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WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
MARCH, 1948
America’s Spiritual Destiny
Margaret Swengel
Education’s Role in Society
John Stroessler
To a Modern Child, Poem
Jim Mills
Conversation in Whispers
Marzieh Gail
Flight, Editorial
Flora Hottes
Has Science Replaced Religion?
G. A. Shook
Bahá’í Answers, Book Review
Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick
High Lights of the Newer Testament
Marian Crist Lippitt
With Our Readers
Index
20¢
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. Garreta Busey, Editor; Eleanor S. Hutchens, Mabel H. Paine, Flora Hottes, Associate Editors.
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Make checks and money orders payable to World Order Magazine,
110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Entered as second
class matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette, Ill.,
under the Act of March 3, 1879. Content copyrighted 1947 by
Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent
Office.
ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
“WE COULD feel ourselves throbbing upward, even
if blindly, through the mist and cloud, with that
strange but . . . delightful sensation of a pulsing irresistible
ascent.”—From FLIGHT, P. 413.
Photo by Acme
ALL THE signs of the times indicate that we are at the dawn of a new era in the history of mankind. Hitherto the young eagle of humanity has clung to the old eyrie in the solid rock of selfishness and materialism. Its attempts to use its wings have been timid and tentative. . . . But now the era of confinement is at an end, and it can launch on the wings of faith and reason into the higher realms of spiritual love and truth. It will no longer be earth-bound as it was before its wings had grown, but will soar at will to the regions of wide outlook and glorious freedom. One thing is necessary, however, if its flight is to be sure and steady. Its wings must not only be strong, but they must act in perfect harmony and co-ordination.
PERFECT harmony between religion and science is the sine qua non of the higher life for humanity. When that is achieved, and every child is trained not only in the study of the sciences and arts, but equally in love of all mankind and in radiant acquiescence to the Will of God as revealed in the progress of evolution and the teachings of the prophets, then and not till then, shall the Kingdom of God come and His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven: then and not till then shall the Most Great Peace shed its blessings on the world.
Excerpt from
Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era
By J. E. ESSLEMONT
WORLD ORDER
The Bahá’í Magazine
VOLUME XIII MARCH, 1948 NUMBER 12
America’s Spiritual Destiny
MARGARET SWENGEL
WE ARE all aware of some
of the terrible faults and
errors and shortcomings of the
American way of life. But frequently
someone who sees us not
from a background of material
over-plenty, of scientific living,
can give us a reasonable and
thought provoking analysis that
will, indeed, cause us to pause
and take stock of ourselves as
well as of the culture that we are
striving so desperately to protect
and to further.
Such an analysis is made by a young man from India, who is here studying and who has traveled broadly throughout the States during the three years of his residence. He summarizes us in the following picturesque language:
“The crippling weakness of modern Western civilization, however, is the disparity between mechanical power and social wisdom. In a great variety of ways the West has mistaken comfort and speed for civilization. It is obvious that the only possible ideals of civilization are not embraced by a push button existence, which mistakes cleanliness for culture and conceives heaven as a place in which, surrounded by buttons and switches, man can delegate to machines this business of living.”[1]
As we pause to consider ourselves
and the spot we have
achieved in this time, we must
admit that for the first time in
our history, in fact, the first time
in the history of mankind collectively,
we, a single nation, have
the opportunity, the responsibility,
to lead the world into a
lasting peace. By using the tremendous
wealth and mechanical
powers which we have developed
we can help all the nations come
to that most great peace which
nothing in the affairs of mankind
can in any way disturb. Furthermore,
we have the strength and
[Page 400]
ability to create here in America
and promulgate throughout the
entire globe a civilization that
far surpasses our wildest descriptive
dreams.
But these are great claims for a nation crippled by racial intolerance, political inefficiency, social injustices, and economic insecurity. And yet has there ever been a time in the history of mankind when power and ability were available that the exigencies did not call on these latent and potential reserves?
Many will agree that it would be very convenient if Americans could arise to answer this great call. It would be helpful, of course, if we could cure the vicious social evils that are making us a degenerate people, if we could alleviate the sufferings of the peoples in other parts of the world, if we could courageously lead the nations of the world into an organization that would insure peace and tranquillity to all inhabitants. But many who wish these great accomplishments are unwilling to search for any means that will make them possible.
Perhaps there are even some who think that the race of mankind should hurry and blow itself off this planet by the most effective means at hand—that the whole history of our experience here has been a big joke and the time has come for the pay-off, race extinction. To talk to these pessimists is wasting precious time. Their eyes are blind, their ears are deaf, their minds are closed, their spirits are dead. We need not pause for them—their dead will bury them.
But to those who have a spark of the vital left in them, who have the glimmer of hope still shining, who still possess an iota of energy for work, to those we can talk and with them we can think, and on them we can pin our hopes inasmuch as they, indeed, are potentially the salt of the earth, the leaven in the loaf.
Does it seem possible that God could have created this universe, have created this bit of whirling stuff that we refer to as our world, have created us human beings and then left us to go blindly along a path that is characterized by periodic upward swings? No, that seems utterly impossible and completely illogical. God has not been unaware of His creation; God has not left us to stumble upstairs by the trial and error method. Our bits of progress, spotty though they may have been, are the results of our awareness of and attention to His speaking to us.
A father, loving his children,
desiring for them the very best,
[Page 401]
designing for them the most ideal
way of life, will give them a
helping hand at their most trying
times as well as sufficient independence
to permit them to be
strong and noble. God is our
father and surely history proves
to us that His helping hand has
not been withheld. Didn’t He
help us set up a system of laws
that was so practical that we
still use it thousands of years after
He first gave it to us? Mosaic
law is fundamentally back of all
our modern civilization. Didn’t
He give us the basic principles of
living together, individual with
individual, that we have followed,
falteringly to be sure, for
1947 years? Wouldn’t He help
us now that we have, as a result
of His help, achieved a possible
one world, organize that one
world so that it would be peaceful?
Wouldn’t He help us learn
to live in that one world? Having
taught us that He is a merciful
God, a loving Father, would He
not give us exactly the assistance
that will make it possible and
probable that we can realize the
great dream of universal peace?
Of course, God has given us just that help. He has permitted us to grow throughout these ages. Now we are grown up and He has spoken to us as adults could expect to be spoken to. He has once again sent us a Messenger, a Prophet, a Manifestation, who has given us the directions that we need. And if we will heed this Prophet, this Teacher, we shall not only achieve our great spiritual destiny, we shall far surpass it. We shall develop a civilization that is beyond our imaginations to picture.
And this is the message which the Bahá’ís wish to share with you. This is the answer which the Bahá’ís will make when you ask, “But how can we achieve world peace?” “How can we solve the multitudinous problems which beset not only our own nation within its boundaries, but also beset our nation in its relationships with all the other nations of the world?” “How can we individually gain mental and spiritual health so that we can contribute to the betterment of the nation and the world instead of becoming a greater burden to it?”
The message which is given by Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, has in it the power to regenerate the individual so that he can become emotionally mature, so that he can become intellectually constructive and dynamic, so that he can gain an equilibrium that will insure his mental and spiritual health.
Bahá’u’lláh explains to us
that we were created to know and
[Page 402]
love God; that our experiences
here are to develop our potentialities
and abilities to their utmost
capacity. He teaches us that
prejudices, hatreds, lusts, greeds
are like poisons and that we must
overcome them with the salutary
emotions of love, compassion,
kindness, and generosity. He tells
us that God is aware of us individually
and that He is always
a source of power to us and that
through our communion with
Him we may find His will for us
and the means of accomplishing
that will.
Of course, all this we have been taught before by other Messengers of God, but we need to relearn these lessons in their modern settings and in their applications to contemporary problems. Bahá’u’lláh did not come to tell us that everything we had learned of God from all other Messengers was false and that we were completely in the wrong because an inferior god had sent us an inferior teacher. Bahá’u’lláh came to set us on the road that all the others had marked out for us, but from which we had deviated and along which we had unduly loitered.
Since God’s mercy is beyond our comprehension He has not only, through His Messenger for this Day, set our feet again in that road, He has also given us a pattern for a world organization in which mankind can realize its noblest visions.
Bahá’u’lláh, the Messenger of God in this day, spent most of His life in prison because men always persecute and distrust the Prophet. And yet from this prison He announced to the world that the time had come when we must establish a universal state, that the nations must come together and consult about their differences, that they must reach agreements by means other than wars. This Bahá’u’lláh announced between 1860 and 1870. He told us how to do this: that the rulers of the nations must have a great conference, that they must establish a world government in which all the nations and all the peoples would be represented, that this government must have a legislative branch, a judicial branch, and an executive branch; that the government must have behind it an international police force. The work of this world government would include the establishing of a universal system of currency, a universal standard of weights and measures, an international auxiliary language taught to all peoples, and freedom of trade between the various nations of the world.
There were many other points
[Page 403]
in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh
which we have come to realize
are essential to the well being of
our world. He taught that all peoples
are citizens of this world,
that all peoples must have equal
opportunities for contributing to
the welfare of the whole. That
national, racial, and social prejudices
cannot be tolerated in a
mature world now entering upon
its most great age. Any program
that tends to divide people, that
tends to cause jealousies and suspicions
must be superseded.
One great point in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh that we have come to realize more and more poignantly is the unity of religion. There is but one God responsible for our universe. We may refer to this creative power behind the universe, responsible for the universe, by many different names and yet it is the same unknowable, incomprehensible power. And God, knowing His creation, loving His creation, sent His Messengers in order that His will and His plans might be known, and that power might be made available to execute them. These Messengers had but a single purpose: to teach mankind the Will of God. Each Messenger taught that lesson according to the ability of mankind at the time to understand. As mankind developed, grew up, these messages became fuller, more detailed, more comprehensive, and yet basically they are the same.
Every Messenger reiterated the teachings of the Messenger before Him and promised a Messenger to appear after Him. Yet we did not, we do not realize this. We listen to what man has said; we read what man has written in explanation of what the Messenger said. We would rather rely on our own minds than on the mind of the Messenger to understand what that Messenger taught! And so we have divided ourselves into so many groups that it is hard to count them. Man seems powerless to unite these multitudinous divisions, which are the result of our own ignorance and self-importance.
But now we no longer need be
confused and worry ourselves
into frustration because religion,
the greatest unifying force in the
world, the only force in the
world that can help us out of
these overwhelming troubles, is
hopelessly divided. The Prophet
for this age says that all religion
is one religion; that all the Prophets
spoke with the same voice,
were essentially the same spirit,
but only appeared in different
bodies, carried different names.
Why should we give up one Prophet,
deny Him when He reappeared
with a fuller message?
[Page 404]
Why should we condemn a whole
people who have achieved a great
civilization because they learned
from a Prophet whom we in our
ignorance and in our misfortune
were falsely taught to consider
an impostor, a satanic influence?
Can we not continue our education?
Can we not realize that
there has been a series of great
teachers who have, through God’s
mercy, appeared with the sole
purpose of getting us out of our
various difficulties? Can we not
love dearly and faithfully Christ,
the Prophet who taught us meekness,
humility, love of our fellow
men, as well as Moses, the Prophet
who taught us explicit and
immediate obedience to the Will
of God, and Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet
who taught us that we must
rid ourselves of racial prejudice
and grow into world citizens?
Let us not tear down the very
foundations of our knowledge of
God; let us continue to build on
that foundation and clear away
only the building impedimenta in
order that the structure may rise
to its predestined glory and
grandeur.
With the message of God right here at our finger tips, we cannot achieve this great destiny outlined for us? We cannot solve our problems? These little, these petty differences, these slight maladjustments in our lives are so overwhelming that we can only see ourselves blown off this globe by a few atomic bombs, destroyed by a picayune germ war instigated by some individuals who have not the courage to be grown up? How unspeakably ridiculous!
We have had our difficulties. We solved them, or at least they vanished to the pages of our history books. And now we lose courage when a truly interesting and demanding challenge comes our way. This time we can use more of our great powers; this time we can really stretch ourselves and see just what our statures may be. And this time we have available at our command the only real force in the universe.
You don’t have to take my
word for it. I only read it in
books that are just as available
to you as they were to me. Your
intellect and your training and
education are just as adequate
for your understanding as mine
or as that of your neighbor. This
is a challenge to each of you.
Each of you is fully aware that
something, or rather that everything,
is a trifle off balance and
that time is running very short
for the readjustment of affairs to
be accomplished. Each of you is
fully aware that unless the peoples
of the world get on the right
[Page 405]
track there will be no peoples of
the world left to get on any track
right or wrong! Each of you is
eager to find some power, some
force that will unite the peoples
of the world, that will call forth
the common loyalties of the
world. And here is the Prophet
of God claiming that He is just
that force, just that focus for a
common loyalty.
At least investigate it. Don’t let the last possible chance of saving yourself and this civilization slip through your fingers. If it isn’t true, then you have had the satisfaction of finding its untruth independently. And if you find that it is truth, then you have found the most precious thing that exists in this world—you have found the answer to your own problems, you have found the force that will help you be an asset in your society, you have discovered not only the way by which man can safely get himself out of this difficult turmoil, but also the way which will bring him to achievements that even the most talented poets, the most learned seers, the wisest philosophers in their most lucid moments have not been able to describe adequately.
Can you afford to pass this up? Mankind collectively, and that unfortunately includes you as well as your neighbor and me, is at the most serious crisis of its career on this planet. This time we shall be saved together or we shall be lost together. There will be no innocent victims. We all have a deep responsibility and we dare not shirk it. We cannot delay. If we for a moment turn away from the voice of God in this day, we have turned away from the voice of God as it was heard throughout all the ages. We show forth pride towards God from all eternity to all eternity.
“Noble I made thee, wherefore dost thou abase thyself?” Those are the words of the Prophet in this day. Beware, beware lest we be found wanting, lest we in our sloth, our procrastination, forfeit our only chance to save ourselves, to save our civilization, to open the way for progress, to fulfill our destinies.
- ↑ Mondol, Nirmal K. “Engineering in India,” Northwestern Engineer. Sept. 1947. p. 41.
Education’s Role in Society
JOHN STROESSLER
AMERICAN education today
is seemingly on the horns of
a dilemma. One group of educators
believes that education is the
panacea for the ills of society.
Another group believes that since
education is the product of society,
it cannot be the cure for the
very ills which created it. Are
these viewpoints in any way reconcilable,
or are they unalterably
opposed?
Those who argue that education is the primary force for promoting the betterment of society, can scarcely deny that the school is struggling against overwhelming odds. Studies show that when the school tries to inculcate in students an interest in economic, political, and social affairs it is going against a strong current within the culture. The school is faced with the task of whipping up interest where most people are apathetic. In ethical, moral, and religious fields, the evidence, no doubt, would be even less gratifying if it were available.
Weaknesses in our social processes which reflect themselves in educational agencies become alarming when psychologists estimate that from thirty to fifty school pupils in every one hundred will become maladjusted adults. Should we not take heed when research indicates that even at the elementary school level twelve percent of the pupils are seriously maladjusted and that thirty percent are poorly adjusted? Today education finds itself unable to provide the solution. It tries valiantly but admits, “We can find no magic formula.”
What then is the answer? First must come the realization that education is an outgrowth of the prevailing philosophy. It is chiefly a following and perpetuating force, an agent, a means to an end. Granted, education develops within its own domain. Methods, viewpoints, and practices have advanced amazingly in the past fifty years, but we should not expect education to point the way to a better world. It can merely smooth the path once it is indicated.
No Bahá’í would depreciate the true value of education. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in speaking of the principles of education, indicated that they concern themselves with mental, moral, and social enlightenment. But he also held that the source of all knowledge is the knowledge of God. Here then, we have the answer to our educational problem.
[Page 407]
A brief glance into the past reveals
that the supreme agent for
the advancement of mankind has
been acceptance of and adherence
to the revealed truths of
God. These truths have come to
humanity through the agency of
great Educators or Manifestations.
They have attuned God’s
message to the needs of man
whatever his level of advancement.
Whenever man has listened,
he has learned and has
progressed. Whenever he has
turned a deaf ear, he has experienced
no more than the reflected
impact of those societies that
have applied God’s teachings for
their day.
Bahá’ís realize that now is the time when there is another new and vital learning process in which humanity must engage. This new education will bring man into a fuller realization of his relationship to God and to his fellow creatures. It is based upon a belief in the oneness of mankind and the fundamental unity of religion. Its scope is world-wide, its vision broad, its method scientific, and its principles humanitarian and dynamic in the influence which they exert on the hearts and minds of man.
The education, then, that will lift humanity to new heights will be one that applies the best of scientific procedures in changing the behavior of the individual in relationship to his mental, moral, and social responsibilities. It will not attempt to create its own philosophy, but will look to the higher power of God for its guiding principles. Its students will learn of God’s plan for this day. They will understand and become imbued with the truths that have been promulgated by the Prophet and Teacher for this era.
Bahá’u’lláh, Who was chosen by God as the Educator of mankind for modern times, has a role of the utmost importance. It is generally conceded that the teacher is the one single factor of greatest import in the classroom situation. With the world as a classroom and humanity as His students, Bahá’u’lláh gives His enlightening guidance for the establishment of a new world order.
In this new world order, education
becomes the privilege and
duty of all. Throughout life the
truth is to be sought, with young
and old finding educational situations
in every process of living.
In this way education becomes at
one with religion, since Bahá’ís
believe that religion is an attitude
toward God which is reflected
in all phases of life. When
our conception of education has
evolved to this level of understanding,
[Page 408]
then may we truthfully
say that we are heeding Bahá’u’lláh’s
admonition for man
“. . . to free himself from idle
fancies and imitation, . . . and
look into all things with a searching
eye.”
To a Modern Child
JIM MILLS
- Kid,
- When you kneel down at night
- And mumble through your prayers,
- Say this:
- “. . . and thank you, God,
- For giving me a front row seat.”
- Because, kid,
- You’re going to live to see
- The destiny of man
- Worked out to last
- Until that final grain of sand
- Slips through the hour glass
- Of Old Man Time.
- You’ll live to see
- A Living God in many men,
- Guiding with a common touch
- The fortunes of a world gone wild,
- A force unseen in small details
- You’ll see in shadows lengthening ahead.
- It’s coming, Kid,
- Your age
- An Age of Understanding,
- The destiny of man.
Conversation in Whispers
MARZIEH GAIL
For ten years, off and on, I
have found sanctuary in the
library stacks, on a green glass
shelf up a narrow flight of iron
stairs in a corner fortified on two
sides by encyclopedias. The
place is furnished with a hard
chair and a wobbly table; I have
illegally preempted it; it is my
home away from home. Around
some bound volumes of agricultural
reports is another habituée,
an old lady in a round black cap,
a long black suit and black stockings;
she has worn them all these
years and now at last she has
been proven right; fashion has
vindicated her; which shows that
one has only to wait. She is engaged
in some mysterious and
perpetual research; we do not
speak. The rest of the population
is transient; mostly old gentlemen
coming to consult the records
of the Smithsonian Institute,
and now and then busy
people who look like lawyers. Occasionally
the librarian—he’s forty,
which means a mere boy in this
atmosphere—stops by for a
friendly conversation, which has
to be carried on in hoarse whispers.
He is a tweedy sort of chap who knows where all the knowledge in the world is classified and for relief spends his weekends in Carmel. When war came I thought he was gone for good, but now he’s back, the same as ever; San Franciscans are permanent people. His main experience during the war was that he nearly spoiled an inspection by General MacArthur; for weeks, everything at Headquarters had been turned inside out and scrubbed and polished against the great day; the moment came, everyone was lined up, everything gleaming in the sun—but just as the General appeared, so did our librarian, wandering in from somewhere else and arrayed in dirty dungarees and an old fatigue cap . . . Our rather eerie sotto voce conversations have covered everything from bombs (the library, three stories of glass, was appointed a bomb shelter after Pearl Harbor) to existentialism —that is, they have summed up the decade. The old lady in the black stockings never has approved; the whispers are loud enough to attract attention, but not clear enough to be understood. There is nothing she can do: he is in charge of the library. Here is a partial record of one of our talks:
Librarian: Why work? Nothing
[Page 410]
is real. The whole show is an
illusion. I just want to have done
with it—as comfortably as possible.
Me: Eighty or ninety years is a pretty long illusion. Anyhow, I’m doing a job for humanity. (As a matter of fact, I was doing a very minor piece of work for the forthcoming issue of the Bahá’í World, but it sounded important).
I don’t care what happens to humanity. People don’t like each other. They’re out to get each other.
I agree that people don’t love one another—that they hate one another, we might as well say it —unless they're influenced by religion. Religion is the only possible way of distracting them from their own concerns and interesting them in others. I’m not talking about the selfish interest you’ll take in your own child or wife, but real, disinterested interest—
Any religionist is plain dumb. Divide up the believers and the non-believers in America and see where the intellectuals are.
I know—they’re with the non-believers. But that’s because the churches have driven them away with long arguments about nothing —and ritual.
I don’t agree; the few intellectuals who have gone back to the church have gone because of the ritual.
I think it’s more that they were worn out with their perpetual inside debates, all the schyzophrenic noises in their heads, and decided to hand their minds over to anything that would stop the quarrel and give them some kind of wholeness. They certainly aren’t believers like the non-thinking rank and file members and they don’t try to obey the teachings like the rank and file. Anyhow, the ritual has driven a good many away—Emerson, for one.
Religion is the opium of the people.
You’re being strikingly original. But I know something about opium—I’ve been to places where they use it. You’ve never seen anyone under its influence. I have. It doesn’t make a person active—it makes him lethargic and indifferent—like you. (We have always insulted each other with impunity.) Not like the Bahá’ís; they work night and day; they even leave their comfortable homes and well-paying jobs to risk everything, including life—
I suppose you claim all Bahá’ís are intelligent.
No, I don’t. There are all
kinds of Bahá’ís. We aren’t all
intelligent in the I. Q. sense any
[Page 411]
more than we can all sing soprano.
Some are topflight intellects
and well known in the non-Bahá’í
world; and I’d say in general
the Bahá’ís are more intelligent
than other groups, because
they are all people who broke
away from their ancestral pattern.
Not one is a Bahá’í from
habit. And even the least intelligent
has a way of thinking which
is remarkable: part of the time
he thinks outside himself; he
thinks about the world and how
to help it.
Anyhow, you undoubtedly believe that all the religions are wrong except yours.
We certainly do not. We believe in all the religions, but we say they appear seasonally—as institutions they come to a climax and wane—
And some day even Bahá’í—?
Of course. It’s a law. No religion is final.
(He looked surprised. Then he came back with:) Well, I think anyone who goes in for religion nowadays is queer.
Do you mean crazy? you mean if anyone becomes a Bahá’í he is ipso facto a mental case? (I was aroused by now, hence the ipso facto. I would have thrown Volume III of the Dictionary of American Biography at him if it hadn’t been so heavy. After all, during most of this conversation he had been wearing a superior smile. Once or twice I had asked him to wipe it off.)
No (he said too slowly), not crazy exactly, but different from the group.
And look at the group; hating and killing each other and drinking themselves to death. I’d say being different from the group is a compliment. (My whisper had risen to a shrill whistle. The old gentleman who was trying to consult the records of the Smithsonian Institute squirmed pointedly.)
I still think religion is a drug. (We were back to that again.)
All right, and I maintain that any drug that will free the mind and do away with prejudice and establish peace is a good drug. Everybody is sick and everybody needs it.
You all believe in God, though. I don’t.
Don’t then. In your case we’ll only talk about this world. You know from ordinary text-book knowledge that at critical times someone has always established a new pattern. We’ll take Islám because neither of us is a Muslim and Muḥammad is historic. For a thousand years the Muslims were the focal point—
What does it matter what I think, anyway?
It matters because the world is
[Page 412]
made up of two billions of you
. . . Come to think of it, the wonder
isn’t that we’re on the verge
of destruction but that we’ve
lasted this long . . . The world is
people and people are what they
think. A man’s philosophy is like
his backbone—everything else
is hitched on to it.
(The old lady in the black stockings slammed a book shut. The Smithsonian Institute gentleman sighed.)
I have to go now, said the librarian. To be continued. I have to go and work for humanity.
Let him laugh, I thought complacently. If he isn’t interested in religion, why has he just spent his lunch hour talking about it?
A DIVINE SPRINGTIME
Today the nations of the world are self-engaged; occupied with mortal and transitory accomplishments; consumed by the fires of passion and self. Self is dominant; enmity and animosity prevail. Nations and peoples are thinking only of their worldly interests and outcomes. . . . But the friends of the Blessed Perfection have no thoughts save the thoughts of heaven and the love of God. Therefore you must without delay employ your powers in spreading the effulgent glow of the love of God and so order your lives that you may be known and seen as examples of its radiance. You must deal with all in loving-kindness in order that this precious seed entrusted to your planting may continue to grow and bring forth its perfect fruit. The love and mercy of God will accomplish this through you if you have love in your heart. . .
Awake ye to the realization of this heavenly opportunity. Strive with all the power of your souls, your deeds, actions and words to assist the spread of these glad-tidings and descent of this merciful bounty. You are the reality and expression of your deeds and actions. If you abide by the precepts and teachings of the Blessed Perfection the heavenly world and ancient kingdom will be yours; happiness eternal, love and life everlasting. The divine bounties are flowing. Each one of you has been given the opportunity of becoming a tree yielding abundant fruits. This is the springtime of Bahá’u’lláh. The verdure and foliage of spiritual growth are appearing in great abundance in the gardens of human hearts. Know ye the value of these passing days and vanishing nights. Strive to attain a station of absolute love one toward another. By the absence of love, enmity increases. By the exercise of love, love strengthens and enmities dwindle away.
Flight
Editorial
IF ONE likes early rising there
is a plane that one can take
out of Limatambo at 4:45 A.M.
Lima, Peru, is on the ocean, and
there is always plenty of early
morning fog; but on that particular
day in April, 1947, although
the “ceiling” was low, the
motors began tuning up at
about 4:30. At a quarter to five,
crew and passengers filed out
from the airport and onto the
field, where the shining silver
bird of the Panagra was waiting
in the soft darkness.
All aboard—strap on your seat-belts—no smoking! And we were off, taxiing down the runway, and then turning and pausing for that last terrific gathering of energy which always precedes the subsequent, apparently effortless rising into the free air. We flew quite low for a few minutes. Lima lay spread beneath us, a pattern of gleaming jewels upon the surrounding blackness: beautiful earth-lights which signified so much of dear familiar things—of warmth and shelter and comfort and the close, sweet ties that bind us human beings one to another. And then long wisps of fog began to scud between us and the earth we knew. They obliterated the lights and finally shut us in impenetrable whiteness. But we rose steadily. We could feel ourselves throbbing upward, even if blindly, through the mist and cloud, with that strange but, to a seasoned flyer, delightful sensation of a pulsing irresistible ascent.
And then suddenly, we were up, high up, with the deep starlit vault of heaven all about us, and below us a shoreless white sea of cloud. We had come through into beauty and peace again, and we were going swiftly and surely and undeviatingly on our way. Came dawn and still we sailed over that now dazzling sea of cloud, ringed with majestic peaks on the distant horizons. At last the sun dissipated the fog and we saw our own earth again, far below, beautiful and dear, so much of it and so far, but now all a part with the sky, one splendid limitless universe. From earth to heaven we had come, from night to day, from depth to height, and from the partial and limited to the universal and illimitable.
It was like that; and it might
be like that—who knows?—our
inevitable passing from death to
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life. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that at
first it is difficult to welcome
death. We cling to our earth and
its lights and warmth, the streets
and the houses and the souls that
shelter us. But when we have
passed through the temporarily
enshrouding mists, we may see
the open glory of the unobstructed
heavens. We shall become
aware of a rare beauty and an
exhilarating freedom unknown
before in the close earthways.
The soul, after attaining its new
condition, says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is
grateful, for it has been released
from the bondage of the limited
to enjoy the liberties of the unlimited.
Nor shall we forget the
world nor those whom we have
loved here. When one has risen
high enough, the Sun of Truth
will banish the mists and we
shall be able to compass heaven
and earth in one radiant and far-flung
panorama.
And if we think it might be like this in the eternal life hereafter, we know that indeed it is already like this in the life eternal here and now. We struggle and make so much fuss and noise while we are summoning our powers to embark on some sky-road we know we must take. But when it is time to start, and our energies concentrate themselves in one supreme effort, we at last rise smoothly and easily into the unconfining air. We leave something behind—yes—things which were beautiful and bright and well-loved. We see them there, below and behind us, but we are on our way, and it is only the rich and eternal memory which we can take with us. And what soul so strong that it does not have to lose itself for a time in the mists of confusion and doubts and fears? But if we trust the Pilot we can feel our ship rising steadily, throbbing upward with exultant energy, until we break through the clouds and find ourselves speeding through space amongst the morning stars that sing in their courses.
Life is like that, again and again. And it may be like that, yet again, who knows, when the final Flight begins?
God grant, that not only the love of liberty, but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man, may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface, and say, “This is my country.”
Has Science Replaced Religion?
G. A. SHOOK
THE PROBLEM
WHEN the agnostic says he cannot believe in religion because it is contrary to science he is probably not fully aware of the nature of true religion nor the trend of modern science.
The old warfare between science and religion was in reality a conflict between superstitions created by the medieval church and discoveries of science concerning the origin of man and the universe. While liberal religion has removed most of these superstitions, it has failed to recreate a vital belief in God, and it has also failed to solve any of our major social problems.
Our problem is not the problem of the middle ages nor indeed the problem of the 19th century. Then the intelligentsia were fully convinced that science had an answer for most of our questions but the masses were not completely won over to science. Now the masses believe that scientific knowledge is the only reliable knowledge, while the intelligentsia realize the limitations of science and its failure to create a harmonious world.
Today the problem is modified considerably by two significant events, the emergence of divine revelation through the Bahá’í Faith and the realization that science is concerned with the world of appearance (the world we know through our senses), and not with that more intimate world of inner experiences.
In rather broad terms, our problem is to reconcile revealed knowledge with empirical or scientific knowledge.
THE WORLD OF SCIENCE
In a world dominated by science, it is not surprising that those who are interested in religion should seek the support of science. If we can show that there is some kind of unity between the spiritual or social laws which have come to us through revelation and the laws of science, not only can we demonstrate the harmony between science and religion but religion would have the confirmation of science.
Science deals with inexorable
laws, laws that are not set aside
by man’s desire or wish. In the
physical world we can often anticipate
what will happen in a
given situation. For example, if
we apply a force to a body we
will accelerate its motion. Again,
if no force acts upon a body it
will remain at rest or move with
[Page 416]
uniform velocity. Now we might
say that in the realm of morals a
similar condition obtains. If we
overlook a moral law, we can
also predict, and with scientific
precision, just what will happen.
We might even say, if we were a
little more logical, more scientific,
we would be more upright,
altruistic, and unselfish. Experience,
however, does not prove
that this is invariably the case.
Moreover, if it could be shown
that this kind of unity between
science and religion really exists,
it does not follow that man’s
faith in religion would be increased.
In fact, he might choose
the path of science rather than religion.
Indeed, when we consider
the atrocities committed in the
name of religion, ostensibly it
would be far better to follow
science, for science has never
caused wars and dissension as
has religion.
To be sure, now and then a scientist maintains that man can discover moral and social laws just as he discovers scientific laws. The notion is very old and history shows, plainly enough, that it has no sanction whatever. The more erudite scientists of today would confine science to the world of matter and energy, and leave the question of values and human relationships to some other department of knowledge. This does not solve the problem of values and human relationships but it does leave the way clear for revealed knowledge as contrasted with scientific knowledge. Again it does not subject religious values to the criteria of science.
FUNDAMENTAL POSTULATES
There are a few things we should keep in mind while discussing the harmony between science and religion.
Religion has lost its vitality. The extant religions have failed to produce any kind of organic unity or world fellowship and they have also failed to revive man spiritually.
Science has failed to solve our major political and social problems.
Science, in its own realm, the
physical world, has been highly
successful. This success is due to
the fact that the scientist, in his
scientific investigations, does not
allow his reason to be influenced
by his personal desires or his
emotions. This does not mean,
however, that because man frees
his mind from everything that
would divert it from scientific
research, he is merely a thinking
machine devoid of appreciation
of art, music, or moral values.
Again it does not mean that the
mind, although free from these
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distractions, is always correct in
its conclusions. The philosophers
and scientists of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries probably
believed that the mind never
makes serious blunders, and this
may be one reason why they applied
science so generally.
Finally, let us admit that since scientific knowledge is the only kind that is universally recognized today, it is rather difficult to make any claim for revealed knowledge. The natural tendency is to explain religious values in terms of scientific values. This bias is of course merely a product of our sensate culture but for many, any other approach to religion would seem irrational. The difficulty, however, may be more imaginary than real.
If we will consider carefully the inherent difference between science and religion and then put religion in the realm of human experience, where it really belongs, we shall see that it is science and not religion which is foreign to our experience. That is, after all, a rational viewpoint.
The revival of religion through the Bahá’í Faith and the decline of the mechanistic concept in science make it possible for us to reopen the question of the unity of science and religion.
Let us first consider what science can and what it cannot do.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND THE RISE OF THE MECHANISTIC CONCEPT
A few points about the methods and aims of science may not be out of order.
These are more or less familiar to all scientists but not to the average layman. The latter knows, for example, that in the early Christian period there was practically no science in Europe and that in the middle ages science had a long struggle with theology. He probably does not know, however, that the experimental method was developed in Islám and not in Christian Europe, and that up to the 13th century the most creative force in Europe was Islám.
He probably believes that
scientific knowledge is the only
certain knowledge and that the
scientific approach is the only
safe approach to any problem.
To the layman the scientist is a
rational, analytical being whose
life is entirely absorbed in making
observations, in carrying out
controlled experiments, and in
establishing laws which are chiefly
responsible for modern western
civilization, which he believes
is superior in all respects to anything
in the past, occidental or
oriental. He, the scientist, is just
the antithesis of the temperamental
artist who is emotionally
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unstable and unsocial. Certainly,
he has nothing in common with
the mystical philosopher, who
believes that meditation or reflection
is necessary for all creative
work.
As a matter of fact, no great scientific discovery was ever made without reflection. The history of science is replete with illustrations of this. Newton’s concept of the force of gravity came to him when he was sitting alone in a garden. According to one of his friends, “. . . he fell in a speculation on the power of gravity.” The scientist, in his moments of meditation, is not very different from the religious mystic.
Here then, is a fundamental unity between science and religion. The creative force of the scientist and the creative force of the religious genius both come from some superhuman, superrational power.
Inspiration and intuition are as necessary to science as to creative art or creative music. Investigation shows that the majority of new discoveries, new ideas, and new relationships emerge during periods of relaxation, when the mental activity is low, that is, when man is in a subjective state.
On the other hand, all the methods of science cannot be applied to art and music or religion for these belong to the realm of value, as we shall see.
The scientist is often described as a disinterested idealist, who is concerned only with the search for truth and who will follow the truth wherever it leads him. This is undoubtedly true, but he would not make much progress unless he had before him something more concrete than this rather vacuous aim.
Science makes observations in the physical world, carries out controlled experiments and arrives at laws. We assume there is an underlying reality and we draw pictures to represent it, but we have no means of telling whether these pictorial representations correspond to this reality or whether they are merely products of our imagination. They assist us in discovering the world of appearance and that is all modern science asks of them. We do not identify the world of appearance with the world of reality but we do not deny the existence of the latter. The world of appearance is the world we know through our senses.
MATHEMATICS AND SCIENTIFIC MODELS
The phenomena with which physics deals might be divided into two classes.
Some phenomena we try to explain
by means of simple abstract
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models. For others, models
would be superfluous. In the
days of Newton most of the observed
facts about light were explained
by assuming that a ray
of light is made up of minute invisible
particles. In the early
days of the wave theory, we assumed
that all space is filled with
an hypothetical substance called
the ether. Entities like light particles
and the ether are called
scientific models.
To discover the laws of the pendulum or the laws of vibrating strings we do not need models. Newton’s universal law of attraction can be derived inductively from Kepler’s laws without the use of a model. As indicated above, to derive this law something more than the usual procedure, so familiar to the popular mind, is required.
In either case, whether a model is used or whether it is superfluous, man would like to discover the underlying reality. Gifted men of all times have tried to understand the reality back of phenomena but, as we shall see, so far as we know now, the way is closed. Perhaps in the future we shall look back upon this goal as pure superstition.
The aim of science, physics in particular, is to discover the why and the how of the physical world. There are phenomena in the physical world which can be subjected to observation and experiment. There are so-called physical qualities like length and mass which can be measured with instruments. Science is concerned with this kind of knowledge. Speaking in very general terms we should distinguish between the scientific approach and what we might call (for want of a better name) scientific objects. The scientific approach might be applied to all fields of knowledge. It is the unfettered investigation of truth. There are many realities of life, however, that cannot be treated as scientific objects. Aesthetic appreciation, love, and humility are just as real as the facts of science, but they cannot be measured directly or indirectly as can scientific objects, nor can we judge of their validity by the methods of science.
MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION AND ITS LIMITATIONS
In the case of the solar system we cannot use a model to explain the force which controls the motion of the planets. This kind of phenomenon is apparently simpler than the kind which requires a model, but, as a matter of fact, here we can do nothing more than give mathematical laws, intelligible to the astronomer but meaningless to the layman.
Some of the ancient Greeks
[Page 420]
like Philolaus (470-399 B.C.),
Heraclides (388-310 B.C.), Aristarchus
(270-? B.C.) and Aratosthenes
(275-194 B.C.), had
the correct idea in its main outline
but it was lost to Christian
Europe. Copernicus, as we know,
revived the Greek cosmos, but
it was astronomers like Tycho
Brahe, Kepler, Galileo and Newton
who really put planetary
theory in its final form. Moreover,
these men laid the foundation
for modern science.
Tycho Brahe collected an enormous amount of data on the planets. His contemporary, Kepler, who was not much of an observer, inherited this data and from it worked out his famous laws. These laws tell us something about the planet’s orbit, how the planet moves in this orbit and how its period is related to its mean distance.
Nevertheless, these laws, as they are usually stated, are only mathematical descriptions. They do not form a link between our experience and the motions of the planets themselves.
As a matter of historic fact (most textbooks fail to mention it) Kepler did want to know what causes the planets to move as they do. This was in the time of Gilbert, who had done the first real work on magnetism, long before Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation. Now Gilbert had shown that the earth is a magnet, and Kepler assumed that the sun and the planets are also magnets. He then proceeded to build up a magnetic theory of planetary motion. The theory was fantastic but, after all, a step towards an explanation.
To explain planetary motion in terms of magnetism brings us a little nearer to the underlying reality although magnetic force is still a mystery. As a matter of fact, today we are inclined to regard it as a subjective mental construct. Kepler, like all scientists, was not content to have the planets conform to a mathematical law, and so he did a little speculating. Kepler’s magnetic theory is of no value for us today and that is probably why no one ever refers to it. However, it had some standing for nearly three-quarters of a century, and we must remember that his procedure was strictly scientific.
The next great step was made
by Newton. From Kepler’s laws
he was able to derive his famous
law of universal gravitation.
Newton introduced the idea of
force. He argued that the force
which causes the apple to fall to
the earth is the same as that
which keeps the celestial bodies
in their orbits. With his three
laws of motion and the Universal
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Law of Gravitation, he was able
to lay the foundation for celestial
mechanics.
Ostensibly all this gives us some insight into the real cause of planetary motion. The vast majority of those who are familiar with Newton’s work will tell you that he explained gravitational force (gravitational attraction), and yet today we realize that in a very real sense he did not explain force. We do not know why the apple is attracted to the earth. His law of gravitation tells us the amount but not the nature of the force. If we want to move an object we push it along. However, if the object is out of reach and there is nothing between our hand and the object it certainly will not move. No, gravity does not explain how the moon raises tides on the earth.
We say gravitational attraction is a property of matter but that does not help us very much.
Now Newton realized all these difficulties. Had he assumed that space was filled with some medium (an ether) and not empty, he might have explained attraction by assuming certain properties of space. As a matter of fact, Newton did consider the possibility of an ether, but he did not attempt a theory on this basis.
For some unknown reason these speculations of Newton regarding the space between bodies, are not referred to in the textbooks and yet this aspect of his momentous work is relevant to our subject.
In Einstein’s general theory of relativity, force seems to disappear; so the question of action at a distance vanishes.
Newton would have gravitation act across or through space while Einstein would have it act on space, but as Jeans suggests, “this only postpones the difficulty.” We have a new description but not an explanation of force.
THE SCIENTIFIC MODEL AND ITS LIMITATIONS
So much for mathematical formulation; and now let us turn to that type of phenomenon which is explained by models. Very simple phenomena like the evaporation of water or camphor makes it clear that matter is not homogeneous but exists rather as discrete particles which must be very small since they cannot be seen with the most powerful microscopes.
In dealing with an enclosed
gas we explain pressure by assuming
that the gas consists of
particles which strike against the
walls of the vessel. Here again
they must be very small but what
they lack in mass they make up
in numbers and velocity; so the
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pressures we observe are satisfactorily
explained.
The modern atom, as we know, is decidedly more complicated. It resembles somewhat the solar system. However, the solar system, as we have indicated, is ultimate simplicity itself. It needs no model, in a sense it furnishes us with a model for the atom.
The reader is more or less familiar with the building blocks that make up the modern atom and they need not concern us here but we should remember that in a very real sense this modern atom-model is a creation of the imagination.
We have no proof that the planetary electron rotates around the proton as a nucleus. However, we do have experimental evidence that the electron exists, and that certain types of atoms probably exist. This seems to warrant some belief in the existence of an atom-model, some belief that it is more than an abstraction. Nevertheless, the characteristics of the experimental atom are inadequate to explain complex phenomena.
(To be continued)
Unless the cause of peace based on law gathers behind it the force and zeal of a religion it can hardly hope to succeed. Those to whom the moral teaching of the human race is entrusted surely have a great duty and a great opportunity. The atomic scientists, I think, have become convinced that they cannot arouse the American people to the truths of the atomic era by logic alone. There must be added that deep power of emotion which is the basic ingredient of religion.
With the love of God all sciences are accepted and beloved, but without it, are fruitless; nay, rather the cause of insanity. Every science is like unto a tree; if the fruit of it is the love of God, that is a blessed tree. Otherwise it is dried wood and finally a food for the fire.
Bahá’í Answers
Book Review
BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK
THIS book will appeal to those
who have been introduced to the
Bahá’í Faith and who wish to know
more about it, but who have not the
time to read the many books on the
great variety of subjects that the
Bahá’í Faith covers or who do not
have the books available. It is hoped,
however, that such readers as these
will wish to study further. The exact
reference at the end of each excerpt
makes an incentive and guide for just
that. The book is also a ready reference
book and will be welcomed by
traveling teachers and all who do not
have access to a complete Bahá’í
library.
Many will be surprised at the breadth and variety of subjects which are covered in the book. Those who have thought of the Bahá’í Faith as simply a cult, or possibly a religion, or perhaps as a plan for peace may not expect to find the answers to questions on economics, sociology, psychology, evolution, child training. The late Dr. William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, is quoted as saying, “It is a great mistake to suppose that God is only, or even chiefly, concerned with religion.” So the Bahá’í Faith may well be called more than a religion if the word is used in its conventional sense. A thoughtful study of this book will reveal to the student why a Faith which claims to be the nucleus and pattern for a New World Order must be concerned with more than personal salvation and personal character, why it must penetrate every phase of human life and society and knowledge.
The “Table of Questions” serves both as a table of contents and as an index and its very form intrigues one into looking up the answers. The answers themselves often carry one on to the next question and answer. The student soon finds that the answers are different from any he would find elsewhere. In no other writings will he find the New Age called “The King of Days”, “a cycle of radiance” and connected with the coming of a new Messenger, Bahá’u’lláh. Will further reading, the student may ask, give answer to the question why the troublous times in which we are living should be called an “age of mercy”? It is well to turn back and reread the words immediately preceding the Table of Questions: “When a true seeker determines to take the step of search in the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart . . . from the obscuring dust of acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy.” The one using this book, then, is more than a student, he is a seeker for the truth about the New Age, striving for an open mind and a pure heart.
Part I, besides defining and characterizing
the New Age, answers
questions about the history of the
Bahá’í Faith and about the Bahá’í
Administrative Order, how in its
functioning and development it is
[Page 424]
laying the foundation for the new
civilization.
In Part II, “Some Teachings of the New Age,” we find a variety of subjects, such as prayer, character, child training, marriage. It is under these and other questions that the seeker finds that the Bahá’í teachings contain the food for developing his spiritual life and that the New World Order must be built by individuals newly created spiritually; that the new social order is based on moral standards and that moral standards are based on religious truth.
In Part III, “The Manisfestation,” the questioner finds himself face to face with great theological and philosophical questions which learned minds have struggled over from the beginning of thinking man. Is there a God? Are there proofs of the existence of God? Is God concerned with His creation? What is the degree of power of the Manisfestation of God? Some may ask, whether we can have true answers to questions such as these, or, what is the relation of such questions to the New Age? The true seeker will find convincing answers.
Part IV, “The Rational Soul,” continues with subjects usually left to philosophy, psychology or science. What is the origin of man and what is meant by human reality? What is modification of species? Other questions are concerned with subjects commonly agreed to belong to the field of religion. What is the state of man after death? What is meant by “second birth”? What is the truth of the story of Adam and Eve? And here, too, the answers are not the same as one finds in other writings. They deal with the progress and development of man in this world and the next and are truly an important part of the knowledge needed for the New Age.
Other valuable compilations of Bahá’í writings have been made, but no previous one has covered such a variety of subjects. The excerpts are all from the authoritative writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. To the beginner the answers will not always seem simple but the sincere seeker will return again to “Answers” until they do become illuminating. The traveller will rejoice to have so comprehensive a book and yet one not too bulky to go with him on his travels.
“God’s purpose in sending His Prophets unto men is twofold. The first is to liberate the children of men from the darkness of ignorance, and guide them to the light of true understanding. The second is to insure the peace and tranquillity of mankind, and provide all the means by which they can be established.”
High Lights of the Newer Testament
A Compilation from the Bahá’í Writings
MARIAN CRIST LIPPITT
HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Soon will the present day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.
* * *
Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather we have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power.
* * *
O My servants! Sorrow not if, in these days and on this earthly plane, things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight, are assuredly in store for you. Worlds, holy and spiritually glorious, will be unveiled to your eyes. You are destined by Him, in this world and hereafter, to partake of their benefits, to share in their joys, and to obtain a portion of their sustaining grace. To each and every one of them you will, no doubt, attain.
* * *
O Son of Love! Thou art but one step away from the glorious heights above and from the celestial tree of love. Take thou one pace and with the next advance into the immortal realm and enter the pavilion of eternity. Give ear, then, to that which hath been revealed by the pen of glory.
Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me and with Thy love in my heart all the world’s afflictions can in no wise alarm me.
* * *
Nothing save that which profiteth them can befall My loved ones. To this testifieth the Pen of God, the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the Best Beloved.
ACHIEVING LOVE
The first sign of faith is Love.
The advent of the prophets and the revelation of the Holy Books is intended to create love between souls and friendship between the inhabitants of the earth. Real love is impossible unless one turn his face towards God and be attracted to His beauty.
* * *
Love the creatures for the
sake of God and not for themselves.
You will never become
angry or impatient if you love
them them for the sake of God.
Humanity is not perfect. There
are imperfections in every
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human being and you will always
become unhappy if you
look toward the people themselves.
But if you look toward
God you will love them and be
kind to them, for the world of
God is the world of perfection
and complete mercy. Therefore
do not look at the shortcomings
of anybody; see with the sight
of forgiveness. The imperfect
eye beholds imperfections. The
eye that covers faults looks
towards the Creator of souls.
He created them, trains and provides
for them, endows them with
capacity and life, sight and hearing;
therefore they are the signs
of His grandeur.
THE GIFT OF PRAYER
As to thy question, “Why pray? . . .” Know thou, verily, it is becoming of a weak one to supplicate to the strong One and it behoveth a seeker of bounty to beseech the glorious, bountiful One. When one supplicates to his Lord, turns to Him and seeks bounty from His ocean this supplication is by itself a light to his heart, an illumination to his sight, a life to his soul and an exaltation to his being.
* * *
The wisdom of prayer is this, that it causes a connection between the servant and the True One, because in that state of prayer man with all his heart and soul turns his face towards His Highness the Almighty, seeking His association and desiring His love and compassion. The greatest happiness for a lover is to converse with his beloved, and the greatest gift for a seeker is to become familiar with the object of his longing. That is why the greatest hope of every soul who is attracted to the kingdom of God is to find an opportunity to entreat and supplicate at the ocean of His utterance, goodness and generosity.
If a soul is seeking to quarrel, ask ye for reconciliation; if he blame you, praise him; if he give you a deadly poison, bestow ye an all-healing antidote; if he createth death, administer ye eternal life; if he becometh a thorn, change ye into roses and hyacinths. Perchance, through such deeds and words, this darkened world will become illuminated, this terrestrial universe will become transformed into a heavenly realm, and this satanic prison become a divine court; warfare and bloodshed be annihilated, and love and faithfulness hoist the tent of unity upon the apex of the world.
WITH OUR READERS
IN JANUARY, editors speak of the
next issue, but they mean not the
February issue which is on the press,
but the March issue for which they
are preparing copy. So it is that we
apologize as soon as possible for the
errors made in the printing of Karl
Schueck’s excellent article, “Bahá’u’lláh’s
Message and the Germans,”
though of necessity two months must
lapse between the publication of the
article and the appearance of the corrections.
The quotation from Faust
should read, “Two souls dwell, alas,
in my breast.” On page 331, in the
discussion of Hegel, the clause should
read: “philosophers such as Hegel,
whose authority he dared not doubt,
taught him to deify the State.” Four
proofreaders failed to catch the important
omission of the “i” in
“deify” which changed the entire
meaning of the sentence. Also on
page 333 “the usual German disposition
for faith” should read “the
unusual German disposition . . .”
You will want to correct your copies
before lending them to your
friends.
The January issue pleased Stanwood Cobb, a former editor of World Order. “The lead article by Schueck was superb, from both a literary and spiritual point of view.” He also mentioned the quotation from David Hofman, the articles of Floyd Munson, Rúḥíyyih Khánum, and Duart Vincent Brown, and said, “What inspired me greatly was to see the galaxy of really literary-gifted writers shining in this issue. It forecasts a new era for the Cause, with gifted writers and artists in various fields as well as other men of learning and position in the world all devoting their energies to the Cause with true consecration.”
A new reader also expressed her interest in the recent issues and speaks of liking the editorials, “If You Are Not a Bahá’í,” and “Fanaticism”, “The Bahá’í Statement on the Rights of Women”, Charles Krug’s “World Religion” and Robert Gaines’ article on social justice. She expressed the excitement experienced by so many of us when we realized the transformation of society which can occur through the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh.
* * *
This month’s lead article, “America’s
Spiritual Destiny” was given as
a talk at the Bahá’í House of Worship
in Wilmette. Its author, Sara
Margaret Swengel was a member of
the Urbana Youth group for several
years, graduating from the University
of Illinois in 1941. She taught
two years in Auburn, Illinois, had a
clerical job in a Detroit company,
helped conduct a nursery school, was
an instructor in the University of
Illinois while working on her Master’s,
taught at the Arlington Heights
High School, and to round out her
experience, was a traveling Bahá’í
teacher, an assistant at Louhelen
Summer school, and an assistant in
the Bahá’í office in Wilmette. In January
of 1948 she went to Puerto Rico
with Dr. Edris Rice-Wray to help the
Bahá’ís there. Two days after her
arrival in San Juan she was offered
[Page 428]
a position teaching English at the
University of Puerto Rico!
The first section of “Has Science Replaced Religion” appears this month from Professor Shook, head of the department of physics at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts. You will remember his series, “Youth and the Modern World” and his “One Moral Order or Anarchy.”
Marzieh Gail’s contribution this month is a delightful narrative. Readers ask for more work from this gifted San Francisco Bahá’í. Another West Coast writer is John Stroessler. “Education’s Role in Society”, he tells us, is one of his favorite subjects. John is working on his doctorate at Stanford University and lives with his wife at Palo Alto. In November of 1946 we printed his “A Bahá’í Philosophy of Education.”
The new book, Bahá’í Answers is reviewed by one of the former editors, Bertha Kirkpatrick. Characteristically, when she was asked for more about herself for WOR, she sent this sketch about someone else: “How does one become a Bahá’í? One friend tells the story briefly in this way: ‘Ill health caused me to leave my home for California. I kept my berth in the sleeper all the way to Seattle where I arrived on a Sunday morning when the railroad station was very quiet. I did not take the first train out for the south but said to myself, I will rest here today. About that time a dear little lady said to her roommate that she was going down to the station. She said she didn’t know what for, but that she was going. The little lady was Ida Finch who passed away some years ago. We were the only two in the ladies’ waiting room, and what a glorious time we had all that day, for she it was who told me about the Cause. Of course there was much to learn when I got to Los Angeles, but this was the beginning. In two years when I was going back, I telegraphed her and she met me again, and now our next meeting will be in the spirit side of life.’
“Besides the gratitude which one feels to the one who has told him about the Faith or pointed out the path, one feels a constant gratitude to God expressed in such words as these, ‘O Lord, O Lord! Praise and thanksgiving be unto Thee for Thou has guided me to the highway of the Kingdom.’”
Jim Mills, author of “To a Modern Child”, saw service in the Pacific with the Army Air Corps and is at present a student at the University of Illinois. Although he is not at present a Bahá’í, he says that he is vitally interested in the Teachings. Many of our readers know his mother, Marian Mills, now a member of the Reviewing Committee.
Flora Hottes received inspiration for her editorial while flying over South America where she was a pioneer in Bolivia, Peru, and Uruguay.
INDEX
WORLD ORDER
Volume Thirteen, April 1947 through March 1948
‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Sun Illumines . . . 325
‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Budapest (Vambery), 123
Advent of Divine Justice: Book Review (Linfoot), 137
Alexander, Agnes B.: A Bahá’í Enters the Hermit Kingdom, 169
America’s Spiritual Destiny (Swengel), 399
Ashton, Beatrice: Táhirih, 129
Bacon, Alice: Shaykh Aḥmad: Herald of the Dawn, 278 (Nov.)
Bahá’í Answers: Book Review (Kirkpatrick), 423
Bahá’í Basis for Human Relations (Ruhe), 39
Bahá’í Concept of Education: Editorial (Holley), 22
Bahá’í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights (National Spiritual Assembly), 3
Bahá’í Encounter in Japan (Jamir), 10
A Bahá’í Enters the Hermit Kingdom (Alexander), 169
Bahá’í Faith in India (Fozdar), 155
Bahá’í History: Ashton, Beatrice. Táhirih, 129; Bacon, Alice. Shaykh Aḥmad, 278; Coe, L. E. Traveller’s Narrative, 207; Gail, Marzieh. Poet Laureate (Nabíl), 47; Hutchens, E. S. Siyyid Kazim, 381; Shoghi Effendi. Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, 219
Bahá’í House of Worship: 253, 256 (Nov.)
Bahá’í Statement on the Rights of Women (National Spiritual Assembly), 231
Bahá’í View of UNESCO (Fleur and Kirkpatrick), 64
Bahá’í World—Vol. IX: Book Review (Zerby), 27
Bahá’ís Look to the Future (W. K. Christian), 255 (Dec.)
Bahá’u’lláh’s Message and the Germans (Schueck), 327
Beloved Irán: Land of Light (Gulick), 267 (Dec.)
Books Reviews: Christian, R. K. Color Blind (Halsey), 98; Coe, L. E. Traveller’s Narrative (Browne), 207; Gift, M. H. Modern Man Is Obsolete (Cousins), 17; Kirkpatrick, B. H. Bahá’í Answers (Kelsey), 423; Linfoot, C. M. Advent of Divine Justice (Shoghi Effendi), 137; Tucker, William. Renewal of Civilization (Hofman), 166; Zerby, Lewis. Bahá’í World—Vol. IX., 27
Bowditch, Nancy Douglas. Poems: The Song (dedicated to the Báb), 63; Song of Táhirih, 135
Brown, Duart Vincent: Nature of Divinity, 236; Panama, Crossroads of Destiny, 336; Wind of Spring. 24
Busey, Garreta: Editorials: If You Are Not a Bahá’í, 242; What Are the Bahá’ís Doing? 375
Charter Day Message from the United Nations (Lie), 229
Christian, Roberta K.: Color Blind: Book Review, 98
Christian, William Kenneth: Bahá’ís Look to the Future, 255 (Dec.); No Flags, No drums: Editorial, 96
Cobb, Stanwood: Symbols of America: Poem, 94
Coe, Lois E.: Traveller’s Narrative: Book Review, 207
Color Blind: Book Review (R. K. Christian), 98
Conversation in Whispers (Gail), 409
Crist, Gene W.: If—With All Thy Heart, 88
Development of a World Society (Jupnik) pt. 1, 341; pt. 2, 387
Economics, 261 (Dec.); 363
Education, 22; 406
Education’s Role in Society (Stroessler), 406
Essential Religion Brings Unity: Editorial (Paine), 200
Faith of Bahá’u’lláh (Shoghi Effendi), 219
Fanaticism: Editorial (Hutchens), 272
Faraway Isfáhán (Gulick), 377
Firoozi, W. M.: What Is the Bahá’í Faith? 339
Fleur, Gertrude B., and Kirkpatrick, B. H.: Bahá’í View of UNESCO, 64
[Page 430]
Flight: Editorial (Hottes), 413
Food of the Spirit (Hackley), 193
For the Advancement of Her Race (Schurgast), 100
Fozdar, Shirin: The Bahá’í Faith in India, 155
Fragrance of Letters (Rúḥíyyih Khánum), pt. 1, 274 (Dec.); pt. 2, 351
Gail, Harold: Trade Is One Thing . . . , 363
Gail, Marzieh: Conversation in Whispers, 409; In the High Sierras, 233; Poet Laureate (Nabíl), 47; Rise of Women, 183
Garvin, Martha Boutwell: Poems: Books, 393; Knowledge, 334
Germany, 202; 327
Gift, Maye Harvey: Modern Man is Obsolete: Book Review, 17; Security That Endures: Glimpses of the Kitáb-i-Iqán, 278 (Dec.)
Gift to the World (Robinson), 253 (Nov.)
Groger, Louise A.: Root of Knowledge, 147; World Educator, 118
Grossman, Hermann: New Work, 202
Guidance: A Compilation from the Bahá’í Writings (Rowland), 104
Gulick, Robert L., Jr.: Beloved Irán: Land of Light, 267 (Dec.); Faraway Isfáhán, 377
Hackley, Elizabeth: Food of the Spirit, 193
Has Science Replaced Religion? (Shook), pt. 1, 415
Henning, Gertrude K.: A New Race of Men: Editorial, 127
High Lights of the Newer Testament: A Compilation from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (Lippitt), 285 (Nov.); 357; 394; 425
Holley, Horace: Bahá’í Concept of Education: Editorial, 22; Religious World Community, 75; To Know and Worship God, 256; World Citizenship a Moral Reality in the Bahá’í Teachings, 370
Hooker, Robert Montgomery: Nicaragua, 228
Hottes, Flora Emily: Editorials: Flight, 413; New Lights in Architecture, 266 (Nov.)
Hutchens, Eleanor S.: Siyyid Kázim, 381; Editorials: Fanaticism, 272; Unity in the Love of God, 164
If—With All Thy Heart (Crist), 88
If You Are Not a Bahá’í: Editorial (Busey), 242
Illustrations: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 109; Airplane Flight, 397; Armistice Day Service, London, 1938, 217; Bahá’í House of Worship, 1; 269-272 (Nov.); Canadian-U.S. International Peace Arch, 361; German Farmers at Work, 325; Jewish Gathering, Chicago, 1933, 181; Tihrán, Persia, Central Square, 253 (Dec.); U.N. Conference, San Francisco, 1945, 74; U.N. Session, N. Y., 1946, 145; V-J Day in Chicago, 37
In the High Sierras (M. Gail), 253
India, 155
Inderlied, Helen: Struggle for Bill of Rights: Book Review, 244
Irán, 267 (Dec.); 377
James, Ida Elaine: Poems: Alchemy of Love, 30; By This Measure, 380; Greatest of These, 206; Wings Take Flight, 103
Jamir, Michael: Bahá’í Encounter in Japan, 10
Jupnik, Fannie: Development of a World Society, pt. 1, 341; pt. 2, 387
Khai, L.: Gates of Paradise: Poem, 235
Kirkpatrick, Bertha Hyde: Bahá’í Answers: Book Review, 423; (collaborator in) Bahá’í View of UNESCO, 64; “They Understand Not”: Editorial, 61
Kitáb-i-Iqán: Security That Endures (Gift), 278 (Dec.)
Korea, 169
Krug, Charles S.: World Religion, 263 (Nov.)
Lie, Trygve: Charter Day Message from the U.N., 229
Linfoot, Charlotte M.: Advent of Divine Justice: Book Review, 137
Lippitt, Marian C.: High Lights of the Newer Testament: A Compilation from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, 285 (Nov.); 285 (Dec.); 357; 394; 425
The Mature Man: Bahá’í Words for Meditation, 31; 68; 140; 178; 213; 249
Mills, Jim: To a Modern Child: Poem, 408
Modern Man Is Obsolete: Book Review (Gift), 17
Munson, Floyd H.: Perilous Peace, 273 (Nov.); Spirit of Faith, 347
[Page 431]
N. D. B.: Disciple: Poem, 241
Nabíl: Poet Laureate (M. Gail), 47
National Spiritual Assembly: Bahá’í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights, 3; Bahá’í Statement on the Rights of Women, 231
Nature of Divinity (Brown), 236
New Lights in Architecture: Editorial (Hottes), 266 (Nov.)
New Race of Men: Editorial (Henning), 127
New Work (Grossman), 202
Nicaragua (Hooker), 228
No Flags, No Drums: Editorial (W. K. Christian), 96
104 Anno Domini and 104 Bahá’í Era: Editorial (Paine), 349
One Moral Order or Anarchy (Shook), 111
Paine, Mabel Hyde: Editorials: Essential Religion Brings Unity, 200; 104 Anno Domini and 104 Bahá’í Era, 349
Panama, Crossroads of Destiny (Brown), 336
Perilous Peace (Munson), 273 (Nov.)
Poems: N. D. B.: The Disciple, 241; N. D. Bowditch: The Song, 63; Song of Táhirih, 135; Cobb, Stanwood: Symbols of America, 94; Garvin, M. B.: Knowledge, 334; Books, 393; James, I. E.: Alchemy of Love, 30; By This Measure, 380; Greatest of These, 206; Wings Take Flight, 103; Khai, L.: Gates of Paradise, 235; Mills, Jim: To a Modern Child, 408; Robarts, Audrey: Who Are We? 33; Robinson, G. W.: Dawn in the East, 271 (Dec.) Not Mine Till Shared, 386; The Quest, 67; Whitaker, Robert: My Country, 373
Poet Laureate: Nabíl (M. Gail), 47
Progressive Revelation: 88; 118; 147; 263 (Nov.); 273 (Nov.)
Race Relations, 39; 98; 100
Religious World Community (Holley), 75
Renewal of Civilization: Book Review (Tucker), 166
Rise of Women (M. Gail), 183
Robinson, Gertrude W.: Gift to the World, 253 (Nov.); Poems: Dawn in the East, 271 (Dec.); Not Mine Till Shared, 386; The Quest, 67
Root of Knowledge (Groger), 147
Rowland, Ella L.: Guidance: A Compilation from the Bahá’í Writings, 104
Ruhe, David S., M.D.: Bahá’í Basis for Human Relations, 39
Rúḥíyyih Khánum: Fragrance of Letters, pt. 1, 274 (Dec.); pt. 2, 351
The Same Sun: Book Review of Bahá’í World—Vol. IX (Zerby), 27
Schueck, Karl: Bahá’u’lláh’s Message and the Germans, 327
Schurgast, Gertrude: For the Advancement of Her Race, 100
Security That Endures: Glimpses of the Kitáb-i-Iqán: Book Review (Gift), 278 (Dec.)
Shaykh Aḥmad: Herald of the Dawn (Bacon), 278 (Nov.)
Shoghi Effendi: Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, 219
Shook, G. A.: Has Science Replaced Religion? pt. 1, 415; One Moral Order or Anarchy, 111
Siyyid Kázim (Hutchens), 381
Spirit of Faith (Munson), 347
Stroessler, John: Education’s Role in Society, 406
Struggle for Bill of Rights: Book Review (Inderlied), 244
The Sun Illumines . . . (‘Abdu’l-Bahá), 325
Swengel, Margaret: America’s Spiritual Destiny, 399
Táhirih (Ashton), 129
“They Understand Not”: Editorial (Kirkpatrick), 61
To Know and Worship God (Holley), 256 (Nov.)
Trade Is One Thing . . . (H. Gail), 363
Traveller’s Narrative: Book Review (Coe), 207
Tucker, William: Renewal of Civilization: Book Review, 166
United Nations: 3; 64; 229
Unity in the Love of God: Editorial (Hutchens), 164
Vambery, Rustem: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Budapest, 123
What Are the Bahá’ís Doing? Editorial (Busey), 375
What Is the Bahá’í Faith? (Firoozi), 339
Whitaker, Robert: My Country: Poem, 373
Wind of Spring (Brown), 24
[Page 432]
With Our Readers: 34; 70; 106; 142; 179;
215; 251; 287 (Nov.); 287 (Dec.); 359;
395; 427
Women: 183; 231
World Citizenship—a Moral Reality in the Bahá’í Teachings (Holley), 370
World Community: 75; 111; 341; 370; 387
World Educator (Groger), 118
World Religion (Krug), 263 (Nov.)
Zerby, Lewis: The Same Sun: Book Review of Bahá’í World—Vol. IX., 27
Bahá’í Literature
Books About the Faith
Distributed by Bahá’í Publishing Committee
110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH AND THE NEW ERA
This work by the late J. E. Esslemont of Aberdeen, Scotland, has for more than twenty years been the most useful introductory book on the Bahá’í Revelation. Its successive chapters outline the history and teachings of the Faith, and show the significance of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the New Era. Many translations have appeared in languages other than English.
THE PROMISE OF ALL AGES
Dr. George Townshend of the Church of England has become known as one of the most scholarly and appealing authors working on Bahá’í material. This work has particular interest for seekers with Christian background. It develops the theme of Bahá’u’lláh as the “King of Glory” foretold by all the Prophets.
SECURITY FOR A FAILING WORLD
Prof. Stanwood Cobb, American educator, has successfully set himself to answer the question as to whether the intelligence of man is capable of creating a stable civilization—without a spiritual renaissance the present social order is doomed. It features the role of religion in the formation of civilization.
THIS EARTH ONE COUNTRY
The author, Emeric Sala of Montreal, is a business man with international experience. He approaches religion in terms of its new function as source of justice and describes clearly and forcefully the unique contribution being made by the Bahá’í Faith to the solution of the existing world problem.
THE RENEWAL OF CIVILIZATION
A new and very useful introductory work of less than one hundred pages. The author, David Hofman of London, England, is concerned with the questions oppressing men today: what the future holds, what purpose there is in life, what value in striving, what good in civilization. His book of nine chapters will interest any person who has the courage to seek the true answer to the issues of our time.
THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
Recognizes the unity of God and His Prophets,
Upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth,
Condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice,
Teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand in hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society, . . .
Inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes,
Advocates compulsory education,
Abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth,
Exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship,
Recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, . . .
Provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.