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[Page 351]

MARCH. 1947

THE COMING OF THE BELOVED~—Mamiéh Gail-INSTITUTIONS FOR PEACE—Dorothy Baker MY PRAYER. Poem—Minnietta Taylor Kennedy RELIGION IN ACTION, EditorialflEleanor S. Hutchens DIVINE SI’RINGTIME, Compilation—Miriam Bugbee THE DAY 15 Now, Poem—Dumthy Helm THE MIRACLE IN YOUR LIFE—Marian Crist Lippitt 1‘4; A CALL TO AE1‘10N—-Sarah Martin Pereira

i E WITH OUR READERS

INDEX 15c

THE BAHA’I’ MAGAZINE

V-‘J‘Y'NTLI, M'J .

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

present numbér represents Volume XXXVII of the continuous Bahá’í publication.

WORLD ORDER is published ‘monthly in Wilmette. 1.11., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Eleanor S. Hutchens, William Kenneth Christian, Gertrude K. Henning, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.

Editorial Office Mrs. Gertrude K. Henning, Secretary 69 Asnorrsmnn Row, WINNE'IKA, ILL.

Publication Office 110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILME'rrE, ILL.

C. R. Wood, Business. Manager ‘ Printed in USA.

MARCH, [947, VOLUME XII, NUMBER 12

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $1.50 per year, for United States, its territories and possessions; for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 150'. Foreign subscriptions, $1.75. Make checks and money orders payable to World Order Magazine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette. Illinois. Entered as second dust matter April 1, 1940, at the post offxce at Wilmette. 111., under the Act of March 3. 1879. Content copyrighted 1947 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S, Patent Office.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE

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The Bahá’í Magazine

VOLUME XII

MARCH, 1947

NUMBER 12

The Coming of the Beloved

MARZIEH GAIL

HERE is a poem by Vachel

Lindsay called “The Chinese Nightingale.” It has a refrain that says “spring came on forever.” That is a lovely linespring came on forever. It expresses the season—its lack of finality and its recurrence.

Emerson says something like it in his famous address to the senior class of the Harvard Divinity School, which he gave in 1838. He speaks of “the neverbroken silence with which the old bounty goes forward. . . .”

Spring comes on and the old bounty goes forward. Men seem to have forgotten this. They have lost , hope—they are milling around in the shadow of the atomic bomb and they have forgotten the bounty and the yearly rebirth of hope.

About 2,000 years ago this Easter dayMary Magdalen had bought spices to anoint the body of Jesus the Christ. She went to the sepulchre in the garden and found it empty. The linen that had wrapped Him lay in the

tomb, and the cloth that had bound His head—but His body . was gone—and all these 2,000 years we have not known where it was laid to rest.

The Bahá’í Faith teaches that the resurrection is a symbolic, not a literal truth: “The resurrections of the Divine Manifestations are not of the body.” The Bible tells us that Jesus said He came from heaven—although all knew He was born of Mary. 01)viously, “heaven” has a spiritual significance. Just so, His “disappearance under the earth for three days has an inner signification, and is not an outward fact.” “In the same way, His resurrection . . . is also symbolical; it is a spiritual and divine fact, and not material. . . .” “Beside these explanations, it has been established . . . by science that the visible heaven is a limitless area, void and empty, where innumerable stars and planets revolve.”

The meaning, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, is that at His crucifixion His cause was like a lifeless

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[Page 354]354 body; the believers were troubled and agitated; then after three days they became steadfast, began to arise and serve—and the reality of Christ became resplendent. “. . . science and the intelligence affirm it.”

That dawn in the garden was the beginning of hope. From then on the theme of the disciples was not death, but life. And now, our theme is no longer death, but life. We have seen enough death.

This is the day when, to borrow a phrase from Thomas Mann, the Beloved has returned. The life of the spirit has been re introduced into human affairs. The Prophet of God has came

again. He is called in Bahá’í terminology “the supreme embodiment of all that is lovable.”

The Persian writer Sa‘id compares the coming of the Beloved to the sunrise. He says: “I remember one night that my beloved entered the door and I leapt up so quick that my sleeve caught the lamp and put it out. He sat down and began to abide me, saying, Why did you quench the lamp when you saw me? I said, ‘Because I thought the sun had risen’.”

People often ask for the Bahá’í teachings on what is heaven. Bahá’u’lláh says: “0 Son of Being! Thy Paradise is

My love; thy heavenly home, re

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union with Me. Enter therein and tarry not.”. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s favorite Christian hymn was “Nearer my God, to Thee.” He tells us that nearness is likeness—it is to be characterized with the characteristics of God, and We find them in the Divine Manifestations. World peace must be founded on these facts.

Today is the Bahá’í Festival of Riḍván. Riḍván may be translated as “the paradise of the good

pleasure of God.” On this day in 1863 Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed His mission—in a garden of Baghdad, called by Bahá’ís the garden of Riḍván.

Baghdad is a city of brown rivers and domes and palm trees. The garden of Riḍván is a hospital now. It is shadowy and cool, and all day long there you hear doves—thousands of doves.

Bahá’u’lláh was a nobleman, exiled from Persia—and shortly prior to His Declaration He hegan to give forth—revealflremarkable teachings. His companions knew that some great thing was about to happen. The historian says that “Many a night would [His amanuensis] gather them together in His room, light numerous camphorated candles, and chant aloud to them the newly revealed odes and tablets in his possession. Wholly oblivious of this . . . world, completely im [Page 355]COMING OF THE BELOVED

mersed in the realms of the spirit, forgetful of the necessity for food, sleep or drink, they" would suddenly discover that night had become day, and that the sun was approaching its zenith.”

This process of revelation is the gift only of the Prophet of God. It is different in kind from poetic inspiration and from academic and other types of thinking. It is the great contribution of the Bahá’í Faith to present-day problems—the supplementing of human thought with the thought of a Prophet of God. The writings of Bahá’u’lláh are available and you can study them and evaluate what this means.

And so this Easter coincides with another scene in another gardenmalso in the East, for all religions come from the Eastbut this time the garden was in Baghdad. It was during the season of roses. Visitors came to Bahá’u’lláh from all over Baghdad to say good-by to Him—for He was about to be exiled again. And early in the mornings, the gardeners would pick the roses and pile them in the center of Bahá’u’lláh’s tent —— and He would give them to various of His followers to take to His Arab and Persian friends in the city. This custom is still followed in Haifa; I have seen the Guardian of the Faith give flowers or handfuls of

petals from the holy shrines on Mount Carmel, to the friends.

This “Most Great F estival” took place during the twelve days prior to Bahá’u’lláh’s being exiled out of Baghdad. During those nights the moon was growing toward the full, and the nightingales were so loud that as He walked up and down the flowerbordered paths in the moonlight, only those followers who were near Him could distinctly hear His voice.

There is a remarkable Tablet about the Festival of Riḍván—it is in the Gleanings. In it the Prophet or Manifestation of God is referred to as the Pen—because He is moved by the Holy Spirit ( if this terminology is too theological for you, say He is moved by the tremendous power which stirs the Prophet of God), and writes as He is irresistibly moved to write. It is in part a colloquy between the Spirit and Bahá’u’lláh. It begins: “The Divine Springtime is come, 0 Most Exalted Pen, for the Festival of the All-Merciful is fast approaching. Bestir thyself, and magnify, before the entire creation, the name of God, and celebrate His praise, in such wise that all created things may be regenerated and made new . . . This is the Day whereon naught can be seen except the Splendors

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of the Light that shine from the face of Thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful . . .” And later the Pen halts, and this colloquy occurs:

“We have heard the voice of thy pleading, 0 Pen, and excuse thy silence. What is it that hath so sorely bewildered thee?” And the Pen answers—“The inebriation of Thy presence, 0 WellBeloved of all worlds, hath

seized and possessed me.” The mystics would understand

this: St. Theresa and John of the Cross and Rfimi and ‘Attér. This love is something that the mystics understand. It was St. Theresa who wrote: “Let mine eyes see Thee, sweet Jesus of Nazareth, Let mine eyes see Thee, and then see death.”

A week or so ago in the Saturday Review of Literature E1mer Davis brought out a now famous article called “No World, if Necessary.” It is a discussion of the book One World or None, described as a report to the public on the full meaning of the atomic bomb. This book is a collection of articles on the bomb and its implications, by American atomic scientists.

Elmer Davis emphasizes that the scientists state the problem but offer no solution—and he ends, “Has it occurred to them that if their one world turned out

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to be totalitarian and obscurationist [I looked up this word and it apparently means ‘striving to prevent enlightenment’] we might better have no world at all?”

Davis sees the need for a world language—which is one of the principles of our Faith. He also wants a world armed force, as the Bahá’ís do—this would be the most advanced army the world has ever known, serving the entire planet somewhat as a fire department puts ’out fires in a town. Davis says, I think very acutely, that the thirteen original states which federated had a common background as to institutions, traditions and thought.

It is precisely the function of the Bahá’í Faith to supply humanity with this common background. The Bahá’ís all have it, in the seventy-eight countries where the Faith has penetrated. To me it is miraculous that already a Persian peasant in a mountain village and a San Francisco matron walking down Post Street for instance, should have one and the same goal.

When I saw the representatives of the different nations together at the first United Nations Conference, they were many people, and they stayed many. Next week, when I hope to attend the Bahá’í Convention here, I shall

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see many different people who have become one.

How the unification of the human race has already been accomplished by Bahá’u’lláh is something for you to investigate. The world plan of Bahá’u’lláh is set forth in two short pages, in a wonderful statement by the Guardian of the Faith—called A Pattern for Future Society. There is nothing vague about the Bahá’í world of tomorrow. Although only the future can develop the infinitely varied and complex picture, we know the general outlines as Bahá’u’lláh

taught them to us in the second half of the 19th century.

The oneness of religions will be a vital factor in this world unification. Because it is not generally known in America that to be a Muslim you have to believe in both the Old Testament Prophets and Jesus, Whom the Muslims call The Spirit of God—Rfihu’lláh—I shall quote this statement of the Muhammadan belief from Qur’án II: 130: “Say ye: We believe in God, and that which hath been sent down to us, and that which hath been sent down to Abraham and Ismael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes: and that which hath been given to Moses and to Jesus, and

that which was given to the prophets from their Lord. No dif ference do we make between any of them: and to God are we resigned.” And to show the harmony between Jew and Muslim, there is this, from Qur’án 16: 121, 124: “Verily, Abraham was a leader in religion. . . .We have moreover revealed to Thee that Thou follow the religion of Abraham, the sound in faith.” Whenever people work to separate faiths, to revive old hatreds and further antagonisms, we should work to demonstrate their oneness.

The Bahá’í civilization is based on the fact that once again a Manifestation of God has appeared among men. It is through approaching Bahá’u’lláh that We have all become unified—however diversified we were before.

Our loyalty is to something beyond the horizons of this world —it is to something not ourselves that makes for righteousness, as Matthew Arnold says.

The fanatical Persians who opposed Bahá’u’lláh thought He attracted people through magic or through a substance which He mixed with the tea He served to His guests. But we whose eyes have never seen Him, for He died an Exile and Prisoner near ‘Akká in 1892—know that the magic was not in the tea.

In His Tablet to the Pope Pius IX, Bahá’u’lláh says: “The

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Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of a human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty . . .My body longeth for the cross, and Mine head waiteth the thrust of the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful, that. the world may be purged from its transgressions.”

It is very difficult to tell about the Bahá’í Faith; the teachings are so rich, so vast. Bahá’u’lláh wrote a hundred volumes—and there are also the writings of the

Bab, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi

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Effendi. It is hard to tell anything adequate of all this. It is like the Persian story of the holy man or mystic who was sitting under a tree, lost in meditation. His disciples sat around him, and when he returned to himself, they asked: Out of that garden whence you have come, what gift did you bring us? He said: “I had in mind when I should come to the rose-tree, to hold out my skirt and fill it with flowers as a gift to the friends. But when I reached there, the scent of the

roses so ravished my senses that my robe fell away from my

hands.”

Inasmuch as human interpretations and blind imitations difler.widely, religious strife and disagreement have risen among mankind, the light of true religion has been extinguished and the unity of the world of humanity destroyed. The Prophets of God voiced the spirit of unity and agreement. They have been the founders of divine reality. Therefore if the nations of the world foresake imitations and investigate the reality underlying the revealed Word of God they will agree and become reconciled. For reality is one and not multiple.

The nations and religions are steeped in blind and bigoted imitations. A man is a Jew because his father was a Jew. The Muhammadan follows implicitly the footsteps of his ancestors in belief and observance. The Buddhist is true to his heredity as a Buddhist. That is to say they profess religious belief blindly and without investigation, making unity and agreement impossible. It is evident therefore that this condition will not be remedied without a reformation in the world of religion.

—-‘ABpU’L-BAHA

[Page 359]Institutions for Peace DOROTHY BAKER

I FEEL it an unspeakably great

honor to be in the Nation’s capital and to have the pleasure of adding my few words to such a great subject, because we stand in the Nation’s nerve center here and I am aware that that nerve center was ordained by God to accomplish magnificent things for the world in this time.

I am aware, too, that I stand in a city that was visited in 1912 by the greatest teacher that the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh has ever known or will ever know, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the noble and illustrious son of Bahá’u’lláh Himself.

He was on one occasion invited to visit the home of Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, and at that function, attended by perhaps three hundred of the most illustrious of Washington, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá found himself seated between Mr. Bell and his charming wife, who labored under the great drawback and hindrance of inability to hear. Mr. Bell explained to the Master teacher of the World Faith that his lovely wife had been in this deprived condition for many years and yet

Address delivered at Bahá’í meeting held in Hall of Nations, Washington Hotel, Washington, D. C., December 5, 1945.

had maintained that same radiant spirit, and he confessed that it had been his original purpose not to find an instrument by which the world might hear, but rather an instrument by which his loved one might hear.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His gracious way, remarked that so had the searching alchemists found modern medicine and so had the explorers searching for the rich Indies discovered America, and then He said, “My calamity is my providence. Outwardly it is fire and vengance; inwardly it is light and mercy.”

I have thought of that during the great war. The world, passing through a veritable crucible of torture, will yet find in that great school of experience that lesson that is the true peace, and America, in sharing that cup of suffering, find her true leadership.

What is the peace we are seeking? Here we find a man who would like to have a peace that is kind to an enemy, though perhaps unrealistic in solving the problem of aggression. There we find one Who is interested in a harsh peace destined to thwart the best interests of the human race and to be an irritant for an 359

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other war. Again we have the man who is interested in a peace that is good for his special type of business, and again one who is interested in a peace that will make of his nation a world power. But I am going to ask you to look at the question of peace in the light of a growing civilization, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh.

Mr. H. G. Wells once wisely remarked that you could no more build the unity of the world out of unorganized aspiration than you oould make an engine out of steam. Now there are two types of world institutions that must grow and flourish together for peace; one is political, the other religious.

During His days in Washington ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said to one of America’s great leaders, “You can best serve your country if you strive in your capacity as a citizen of the world to assist in the eventual application of the principle of federalism underlying the government of your own country to the relationships now existing between the peoples and nations of the world.” The first institution for peace, then, must be an actual federation of the nations.

I often think back to a little incident that amused me very much. At one time the National

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Assembly of the Bahá’í friends of North America gathered in Toronto to speak on a program for peace, and to their con'iernation they discovered great headlines announcing on that very day England’s declaration of a state of war. But the King Edward Hotel filled its ballroom. The people had come to hear the story of the program for peace according to Bahá’u’lláh.

After the program there was much scurrying to and fro in the hotel, for long tables had been arranged in the foyer for the mobilization of troops. Among the scurrying ones were the young men who ran the elevators. They were charming young people, much attracted by the majors and colonels who were seated at the tables. About the third morning I found myself alone in the elevators with one of the young men. He stopped the elevator between the fourth and fifth floors and turned to me, saying, “My friends will take care of the calls, and they wish me to ask you some questions about the Bahá’í Peace Program. We are very much interested in the program and as we do not yet understand the war or what is to come after it, we felt that the Bahá’ís could help us. First, my friends wish to know whether

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you would advise us to mobilize.”

“That lies between you and God and the Canadian Government,” I replied, “but you must know the directions in which you are moving. If you wish to move forward you must move toward a federated world.”

“We have been reading about this,” he said, “but please tell me why you think it will work.”

“Why does Quebec never march against Ontario?”

“The Government at Ottawa would not permit it,” he replied, concluding, “Of course, the same protection exists between the states and in Australia and South Africa.”

“You must also work to overcome race prejudice, religious prejudice, economic injustice, and class distinctions. A federated world inspired by a great revelation from God can alone achieve true unity.”

Bahá’u’lláh, before San Francisco, before Ṭihrán, before the League of Nations, before the first Hague Conference, in exile at the hands of the Turkish regime of His time, took His pen and wrote His now famous Tablets to‘the Kings, depicting such a peace, describing its spirit, and stating its form.

He envisioned the world as a commonwealth, a commonwealth

tor private,

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of nations without right of secession.

Second, He recognized the common necessity of legislation, to be enacted by elected representatives of every nation, its laws sufiicing to hold together the people, equalize and make more stable world trade, protect the interests of the individual, control the gross accumulation of wealth on the one hand and mass poverty on the other; in short, to tap the resources of the planet and regularize their distribution.

Third, there must be a court whose final and compulsory verdict in any and all disputes must be accepted by all nations.

Fourth, there must be a world executive hacked by an international force—for we can no more suggest a world commonwealth without policing than we can consider the city of Washington without policing.

Fifth, a world capital will be the nerve center of the planet. A swift system of inter-communication, moving outward from the world capital will provide an unimpeded propaganda for peace and justice. A world calendar, script, currency, and a common language will be chosen, and a freed press, no longer manipulated by vested interests, public will educate the

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world in all matters of public interest.

Such a world commonwealth must stabilize and universalize true education. There should be no dark continent. Such a commonwealth must rid the earth of race prejudice and minority suppressions. Such a world commonwealth must be prepared to liberate religion from persecution. God direct it!

But now we are coming to a field that is a little more elusive; the field of religion. Can there be in this field, also, an institution for peace? The question naturally arises, what structure? Can it preserve the recognition of the universal Father, God, unite the basic truth of the ages, bring the very essence of peace, and never forget its true goals?

Religion is equipped and empowered to do all this. All of the powers of the earth, leagued against true religion, cannot deflect it from its goals. All of the powers of ancient Rome were impotent against the rising tide of Judaism and later, Christendom. Can religion again prove its power to withstand its opposers and build a world?

A young woman Whose forbears were born in Persia returned to the land of her fathers and visited the palace of the former Shah of Persia, whose reign

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had witnessed more than twenty thousand Bahá’í martyrdoms. She recalled the warning words of Bahá’u’lláh: “The generations that are gone before you, whither are they fled? And those ’round Whom have circled the fairest and loveliest Of the land, where now are they?” She looked in wonder at the creaking hinges, vacant stairs and empty doors and windows of the palace, at the aged vines falling on the trellises, at the once beautiful blue tiled pool, cracked and strange in the heat of a glaring sun. Where was the beauty of the garden into which a once powerful monarch had poured his wealth? Gone, as if it had never been! A political enemy had ruthlessly uprooted that fleeting power. But the Faith he had persecuted, what of that? The Faith that he had persecuted had assumed the form of a world community that flowed like tributaries of pure water through seventy-eight countries, seventy-eight stateways, obedient to every Government that it touched, blessing the life of the people. The young Faith, strong and hardy, though obscure in numbers, had outlived its tormenters.

N0, the very root and structure of world religion must become

the institution for peace. Bahá’u’lláh said, “That which the

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Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-pOWerful and inspired Physician.”

Bahá’u’lláh gave to the world a Book of Laws, providing for marriage and divorce, a new system of taxation, inheritance, and treatment of criminals; denouncing those social and spiritual corrosions to which we have become all too accustomed; and enjoining upon men the fragrance of cleanliness, courtesy, justice and kindly living. In the Law is the healing and harmony of the whole world. Here is no idle philosophy, but a growing community living according to its Cod-inspired Laws. Surely this cannot be confused with the modern trend to unorganized aspirations, beginning and ending in words.

The Bahá’í World Community is a spiritual commonWealth with law and leadership. It too has its capital, its nerve center, its chief executive. After the passing of Bahá’u’lláh the leadership of the young community was entrusted to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the illustrious son of Bahá’u’lláh Himself, and

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he in turn gave it into the hands of the first Guardian, his own grandson, Shoghi Effendi. The spiritual leadership, established originally by Bahá’u’lláh in His book of laws, provides the right to interpret His truth and produces a more profound unity than any political structure the political world can conceive. Moreover, the spiritual genius of a prophet of God goes on in the generations that live after Him.

This commonwealth is selfgoverning, and completely free from party or factional domination. Democratic elections are held annually for the selection of Houses of Justice, or Assemblies. The Assemblies, from 10cal to international Bahá’í life, have final power in the direction of community affairs. A11 races, classes, and religious backgrounds freely intermingle.

The World Community of Bahá’u’lláh is an actual and organic unity, a community which in India can live above the untouchable line, which in Germany can live above the Jewish question, which in England can live above the class question, which in the Holy Land can live above the religious differences, and which in this great America can live above our racial differences. Here is a spiritual com [Page 364]364

monwealth so democratic in its influence, so God-guided in its goals, that Alfred Martin wrote this statement regarding it: “Who shall say but that just as the little company of the Mayflower landing on Plymouth Rock proved to be the small beginning of a mighty nation, the ideal germ of a democracy which if true to its principle may yet overspread the habitable globe, so the little company of Bahá’ís exiled from their Persian home may yet prove to be the small beginning of the world-wide movement, the ideal germ of democracy in religion, the universal church of mankind.”

The voice of religion and the voice of world federation will unite, for they are expressions of one growing reality; they are the Will of God. The forces of life in the world religion are the forces of life in the new world state. As they come together somewhere in our distant future, with no liberties lost and with all rights preserved, then we will see through the eyes of Bahá’u’lláh, the reality of true civilization. Revealing a fore-glimpse, Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Faith, writes: “A world F ederal system ruling the entire planet and exercising unchallengable authority over its unimaginably v a s t resources, blending and embodying the

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ideals of both East and West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries~a system in which force is made the servant of justice and whose life is sustained by the universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common revelation, this is the goal toward which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving.”

I close with a remnant of ancient Persian lore. There is in Persian poetry the dramatic figure of Majnun, a love whose heart burned with love for Lyla. The day came when the king was curious to see the famed beauty of the one so loved by Majnun. He sent for Lyla and looked upon her beauty with indifferent eyes, failing to see in her form and countenance the loveliness apparent to those more discerning. Majnun, reading in the eyes of the king his doubt and disappointment, sprang to his feet and cried, “0h, King, if you would behold Lyla, see her through the eyes of Majnun!”

I beg of you to look with hope upon a dawning civilization and see it through the eyes of a great Prophet, for if you look only through a political glass, you see a body open to accident every day, and if you look only through the eyes of the businessman, you will see an economic structure

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that in a fortnight may fall. But when you look through the eyes of Bahá’u’lláh you will see growing institutions dedicated to permanent peace. Mankind has come of age; his new civilization must be scientific, universal, and soul satisfying. May the capital of this great nation assist us all to arise as never before to that leadership of which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His well-loved visit spoke when He said: “America will lead all nations spiritually.”

MY PRAYER MINNIETTA TAYLOR KENNEDY

Give unto this Thy servant Lord

An understanding heart

That I may see and comprehend, in

Whole and not in part, The sorrows that lie hidden deep

In every human heart.

Give unto this Thy servant Lord

That all embracing love That takes in king and carpenter and thief

And God above.

Give unto this Thy servant Lord That kind and healing grace That takes away all earthly sting

Revealing to each mortal thing The glory of Thy face.

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Etlitoria/

NCE ‘Abdu’l-Bahá defined a

Bahá’í as “one endowed with all the perfectionsof man in activity.” We understand that one of the chief functions of religion is to draw us nearer to God. We are coming to realize that religion is the alchemy by which coarse, harsh, selfish perlonality is transmuted to fine, noble character. We are perhaps legs often reminded that religion involves activity. It cannot be passive.

As we think more deeply about the subject we see that the possession of the attributes of God, the perfections of men, implies activity. One cannot have the quality of compassion without wishing to feed the starving, to clothe the tattered, to find shelter for the homeless, and'to comfort the grieved. Our great example, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, showed us to what extent our compassion should be expressed in action when He gave away His own cloaks, never keeping more than one for His own use. He gave to the poor in this country of the money that would have made the difference between His riding in comfort by Pullman instead of sleeping in

Religion in Action

the coaches in spite of His age and strenuous schedule.

One cannot possess justice without acting with justice in making each decision. Would a Bahá’í be just if he supported a union in an unfair demand upon management? Would he be just if he was instrumental in crushing the working man by depriving him of adequate pay for work well done, by forcing him to work long hours or under unsafe or unhealthful conditions? Justice requires that a man not align himself with any faction or class of society, but that he act according to that high standard of fairness which chooses “right” over “gain”, and “what is the best for all” over “what is the best for me”. A desire for justice would influence our choices in every department of life.

Many of our actions as well as our feelings will be changed when our hearts are filled with love, for instance. Can we injure our companions with unkind words or destroy another’s reputation by gossip if we are full of love? Can we hold ourselves aloof from our fellowman because he speaks another language, or has a dark skin (or a

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light one), or worships God differently? Can we avoid working wholeheartedly for full international cooperation and lasting world peace when we know that the alternative is the death and maiming of our brothers the world over? Bahá’u’lláh not only helps us to deve10p the love that makes wars unthinkable to us, but He gives us help in organizing the nations of the world politically and economically so that war may not destroy the world.

Surely knowledge and wisdom would be considered among the perfections of man. Knowledge, when it is applied in science can help bind the nations together by means of the radio, the newspaper, the airline. It can shorten working hours and give men more time for spiritual development. It can increase the food yield from the world’s arable land and reduce starvation. It can bring us understanding of the history, goals, and motives of the nations of the world with which we must learn to cooperate. Wisdom is perhaps knowledge used with love, compassion, justice and’ prayer. Only the pure in heart, the selfless, can be wise. That, too, is part of becoming Bahá’í-like.

There are many other qualities which our lives must express if our religion becomes active.

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For each of them we could develop a similar discussion—mercy, forgiveness, industry, truthfulness, courtesy, faith—how the world needs actions reflecting all of these!

Because Bahá’u’lláh had all of the perfections, He was grieved by the problems that beset men. He gave us instructions showing us how we could first eliminate the prejudices and difficulties in our own hearts—and then how we could bring about the necessary changes in society to solve the problems.

America’s great problem is that of race. Bahá’u’lláh helps us to feel love for all members of the human family and to deal justly with everyone, carrying our crusade for justice into society as a whole.

We’ve already suggested that Bahá’u’lláh made very practical suggestions for the bringing about of permanent international peace and for the bringing about of industrial justice. The method of consultation which he gave to Bahá’ís, when practiced with complete unselfishness and desire for truth, is the machinery by which both domestic and international cooperation may be suceessful.

The “divorce problem”, the “juvenile delinquency problem”, and a great array of disorders

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which arise from today’s widespread laxness of morality disappear under the rigid character discipline prescribed by Bahá WORLD ORDER

’3’

ity. This month in the Baha 1 calendar is the month of Loftiness during which We observe the Fast and endeavor to purify ourselves

of imperfections. By doing a single just act we become more jiist. By cheering a single lonely Soul we hgcome more loving. By such small beginnings our religion translates itself into ac tion.——E. S. H.

’u’lláh.

It would seem that our whole social structure is built upon loftiness of individual character, and that problems arise from our own imperfections of personal Who, contemplating the helplessness, the fears and miseries of humanity in this day, can any longer question the necessity for a fresh revelation of the quickening power of God’s redemptive love and guidance? Who, witnessing on one hand the stupendous advance achieved in the realm of human knowledge, of power, of skill and inventiveness, and viewing on the other the unprecedented character of the sufferings that afflict, and the dangers that heset, present-day society, can be so blind as to doubt that the hour has at last struck for the advent of a new Revelation, for a restatement of the Divine Purpose, and for the consequent revival of those spiritual forces that have, at fixed intervals, rehabilitated the fortunes of human society? Does not the very operation of the world-unifying forces that are at work in this age necessitate that He Who is the Bearer of the Message of God in this day should not only reaffirm that seIf-same exalted standard of individual conduct inculcated by the Prophets gone before Him, but embody in His appeal, to all governments and peoples, the essentials of that social code, that Divine Economy, which must guide humanity’s concerted efforts in establishing that allembracing federation which is to signalize the advent of the Kingdom of God on this earth?

E —SHocHI EFFENDI 3 . 5

[Page 369]Divine Springtime A Compilation F mm the Bahá’í Writings MIRIAM BUGBEE

HE world spiritual is like

unto the world phenomenal. They are the exact counterpart of each other. Whatever objects appear in this world of existence are the outer pictures of the world of heaven. When we look upon the phenomenal world we perceive that it is divided into four seasons; one is the season of spring, another the season of summer, another autumn and then these three seasons are followed by winter. When the season of spring appears in the arena of existence the whole world is rejuvenated and finds new life. The soul-quickening bounty is everywhere; the cloud of mercy showers down its rain and the sun shines upon everything. Day by day we perceive that the signs of vegetation are all about us. Wonderful flowers, hyacinths and roses perfume the nostrils. The trees are full of leaves and blossoms, and the blossoms are followed by fruit. The spring and summer are follower by autumn and winter. The flowers wither and are no more; the leaves turn gray and life has gone. Then comes another springtime; the former springtime is re newed; again a new life stirs within everything.

• * *

The appearances of the manifestations of God are the divine springtime. When His Holiness Christ appeared in this world it was like the vernal bounty; the outpouring descended; the efiulgences of the Merciful encircled all things; the human world found new life. Even the physical world partook of it. The divine perfections were upraised; souls were trained in the school of heaven so that all grades of human eixstence received life and light. Then by degrees these fragrances of heaven were discontinued; the season of winter came upon the world; the beauties of spring vanished; the excellences and perfections passed away; the lights and quickening were no longer evident; the phenomenal world and its materialities conquered everything; the spiritualities of life were lost; the world of existence became like unto a lifeless body; there

was no trace of the spring left.

• * at:

His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh came to renew the life of the world

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with this new and divine springtime which has pitched its tent in the countries of the Orient in the utmost power and glory. It has refreshed the world of the Orient and there is no doubt that if the world of the Occident should abandon dogmas of the past, turn away from empty imitations and superstitions, investigate the reality of the divine religions, holding fast to the example of His Holiness Jesus Christ, acting in accordance with the teachings of God and becoming unified with the Orient, an eternal happiness and felicity would be attained.

• * *

In this century of the “latter times” Bahá’u’lláh has appeared and so resuscitated spirits that they have manifested powers more than human. Thousands of His followers have given their lives and while under the sword, shedding their blood, they have proclaimed “Ya-Bahá’u’l-Abhá !” Such resuscitation is impossible except through a heavenly potency, a power supernatural, the divine power of the Holy Spirit. Through a natural and mere human power this is impossible. Therefore the question arises, “How is this resuscitation to be accomplished?”

There are certain means for this accomplishment by which

mankind is regenerated and quickened with the new birth. This is the “second birth” mentioned in the heavenly books. Its accomplishment is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The resuscitation or rebirth of the spirit of man is through the science of the love of God. It is through the efiicacy of the water of life. This life and quickening is the regeneration of the phenomenal world. After the coming of the spiritual springtime, the falling of the vernal showers, the shining of the Sun of Reality, the blowing of the breezes of perfection, all phenomena become imbued with the life of a new creation and are reformed in the process of a new genesis. Reflect upon the material springtime. When winter comes the trees are leafless, the fields and meadows withered, the flowers die away into dust-heaps; in prairie, mountain and garden no freshness lingers, no beauty is visible, no verdure can be seen. Everything is clad in the robe of death. Wherever you look around you will find the expression of death and decay. But when the spring comes, the showers descend, the sun floods the meadows and plains with light; you will observe creation clad in a new robe of expression. The showers have made the meadows green and

[Page 371]DIVIN E SPRINGTIME

37’1

verdant. The warm breezes have ual springtime in which we are

caused the trees to put on their garments of leaves. They have blossomed and soon will produce new, fresh and delightful fruits. Everything appears endowed with a newness of life; a new animus and spirit is everywhere visihle. The spring has resuscitated all phenomena and has adorned the earth with beauty as it willeth.

Even so is the springtime spiritual when it comes. When the holy, divine manifestations or prophets appear in the world, a cycle of radianceran age of mercy dawns. Everything is renewed. Minds, hearts and all human forces are re-formed, perfections are quickened, sciences, discoveries and investigations are stimulated afresh and everything appertaining to the virtues of the human world is revitalized. Consider this present century of radiance and compare it with the past centuries. What a vast difference exists between them! How minds have developed! How perceptions have deepened How discoveries have increased! What great projects have been accomplished! How many realities have become manifest! How many mysteries of creation have been probed and penetrated

What is the cause of this? It is through the efficacy of the spirit living. Day by day the world attains a new bounty. In this radiant century neither the old customs nor the old sciences, crafts, laws and regulations have remained. The old political principles are undergoing change and a new body-politic is in process of formation. Nevertheless some whose thoughts are congealed and whose souls are bereft of the light of the Sun of Reality seek to arrest this development in the world of the minds

of men. Is this possible? >x< >I< *

Therefore we must strive with life and heart that. the material and physical world may be reformed, human perception become keener, the merciful eflulgence manifest and the radiance of reality shine. Then the star of love shall appear and the world of humanity become illumined. The purpose is that the world of existence is dependent for its progress upon re- formation; otherwise it will he as dead. Consider, if a new springtime failed to appear, what would be the effect upon this globe, the earth? Undoubtedly it would become desolate and life extinct. The earth has need for an annual coming of Spring. It is necessary that a new bounty should be forthcoming. If it comes not, life

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would he efiaced. In the same way the world of spirit needs new life, the world of mind necessitates new animus and development, the world of souls a new bounty, the world of morality a re-formation, the world of divine effulgence ever new bestowals. Were it not for this replenishment the life of the world would become efiaced an d extinguished. . . . If no rain falls all life organisms will perish. If new light does not come the darkness of death will envelop the earth. If a new springtime does not arrive life upon this globe will be obliterated.

• * a:

If these material tendencies are in such need of re-formation, how much greater the need inthe

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world of human spirit, the world of human thought, perception, virtues and bounties! Is it possible that that need has remained stationary while the world has been advancing in every other condition and direction? It is impossible. .

• * *

This is the springtime of manifestation. The vernal shower has descended from the cloud of divine mercy; the life-giving breeze of the Holy Spirit is waiting the perfume of blossoms. From field and meadow rises a fragrant breath of thanksgivng like pure incense ascending to the throne of God. The world has become a new world; souls are quickened, spirits reneWed, refreshed. Truly it is a time for happiness.

THE DAY IS NOW DOROTHY HELM

The Day is now, and God hath said to me, “Go tell the peoples on this earth be free, Be courteous, be kind, be helpful too

One with another!” He would have ye do Such things as will assist and not destroy

By wrongful thought or act the pure alloy Of good, that lies within the hearts of men. The Way is lighted! He is come again!

[Page 373]V The Miracle in Your Life

MARIAN CRIST LIPPITT

HERE is in the world today

certain knowledge that is the

most revolutionizing force ever to be acquired in the history of mankind. It is vital information which every human being needs ur ' gently, that every one of us can

use to tremendous advantage.

Rich and poor, educated and uneducated, statesman and beggar, black, white, red and yellow, religionist or atheist—each in his own way can partake of this knowledge and find his life enriched, truly transformed, thereby. It is as universal as the cry of the human heart: how can I get happiness out of life? And it is as thrilling as the answer to that eternal cry could be.

New discoveries are always thrilling. The discovery of what we call “atomic energy” in this age has shown mankind the revolutionizing pOWer that newly discovered knowledge can bring to man. Converting matter into energy! Today We can only begin to fathom what it may mean to possess the secret of such infinite force.

Yet the knowledge referred to now is a key to a potency even greater than that of atomic energy. It is a power that can, and

eventually will, change mankind’s abasement into glory; change humanity’s weakness into strength; change man’s personal powerlessness into might; change our individual, destructive fears into a constructive sense of calm; and change all harrowing doubts to a glorious certainty.

What would such a force mean to you?

Let us return for a moment to the thought of atomic energy. Its development has probably already had a definite efiect on your life in bringing the war to a sudden close. Nearly everyone in the whole world knows that a new explosive has been discovered. But the ultimate outcome lies far ahead in the future. You and I may look forward to an automobile or airplane which, by using this energy, will operate for months or even years at practically no cost. We can imagine mechanical devices that will automatically remove dirt from the air and so eliminate countless man-hours—or, perhaps more properly, woman-hours—of endless cleaning. We may visualize an air-conditioned world of comfortable, even temperatures. We can picture the earth as a place

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where travel and limitless communication will be available to all. We may dream of a life in which all laborious drudgery will be performed automatically by machines, leaving man free to develop his mind and spirit.

These are some of the visions prompted by the advent of such limitless power. And even then we probably have not even begun to plumb the possibilities inherent in applied atomic energy.

Nevertheless, we know that before our dreams may come true there must be a medium of transmission between this unfathomed power and man’s need of power. Science tells us that so terrific is the amount of energy put at man’s disposal through the breaking down of a single atom that the problem now looms almost insurmountable of “stepping down” the power to human terms and to units small enough to apply to practical uses.

Is this problem not parallel with the spiritual problem facing mankind today?

For nineteen hundred years ago Christ brought to the world the revolutionizing knowledge of a similar, though far greater, Power—the Power of the Holy Spirit. He did not merely tell about It—He put It to work in such hearts as were receptive to It. He indicated that this Power

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was great enough to bring God’s Kingdom “on earth as it is in Heaven”—or in other words, great enough to spiritualize the entire earthly kingdom.

That Power which He introduced into the world was more potent and far-reaching than that of the atomic bomb. It gradually created a new civilization; it eventually built the foundation for the greatest nation in the world, the most amazing amalgamation of divers human beings yet achieved on earth.

But here again the ultimate outcome lay far ahead in the future. So Christ taught men to dream ahead into that future and work for the glorious benefits later to be had through developing this immortal Power. We were to expect miraculous personal achievements that He said would surpass the miracles performed by Himself. He ennunciated God’s Promise of ultimate joys unimaginable: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

Yes, Christ introduced to mankind a new power of a spiritual nature; yet in spite of all of its resultant transformations in the life of mankind, what He gave was, and could be, only a start. He instructed man to look toward

[Page 375]MIRACLE IN YOUR LIFE

the future for the real fulfillment. It was for a future coming of God’s Kingdom on earth that He taught men to pray. And He stated clearly that His was only an introductory Message, limited because of His listeners’ immaturity: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all Trut .” We who think we would have accepted His Words had We lived in His day, should listen intently to such Truths, for only those living today, can comprehend their full import. It was for us that He uttered those Words.

Christ brought to the world the transcendant Power of the Holy Spirit, and in the struggle of the subsequent ages It made Itself felt with the force and potency of an atomic bombshell bursting. But the establishment of that Power in its full potentialities on earth could only come after centuries of seeking to develop that Power; centuries of faithful praying and striving. Cod, long ago, promised, “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and even upon the servants and upon the

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handmaids in those days I will pour out My Spirit.” He also foretold, through Isaiah, that at that time the potency of “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.” That last statement has special significance to the followers of the Bahá’í World Faith today.

For Bahá’ís have reason to believe that the long-promised day of fulfillment is at hand. We believe that “He the Spirit of Truth” is come, and that He is waiting now to lead us, through God’s recently recorded Revelation, into “all Truth”.

It appears that just as there must be a mechanical medium between atomic energy and man’s need of mechanistic power, so too there must be a medium, at once divine and human, between the Power of God and man’s need of inner power; a medium or intermediary instrument that will “step down” the infinite energy to actual ways of answering finite longings and individual soul neediz A spiritual mechanism had to he Efiated to establish a positive connection between the unfathomable force‘ of the Holy Spirit and our own outreaching for strength, faith, assurance and spiritual poteneyn

Such a spiritual mechanism

God has, in His mercy and fulfill

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ment of His own promises, created and given to man in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. And the required Intermediary between the infinitude of God’s Power and man’s finite, spiritual needs, is God’s Revelator for the new age, Founder of the Bahá’í World Faith. This cataclysmic discovery comes to those who have sincerely investigated the new Revelation with open minds and receptive hearts.

And those who have made the discovery are impelled to dedicate their lives to transmitting the thrilling news of God’s majestic Gift to the world. Not as missionaries preaching a creed; not as religionists seeking to make converts; but merely as heralds, we Bahá’ís give out the call and offer the open Book, that each may make his own investigation and tests of this new Source of Power.

Is there a single individual today whose heart does not hold a need for such transforming Power—some feeling of abasement to be changed to a radiant glory; some weakness that he longs to convert into a strength; some inadequacy and powerlessness that successful living requires to be replaced by spiritual might? Surely every human he WORLD ORDER

ing longs for his fears to be superseded by calm and assurance. Surely each one of us prays in his inmost being that certainty may sweep away his doubts. Bahá’u’lláh brings us God’s promise that such miracles can be achieved, here on earth, irrespective of external conditions, regardless of our own impotence. His Message not only tells us what to do, but brings us the infinite Power wherewith to actually .efiect these transforma-‘ tions. Rich and poor, educated and uneducated, statesman and beggar, religionist and atheistwhoever and wherever you are, there is for you in the teachings of fiahzi’uilláh exactly what is needed for_the miracle in your life. ' " Bahá’u’lláh, speaking impersonally of Himself as a Messenger of God, issues the challenge with almost frightening simplicity—frightening when we think of how easily the glorious bounty oflered may he missed by ignoring His Words which are made without compulsion and leave each heart free to make its own choice: “He hath but to deliver this clear message. Whosoever desireth, let him turn aside from this counsel; and whosoever desireth, let him choose the path to his Lord.”

[Page 377]A Call to Action

SARAH MARTIN PEREIRA

HE following prophetic words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá warn us of the impending danger into which race hatred may yet plunge our country, unless we exert a “tremendous effort” to avoid it. He says: “This question of the union of the white and the black is very important, for if it is not realized, erelong great difficulties will arise, and harmful results will follow.” “If this matter remaineth without change, enmity will be increased day by day, and the final result will be hardship and may end in bloodshed.” The seriousness of the social corruption known as race prejudice need not cause us to despair, for a Divine Physician has already prescribed the antidote for the poisonous bigotry that besets the patient. Furthermore, the medicinal ingredients are provided and the remedy is “at hand. We, the Bahá’ís of the United States, have only to administer it. To hesitate or delay is folly.

Love, sincerity, fraternity between men who are convinced of their equality, comprise the remedy for men’s individual frustration and hence for social unrest.

Those who are spiritually mature and who see things with the

clear vision of the inner eye undimmed by selfishness, greed, or sectionalism, can not stand by idly and see injustice thrive. Shoghi Effendi referring to the colored and white Bahá’ís writes, “Let neither think that they can wait confidently for the solution of this problem until the initiative has been taken, and the favorable circumstances created by agencies that stand outside the orbit of their Faith. Let neither think that anything short of genuine love, extreme patience, true humility, consummate tact, sound initiative, mature wisdom, and deliberate, persistent, and prayerful effort, can succeed in blotting out the stain which this pat. ent evil has left on the fair name of their common country.” Bahá’u’lláh assures us that confirmations in the form of divine assistance will come to our aid when we set our feet steadfastly/in His illumined path. He says: :“This Day a door is open wider\than both heaven and earth. The eye of the Mercy of Him Who is the Desire of the‘ worlds is turned towards all men.” ”It is the special privilege of men who are fortunately aware of the significance of this

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Day of God to so conduct themselves that by their example and

their daily demonstration of the V ‘

workability of the noble principles of the Bahá’í Faith, those who yearn for a better way of living may be attracted to those whose hearts have been quickened with the “fire of the love of God.” All men may see God. Let the Bahá’ís direct them to the Light. Deeds are the stand ard! '

The colored people must he encouraged to put aside their age-old distrust of the white man. Their suspicion of the sincerity of other men must be replaced by faith and a willingness to judge men by their actions. What greater proof of honesty can there be than for men to practice the principle of the oneness of mankind, because they believe in the divine wisdom of Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of their religious Faith, and Whose holy mission it has been to proclaim the unity of mankind?

And the white people must walk steadfastly and consistently along the path of justice for all men. Such is the divine command by which the Bahá’ís are activated. The spiritual rewards are assured for men who contribute

WORLD ORDER

even one act daily toward the “spirit of oneness.

“An act, however infinitesimal, 'is, when vieWed in the mirror‘ of the knowledge of God, mightier than a mountain. Every drop proffered in His path is as the sea in that mirrorfi"

What formerly difficult task does not seem immeasureably facilitated, when we are convinced of the approval of our Creator!

The Bahá’ís are working consistently and bravely to secure the sustained cooperation and loving fraternity of all men. In the place of defamation and toleration, the Bahá’ís have substituted appreciation; and instead of division, association. May God speed their efforts so that the dangerous course, so greatly feared by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, may be deflected “and the materialization of the hopes He cherished for their joint contribution to the fulfillment of that country’s (United States of America) glorious destiny” may become a reality!

“For this is the Day which the one true God, Glorified be He, hath announced in all His Books unto His Prophets and His Messengers.”

[Page 379]

WITH OUR READERS

“THE Coming of the Beloved”, by

Marzieh Gail, was first presented as a talk on Easter Sunday, 1946, at the Bahá’í House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois. Mrs. Gail is a student of ability both of the Bahá’í writings and of secular subjects, having degrees from California and Stanford Universities. She has traveled widely and for two years was the only newspaper woman in Ṭihrán where she conducted columns in Persian, French and English. Her knowledge of the Persian and Arabic languages enables her to study the Bahá’í writings in the original languages and she has assisted her father, Ali-Kuli Iglén, in the translation of certain Bahá’í scriptures. Mrs. Gail is a member of the Bahá’í News Committee, the Bahá’í World Committee, the Visual Aids Committee, the Public Relations Committee and serves the Faith both as a writer and speaker. In our August, 1946, issue was her “Event in Hamadén”. Her home is in San Francisco.

“Institutions for Peace” is also a public talk, given by Dorothy Baker before a large audience in Washington. Mrs. Baker is well known both to Bahá’ís and to friends of the Bahá’í Faith for her unceasing service to the Faith as a speaker, a writer, a traveler and administrator. She has traveled extensively in Latin American countries in the interests of the Bahá’í Faith. At present she is chairman of the Bahá’í National Assembly and of the Bahá’í Inter America Committee. Her home is in Lima, Ohio.

March 21, the day of the spring equinox, is celebrated throughout the Bahá’í world as Naw-Rúz, New Year’s Day. The excerpts from Bahá’í writings entitled “Divine Springtime” compiled by Miriam Bugbee, therefore, seem well fitted for this March issue of our Bahá’í magazine. Mrs. Bugbee is an active teacher of the Bahá’í Faith whose home is in Phoenix, Arizona. This is her first contribution to World Order.

“The Miracle in Your Life” comes as a first contribution from Marion Crist Lippitt, who lives in Charleston, West Virginia, where she settled a few years ago to help build up that community to assembly status.

Sarah Martin Pereira sends “A Call to Action” as her first contribution to World Order. Dr. Pereira has degrees from Western Reserve and Ohio State Universities and from the latter received her doctorate and she has held several teaching positions in French and Spanish. At present she is teaching Spanish in Cleveland College of Western Reserve and at Fenn College, Cleveland. In both these colleges she is the first negro faculty member. Dr. Pereira tells us that she is a second generation Bahá’í. For two years she served on the Green Acre Program Committee and has taught at Green Acre Summer School. She is chairman of the

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Cleveland Bahá’í Assembly and is active in teaching the Faith in that city.

Eleanor Hutchens’ editorial “Religion in Action” supplements well Dr. Pereira’s “Call to Action.” The

theme cannot be over emphasized.

The two poems appearing in this issue are both by new contributors to World Order. Dorothy Helm is a member of the Local Spiritual Assembly of Louisville, Kentucky. Minnietta Taylor Kennedy’s home is in Chestertown, Maryland.

The index for volume XII completes this issue.

• § l

The April issue of World Order, beginning a new volume (XIII) , will appear in a new cover with new material on the inside front cover and an interesting title page. Won’t you let us know whether or not you consider the change an improvement.

The magazine needs the help of all Bahá’ís and all can help in one way or another. We need more subscribers, more copies in libraries, more gift subscriptions, more copies passed on to interested friends. Some communities are successful in putting W orld Order on the newsstand. Above all we need more well-written and appealing articles, so that every Bahá’í will find the magazine indispensable for his OWn growth and in teaching others. The editors wish to constantly raise the standard of the content of the magazine. The Guard‘ ian asks us in all our teaching work to reach both the leaders and the masses. To do this we need many

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types of articles, but all should he well-written, straightforward, and

should carry the spiritual potency of Bahá’u’lláh’s Message.

Q G I

An interesting letter from the Bahá’í National Assembly of India suggests some things our readers in India would like to see in W 0er 0rder: “The Publishing Committee reports the publicity of World Order in the libraries of India and Burma. In a recent letter from the Bahá’í Publishing Committee they state: ‘You will be glad to note that W orld Order is continually supplied to libraries of all universities of India, and they prize it so much that in case a copy is lost in transit, they write for it until they get it to complete that particular volume for their library. They get it bound in costly leather and list it in their Religious Section. World Order has also proved a good medium to prepare the public to receive teachers when they visit their places. I hope that you will impress upon the editorial board and the contributors to the magazine to write articles from the Hindu view of the religion. In fact at present there is no religious standard among the Hindus which we can look upon when writing for them, but if articles have reference to Geeta and Vedaas, they will make a good impression upon the Hindus, who are suspicious of the Divine Faith and consider it another way of gaining them to Semitic form of religion. This is, however, our humble suggestion and it is entirely left to the discretion of the editors of the magazine to act upon it or not.’ "

[Page 381]WITH OUR READERS

A year ago, in our March, 1946, issue we printed a request from Miss Phyllis Hall of Detroit for an abacus. Miss Hall teaches slightly subnormal children and wished the abacus to help in teaching them to count. Now with the help of Mr. Thomas Wood, assistant business manager of World Order we have the interesting sequel to the request. This is his statement: “A Bahá’í, Captain Henry Jarvis, when located in Tokio, Japan, wrote me that he had a slight recollection of having read a paragraph in a back number of World Order setting forth that someone was in need of an abacus and that he was shipping to me a box containing nine. Eventually the nine arrived and on looking through several back numbers I found the item stating that Phyllis Hall had asked for one. With the thought that only one had been asked for and feeling that other Bahá’ís might appreciate one in connection with their teaching work, I wrote Phyllis, explaining that nine had been received and forwarded one to her. Acknowledgement of its receipt also brought a demand for those received, as they were intended for her, so the remainder of the nine were mailed to her.”

We think this little incident is quite revealing both about the magazine and Bahá’ís.

G O O

Encouraged by the success of advertising Miss Hall’s request we are happy to print a note from our business manager, Clara Wood. She states: “One of our Bahá’í friends in Halifax, N. S. has just finished pay 381

ing for as complete a set of Stars 0] the West and the Bahá’í Magazine as we could furnish. We found 314 issues for her from volumes 4- to 25. In acknowledging them she writes, ‘Am so happy to have them; they are wonderful and am sure we shall gar ner much spiritual nourishment from them ’ 1’

Mrs. Wood thinks this may inspire others to buy these back numbers at ten cents each. These old issues are, of course, out of print and becoming more and more precious and more and more scarce.

I 1D O

A clipping from an Elsinore, California, paper has come to us which shows how Elsinore Bahá’ís use World Order to inform the public about the Bahá’í Faith. We quote from the Elsinore Leader-Press:

“An article entitled ‘Religion and the Church’, appearing in the December issue of the Bahá’í magazine World Order is a scholarly, informative, and sympathetic explanation of the founding of the Christian Church as a fulfillment of prophecies brought by Moses and His Successors; and of the basic reasons why its history has been full of schisms. The divine concept of religion is that of a progression of Revelations of God’s purp05e that humanity should become and remain united through sincere love for Him. Each Manifestation, in turn, has adapted His teachings to the mental and spiritual capacities of the people living in His Day.” An address where Bahá’í information could be obtained was given. ——THE Ennoxs

[Page 382]INDEX

WORLD ORDER Volume Twelve, April 1946 to March 1947

TITLES

Administration, Bahá’í, Book Review, by Horace Holley, 340

Assignment to America, by Shoghi Effendi. 156

Báb, The Interment of the, by Moneer Zaine, 115

Bahá’x’: Children and the Peace, by Amy Brady Dwelly 8; Faith in Germany, by Hermann Grossmann, 49; Spiritual Principles of, Administration, by Alma Sothman, 69; How the, Has Discovered True Faith, by Edna M. True, 161; Bahá’ís Stand Firm in Their Faith, Editorial, by Gertrude K. Henning, 178; The Rank and-File, by Gertrude Schurgast, 213; A, Philosophy of Education, by John Stroessler, 225; Women and, Ideals, Editon‘al, by Bertha H. Kirkpatrick, 271

Bahá’u’lláh’s Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, by Marzieh Gail, 33

Bahfyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf, by Della C. Quinlan, 273

Black Metropolis, Book Review, by Eleanor S. Hutchens, 296 Blazing the Trail, by Stanwood Cobb, 238

Book Reviews: The Dawn-Breakers by Bahíyyih Randall Ford, 20; Bahá’u’lláh’s Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, by Marzieh Gail, 33; The Star of the West, by Elizabeth P. Hackley, 122; Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, by Bertha H. Kirkpatrick, 152; The Promised Day Is Come, by Mabel Hyde Paine, 243; Bahzi’l' Administration, by Horace Holley, 340; Black Metropolis, by Eleanor S. Hutchens, 296

Breakers of the Dawn, by Sally Sanor, 204

Call to Action, A, by Sarah Martin Pereira, 377

Chaos, From, to Order, by Horace Holley, 97

Chasing a Hobgoblin, by Duart Brown, 329

Civilization, The New, by Beatrice Irwin, 23

Coming of the Beloved, The, by Marzieh Gail, 353

Conduct, Scientic Approach to Moral, by Jack B. Fatooh, 230

Dawn-Breakers, The. Book Review, by Bahíyyih Randall Ford, 20

Day: This Is the, of Fulfillment, Editorial, by Gertrude K. Henning, 18; The, of God, Words of Bahá’u’lláh, 27; The Promised, Is Come, Book Review, by Mabel Hyde Paine, 243

Ecuador, Pioneer Joumey—, by Virginia Orbison, 345

Experiences in the Armed Forces, by A1vin Blum, 110

Farmer, Sarah Jane, by Bahfyyih and Harry Ford, 105

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Book Review, by Bertha H. Kirkpatrick, 152

Greater Than Any Nation, by Horace Holley, 193

Guardian, The, Editorial, by William Kenneth Christian, 302

Guidance, We Long for Divine, by Shirley Warde, 235

Hamadén, Event in, by Munich Gail, 14-2

Heroism, Editorial, by Eleanor S. Hutchens, 207

Intolerance, Where, Begins, by Benjamin Kaufman, 140

Japan, The Resurrection of, Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 65

Journey: My, to ‘Akká, 58; My, to Bombay, 88; Rangoon, 186; Mandalay, 216; by Sydney Sprague

Lady of Tapada, Lady of Lima, by Eve B. Nicklin, 209

Lawrence, Colonel: A Bahá’í Memory, by Mrs. Jane Stannard, 81

Light, by Floyd H. Munson, 86

Marriage, Successful, by Eleanor Sweney Hutchens, 12

Meditations, by Gladys Kline, 55

Men, The, of a New Dawn, Editorial, by William Kenneth Christian, 144

Miracle in Your Life, The, by Marian Crist Lippitt, 373

Only the Ramparts Fell, Editorial, by Horace Holley, 79

382

[Page 383]INDEX

Parable, The, of the Nine Springs, by Duart Brown, 176

Peace: The Price of, by N. M. Firoozi, 309; World, through World Religion, by

Helen Bishop, 321; Institutions for, by Dorothy Baker, 359

Peru, Pioneer Journey, by Virginia Orbison, 315

Poems: Requiem, by Duart Brown, 54; The Báb, by Frances Mitchell, 62; Assurance, by Mmy Marlowe, 92; Heaven and Earth Have Sworn, by Silvia Margolis, 103; To S. J. Farmer on Her Birthday, by John Creenleaf Whittier, 104; ‘Akká, by Laura Romney Davis, 242; Double Rainbow, by Nell Griffith Wilson, 246; The City of Light, 280; Prayer, by L. Khai, 332; Song for a New Day, by Silvia Margolis, 337; My Prayer, by Minnietta Taylor Kennedy, 365; The Day Is Now, by Dorothy Helm, 372

Power, This Glory, This, Horace Holley, 24-0

Prejudice: The Anatomy of, by Duart Brown, 289; Racial and Group, by Joseph Lander, M.D., 292

Religion: Too, Evolves, by Louise A. Groger, 171; and the Church, by Mabel Hyde Paine, 257; in Action, by Eleanor S. Hutchens, 366

San Francisco, 1945, by Arthur Dahl, 129

South African Mission, Part One, 247; Part Two, 281; by Fannie Knobloch

Springtime, Divine, Compilation, by Miriam Bugbee, 369

Star of the West, The, Book Review, by Elizabeth P. Hackley, 122

Teach, Arise and, by Hazel McCurdy, 333

Turner, Robert, by Louis Gregory, 28

Two Facets of One Gem, by Maye Harvey Gift, 299

Unity: in Humility, Editorial, by Garreta Busey, 47; Racial, Editorial, by Gettrude K. Henning, 338

Utopia?, by Robert Reid, 304

Way, The, of Fulfilment, by Marion Holley Hofman, 200

What Happened in Tabríz, Editorial, by Bertha H. Kirkpatrick, 113

Wisdom, A Fresh Stream of, by Gmeta Busey, 326

Editorial, by

383

With Our Readers, by Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick, 30, 63, 93, 127, 157, 191, 222, 253, 287, 319, 350, 379

World, The, Beyond Victory, by William Kenneth Christian, 1

Youth and the Modern World: I. The Decline of Mechanism, 40; II. Mysticism and Its Implications, 73; III. Meditation and the Modem Mind, 116; IV. Elements of a World Commonwealth, 147; V. A Divine Administrative Order, 180; by G. A. Shook

AUTHORS ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Resurrection of Japan, 65 Bahá’u’lláh: The Day of God, 27 Baker, Dorothy: Institutions for Peace, 359

Bishop, Helen: World Peace through World Religion, 321

Blum, Alvin: Experiences in the Armed Forces, 110

Brown, Duart: Requiem, Poem, 54; The Parable of the Nine Springs, 176; The Anatomy of Prejudice, 289; Chasing a Hobgoblin, 329

Bugbee, Miriam: Divine Springtime, Compilation, 369

Busey, Garreta: Unity in Humility, 4-7; A Fresh Stream of Wisdom, 326

Christian, William Kenneth: The World Beyond Victory, 1; The Men of a New Dawn, 144; The Guardian, 302

Cobb, Stanwood: Blazing the Trail, 238 Dahl, Arthur: San Francisco, 1945, 129 Davis, Laura Romney: ‘Akká, Poem, 242

Dwelly, Amy Brady: Bahá’í Children and the Peace, 8

Fatooh, Jack B.: Approach to Moral Con. duct, 230

Firoozi, N.M.: The Price of Peace, 309

Ford, Bahfyyih Randall: The Dawn-Breakers, 20; Sarah Jane Farmer, 105

Ford, Harry: Sarah Jane Farmer, 105

Gail, Mamieh: Bahá’u’lláh’s Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, 33; Event in Hamada'n, 142; The Coming of the Beloved, 353

Gift, Maye Harvey: Two Facets of One Gem, 299

Gregory, Louis: Robert Turner, 28

Grfgler, Louise A.: Religion, Too, Evolves, 7

[Page 384]

384 WORLD ORDER

Grossmann, Hermann: Bahá’í Faith in Germany, 49

Hackley, Elizabeth R: The Star of the West, 122

Helm, Dorothy: The Day Is Now, Poem, 72

Henning, Gertrude K.: This Is the Day of Fulfilment, 18; Bahá’ís Stand Firm in Their Faith, 178; Racial Unity, 338

Hofman, Marion Holley: The Way of Fulfilment, 200

Holley, Horace: Only the Ramparts Fell, 79; From Chaos to Order, 97; Greater Than Any Nation, 193; This Glory, This Power, 240; Bahá’í Administration, 340

Hutchens, Eleanor Sweney: Successful Marriage, 12; Heroism, 207; Black Metropolis, 296; Religion in Action, 366

Irwin, Beatrice: The New Civilization, 23

Kaufman, Benjamin: Where Intolerance Begins, 14-0

Kennedy, Minnietta Taylor: My Prayer, Poem, 365

Khai, L.: Prayer, Poem, 332

Kirkpatrick, Bertha Hyde: What Happened in Tabn'z, 113; GIeanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, 152: Women and Bahá’í Ideals, 271; With Our Readers, 30, 63, 93. 127, 157, 191 222, 253, 287, 319, 350

Kline, Gladys: Meditations, 55

Knobloch, Fanny: South African Mission, Part One, 247; Part Two, 281

Lander, Joseph, M..:D Racial and Group Prejudice, 292

Lippitt, Marian Crist: The Miracle in Your Life, 373

Margolis, Silvia: Heaven and Earth Have Sworn, Poem, 103, Song for a New Day, Poem, 337

Marlowe, Mary: Assurance, Poem, 92 McCurdy, Hazel: Arist and Teach, 333 Mitchell, Frances: The Báb, Poem, 62

Munson, Floyd 11.: Light, 86

Nicklin, Eve B.: Lady of Tapada, Lady of Lima, 209

Orbison, Virginia: Pioneer Journey-Pem, 315; Pioneer Journey-Ecuador, 345

Paine, Mabel Hyde: The Promised Day Is Come, 243; Religion and the Church, 257

Pereira, Sarah Martin: A Call to Action, 377

Quinlan, Della C.: Bahíyyih Khánum, the Greatest Holy Leaf, 273

Reid, Robert: Utopia?, 304

Sala, Emeric: New Hope for Minority Peoples, 266

Senor, Sally: Breakers of the Dawn, 204

Schurgast, Gertrude: The Rank-and-File Bahá’í, 213

Shook, G.A.: Youth and the Modern World: 1. The Decline of Mechanism, 40; II. Mysticism a11d Its Implications, 73; III. Meditation and the Modern Mind, 116; IV. Elements of a World Commonwealth, 147; V. A Divine Administrative Order, 180

Sothman, Alma: Spiritual Principles of Bahá’í Administration, 69

Sprague, Sydney: My Journey to ‘Akká,

58; My Journey to Bombay, 88; Rangoon, 186; Mandalay, 216

Stannard, Mrs. Jane: Colonel Lawrence: A Bahá’í Memory, 81

Stroessler, John: A Bahá’í Philosophy of Education, 225

True, Edna M.: How the Bahá’í Has Discovered True Faith, 161

Warde, Shirley: We Long for Divine Guidance, 235

Whittier, John Greenleaf: To S. 1. Farmer on Her Birthday, Poem, 104 Wilson, Nell Griffith: Double Rainbow, Poem, 246

Zaine, Moneer: The Interment of the Bib, 1 115

[Page 385]

Bahá’í Literature

Cleaning; from the'Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion, the soul. "

, the basis of civilization and the oneness of mankind. Bound in fabrikoid. ‘ .7360Vpages. $2.00.

The Kiléb-i-fqdn, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (The Boek of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past.

,i‘demonstrating their oneneSS in fulfillment of the purpoaes of Revelation. Bound in cloth. 262 pages. $2.50.

Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The supreme expression of‘ devotion to God; a spiritual flame

which enkindles the heart and illumines the mind. 348 pages. Bound .in falbrikoid. $2.00.

I Bahá’í Prayers, a selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the 351) and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each Prayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. 'Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, 30.35.

Same Answered Questions. iAbdu’LBahá’s explanation of questions con-h cerning the relation of man to God the nature of the Manifestation. human , capacities, fulfillment of prophecy, etc. Bound in cloth. 350 pages, 31. 50.

The Promulgation 0/ Universal Peace. In this collection of His American talks, ‘Abdu’l- Bahá laid the basis for a firm understanding of the attitudes

principles and spiritual laws which enter into the establishment 9f true Peace. 492 pages. Bound vinrcloth. $2.50.

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

God Passes By, by Shoghi Effendi. The authoritative documented histori _cal survey of the Bahá’í Faith through the four periods of its fust

century: The [Ministry of the Béh, the Ministry of Bahá’u’lláh, the Ministry of “Abdu’l-Bahá, and the Inception of the Formative Age (1921 1944). In these pages the world’s supreme spiritual drama unfolds. xxiii plus 412 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.50.

' Bahá’í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois

[Page 386]

THE BAHA’K FAITH

Recognizes the unity of God and His Prophets,

Upholds the principle of an unfettered hearch after truth,

Condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice, '

Teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand in hand with science. and that it constitutesghe sole and ultimate basis u! a peaceful. and ordered and progressive society, . . .

Inculcates the principle of equal oppm'tunity, rights and privileges for both seams.

Advocates compulsory education, Abolishes extrema of [)9va and wealth,

Exalts work performed in the'spirit of service to the rank of worship,

Recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, .

Provides the necessary agencies for the estab: [ishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.

—-SHocHt EFFENDL