrative of the early days of the Bahá’í Revelation. Bahá’í Publishing Committee, 1932.
THE DAWN-BREAKERS is
a 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 world-shaking
in its effect. There are
deeds of almost unbelievable
heroism, man at his greatest, and
the forces of jealousy 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 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 twenty-second, 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]
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 Sháh, himself, sent his trusted personal representative to investigate the claim of the Prophet of Shíráz and this most erudite and sincere man fell under the spell of Báb 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 despair 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 merciful. 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 life
that 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]
time His body was riddled with
bullets. The onlookers had ringing
in their ears His final words:
“O 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 Bábís 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 Báb’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 Báb. 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 Baghdád. 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 Nabíl’s Narrative, the record of The Dawn-Breakers. Nabíl was in his early teens when he heard of the Báb and believed in Him. Many of the scenes he so graphically describes he, himself, 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 Nabíl 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 watched 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.
The New Civilization
BEATRICE IRWIN
The drama that has been unfolding
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
to the birth of a new
and global civilization.
Hitherto, civilizations have arisen here and there on our planet, but now a unified world-structure is in the making. History reveals the fact that all outstanding 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 to obey evolution’s law of progress.
(4) Necessity for adoption of key-words that summarized immediate needs and objectives of 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 receptivity 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]
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 detachment.
And then came Christ, whose overwhelming radiance conquered and eclipsed the arrogance of the Caesars, restoring to earth those freedoms which are borne 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 Cathedrals of Europe whose incredible 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 Muḥammad 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 ruthless disorder prevailing in Arabia, “Inshallah”, became the key word of Muḥammadanism, 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 of this faith grew a cultural
civilization 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 Sháh-Jehan
whose records as social
[Page 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 “Báb”, 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 Baghdád, when Mírzá Ḥusayn ‘Alí, 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 translated 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.
Therefore 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 ascended
[Page 26]
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 outlines 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 circulated 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 ‘Isqábád 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 symbols 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, O 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.
The Day of God
WORDS OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
III
O 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 despondent 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 by
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 irretrievable 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 way of righteousness. He is indeed as one dead who,
at the wondrous dawn of this Revelation, hath failed to be quickened by its
soul-stirring breeze. He is indeed a captive who hath not recognized the
Supreme Redeemer, but hath suffered his soul to be bound, distressed and
helpless, in the fetters of his desires.
O My servants! Deprive not yourselves of the unfading and resplendent 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. O My servants! My holy, 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 efforts 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! O 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 imperishable favor, this God-given grace, this incorruptible gift, this most potent and unspeakably glorious bounty.
Robert Turner
LOUIS G. GREGORY
BARE 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. Getsinger; Mrs. May
Maxwell; Mírzá ‘Ali-Kulí Khan;
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 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 His Welcome, ‘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]
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 brothers call “Iron Sight”, had his clear vision of reality. Henceforth he refused— to 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 passing inquiry revealed that his last 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 Mírzá ‘Ali-Kuli 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 estimation 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.
WITH OUR READERS
THAT the Bahá’í Faith is concerned
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 development
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,
Florida, 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 February
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 in God’s redemptive plan for
mankind. Mrs. Henning is secretary
of the editorial committee of World
Order and lives in Winnetka, Illinois.
[Page 31]
The review of The Dawn-Breakers
by Bahíyyih Randall Ford 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 Nabíl in The Dawn-Breakers.
This is Mrs. Ford’s first contribution
to World Order. Both she and her
husband, Mr. Harry Ford 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 February, 1945 issue. She is now
living in San Francisco, 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]
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 arrangements
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.”
Bahá’í World Faith
This book contains a representative selection of the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and is the largest collection of Bahá’í
literature in English translation now available in one volume.
A detailed Table of Contents and an Index make the Bahá’í teachings readily accessible for study as well as reading and meditation.
The plan of the book arranges the contents in nine chapters, as follows:—
- Part One—Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
- Chapter One—The Great Announcement
- Chapter Two—The Promised One
- Chapter Three—The Life of the Soul
- Chapter Four—Laws of the New Age
- Chapter Five—The Mystery of God
- Part Two—Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
- Chapter Six—The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh
- Chapter Seven—Soul, Mind and Spirit
- Chapter Eight—The Loom of Reality
- Chapter Nine—The Divine Plan
Each of these chapters has been treated as a unit of significance, and the sequence of the nine chapters conveys a sense of the unfoldment of the Bahá’í Dispensation in the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, His Will and Testament, the Tablets and Addresses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and in His Testament and Plan for the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
The passages selected have been taken from fifteen different publications as well as from the National Archives.
Printed on thin light paper and bound in green fabrikoid. 465 pages. Per copy, $1.50.
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois
Words of Bahá’u’lláh
Inscribed Over the Nine Entrances of the
House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois
- The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.
- The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me.
- My love is My stronghold; he that entereth therein is safe and secure.
- Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.
- Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.
- I have made death a messenger of joy to thee; wherefore dost thou grieve?
- Make mention of Me on My earth that in My heaven I may remember thee.
- O rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.
- The source of all learnings is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory.