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[Page 119]

WORLD ORDER

VIEWING THE WORLD AS AN ORGANISM

JULY 1937

THE HOPE OF THE RACE • • JOSE C. de M. SOARES

THE NEW CREATION • • • ALICE SIMMONS COX

THE DIVINE PHYSICIAN • • • MAMIE L. SETO

THE CREATIONAL BOOK • • HOWARD COLBY IVES

SOUL, MIND AND SPIRIT • • ELSA RUSSELL BLAKELY

[Page 120]

CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE

JULY 1937 VOLUME 3 • NUMBER 4

EXPANDING OUR HORIZONS • EDITORIAL ............................................... 121

THE HOPE OF THE RACE • JOSE CARLOS DE MACEDO SOARES .......... 123

THE PEOPLE’S CONFERENCE • FRANCES BENEDICT STEWART ............ 126

THE NEW CREATION, I. • ALICE SIMMONS COX ...................................... 129

THE DIVINE PHYSICIAN • MAMIE L. SETO .................................................. 134

THY LAW IS MY DELIGHT • COMPILATION • MAYE HARVEY GIFT ........ 138

MODERN MIRACLES OF PALESTINE • BEATRICE IRWIN .......................... 141

GENIUS AND THE SPIRIT • I. IRCADIA ........................................................ 145

SUCCESSION OF THE PROPHETS • ORCELLA REXFORD .......................... 147

SOUL, MIND AND SPIRIT • ELSA RUSSELL BLAKELEY .................................. 151

THE CREATIONAL BOOK • POEM • HOWARD COLBY IVES .................... 157

SIGNS OF THE TIMES • BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK ................................ 160

Change of address should be reported one month in advance.

WORLD ORDER is published monthly in New York, N. Y., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Stanwood Cobb and Horace Holley. BUSINESS MANAGER: C. R. Wood. PUBLICATION OFFICE: 135 East 50th Street, New York, N. Y. EDITORIAL OFFICE: 119 Waverly Place, New York, N. Y.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $2.00 per year, $1.75 to Public Libraries. Rate to addresses outside the United States, $2.25, foreign Library rate, $2.00. Single copies, 20 cents. Checks and money orders should be made payable to World Order Magazine, 135 East 50th Street, New York, N. Y. Entered as second class matter, May 1, 1935, at the post office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1937 by BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE.

July 1937, Volume 3, Number 4.

[Page 121]

WORLD ORDER

JULY, 1937, VOLUME THREE, NUMBER FOUR

EXPANDING OUR HORIZONS

EDITORIAL

MAN has been given a power infinitely above that of the animal— the power to think abstractly, to conceive what is going on out of his sight and reach, to picture the past and envisage the future, to delve into the hidden things of nature and discover her secrets. It is by this power of abstract thought that man has discovered what the sun and stars are made of and the laws which they obey; the structure of the earth we live upon, its chemical composition and physical laws. More important still, man is able, once he has discovered the laws of nature, to bend these laws to his own will, in such a way as to rule nature, use her for his own purposes, and recreate his natural environment to suit his needs and desires.

By his power of thought man also has learned how to analyze himself and to understand his own psychology. By thus knowing his tendencies, his powers, and the dangers of his temperament, he is able to develop his abilities, improve his character, and avoid the pitfalls into which his weaknesses might otherwise lead him.

By the power of intellect man has known how to recreate the past history of humanity around the keystone of the great arch of progress. And greatest of all uses of the intellect, man is able to form a vision of a more perfect state of humanity, and to work courageously and persistently [Page 122] toward the achievement of that glorious vision.

How lofty and noble are the intellectual powers of man, when developed and employed for the better understanding of existence, and for its perfectioning. Man is not worthy of the title “man” until he has gained these intellectual powers which distinguish him from the animal.

Now, in this century and in this country, the development of the intellect is a possibility within every person’s reach. Education is universal. Newspapers, magazines, books, radio, present an infinite amount of opportunity for the acquisition of knowledge and the perfecting of powers of thought. The opportunities lie before us, but how far do we take advantage of them? Our schools are at fault in that their method of memorization and cramming tend to alienate youth from learning and to destroy in him one of the greatest gifts of God to man—a curious mind eager to absorb new things.

There is a truly spiritual quality in learning, in the unfoldment of man’s intellectual powers. Man’s power of reason, and its use in discovery, invention, and creative work of all kinds, is due to a divinely-creative force with which God has endowed him—that same force and power through which God has created the universe. The Creator places a faint reflection of this Cosmic force in man, that he may have the power both of understanding and of improving the universe he lives in. Think you that man could come to learn the secrets of nature hidden to the animal and to the savage, but patent to the scholar, if he had not in him a spark of that infinite Power which created nature and her hidden laws? Truly this power of the intellect has a spiritual dignity, raising man from the plane of the animal and making him akin with the divine. The universe —that infinite creation of Infinity itself—is brought within the comprehension of man only through the light of the holy spirit which God, in His grace, causes to descend upon the mind of man to fructify and to illumine it.

True learning, then, should bring us nearer to God rather than obscure Him from our vision. It is only false learning, the dry dust of human vanity, which, in the words of the great French positivist, “chases God across the boundaries of the universe.” The more we learn of the great laws of nature and the universe and the more we broaden the horizon of our knowledge, the nearer we come to perceiving that majestic and divine Force which creates, sustains and guides our universe.

OUR acquisition of knowledge, therefore, should run parallel with, and not counter to, our spiritual development. Our learning should enhance our spiritual conception of life and the universe; should bring us nearer to God and nearer to our fellowmen; should make us more humble, more intuitive, more deeply spiritual, more kindly toward our fellowmen.

S.C.

[Page 123]

THE HOPE OF THE RACE

JOSÉ CARLOS DE MACEDO SOARES

PEACE is not an idea that can be limited in time or space. It is an oecumenical idea, the hope of the race, the sublimation of the intelligence of man, in an unruly planet and whose lower instincts are fully in evidence in universal strife.

Frail, indeed, therefore, would be the pacific aspirations if they were limited exclusively to the love of justice, the respect of the law and continuous loyalty to international cooperation.

Nations, in their tribute to the ideal of Peace, may choose either of the two paths mentioned by Our Lord, at the house of Lazarus, in Bethany; they may also combine the two vocations, uniting the love of justice, respect of law and loyalty in international cooperation to an active policy of the organization, defense and safeguarding of peace.

President General Justo clearly understood the necessity of transforming the contemplative elements of peace into active ones, expressing himself in his reply to the invitation of President Roosevelt to this conference of the American countries.

The Head of my Government, accepting the same invitation, was equally clear and precise. It is not sufficient that a horror of carnage and destruction, of the ferocity and brutal injustice of war, should dominate the spirit of nations. Peace is an atmosphere created by moral and material factors, the preservation of which constitutes the duty of Governments, of the spiritual élites and of all of us.

The prevention of war depends upon a policy of better understanding, generosity and prudence. Such a policy must naturally be profoundly democratic. Peace being an ideal of the peoples, it can only constitute a method of government in true democracies, that is to say, in nations ruled by a juridical system, subject to electoral sanctions, dominated by love of liberty, enlightened by the modern technique forming thereby public opinion. Nations submitting to personal rule, enslaved by parties or factions, poisoned by class hatred or by doctrinaire fanaticism, find themselves helpless in face of the demands of a prestige which often depends on military glories and, therefore, on the sacrifice of human lives.

Nationalist economics, at this moment, one of the scourges of the world, increase from the first signs of irrational egoism to the isolation of autarchy, the inevitable prelude to [Page 124] war.

The great disturbers of international society are, without any doubt, the unrivalled antagonism in the economic field and the financial oppression of some nations. In America these elements of discord are held back by the special conditions of our national formation which permit us a free expansion for our home markets, either by restricting immigration, or by the exploitation of our natural resources, thus making it possible for us to reestablish the social equilibrium by the ebb and flow of our own populations.

The salutary reform of human civilization, which appears almost impossible on other continents, in the Americas, appears spontaneously, it being easy to draw conclusions from these facts as did the President of Brazil, Mr. Getulio Vargas, when he said:—“We must create an interchange, among the American peoples, of such a nature that they may become self-sufficient, by a system of their own, with custom tariffs guaranteeing a continental free-trade, the creation of a Central Reserve Bank, stabilizing currency, creating a credit system and facilitating commercial transactions.”

This program proposed by the Head of the Brazilian nation tends towards an ideal which is “to draw the political boundaries of the American countries by the two great oceans of the East and the West.” However, the noble aspiration of this eminent citizen of America would in no way isolate us from the rest of the world. We would set a great example. We would initiate a new practice of international brotherhood. We would strengthen our methods to insure peace, dispelling the illusions of war, putting an end to the insane economic antagonism between nations. Such an example, in the midst of harrowing experiences, may yet reach the conscience of the peoples and enlighten the world.

Beside the economic and financial measures which, by their importance, weigh heavily in the policy of peace, we should consider many others, in the diplomatic field, in the educational system, in the direction of the press and of the other modem means of communication of ideas and opinions. A general reform in popular education, in the daily ways of life may, finally, enlarge the spirit of national fraternity into brotherhood between the nations. It is to discuss such all important questions that we are here present at this Conference, the representatives of twenty-one American republics.

Gentlemen—I have clearly shown the extent and depth of the pacific convictions of the government of the Brazilian people.

Such convictions are not merely sentimental; they are built upon a solid basis of ideas and principles fully capable of consolidating peace. Certainly, we do not expect this Conference to work miracles, even though these miracles should be simple, human, and favorable to real popular happiness. We must, however, take into consideration the mysterious resistance of prejudices, as well as the persistence in errors and the fascination of mistakes. Such is the lot of mankind.

[Page 125]

Meanwhile, at this Conference we can further the task of consolidating peace, completing a system of treaties leading to a more perfect legislation of the foreign relations of the American peoples. On the other hand, we should show our appreciation of the Hague Permanent Court of International Justice, as a world-wide organization, although capable of improvement. If we consider, for our betterment, the mistaken principles which have misled the organization of Geneva, we cannot close our eyes to its terrible difficulties rising from the clash of interests and passions among the different peoples of Europe. If we find that the universal Institute has shown itself inefficient, at times, to attain the ends for which it was created, we cannot take the risk of reproducing, on a continental scale, that which can only be justified by the fulness of its world action.

I thus conclude, Gentlemen, the first declarations of my Government on aspects of Peace that interest all the civilized world, in order to testify to our broadmindedness with regard to a subject which naturally escapes continental restrictions.

The Government and people of Brazil send their fraternal greeting to the sister-republics of America.

I hereby proclaim the adherence of my country to the policy of the “good neighbor.” I affirm that the Brazilian Nation will put forth every effort to strengthen the ties of cordiality, rising to a high plane of civilization, to a region of culture above that accessible to crimes of war, a region of true peace, spiritual peace, peace of the heart, which I propose, in all sincerity, to call—the sacred Peace of America.

An address by the Minister of Foreign Relations of Brazil, delivered December 5, 1936, at the Plenary Session of the Inter-American Conference for the Consolidation of Peace, Buenos Aires.

[Page 126]

THE PEOPLE’S CONFERENCE

FRANCES BENEDICT STEWART

WHEN ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in the United States in 1912 He spoke before many groups interested in international Peace and said: “Now America has arisen to spread the teachings of Peace for the illumination of mankind and for bestowing happiness and prosperity on all the children of man. These are the principles of Divine Civilization. . . . When the summons to international peace is raised by America all the rest of the world will cry, ‘Yes, we accept’.”

When President Roosevelt issued the invitation to the nations of the Americas to join in an Inter-American Conference for the Consolidation of Peace, there came instant and enthusiastic response from all the twenty-one nations. The proposed conference stimulated study of the relationships between the Americas, of recent progress made towards cooperation and understanding, of the improvement in trade relations, and high hopes were expressed that the new Conference would declare next steps to be taken to consolidate this new spirit of cooperation.

Contemplating the serious nature of events in Europe and the threats of war in the Orient, the peoples of the American nations felt an added responsibility to meet and clearly declare that they would search and find the means for correcting any existing threats to Peace between them and build the machinery for the settlement of all disputes by peaceful means in the future. Mrs. Alicia Moreau de Justo, a well known physician and a recognized leader in the field of social welfare in Buenos Aires, Argentina, issued an invitation to the Peace organizations and to groups interested in social progress to send delegates to a great People’s Peace Conference which should precede the official conference. Sixteen of the nations sent delegates to this preliminary conference held in Buenos Aires in November, 1936 and it was truly a historic gathering. Representing the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the People’s Mandate Committee of the U. S. it was my great joy to meet enthusiastic lovers of Peace from so many of the other Americas who, free from the narrow consciousness of patriotic barriers, were there to express their love for humanity, to defend their rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” free from the fear of wars. From all walks of life they came, men, women and youth, looking toward the day when [Page 127] free exchange of commodities between nations, free exchange of great ideals and knowledge for the progress and freedom of humanity would usher in a New World Order. Many were the ideals expressed for the realization of a “Larger Life” for all peoples, that prejudices of race, nationality and tradition shall be abandoned and that in these Americas a new concept of human cooperation, a new vision of true civilization may be developed. The People’s Conference appointed four commissions for study, as follows: (1) The status quo in Armaments; (2) The study of financial and economic relations looking towards the gradual development of free exchange of commodities, as between the Americas; (3) The free exchange of people and of ideas throughout the American nations; (4) Education for Peace.

Dr. de Justo in her opening address declared that to establish the hope for Peace the people of the Americas must defend the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of thought and freedom of the press. She pointed to nations throughout the world that first denied these fundamental human rights then established a great military machine of force, a constant threat of war to the people. She closed her address with these words: “The world, filled with knowledge and with riches, perishes for lack of kindness and love.”

Each commission presented a splendid report of its findings to the entire conference. These were discussed in true democratic manner, amended, approved and were then sent to Dr. Saavedra Lamas the President of the official Inter-American Conference as the studied recommendations of the people of the Americas for the establishment of permanent Peace.

A most dramatic moment during this conference took place when, during a rather technical discussion on finance and economics, two young boys —veterans of that most bloody and tragic war of El Chaco between Paraguay and Bolivia—stood and in quavering voices made a moving plea for a clear and uncompromising declaration that never, never for any reason whatever would the peoples of the Americas ever resort to war. Wounded and weary after long months of jungle warfare they pleaded in the name of their comrades who were driven to kill one another because prejudice and material ambitions of men ordered them to. One of these boys had followed the flag of Bolivia, the other the flag of Paraguay, yet here they sat side by side, friends, united in their hope that others to come after them should never be called on to suffer war. This war was not yet finished, only an armistice had been called and for many months a Peace Commission had been unable to arrive at a peaceful settlement. This known fact hung like a deep shadow over both the People’s and the Official conference.

The recommendations sent to the Official Conference enumerated many ways to Peace, among them the following: That Peace shall be taught in the schools; that noble lives of men and women who have contributed to the progress of humanity shall be extolled above those who are remembered [Page 128] for exploits of military achievement; that universal education shall be expanded and that the cultures of the peoples of other nations be taught to build understanding and cooperation; that a study be made of standards of living looking to a continual improvement among all the people, in order that economic injustice may not be a cause of strife, internal or international; that better, more just terms for negotiating financial loans and credits be established between the nations to enable them to progress and provide larger opportunities for their people; that equal rights shall be granted the women of the American nation; that the nations should adopt pacts for the gradual mutual reduction of armaments.

The spirit of fellowship, the realization that the Americas are fortunately situated to prove to the rest of the world that the fruits of Peace are far richer than the empty victories of war, the sense of fulfilling a destiny by demonstrating that the sincere will to Peace can make many sacrifices to achieve the goal, these were the outstanding sentiments so frequently and eloquently expressed by the delegates to the first great People’s Conference to establish Peace in the Americas and in the World.

The results of the Inter-American conference for the Consolidation of Peace held in December, 1936 gave evidence that these deep hopes of the people were heard, as the treaties signed were constructive and realistic for the assurance of Peace in the Americas. These must yet be ratified by the respective governments and we pray this may be speedily done.

[Page 129]

THE NEW CREATION

ALICE SIMMONS COX

I. THE PROMISED DAY OF GOD

HOPE runs high in many hearts today that civilization has definitely, if not staunchly and wholeheartedly, set foot on the highroad that leads to a new goal of material and spiritual progress—a goal that will find outer manifestation in a society of nations, an economic, social and cultural brotherhood, the glory of which mankind in recorded history has never witnessed.

The brilliance of the evolution to come in the decades ahead has been envisioned by statesmen and poets. Scientists picture in striking words the progress of which they are assured. Writing of this present era, which he looks upon as the dawn of a great civilization, Sir James Jeans observes, “They (future generations) will think of our age as the golden age, the glorious morning of the world. And I, for one, do not regret the fate that has cast my lot in it.”

No blindness is there in this attitude, but a real forecast of the probable advance that mankind can make through the capacity and instruments at its disposal. It is true that in the confusion, discord, impermanence, that mark the present transition period with gloom, conflicting forces are in death struggle; but in that struggle it seems at this moment quite certain to many leading minds that a victory over disintegrating elements will be won. Evidences of a spiritual awakening that will sweep away ignorance and colossal selfishness along with out-moded institutions and practises are to be seen on all sides.

“Yes—‘on our brows we feel the

breath

Of dawn,’ though in the night we

wait!

An arrow is in the heart of Death,

A God is at the doors of Fate!

The spirit that moved upon the Deep

Is moving through the minds of

men:

The nations feel it in their sleep.

A change has touched their dreams

again.

“Voices, confused and faint, arise,

Troubling their hearts from East

to West,

A doubtful light is in their skies,

A gleam that will not let them rest:

The dawn, the dawn is on the wing,

The stir of change on every side,

Unsignaled as the approach of Spring,

Invincible as the hawthorne-tide.”

[Page 130]

TWO thousand years ago the Teacher of Galilee counseled His beloved ones to pray for the advent of the Kingdom of God in some future day, and even before the dispensation of the Christ, Jewish prophets of great foresight looked out upon panorama pictures when justice and righteousness and peace should reign upon the earth. It is amazing now to meet the realization that the age-old dreams of Isaiah, Daniel and Micah, the eternal plans of God for His people, are in this Day to come true! To believe that we of this century are to be the charter citizens in a new creation brings an overwhelming happiness of mind and spirit to all men who in any measure have seen the meaning of the events of this time. For such as these the Kingdom of God is being born.

It was the Christ Himself who explained, “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you,” apparently giving a decided contradiction to His many parable teachings concerning the future Kingdom in the social fabric of earth. But there was no contradiction. Undoubtedly His disciples understood His meaning that “the Kingdom” originates with God and must find its first manifestation in the souls of men. Its culmination, they were taught, will be in the form of a world civilization that is produced through the work of men who are illumined by the Light of God.

Search for the Holy Grail, medieval symbol of light, spirit, has within the past century gained remarkable impetus. Spiritual pilgrims seeking knowledge and love, the light of which has long been lost in centuries of misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the new birth message revealed by the Prophets of the past, believe they have found it anew in the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. Their confidence that a golden millenium has begun for the whole of mankind is a conviction surpassing the hopes of those who have not yet heard the creative Word of God’s latest Messenger.

Bahá’u’lláh has called out to men: “This is the Day in which God’s most excellent favors have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things. . . . The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have likewise yearned to attain it.” “This is the King of Days, the Day that hath seen the coming of the Best-Beloved, Him Who through all eternity hath been acclaimed the Desire of the World.” “The world of being shineth in this Day with the resplendency of this Divine Revelation. All created things extol its saving grace and sing its praises. The universe is wrapt in an ecstasy of joy and gladness. . . . Well is it with him who hath lived to see this Day and hath recognized its station.”

To those who in the dim light of the dawn have read such prophecy with doubt, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gives His word of great encouragement: “A few, unaware of the power latent in human endeavor, consider this matter as highly impracticable, may even beyond the scope of man’s utmost efforts. Such is not the case, however. On the contrary, thanks to the unfailing [Page 131] grace of God, the loving-kindness of His favored ones, the unrivaled endeavors of wise and capable souls, and the thoughts and ideas of the peerless leaders of this age, nothing whatsoever can be regarded as unattainable. Endeavor, ceaseless endeavor is required. Nothing short of an indomitable determination can possibly achieve it. Many a cause which past ages have regarded as purely visionary, yet in this day has become most easy and practicable. Why should this most great and lofty cause—the day-star of the firmament of true civilization and the cause of the glory, the advancement, the well-being and the success of all humanity —be regarded as impossible of achievement? Surely the day will come when its beauteous light shall shed illumination upon the assemblage of man.”

NEVER before in the history of man has our human race been more receptive to the acceptance of ideals that can lead to the establishment of a spiritual commonwealth; never before have the men of earth been more determined to bring such ideals into actual demonstration. Fear of the destruction of civilization, as it now exists, through the use of increasing physical power, is pushing bewildered minds into the search for security. More advanced thinking and great love for humanity is leading others far along the highroad of understanding and partial achievement. That the new Revelation is the Source of world-wide regeneration, Bahá’u’lláh announced, but He took unto Himself no claim of special distinction among the Prophets of God. The glory of the new Day is possible, He declared, because men themselves have grown into the capacity to receive “ampler measure of Divine Guidance than has hitherto been vouchsafed to mankind.”

What effort man must put forth, what he must do to receive Divine Guidance, how he may equip himself to complete the building of the temple of a new civilization—here lies the first challenge to the alert mind and heart. To be rich in the technique of material progress and growing rapidly more skilled in the production of those things which make physical living ever more comfortable and leisurely for a small part of the world’s population; to be satiated with the thoughts and emotions of a markedly material civilization; to stand helpless as widening chasms split nation from nation, race from race, and class from class in spite of the efforts of a few toward unification; to be torn with hatred, fear and disillusionment— this is the state of world peoples today. This is the problem to be solved. This is the condition to be remedied. This is the society out of which must come men and women to build a new order of democracy, justice and peace. How must they build?

The Kingdom of Heaven must be born within the hearts of men who are to be the citizens of the future world commonwealth. The character of the human soul, its latent possibilities, effective methods of education for spiritual unfoldment and for unselfish, wholesome living, and an undistorted view of the purpose of man’s creation—these are the essentials [Page 132] for progress toward the new goal. With all the advance of modern science, this realm of knowledge remains today still comparatively unexplored. Man himself, of all creation, is still the greatest unknown. He misreads the teachings of the great religious seers of the race and compromises with false gods of his own creation, trying to fit himself, not to the pattern of the Mount, but after the fashion of the carnal life.

“Modern civilization finds itself in a difficult position because it does not suit us,” believes Dr. Alexis Carrel. “It has been erected without any knowledge of our real nature. It was born from the whims of scientific discoveries, from the appetites of men, their illusions, their theories, and their desires.” “We are still immersed in the world created by sciences of inert matter without any respect for the laws of our development. In a world that is not made for us, because it is born from an error of our reason or from the ignorance of our true self. To such a world we cannot become adapted. . . . For the first time in history a crumbling civilization is capable of discerning the causes of its decay. . . . Our destiny is in our hands. On the new road we must now advance.”

Dr. Carrel further explains his meaning: “We have applied to man concepts belonging to the mechanical world. We have neglected thought, moral suffering, sacrifice, beauty and peace. . . . We have amputated his moral, esthetic and religious functions.”

As truly today as in the age of ancient Greece the advice which a few keen philosophers and religious teachers give is, “Man, know thyself.”

“The Purpose of the one true God . . . in revealing Himself unto men,” Bahá’u’lláh declares, “is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves.” Even the purpose of all worship and praise of God, He continues, is that men “may be enabled to ascend unto the station conferred upon their own inmost being, the station of the knowledge of their own selves.”

The very essence of the human soul is beyond comprehension, He teaches, but laws that govern its development and determine its destiny may become a part of man’s knowledge through spiritual education. “Know verily the soul is a sign of God,” says Bahá’u’lláh, “a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men hath failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel. . . . If it be faithful to God, it will reflect His light, and will eventually return unto Him. If it fail, however, in its allegiance to its Creator, it will become a victim of self and passion, and will in the end, sink in their depths.”

PROPHETS of God, spoken of in this Day of Bahá’u’lláh as Manifestations when they are specially appointed Messengers of God’s Glory, are spiritual Educators of men. They are the focal points of each major advance in civilization. To meet the needs of an erring society and the growing desire of men for enlightenment, Bahá’u’lláh’s message to the [Page 133] world revealed in His life and His writings comes in this era as the rising Sun of a new creational Day. Because of His Revelation and by its aid we may begin the dawn of spiritual progress with a correct and working knowledge of the nature of man and the goal toward which he is privileged by His Creator to strive. As a part of this gift of Divine bounty there has been released for humanity, through the advent of the Manifestation, a new and transcendent outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that cosmic force which creates, sustains and illumines the universe and which can in this era vivify and regenerate souls long weary or asleep.

Tenderly, but compelling, Bahá’u’lláh calls to every hungry heart: “Let thy soul glow with the flame of this undying Fire that burneth in the midmost heart of the world.” “On this Day the Kingdom is God’s. . . . The source of bounty is derived, in this Day, from God, the One, the Forgiving.”

“The hour is approaching when ye will witness the power of the one true God triumphing over all created things and the signs of His sovereignty encompassing all creation.”

[Page 134]

THE DIVINE PHYSICIAN

MAMIE L. SETO

THE present age with its disturbing and disastrous labor troubles; its harrowing and heinous crimes; its costly and heavy preparations for war; its many sudden and surprising disasters; and its general spirit of irreligion, presents to a bewildered humanity a dark and dangerous outlook; an age which, on the other hand, offers better opportunities for more comfort, luxury, progress, travel, enjoyment and culture than that of any earlier epoch.

The strongly destructive and troubled aspect of our age, however, totally eclipses the delightful and otherwise enjoyable side of it. And because of this troubled condition, most of our time and energy are spent in finding ways and means to correct it.

Many remedies have been offered and many panaceas prescribed for the deadly diseases which afflict society. Yet, at this late hour, the diseases have not abated; nay, rather the fever heat has increased, and the pulse of trouble beats more rapidly. We find ourselves in a more anxious, disturbed and perplexed state than ever before.

The situation is indeed most baffling: on one hand intense suffering and destruction, and on the other more unmistakable signs than that of any other time, for bettering the condition of mankind.

It is not surprising, then, to hear from the lips of the observer and thinker many expressions of bewilderment as to which way we are headed. They ask, Is it backward or forward we are going?

The way is onward, for life is ever in a state of progress, and this progress goes forward in cycles: a cycle dawns, reaches its zenith, and declines. In its declension darkness and ignorance prevail, troubles abound, and people lose their way. Following in quick order another cycle dawns. This dawn of a cycle is like the springtime —fresh, life-giving, promising— following as it does the dreary, bleak, cold days of winter. There is often a merging of two seasons, as when winter lingers in the lap of spring. So there is a merging of two cycles— a transitional period.

Such is the situation of today. We are in the dawn of a new cycle, an era of greater progress than that of any previous one. At the same time we have the remaining destructive influences of the old cycle, and the world is thus witnessing a titanic struggle between these two forces.

Man, unaided, cannot find his way into this new era without help from [Page 135] a higher source, and this help is ever provided by a Prophet sent from God for that very purpose.

THE Prophet comes as a Divine Physician diagnosing the ills of society, and permanently removing those causes which impede its progress and disturb its tranquillity.

In times past, religious history shows a Moses came to a persecuted and fettered people in bondage to the Egyptians. He prescribed the unfailing remedy, which was the Word of God. Through His power, influence and teachings the children of Israel developed a great culture and became a renowned and distinguished nation exalted among the peoples of the world.

Later, when the Roman Empire became divided, lost its power and glory and fell to ruin, Christ, the Great Healer, appeared with the essential requirement—again the Word of God with its power and potency— and His restorative was to renew faith in God in the hearts of the people, restate His laws, and in this manner the people around the Mediterranean basin found their way to a fuller and more abundant life.

Today the world is again in sore need of this unerring guidance, and it is at our door and has been for over eighty years. The Divine Physician has come and brought the unfailing medicine—again the Word of God.

This Divine Physician is Bahá’u’lláh, Founder of the Bahá’í Faith: a world religion with a joyous message for mankind; it brings the glad tidings to the East and the West of the dawn of that promised age foretold in all the Holy Books by all the Prophets of the past, when peace and justice would reign on earth.

The word Bahá’í means light, glory, splendor; it is a revelation of glory for the cycle of glory upon which the world is entering. This cycle will be an age of marked progress along every path of human endeavor. One of its great triumphs will be the establishment of the Most Great Peace amongst the nations of the earth.

The human family will enter an era of greater felicity than that of any previous time in history. More time and attention will be given to those things which refine the character of man, improve his morals and develop his spiritual qualities.

The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh contain the solution for the many complex and baffling problems of the present day, one of the most vital being an enduring peace amongst the nations of the earth; at the same time furnish the principles, which if followed, will hasten and further the progress of mankind.

THIS religion is not at variance with the fundamentals of Judaism or Christianity. For religion tells the story of the evolution of the race; it is given to the world in progressive revelations, and is renewed from age to age by a Prophet sent from God. At one time a Moses, at another a Buddha, then a Christ or a Muhammad.

As man advances in his evolution a fuller revelation is required. As the Christ came not to destroy the law of Moses but to fulfil it, so the revelation [Page 136] of Bahá’u’lláh, while fundamentally the same as that of Judaism and Christianity, is yet a more complete revelation. It is given according to the requirements of this advanced and scientific age.

The Bahá’í Faith calls humanity back to God, reiterating the ancient truth that only through the power of the Holy Spirit can mankind be reformed, regenerated and find tranquillity.

Bahá’u’lláh was born in the early part of the nineteenth century, the eldest son of one of the most wealthy and distinguished families of Iran. His father was a vizier or minister of state, while many of His relatives occupied important positions in the government and in the civil and military service of that country.

In order to give His message of mercy and guidance to the world He sacrificed a high position of state, great wealth and its attendant comforts, and endured a life of great suffering, deprivation, bitter persecution, long years in prison under unspeakable conditions, cruel banishment and finally exile. Sent from His native soil, He went to Baghdad; from there to Constantinople, and then to Adrianople. Due to His success in winning people to His cause, the Shah of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey united to send Him to the great penal colony of Akká, where He went at the age of fifty-one years, and there remained virtually a prisoner, until He passed away in 1892 at the age of seventy-five.

THAT His message is universal in scope and all-embracing in its aim may be gleaned by these words addressed to Prof. Edward G. Browne of Cambridge University, who visited Him while He was a prisoner in the year 1890:

“We desire but the good of the world and the happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment. That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled. What harm is there in this? . . . Yet, so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the Most Great Peace shall come. Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold? . . . Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind. These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and family. . . . Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.”

It is most consoling and assuring for an afflicted world to know it has not been forgotten in its dark hour, as the following comforting words of Bahá’u’lláh reveal:

“The all-knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, [Page 137] and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present day affliction can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age you live in, and center your deliberation on its exigencies and requirements.

“We can well perceive how the whole human race is encompassed with great, incalculable afflictions. We see it languishing on its bed of sickness, sore tried and disillusioned. They that are intoxicated by self-conceit have interposed themselves between it and the Divine and Infallible Physician. Witness how they have entangled all men, themselves included, in the mesh of their devices. They can neither discover the cause of their disease, nor have they any knowledge of the remedy. They have conceived the straight to be crooked, and have imagined their friend an enemy.”

Bahá’u’lláh, diagnosing as a Divine Physician the ills of mankind, points out as the first great cause of all our trouble a lack of belief in God, as He clearly states in these words:

“The vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corruption of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent revelation can cleanse and revive it? Is it within human power to effect in the constituent elements of any of the minute and indivisible particles of matter so complete a transformation as to transmute it into purest gold? Perplexing and difficult as this may appear, the still greater task of converting satanic strength into heavenly power is one that We have been empowered to accomplish. The Force capable of such a transformation transcendeth the potency of the Elixir itself. The Word of God, alone, can claim the distinction of being endowed with the capacity required for so great and far reaching a change.”

The progress of humanity, in past cycles and ages through the dynamics of religion, has brought it up to its present state of enlightenment.

Due to the inventions and discoveries of the present day, the advance of science based on electricity; the swift methods of communication; the rapid means of travel; the increased commerce and trade between nations; —time and distance have been overcome. This has brought us into a new world, a closely knit and united one. To cement this existing material union, so as to make it safe, secure and enduring, Bahá’u’lláh would have it reinforced by a spiritual unity, and He offers this as the sovereign remedy for the healing of all our ills:

“That which the 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 nowise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth and all else naught but error.”

[Page 138]

“THY LAW IS MY DELIGHT”

Compilation

MAYE HARVEY GIFT

THY LAW IS MY DELIGHT

Through the faculty of meditation man attains to eternal life; through it he receives the breath of the Holy Spirit.

O Son of Being! Walk in My statutes for love of Me and deny thyself that which thou desirest if thou seekest My pleasure.

THE PRECEPTS OF GOD

My commandments are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures.

O God, wandering am I; point out to me the way of truth.

The precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples.

Cause me to follow what has been revealed from before Thy presence.

The divine remedy which will heal man from all sickness and will give him the health of the divine Kingdom is the precepts and teachings of God. Guard them sacredly.

May I follow Thy commandments, and abide in Thy law.

Were men to observe that which We have sent down unto them from the Heaven of Revelation, they would, of a certainty, attain unto perfect liberty.

Let my trust be in Thy will, and my deeds according to Thy command.

The source of error is to disbelieve in the one true God, rely upon aught else but Him, and flee from His decree.

Shield me from that which runs counter to Thy will.

Live as far as thou art able according to the divine commands and advices, because they are conducive to eternal life.

O compassionate God. Thanks be to Thee. Thou hast showed me the right way and caused me to enter the Ark of Deliverance.

If thou dost act according to the commandments and exhortations of God, know thou for a certainty that the luminosity of thy face will day by day increase.

O God, illumine my face and render my heart radiant.

OBEDIENCE THROUGH LOVE

Observe the written commandments of Thy Lord with joy and peace, with earnestness and sincerity.

O Lord my God, grant that I may be among those who have observed [Page 139] Thy bidding according to Thy Book.

Nowhere doth your true and abiding glory reside except in your firm adherence unto the precepts of God and your wholehearted observance of His laws.

Guide me always and unmistakably to whatever Thou wouldst have me do, and may I always be strong and fully prepared to render instant, exact and complete obedience.

When we realize how God loves and cares for us, we should so order our lives that we may become more like Him.

I am seeking Thy path and desiring to be characterized with Thine attributes.

That which beseemeth you is the love of God and the love of Him Who is the Manifestation of His Essence, and the observance of whatsoever He chooseth to prescribe unto you.

Thou ordainest for those who love Thee that which will profit them in every world of Thy worlds.

O ye lovers of the one true God! Strive that ye may truly recognize and know Him, and observe befittingly His precepts.

Almighty, enkindle the fire of Thy love and burn away the veils of superstition, passion and desire.

The essence of love is for man to turn his heart to the Beloved One and to sever himself from all else but God, and to desire naught save that which is the desire of His Lord.

O my God, increase my love for Thee.

Strive with heart and soul to follow the precepts of the Blessed Perfection, and rest assured that if ye succeed in living the life He marks out for you, eternal life and everlasting joy in the Heavenly kingdom will be yours, and celestial sustenance will be sent to strengthen you.

O God, support me with Thine unseen hosts, and make me a submissive and adoring subject communing with Thee.

DETACHMENT FROM DESIRE

They that tread the path of faith must cleanse themselves of all that is earthly.

In the bondage of passion, desire and temptation am I, release me from these chains and fetters.

Sanctify thyself from the grades of this world, be purified from the superstitions of the people, and be characterized with spiritual qualities.

O God, leave me not to myself, but guide my steps by the light of Thy knowledge, and cheer my heart by Thy love.

O Friend! Prefer not your will to Mine, never desire that which I have not desired for you, and approach Me not with lifeless heart, defiled with worldly desires and cravings.

O my Lord, preserve me from the suggestions of self.

Forget all else save God. Be in communion with Him, supplicate to Him to make thee conqueror over the material things.

Sanctify me from everything pertaining to the world; and shield me from the destructive thoughts of the suspicious.

By self-surrender and perpetual union with God is meant that men should merge their will wholly in the [Page 140] Will of God, and regard their desires as utter nothingness beside His purpose.

O my God, help me to sever myself from all save Thee, yearning to draw near to Thee.

The station of absolute self-surrender transcendeth, and will ever remain exalted above, every other station.

Make me rich in Thee, and free from all save Thee.

O Son of Man! If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me and I may eternally live in thee.

I have detached myself from all save Thee in this glorious Day.

THE GOOD-PLEASURE OF GOD

O Son of Man! Neglect not My commandments if thou lovest My Beauty, and forget not My counsels if thou wouldst attain My good-pleasure.

May I follow Thy pathway and long for Thy good-pleasure.

The will of the Eternal King has ever been to purify the hearts of His servants from the promptings of the world and what is therein.

Make me pure and without desire, following Thy command and leaving my faded delights to seek Thy good-pleasure.

Know thou, that I have desired for thee that which I have desired for Myself. Be then content with My pleasure and thankful unto Me.

By Thy glory! I desire to be only that which Thou willest me to be.

O Son of Earth! Wouldst thou have Me, seek none other than Me; for My Will and the will of another than Me, even as fire and water, cannot dwell together in one heart.

Draw me, O God, from the left hand of fancy and forgetfulness to the right hand of certainty and knowledge, that I may know what Thou desirest for me.

O Son of the Supreme! To the eternal I call thee, yet thou dost seek that which perisheth. What hath made thee turn away from Our desire and seek thine own?

O Lord, deliver me from all temptations, tests and evil suggestions of those who have turned their faces from Thee.

If ye follow in His way, His incalculable and imperishable blessings will be showered upon you.

O Lord, bestow upon me capacity and readiness in order that I may be responsive to Thy favors.

Strive that your soul may rest confidently upon His grace and bounty and that your feet may tread the path of His good-pleasure.

O Thou Who art glorified in the hearts of men, I turn to Thee, forsaking my own will and desire, begging that Thy holy Will may rule and direct me.

[Page 141]

THE MODERN MIRACLES OF PALESTINE

BEATRICE IRWIN

THROUGH evolution and revolution, the whole earth is emerging from age-old inertias, from prejudices, and from fettering traditions into a verdant and vigorous growth of expanded life, quickened mentality, and new outlooks that may well be compared to the annual miracle of spring.

Perhaps some of us take these wonders of life too much for granted, and because we live in the midst of them, we lose the sense of their joy and wonder; others subject them only to the critical analysis of scientific phenomena, but to world-travelers it is sometimes granted to pass beyond both these stages of perception and to become active partakers, as well as eye-wimesses, of those silent mysteries of growth and fevers of spiritual unrest that always precede the rebirth of lands and peoples.

Palestine, more intimately known as the Holy Land, is approximately only two hundred miles long by one hundred and fifty wide. It has taken, and is still playing, one of the most powerful and dramatic roles in the great pageant of world reconstruction. Within its small area it is subject to many climatic extremes which have had their influence on its historic developments and peoples. Bounded on the west by the Mediterranean, on the east by the desert of Transjordania, and stretching from the cool height of Lebanon, 1200 feet above sea-level, to the Dead Sea, 1400 feet below sea-level, its seasons are divided between six months of dry heat and desert winds, and six months of moderate rain and sunshine producing fine fruits and a semi-tropical vegetation.

The tremendous drama of the struggle between the Kings of Israel and the Prophets of God seems to have impregnated this small portion of earth with a deathless spiritual magnetism that at intervals focuses power, and acts definitely and dramatically as a lever for the uplift of humanity.

Following the early struggles of Israel, the Crusades continued the inspiring traditions of the Holy Land, and then the Turks held it in thrall, for seven hundred years, till in the World War General Lord Allenby made his historic entry into Jerusalem on foot, and Palestine became a British Mandate.

Such briefly is the background against which the modern miracles of this land are fulfilling the Bible prophecy that “Carmel and Sharon shall see the Glory of the Lord.”

[Page 142] IN the year 1869 Bahá’u’lláh with His family and a small band of disciples were imprisoned for supposed sedition in the worst criminal prison of Palestine in Akká, which some chronicles call the “oldest city on earth.” Here He dwelt in close confinement with all its attendant hardships for nine years, and then at the request of the governor of the city, He was granted a house at Bahjí some miles distant, where, though still under restrictions, He was allowed to pass the remainder of his life, receiving the pilgrims who visited from all lands, and writing those books of law and wisdom which are the basis of the New World Order, that it was His divine mission to proclaim! These principles of unity are painfully but surely becoming operative throughout the world, and Bahá’í literature has been translated into more than thirty different tongues.

Bahá’u’lláh ascended in November, 1892, leaving the promulgation of His work to His son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and so the first of the modern miracles of Palestine was achieved, and the breeze of spiritual freedom began to rise, unobserved save by the few. Among this minority, however, were certain Turkish officials, who communicated to their government: that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was employing his comparative freedom and newly-acquired leadership and leisure in the construction of an imposing building on Mount Carmel, which they inferred was destined to become a fort for operations against Turkey.

In reality, this historic edifice, already prophesied in Scripture, whose location and plan had been designated by Bahá’u’lláh, was to be a shrine for the mortal remains of the Báb. Turkish intrigue, however, refused to interpret its erection otherwise than in terms of its own suspicions and so ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was once more placed under strict confinement till again, as by a miracle, He was freed in 1908 by the coup d’état of the Young Turk’s revolution! At the moment ‘Abdu’l-Bahá actually lay under sentence of death by ‘Abdu’l-Hamid, but had been secretly offered the means of escape by an Italian ship that lay in the harbor. He refused —saying that the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh had never turned their backs on danger, nor would He. Under these unique and historic circumstances ‘Abdu’l-Bahá inaugurated His mission of teaching and the third phase in the unfolding of the Bahá’í Revelation began.

IT is important to note in this connection that in Turkey, where women had been most fettered, they now come close to leading the world in the freedom of their privileges:

Another significant fact is that the Turkish Revolution was the first of those rapidly-succeeding upheavals, spiritual and economic, that have since then disrupted nearly every inhabited portion of the earth.

Palestine may be listed among the smouldering spiritual volcanoes of Europe, for here, Jews, Arabs and British are in process of solving the problem of racial amity and economic understandings, while simultaneously with conflagrations that are burning away old prejudices, other constructive forces have been building [Page 143] new foundations, whose statistics are bewildering in its magnitude.

Of all the lands that are inevitably advancing to the fulfillment of this Prophet’s Words, Palestine is one of the most spectacular in its promise and achievements, emerging as it has done in such a short space of time from a primitive and pastoral community into an arena for some of the greatest engineering and cultural feats of our day.

Before the World War (1912) Palestine had few railways or even motor roads, in fact in 1912 only two motors were registered and communication was largely dependent on caravan trails. Now, thousands of motor cars are registered, and modernized railways and air-ways abound.

The shining sea of Galilee surrounded by its golden sandstone cliffs is an air and water port for giant planes that, flying at the rate of 120 miles an hour, make this point their halt between Europe and Asia, after achieving the flight between England and Palestine in three days.

Till 1933, Haifa, situated on the historic Bay of Akká, had only a port of natural beauty, and ocean liners were obliged to dock some miles out. On October 31st, 1933, the British government threw open a port which has cost six million pounds, a fact that marks a milestone in Haifa’s history, giving the town a new international and industrial importance, and making it a link between near and far East that has extensive implications.

One of the most important of these, is that Haifa has become the terminal of the giant pipe-line which conducts oil for six hundred and twenty-seven miles across the desert, from Mosul in Irak to be tapped at this point into barrels and distributed around the world.

In its long wanderings, this oil pipe follows for a while the course of the Tigris and Euphrates, whose valley legend connects with the Garden of Paradise, and it also passes over the cavern where Saul is supposed to have consulted the witch of Endor. The obstacles overcome in the difficult achievement of its construction present a fairy tale of science, one of the greatest engineering feats of this, or of any age!

Before the war the Dead Sea was still the Dead Sea, but now owing to the enterprise of Scottish scientists and engineers the vast sheet of water, five times as salty as any ocean, and lying 1400 feet below sea level, has been made to produce potash and bromine, the latter product being used extensively in chemical products and dye-stuffs.

COOPERATIVELY with this industrial activity, picturesque building operations have materialized so that the Dead Sea whose borders were once the lone retreat of hawk and heron, is now a smiling summer resort for the city dwellers of Palestine, and its blue waters are whitened by the foam of speed-boats.

Domestic architecture of a new and interesting character is expressed in both public and private buildings, notably in the model Jewish colony of Tel-Aviv situated a few miles from Haifa. Here the Zionist Movement has shown itself well worthy of the 285,000 acres of land which it has acquired [Page 144] for socialization, and the Jew has proved himself capable of being as good a farmer as he is a business man.

The fine international University built on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem also carries on the tradition of Hebrew learning in an expanded spirit. From these four outstanding projects accomplished within seventeen years, (I refer to the development of the Dead Sea, the construction of the Port Haifa, the laying of the oil-pipe, and building of the Jewish University) we can see that even materially Palestine is a land of modern miracles. Statistics show that her main towns have doubled their population in ten years, and that street lighting has become prevalent, owing to the electrical development engineered from the Jordan by the enterprise of a brilliant Russian Jew.

America and England have also contributed new and notable buildings to the glory of Jerusalem, the former has erected a palatial Y.M.C.A. and museum buildings, the latter a new government house, and the handsome St. David’s Hotel.

BUT in conclusion let us drift back to Haifa, which in reality holds the key to all these bewildering activities, for here the creative and holy dust of Prophet and martyr mingle, and are enshrined in a verdant and spell-binding beauty that challenges the world! Half way up on Mount Carmel there is unfolded another miracle, a nine-terraced garden which in a few years has been landscaped from the rocky hillside into a modern Eden, where one is led through avenues of palm and cypress, and through flowering progressions of almond, fig and pomegranate blooms, through reefs of roses, stocks, and hyacinths, to the silence of a golden sandstone shrine. Simple, strong and majestic in outline this building has two beautiful vaulted chambers. In one of these repose the remains of the Báb (who in 1844 prophesied the coming of the new World Messenger Bahá’u’lláh) and in the other, rests ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh, who traveled and expounded His father’s peace teachings throughout Europe, America and Palestine, in a mission that lasted from 1892 to 1921.

Among the countless services which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s inspiration rendered to a disillusioned world, the plan for this beautiful garden was one of the most merciful and healing. Ships from all lands discharge their travelers at Haifa, and they stream through these shrine gardens.

It is not to be wondered at that this oasis of beauty inspires inquiry, and a serious consideration of the great Lives that it commemorates. Lives that looked far into the future and built such a symbol of resurrection and joy into the present.

As we stand on the summit of the Shrine gardens, and look over the bay of Haifa, we see the snows of Mount Hermon lying spellbound beneath the evening star, and in the blue beyond of dusk, a golden bead of light appears on the ancient fortress of Akká. It is a beacon on the “Most Great Prison,” in which Bahá’u’lláh and His family were detained on false charges of sedition for nine years.

[Page 145]

GENIUS AND THE SPIRIT

I. IRCADIA

MAN, as the destined master of this planet, can only hope to control the laws of nature. Beyond the harnessing of its forces he cannot go. Once he has reached the boundaries of natural control, his jurisdiction stops; he must acknowledge the guidance of the Supreme Intelligence.

He must admit the necessity of accepting apprenticeship in the school of divine mystery. If he refuses, he does so at the expense of his own growth. He stunts the stature of his soul, the potential magnitude of his flight as a mental eagle.

With the tenacity of rockweed there creeps into his being a readiness, a susceptibility to and for disillusion from which there will be no escape in hours of poignant tribulation. He will forever lack in his cultural background that exquisite radiance born of profound knowledge made serene by humility.

His works of art, should he choose this particular field of endeavor, will miss the mark of immortality. For in art as in all else, it is the Spirit that earns undying praise.

Man has an innate hunger for divine companionship. The unbeliever looks for it in vain among the superficial minded. Only those who, like the greater poets of the race, have contacted the transcendent beauty of that association, can give it during hours of intense inspiration. The seers of old knew it, the martyrs, the God-fearing torch-bearers of eternal Truth.

Scoffing at the austerity of a moral law does not eliminate its powerful influence. The successful business man may claim to be the possessor of freedom and comfort. Happiness is rarely his. He becomes as it were fatalistically enslaved to the machine he creates, the office he runs, the political platform he subsidises. Sooner or later the very genius that causes him to nose his ambitions to the ceiling of materialism drives him to the wall. “Dust to dust, vanity to vanity”—the inexorable decree of reflex action in nature.

Man’s genius, when ungraced by the presence of the divine Spirit, is doomed to be swallowed up by the inability to satisfy its own hunger for expansion.

Genius plus divine Spirit alone can do this. Inspired by the quality of spiritual insight, man can do all things. Left to his own resources, man can merely consummate the role of a sublime failure. For in the midst of his most glorious achievements stalks the grim phantom of death and [Page 146] oblivion.

In speaking of the Kingdom of Abhá, the Bahá’í Scriptures touch upon the activities of the Spirit That works in and through the “Cause.”

“There is a power in this Cause,” so runs the theme, “a mysterious power, far, far, far away from the ken of men and angels—It creates new spiritual worlds. . .”

Typical revelations of the specific purpose of the Spirit: “To Re-new,” renew all things—teachings, opinions, customs, rules. Life itself as conceived of in the past must be renewed, for the logical reason that the Spirit of God is essentially a force for the perpetuation of growth in truth, beauty and goodness.

That Spirit is the Friend without Whom no man can achieve a true type of human life. Without the divine Friend, man remains a solitary figure in the midst of an environment of pathos and heartaches. Without it he lacks the serenity of the martyr, the detachment and ardor of the heroic souls.

With faith, he enthrones spiritual life over and above all the sickening trivialities of hatred, miserliness, cowardice. He becomes a militant, creative genius. The workshop matters little. Whatever it be, it is sanctified. Though its location be among the débris of a tottering civilization, the work it turns out is pure, ineffable artistry. The stamp of approval of the divine is upon its form.

By the aid of the Spirit, the vision which was merely a vague dream, takes on the dynamic contours of an unconquerable reality. The believer becomes transformed into a mighty forerunner of the Kingdom of Peace.

[Page 147]

THE SUCCESSION OF THE PROPHETS

ORCELLA REXFORD

“THE beginning of all things” says Bahá’u’lláh, “is the knowledge of God, and the end of all things is strict observance of whatsoever hath been sent down from the empyrean of the Divine Will that pervadeth all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth.”

History is made up of todays grown old. The present emerges from the past in cycles, which exist for the enlightenment and progress of the world. Thus in glancing back over them we can see the path that man has taken and in what degree religion has been the cause of the rise and fall of civilization and what this means to his future.

“Religion has ever helped humanity to progress,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “As a proof thereof let us investigate religion from an unbiased standpoint —whether or not religion is the impetus which allows man to advance extraordinarily. We will first investigate the founders of religions, the Prophets. We will review the episodes of Their lives, the events prior to Their rise, and those subsequent thereto. We shall not present to you certain traditions which are subject to both credence and refutation, nay rather we shall cite certain historical facts provable to all, certain facts and evidence well known throughout the world, which are irrefutable.”

Bahá’u’lláh taught that God “having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him—a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and primary purpose underlying of the whole of creation. . . . Upon the reality of man. . . . He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self. . . . These energies, with which . . . the Divine bounty . . . hath endowed the reality of man lie, however, latent within him, even as the flame is hidden within the candle and the rays of light are potentially present in the lamp. The radiance of these energies may be obscured by worldly desires even as the light of the sun can be concealed beneath the dust and dross which cover the mirror. Neither the candle or the lamp can be lighted through their own unaided efforts nor can it ever be possible for the mirror to free itself from its dross . . . and since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God with His creation, He [Page 148] hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. . . . He hath conferred upon Him a double station. The first station which is related to His innermost reality, representeth Him as One Whose voice is the voice of God Himself. . . . ‘Manifold and mysterious is My relationship with God, I am He, Himself, and He is I, Myself, except that I am that I am and He is that He is!’. . . The second station is the human station, ‘I am but a man like youl’. . . . These resplendent Realities are the channels of God’s all pervasive grace. Led by the light of unfailing guidance, and invested with supreme sovereignty, they are commissioned to use the inspiration of their words, the effusions of their infallible grace and the sanctifying breeze of their Revelation for the cleansing of every longing heart and receptive spirit from the dross and dust of earthly cares and limitations. Then, and only then will the Trust of God, latent in the reality of man, emerge, as resplendent as the rising Orb of Divine Revelation, from behind the veil of concealment, and implant the ensign of its revealed glory upon the summits of men’s hearts.”

Further, Bahá’u’lláh reveals the real purpose of the Prophets coming into the world as He continues: “From the foregoing passages and allusions it hath been made indubitably clear that in the kingdoms of earth and heaven there must needs be manifested a Being, an Essence Who shall act as a Manifestation and Vehicle for the transmission of the grace of the Divinity Itself, the Sovereign Lord of All. Through the teachings of this Day Star of Truth every man will advance and develop until he attaineth the station at which he can manifest all the potential forces with which his inmost true self hath been endowed. It is for this purpose that in every age and dispensation the Prophets of God and His chosen Ones have appeared amongst men, and have evinced such power as is born of God and such might as only the Eternal can reveal.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, when questioned regarding the cyclic movement of creation and the recurring cycles of time, replied: “Each one of the luminous bodies in this limitless firmament has a cycle of revolution which is of a different duration, and every one revolves in its own orbit, and again begins a new cycle. So the earth, every three hundred and sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight minutes and a fraction, completes a revolution and then it begins a new cycle, that is to say, the first cycle is again renewed. In the same way, for the whole universe, whether for the heavens or for men, there are cycles of great events, of important facts and occurrences. When a cycle is ended, a new cycle begins, and the old one, on account of the great events which take place, is completely forgotten, and not a trace or record of it will remain. As you see we have no records of twenty thousand years ago, although we have before proved by argument that life on this earth is very ancient. It is not one hundred thousand, or two hundred thousand, or one million or two million years old; it is very ancient [Page 149] and the ancient records and traces are entirely obliterated.”

He continues: “Each of the Divine Manifestations has likewise a cycle, and during the cycle His laws and commandments prevail and are performed. When His cycle is completed by the appearance of a new Manifestation, a new cycle begins. In this way cycles begin, end, and are renewed, until a universal cycle is completed in the world, when important events and great occurrences will take place which entirely efface every trace and every record of the past; then a new universal cycle begins in the world, for this universe has no beginning.”

The question was asked of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “How long is a universal cycle?” to which He replied, “Briefly, we say a universal cycle in the world of existence signifies a long duration of time and innumerable and incalculable periods and epochs. In such a cycle the Manifestations appear with splendor in the realm of the visible, until a great and universal Manifestation makes the world the center of His radiance. His appearance causes the world to attain to maturity, and the extension of his cycle is very great. Afterwards other Manifestations will arise under His shadow, who according to the needs of the time will renew certain commandments relating to material questions and affairs, while remaining under His shadow.”

A cycle of civilization may be likened to the cycle of the day. The dawning places of the Manifestations have always been in the East, a symbol of the expression, the “rising sun cometh from the East.” “The past is a mirror of the future,” so in the early part of a divine cycle few accept the teachings of the Manifestation. Governments and established religions take a hand in persecuting Him and trying to stamp out His teachings for they instinctively sense that His revelation will change all existing conditions and they fear lest they be shaken from their positions of authority and control. Imaginations, creeds, superstitions assuredly veil the eyes of the masses who league themselves with those in authority, to oppose Him, but all to no avail. Man might as well try to stop the revolution of the earth on its axis as to interfere with the advance of a new spiritual day.

When the spiritual Sun reaches the midheaven, His teachings are accepted by the majority of the peoples, the new civilization is established and the new religion reaches its height. With the coming of late afternoon arises a people who fall away from the Divine teachings, which now are corrupted by the introduction of man-made ideas and conceptions of religion, creeds and dogmas begin to take the place of the true teachings. Soon comes the night when humanity falls asleep, religion is forgotten, and degeneracy, injustice, vice and crime take the place of spiritual teachings. Humanity becomes heedless, God is mocked, the people turn from God, and each lives for the gratification of the senses, except a few souls in whom a spiritual candle has been lighted and who keep the truth of spirituality ever burning, awaiting the dawning of another spiritual day. At such times do we witness the decay [Page 150] of civilization. Were it not for the mercy of God in bringing to the world another spiritual dawn, all humanity would be lost, civilization would not advance, but the world would retrograde into a condition where humanity would sink lower than the beasts of the forest. But God, in His Infinite Mercy, has provided in the divine plan for humanity, the advent of new spiritual days, when the people are awakened from their sleep of ignorance, new instructions are given them concerning their material progress, applicable to their needs, and development at that stage in the evolution of the world. The former, spiritual teachings which are ever the same and given out in former “Days of God” are renewed, shorn of their falsities and superstitions and the pure knowledge of God shines into the hearts of those willing to receive it.

Again, the coming of the spiritual cycles may be likened to the seasons and their cycles. In the spring, the sun thaws the ice and snow, (superstitions, false teachings of a former dispensation) and brings an awakening to the world, when the new birth takes place.

“Even so,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells us, “is the Spiritual Springtime when it comes. When the Holy Divine Manifestations or Prophets appear in the world, a cycle of radiance, an 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 the present century of radiance and compare it with 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 Spiritual Springtime in which we are 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 procession of cycles throughout the centuries have brought many spiritual springtimes upon the earth. “There were many universal cycles preceding this one in which we are living,” stated ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to some friends. “They were consummated, completed and their traces obliterated. The divine and creative purpose in them was the evolution of the spiritual man, just as it is in this cycle.” “Thus there have been many Holy Manifestations of God, one thousand years ago, two hundred thousand years ago, one million years ago, the bounty of God was flowing, the radiance of God was existing.”

How many Spiritual Springtimes have dawned upon earth we do not know but the Divine Plan has ever been in operation, according to which man needs a Divine Revelator to educate him in spiritual truths, and to a knowledge of his Creator. As long as thinking man has existed on this earth, there have been divine Instructors to teach him the way to God.

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SOUL, MIND AND SPIRIT

ELSA RUSSELL BLAKELEY

WHO and What are we?

It is a question that has intrigued our curiosity as long as the race we call man has existed. Where have we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?

No matter what type of person, each one of us, whether religious, agnostic, philosophic, intellectual, has pondered at some time about this age-old question.

This twentieth century in which we live has sometimes been called the era of the fourth dimension. Opinion as to what that is and whether we have really discovered it is sharply divided. But it is interesting to note that the Bahá’í teachings distinctly give man a four-dimensional entity.

There will be no quarrel about the first dimension—physical man. We all know we have an individual body; we can see it, touch it, use it. It is an animal body, sharing the five senses —sight, touch, hearing, taste and smell—as well as certain phases of memory and intuition, with the animals; needing food and sleep like the animals, procreating and dying like the animals. The component elements of our bodies are essentially the same as the bodies of other animals, but the proportions are more sensitively related, the balance more delicately adjusted, as in some scientific instruments made of similar wood, metal, leather and glass as other instruments, but equipped for different and greater functions because of finer quality of materials and greater skill in manufacture. This is a rather apt illustration, because here on this earth, the physical body of man is literally an instrument for his other dimensions. But before we pass to what those are, let us stop to clarify a great misunderstanding that has arisen from this similarity of the bodies of man and animals.

From the analysis of these similarities, many people have concluded that man is animal and animal only. This seems especially plausible when we consider primitive man. It is indeed hard to visualize any marked difference during that long epoch when man looked and behaved so like the other animals; for this physical dimension of ours has been thousands and thousands of years developing into the human body we know since the dawn of our own history. One world-famous scientist says that perhaps we were milling around with the other animals a million years before we discovered the first articulations of speech.

This may be quite true, but even [Page 152] in that far off time, “man,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “was always potentially man.” He goes on to say that a latent reality was deposited within that early man that set him apart as a distinct species from all other animals. What does he mean by “latent reality?”

Let us borrow a very simple example. Within an acorn is the “latent reality” of an oak tree—roots, trunk, branches, leaves and subsequent acorns. Nothing in the acorn shows these, even if we dissect it and put it under a microscope. Experience of growing acorns and oak trees has proved it to us.

Perhaps nothing in the acorn of primitive man indicated the development of his three other dimensions of expression which we now know and fully use, powers man even then possessed and which other animals do not, even though the animal species have been existing and developing longer on this planet than man.

WHAT are those other three dimensions?

The first dimension we spoke of was physical. The second is soul, an individual expression of life to us all.

Perhaps that word “soul” is repugnant, because of the endless and maybe fruitless discussions we’ve heard about it that have led us to suppose there’s no such thing as “soul.” We can’t prove its existence in the same way we can prove the existence of our physical dimension. But why dismiss its existence because of that? Do we dismiss the existence of mind, or intellect, because we can’t prove its existence as we prove the existence of our physical selves? No. Yet many people who scoff at the existence or their possession of a soul would be highly insulted if told they had no mind or intellect. They would be the first to defend the existence of mind by the results of its operation. In the same manner we may prove the existence of the human soul—by the results of the operation of this second dimension.

An interesting observation is that among so many people who dislike the word “soul” there is a strong interest in one of the newest and most popular of our sciences—psychology. A lecture or book on psychology will draw a crowd of all kinds of people, intensely interested in the motives, operations and results of their own and other people’s behavior, personalities and characteristics.

The name psychology, the dictionary tells us, derives from the Greek “psyche,” “psycho,” meaning soul. The word was first used in the seventeenth century and was considered a branch of metaphysics dealing with a concept of the soul. Later it became applied to the doctrine of mental faculties, but is now used to denote “systematic knowledge and investigation of phenomena of consciousness and behavior.”

This definition is a scientific way of stating the Bahá’í concept regarding soul. Therein we find soul described as that plane of consciousness wherein reside man’s free will, his understanding of and response to the positive qualities of justice, truth, love, wisdom, mercy, beauty and their negative aspects of injustice, falsehood, hate, folly, cruelty, ugliness. All these [Page 153] attributes are comprehensible to man in the sense that he can understand, respond to and apply a criterion of each quality and, using his free will, his behavior is governed either by the positive aspect of these qualities, or the negative. Such attributes and their comprehension are the basis of human psychology, and are far beyond the powers which animals and physical man share.

What about those bugaboos of heredity and environment, taskmasters that loom in giantlike proportions to so many. We will mention them a little later, but one more brief word about this dual-natured soul. And that is about its immortality.

In the Bahá’í teachings there is no such word as “death.” Says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “That which we call death is but the change of form of life.” What does that mean and how does it apply to soul?

Long ago the scientists taught us that matter was eternal. Then what dies? Let us substitute the word “disintegrates,” because that is more correctly the process. When the atoms of matter comprising our physical instrument cease to hold together, the form they composed falls apart and is no more. Each atom, however, still exists, but the body or form is no more.

The soul is not a form composed of different elements, as is the body. The soul is an expression of energy as is a single element, and therefore cannot disintegrate or die, any more than element dies. When the soul has withdrawn from its physical instrument, it is no longer tangible to us who are still functioning in that instrument. But there is no death. So much for our two individual dimensions—body and soul.

THE third dimension, a higher plane consciousness, is intellect. This glorious and transcendent power deposited in man is responsible for all the great sciences and arts which grace man’s creation—everything included in the word “civilization.” The briefest consideration of such attainments will surely release us from enslavement to the idea that we are merely animals. The simplest operation of the rational faculty in the realm of man’s intellect proves to us the distinction of our species. For instance, a dog smells and touches a chair leg. The registration in his consciousness is of something hard, cold, smooth. That is the limit of his understanding, from his powers of touch, sight and smell. We merely look at the same object and know what it was in the beginning and all the processes by which we changed it from tree to chair leg. Furthermore, man reasons from abstract deductions, proves a principle, harnesses the energy of that principle in an applied science that will serve his needs, such as radio. To borrow a quotation from Yale’s brilliant geologist, “Nothing concerning man can be taken for granted as a result of observation of other animals. When the cow pauses on the hilltop at sunset to admire the view, or the dog ceases baying at the moon to construct a system of astronomy, we will welcome the cow and the dog into the category of rational aesthetic creatures, in which man is rightly placed.”

[Page 154] NOW we come to our fourth dimension—spirit. But before we consider it as one of our human dimensions, let us see what it is in the other kingdoms of life.

The Bahá’í teachings state there are many aspects of this emanation of energy called spirit. In the mineral world it operates as the force of attraction and cohesion, drawing all the atoms and particles of mineral matter into the infinite variety of mineral forms. So the “spirit” of the mineral world is attraction and cohesion. “Like attracts like and has affinity with its own kind,” says physics.

In the vegetable kingdom the spirit expresses this force of cohesion plus the power of growth, for we see that within the seed or bulb, the atoms of which have been attracted to each other by the spirit of cohesion, there is also the power to send forth roots, stems, buds, leaves, flowers and fruit, which is beyond the mineral spirit’s performance. This vegetable spirit, or power of growth can also conquer the difficulties of its environment and develop new species, or in other words, change its heredity. So when we watch the force of spirit in this realm of life so much humbler than man, how can we believe that man is a slave to his environment and heredity? This will appear more evident as we trace the aspects of spirit.

The spirit of the animal kingdom, which includes physical man, is the power of cohesion by which the body’s elements are held together, plus the power of growth, from embryo to mature animal; plus the power of the five senses which we have already noted as shared by man and animal. Also certain powers of sense deduction. Animals, including physical man, likewise exercise their will over the conditions of their environment and modify their heredity of species by physical effort—in the scientists’ words, evolve.

Thus the workings of “spirit” in the physical arena of existence.

The spirit of non-physical man is our fourth dimension, and is the spirit of the human race, the creative spirit, in which we all share; for as the sacred writings of the Jewish, Christian and Muhammadan faiths put it, man was created in the image of God, in the image of the Creator. The spirit of the race, operating through man’s soul and intellect, has not only mastered the conditions of his physical environment, but, operating through man’s intellect, has developed the resources of this planet and molded the form of successive civilizations throughout the centuries until now.

Thus far we have indicated the answers to who and what we are and where we have come from. Now for a moment, let us see why we are here.

WE have briefly considered the functions of spirit in evolving the lower forms of life. In the story of man’s conquest over the conditions of his environment we read the power of the spirit of man the creator. But what of man the destroyer? What of the betrayal of man’s glorious intellect by the human soul dominated by all the negative qualities? Science, for instance, most brilliant jewel of our intellect, can be utterly debased. What have we done with modern chemistry? Not only used its marvelous [Page 155] advantages in industry, but we have devised the most frightful poison gases and germicidal weapons of war. What have we done with aeronautics besides transportation? Developed giant bombing planes to wipe out entire cities. Therefore, it is not what we know, but how we use our knowledge that makes us a civilized or uncivilized people. To whatever intellectual heights we may climb we stand threatened with self-destruction without the protective power to polarize our motives of behavior, powers of our souls, to constructive and beneficent ends.

And because of the magnitude of our powers and of our responsibility to do right with them, the spirit of man, whenever so threatened as we have been for the last century or so, is recharged, resuscitated and transformed by his faith in those great dynamos of positive spiritual energy, the Manifestations of God, such as Jesus the Christ, Gautama the Buddha, Moses, Zoroaster, Muhammad, and in our own era, Bahá’u’lláh. Through the dynamic power of their teachings and their perfect example, men have voluntarily turned their souls from the negative to the positive qualities, and the fruits of man’s intellect have again become beneficent instead of malevolent, and the human spirit once more the spirit of man the creator. They have aroused and by their example nurtured the appreciation of truth, justice, wisdom, knowledge, love, beauty, mercy with a power vastly different to the theoretical philosopher or political demagogue.

These Manifestations are the great suns of spiritual energy, fructifying the human spirit, human intellect and human souls just as the physical sun fructifies all things physical. Within the seeds of their teachings were enfolded the trees, as it were, of the future great civilizations which bear their names—the Christian civilization, the Buddhist civilization, the Zoroastrian civilization, the Muhammadan civilization, etc. Men have drawn the laws of society based on the criterion of justice, wisdom and mercy raised by these spiritual educators. Man’s intellect has proven and developed scientific truths revealed first by a mere symbol in their message, as for instance the followers of Zoroaster and Muhammad. Man’s perception of beauty has been awakened and fostered, and the arts have reached their epitome when devoted to the glorification of these spiritual ideals.

So why are we here? Not merely to develop a more perfect physical man—that is already attained. Nor to surround physical man with more and more physical possessions. Rather are we here to subjugate the destructive motives of behavior and develop the constructive; to comprehend higher and higher standards of justice, truth, love, wisdom, mercy and beauty as they are revealed to us, and apply those standards to man’s creation—civilization, that it may in truth become the kingdom or Will of God on earth, as man has prayed for centuries.

Where are we going? Collectively, man has been and is continuously evolving towards this goal on this planet. Individually? Life itself demands change and progress. The Bahá’í teachings speak of the infinite [Page 156] worlds of God. Ponder awhile on the infinite worlds below man’s level of consciousness. Is it logical to suppose that these aeons of life development have for their goal seventy short physical years here after that infinite energy has developed even the atoms of our bodies to be the fit instrument of man’s intellect and spirit? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá calls this physical life the matrix of the soul, and illustrates the statement by the preparation of our physical organism for our needs as we develop in the physical matrix. All of life’s experience, therefore, is for the cultivation of those qualities and powers we shall need in our later individual life expression. So our immortality has a dual aspect. The fruits of our collective development of these qualities of love, truth, justice, wisdom, mercy, knowledge, beauty, is the raising of the level of human consciousness here on earth, and we each leave behind us the trace of our endeavor. Individually those qualities are part of our instrument of self-expression when we pass along on our road through the infinite worlds of God.

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IT is clear and evident that when the veils that conceal the realities of the manifestations of the Names and Attributes of God, nay of all created things visible or invisible, have been rent asunder, nothing except the Sign of God will remain—a sign which He Himself, hath placed within these realities. This sign will endure as long as is the wish of the Lord thy God, the Lord of the heavens and of the earth. If such be the blessings conferred on all created things, how superior must be the destiny of the true believer, whose existence and life are to be regarded as the originating purpose of all creation.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.

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THE CREATIONAL BOOK

HOWARD COLBY IVES

THINE insight is so dimmed thou canst not see

That My Creation’s Book revealeth Me.

That every atom is an open door

Inviting thee to enter and explore.

What dost thou hope to see

When thou goest seeking Me?

A Face? A Voice? A Word writ on the sky?

If I should speak who art thou to reply?

If I should write some guiding Word to men

Could they interpret My Supremest Pen?

Is then thine eye so keen, thy mind so sure

That when My Spirit moves thee and I lure

Thy longing soul afar

To probe the mote and star

That thou canst hope thus to encompass Me

Who doth surround what mind and eye can see?

Wert thou through all eternity to seek,

And through immensity of space to roam,

Thy spirit shall no foot-hold find,

No answer to thy questing mind,

Except to My Command thou shalt bow down,

Unless My Love thou wearest like a crown,

And find in meeting Me thy spirit’s home.

I am not far from thee but ever near:

Listen to thy heart’s whisper: “I am here.”

The whale by seeking cannot find the sea;

The eagle soaring high

Against My blue-domed sky

Finds not the air, nor can thy mind find Me

Who in thy heart of hearts is truly thee.

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About thee and above; beneath, within,

Thy Mystery am I and thou art Mine.

No flight avails: nor height nor depth, nor sin

Nor death, nor hell can part thee from My Love

My Lamp thou art and I the Light within.

Know this, O servant, as the eagle knows

The air: the fish the boundless seas they rove,

The leaf the wind which by My Order blows.

In mineral and plant, in beast and man

Thou mayest discern the working of My Plan

Which hath one aim—that I may fully be

Revealed to every heart that seeketh Me.

Cohesion, growth, the senses and the mind

Are the four steps which through the cycles wind

That from the void of non-existence may

Existence come, and that My Love may find

Some far-off Day, Its full expression. Nay

That I Myself may tell man’s ordained story

In Man, the very Temple of My Glory.

For, in this gloomy and disastrous age

Man may perceive, if he will scan My Page,

The secret of creation. There is he

Told of My Wisdom: for Humanity

Hath borne Its noblest fruit; My Love

Disclosed in Man his Lord, that he may prove

All things, and thereby with my aid may reach

The summit of the Truth I fain would teach,

That all his probing eye and mind can see

Hath but one purpose—to uncover Me.

By every grain of dust shall man be told

Of Me. The rushing wind shall cry: “Behold!”

The still, small voice within his heart

Shall whisper low: “I am of God a part.”

Lo, all things from their silence, shout aloud!

My Voice falls from each bright or lowering cloud!

My Trumpet peals from every star and clod:

“There is no God but Me—but Me no God.”

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Why else should I create, O son of man?

In My eternal Being hid I knew

My Love in thee and framed a gracious Plan

Age-long, in which I might Myself re-view

And see My Love expressed in form and power.

Thus through the ages, countless hour by hour,

Have I in it expressed My Love, to thee

Revealed My Beauty. “Be!” My Will but spake

And My beloved Creation came awake

To mention Me.

Wherefore love only Me

That My Command may summon thee to be.

[Page 160]

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Edited by BERTHA HYDE KIRKPATRICK

The nature of the present crisis unveils itself rapidly. It becomes evident that man has misused science and technology, and has created a world inimical to himself. Our troubles, therefore, are rooted in the very structure of modern society. They cannot be cured by the remedies advocated by economists and statesmen. Prosperity, war, faith in a dictator, or good will among democratic people will be equally inefficient. The crisis is not a passing disturbance in the growth of nations. It is the crumbling of civilization itself.—DR. ALEXIS CARREL.

The civilization, so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men. . . .

Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.

We are becoming increasingly aware of the dynamic character of the world in which we live. Formerly a large part of what surrounds us was classed as “solid” and “static.” Step by step as our knowledge has progressed, we have had to discard such views. We now know that everything is in motion. . . . We still speak, to be sure, of the “static” and the “maintenance of the status quo,” just as we still speak of the “rising” and the “setting” of the sun. But such phrases are no longer looked upon as expressing scientific truth. . .

We may indeed set ourselves up in opposition to change, but if we thereby delay the forces which we oppose, we merely assure their more violent ultimate manifestation, with the result that it is we who are swept aside. Change is the ultimate fact to which we must accommodate ourselves. —JOHN FOSTER DULLES.

All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. —BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.

In a recent issue of The Student World (Geneva) several European writers discuss what they call “the end of the Christian era.” They do not imply, of course, that we are witnessing the end of Christianity or of its hold on innumerable persons. What they do mean is that we are at the end of the close association of Christianity with Western Culture and Civilization. Over large areas the ideas and values which lie at the heart of Christianity are being definitely repudiated.—SAMUEL MCCREA CAVERT, in The Christian Century.

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EDITORIAL PURPOSE

• WORLD ORDER MAGAZINE seeks to mirror forth the principles revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the renewal and unification of society. These principles it recognizes as the impetus and the goal of all the influences making for regeneration throughout the world. It feels itself a part of the new world community coming into being, the commonwealth of mind and spirit raised high above the conflicts, the passions, the prejudices and the violences marking the passing of the old order and the birth of the new. Its aim is to maintain a meeting-place consecrated to peace, where minds touched with the spirit of the age may gather for calm and dispassionate discussion of truth. The scope of its content is best defined in the following summary of the Bahá’í Faith:—

• “The Bahá’í Faith recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets, upholds the principle of an unfettered search affer truth, condemns all forms of superstitions 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. It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes extremes of wealth and poverty, exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship, recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.”

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TOWARDS THIS GOAL OF A NEW WORLD ORDER, DIVINE IN ORIGIN, ALL- EMBRACING IN SCOPE, HUMANITY MUST STRIVE