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WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
October, 1941
• The Development of the Creative Individual . Genevieve L. Coy 225
• His Highness Christ Called All Men . . . ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 236
• Enrapture the Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bahá’u’lláh 239
• The Basic Principle of Truth . . . . . . . . . Shoghi Effendi 240
• Youth Looks Ahead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Horrace Holley 248
• The Social Role of the Man of Knowledge, Book Review . G. A. Shook 254
• Bahá’í Lessons . . . . . . 256 • With Our Readers . . . 258
FIFTEEN CENTS
THAT WHICH THE LORD HATH ORDAINED AS THE SOVEREIGN REMEDY AND MIGHTIEST INSTRUMENTS FOR THE HEALING OF ALL THE WORLD IS THE UNION OF ALL ITS PEOPLES IN ONE UNIVERSAL CAUSE, ONE COMMON FAITH. THIS CAN IN NO WISE BE ACHIEVED EXCEPT THROUGH THE POWER OF A SKILLED, AN ALL-POWERFUL AND INSPIRED PHYSICIAN . . . SOON WILL THE PRESENT-DAY ORDER BE ROLLED UP, AND A NEW ONE SPREAD OUT IN ITS STEAD.—BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, Ill., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Stanwood Cobb, Alice Simmons Cox, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Marcia Steward Atwater, Hasan M. Balyusi, Dale S. Cole, Genevieve L. Coy, Mae Dyer, Shirin Fozdar, Marzieh Gail, Inez Greeven, Annamarie Honnold, G. A. Shook.
Editorial Office
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SUBSCRIPTIONS: $1.50 per year, for United States, its territories and possessions; for Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America. Single copies, 15c. Foreign subscriptions, $1.75. Make checks and money orders payable to World Order Magazine, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois. Entered as second class matter April 1, 1940, at the post office at Wilmette, Ill., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1941 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent Office.
OCTOBER 1941, VOLUME VII, NUMBER 7
WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
VOLUME VII OCTOBER, 1941 NUMBER 7
The Development of the Creative Individual
Genevieve L. Coy
WHAT OF THAT CREATIVE ENERGY WITH WHICH ALL MEN ARE ENDOWED?
NEWSPAPER and magazine articles today often make use of the terms “reactionary,” “conservative,” “liberal” and “radical,” in describing the behavior and ideas of individuals or groups. The “conservative” blames the “radical” for all the ills of the world, and the “liberal” believes that he could remake the life of mankind were he able to “eliminate” all of the “reactionaries” and “conservatives.”
The use of such general descriptive terms, whether in
praise or blame, has little value. We should ask, with regard
to each individual, “Is he using his creative energy to discover
ways of feeling, thinking and acting which will increase the
happiness of every person with whom he comes in contact?
Is he using this creative energy in the field in which he can
make the greatest contribution to mankind, or is he endeavoring
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to work in an area in which he is constantly frustrated?
Is nine-tenths of his energy being used in productive achievement,
or is only one-tenth so used, while the remainder lies
dormant, or is, perhaps, used in ways which are actually destructive
of human values?”
The great majority of the problems and misery of today’s world are due to men’s unwillingness to break away from old habits, attitudes and patterns of behavior. Racial and class prejudice, economic competition, rather than cooperation; nationalism:—these are patterns of behavior which destroy creative energy, happiness and life itself.
The modern world has fostered the use of creative effort in the sciences and industry, but since this development has not been accompanied by equivalent creation of new methods of association among human beings, many of the discoveries of science and the inventions of industry have been used to increase exploitation, domination and destruction, instead of for the increase of human brotherhood and happiness. Only when each individual is completely motivated by the will to increase cooperation and fellowship among all men and women can his creative energy be used in ways which foster, rather than destroy, human values. “Fellowship is the cause of unity, and unity is the source of order in the world.”
But even among those who are seriously striving to increase human fellowship, understanding and happiness, there are many who believe that only the “genius” or “near-genius” can create new solutions for today’s problems, and new sciences and arts. This mistaken idea is due, in part, to the fact that they do not understand the nature of the creative process. Let us therefore explore some of the elements in the development of the creative individual.
Inertia is the enemy of creation. The person who wishes
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“to let well enough alone,” who believes that “this way of
doing things was good enough for my father and I guess it’s
good enough for me” is living on the plane of the trained
animal who repeats day after day the few tricks he has been
taught; he has denied his human capacity to discover, to invent,
to create. He is afraid of losing something which makes
him comfortable or which gives him power over others. So
he continues to repeat the patterns of a past age, and never
learns that the satisfactions of discovery and creation are immeasurably
greater than those of ease and lethargy, or of the
“pleasures” which he mistakenly calls “re-creation.”
WRONG CHILD EDUCATION
Each individual, except the truly feeble-minded, is endowed at birth with a certain amount of creative energy. How much this varies in amount, from individual to individual, we do not know, because so many of us actually use so little of this ability to make something new out of the elements of the environment in which we find ourselves. This failure to use ability to change the world is not due to the fact that “man is naturally lazy”; it has its roots in our mistaken ideas of how to “train” and educate young children.
The baby, except when ill, is not an inert individual! Each
waking hour is filled with activity; he kicks and squeals, he
cries or smiles, he pushes against the side of his crib, he shakes
the rattle or throws it on the floor. He listens to the voices
about him, and begins to know the difference between the tone
which says “food is coming,” and the one which says “now
go to sleep.” At the same time he is increasing his skill in
focusing his eyes on objects, and in selecting details which
differentiate his mother from other human beings. Similarly,
other sensations which come to him from the outside world
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are gradually perceived as being different one from another,
and out of the “blooming, buzzy confusion” of early babyhood,
he begins to create his own meanings as to what objects
and people are like. As his ability to move about increases, he
adds other sensations which he incorporates into the earlier
meanings, and thus gradually changes them. He begins to
do things with the objects around him; he rolls the ball, he
pushes the small box, he tips the cup and watches the milk
run along the table. Each of these experiences adds to the
meanings which he is creating for himself.
The baby also discovers very early in life that what he does makes a difference in the way people treat him. He learns whether crying after he has been put to bed will bring some one rushing to his side, or whether his tears will be ignored. He discovers the uses of smiles and laughter in compelling the pleased attention of his family. From these, and many other experiences, he adds to his meanings which are related to human beings.
But the young child discovers very early in his life that there is a limitation on his experimentation with his own body, and with the objects and people around him. These limitations are sometimes imposed by the nature of the inanimate things in his environment; but the ones which have the greatest influence on him are due to the behavior of adults. He learns that some of his explorations are received by an emphatic “No!” This “no” is often accompanied by angry tones, frowns, a slap on the hand, or a spank. To other behaviors his parents say “yes,” and this “yes” may be emphasized by smiles, pleased comments, kisses and other evidences of satisfaction.
If the child is sufficiently active, he tends to disregard many
of the “noes” which people and things say to him, or he learns
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to experiment in ways which do not get him into trouble. If
he is less active, his experimentation decreases, and he tends
to repeat the behaviors to which adults say “yes.” Occasionally
we find a child who has been so frustrated by the preponderance
of “noes” in his environment that he appears to be feebleminded.
Such a child can be re-trained to greater activity
only by a change in the behavior of adults; his smallest achievement
must, for a time, be received with marked approbation,
and the frustrating “no” must be removed as much as possible.
All children create for themselves many incomplete and “mistaken” meanings. The child who is allowed to experiment rather freely corrects many of these meanings almost automatically, as he explores more aspects of his world. Others are corrected by the “noes” of objects and people, provided that these come in a way that does not seriously decrease his courage. Indeed, the discovery of what behaviors produce the “yes” or the “no” is part of his experimentation. But the child who is continually frustrated by a high percentage of “noes” has less opportunity to correct his mistaken meanings; he not only becomes less creative, but also more confused and distorted in the little he does create.
HOW TO SAY “NO”
No child can grow up to be a useful member of an organized
community life without occasionally experiencing the
frustrating “no!” But most parents use this word or its
equivalent much more frequently than is necessary or desirable.
A considerable part of successful parenthood lies in the
provision of an environment in which it is less often necessary
to say “no.” This means, first, the elimination of objects
which he “must not touch,” and otherwise use for his experimentation.
Second, it means the provision of simple materials
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which he can use for creative activity. Large blocks or a set
of small boxes which he can build into a “house,” colored
crayons and large sheets of cheap paper, a lump of clay, hammer
and nails and boards, blunt scissors and paste,—all of
these are much better gifts for a child of five or six than “toys,”
each of which can be used in only one or two ways.
The child in his early years should be allowed to combine these raw materials in any way he chooses. Occasionally an adult may “work” beside the child, building or making some object in the same material the child is using. But if the child shows any tendency to slavishly copy the adult’s work, this working together should be discontinued until the child acquires more faith in his own ability to create.
Experimentation with words and sounds and tones, with movements of his own body should also be encouraged. As the boy and girl grow older, they may need some more direct instruction in the techniques of using saw or plane, paintbrush or drum-stick. The danger in instruction in the use of “materials” is in making the child feel that the product of his work must be like that of other children or of adults. The child who combines words or colors or sounds, bits of wood or metal or cloth in new ways is likely to become the creative adult of the future.
The creative process, then, begins in the sensing and perceiving
of the physical world and of human beings, and in
the building of meanings with regard to their many aspects.
The creative individual has the desire and the courage to experiment,
to try new combinations of the perceptions and
images and emotions which arise from his direct contact with
the world around him. He has many curiosities, he delights
in the new and the untried. He is not held back by fear of
his own emotions, of what others will say or do in criticism
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of his Work, of traditional ways of working. Such courage is
related to the whole structure of the personality, and we have
indicated ways in which it is dependent on the experiences of
early childhood.
CREATIVENESS IN ART
Let us suppose that an individual wishes to create in one of the arts. He has vivid sensations, images and emotions, and the courage to use them. He has built up for himself a great variety of meanings about the world he lives in. He has the urge to express one or more of these meanings,—in part, for his own satisfaction,—in part, in order to give something useful or joyful to others. He knows that this meaning, which is part of his inner self, can never be conveyed directly,— it must be stated through some symbol, whether in words, in tones, in color and form, or in the movements of a dance. His problem then becomes that of finding the symbols which most accurately and vividly convey his own unique meanings.
The creator in any art field begins with the purpose of stating something which to him is vital and arresting. This purpose may at first be rather vague, but as he “plays” with it, it begins to take on more exact definition. He starts his search for the symbols,—combinations of words or colors or sounds,—which will make his feeling, his idea, a living thing, able to stir in others a keen awareness of some aspect of living.
Out of his past experience,—the odor and color of a flower,
the sound of water in a mountain brook, the swaying of birch
trees in the wind; from remembered bits of his first day at
school, or from his first adolescent love of a girl, or from last
year’s struggle to earn money for food and rent,—from all
of his experience come drifting or surging in a wealth of symbols.
He cannot compel the “right one” to come; he can
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pursue trains of association, hoping to find the one he needs;
he can wait patiently while a whole series of unwanted images
flow through him. The touchstone by which he accepts or
rejects each symbol is its ability to convey his particular meaning.
And this meaning, this purpose possesses him more and
more completely, as he strives to embody it. Hours may pass,
but to him there is only the present creative moment.
When the creative work is moving swiftly and surely, the purpose seems to act as a magnet which pulls to itself the appropriate symbol, and the creator may be only half-conscious of the ones which the “magnet” rejects.
CREATIVE INGENUITY
In invention the purpose is conceived in terms of practical use. The elements which will compose the new machine or appliance are selected in terms of the purpose, as in the case of creation in the arts. But the symbol plays a less important part in the process, and the elements combined are wheels and cogs, cylinders and wires. The final test of the creative process is whether the machine “works” in actual use, while in the arts the test of “success” is found in the joy and the “enhancement of life” which the artist’s creation gives to himself and others.
Creativeness in human relationships is dependent on the ability to really perceive the needs and desires of others, and this is impossible to the individual who is wholly concerned with his own likes and dislikes, or with his will to exert power over others. Convention, tradition and allegiance to outworn social institutions hamper man in finding new solutions to the problems of human communities. Here, as in all other fields, courage to try the untried is an essential element of creative behavior.
FOUR STEPS TO CREATION
From this brief summary of some of the steps in the creative process we may come to some conclusions as to what an individual needs to do in order to become more creative, and to contribute more to the solution of the problems and needs of today. He should first ask himself whether he is vividly aware of all of the material world about him,—of sights, sounds, tastes, odors, of the feeling of the movement of his own body. If not, he can train himself to be more perceptive of these aspects of the physical universe, realizing that these are essential elements in the arts and sciences and industry. He can also train himself to “see” more truly the behavior and purposes of other human beings, even though this means that he must learn to be less self-centered.
Secondly, he must train himself to be aware of the occasions when fear of others’ disapproval or of the force of tradition causes him to discard new and better ways of working, or of dealing with men and women. As he becomes more conscious of the many times that lack of courage inhibits creative behavior, he may gradually become dissatisfied with a life so filled by fears, and begin to make an effort to put some of his “good ideas” into practice. At this stage of his development a reading of Emerson’s essays on Self Reliance, The Artist and The Poet might be helpful in increasing courage.
Third, the individual who is striving to become more creative
can seriously study his own desires and purposes, in order
to decide which ones are really worth creative endeavor. He
may select one such purpose, and try to clarify it, so that he
becomes more keenly aware of just what is needed to bring
about the results he desires. The more vividly he can imagine
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the desired result, the greater the probability that he will be
able to select the elements which will create the solution or
product.
Fourth, he can form the habit of experimentation, whether in science, or art, or human relationships. He can learn to use his purpose as a “magnet” which selects elements which are in accord with his purpose, and to be patient in rejection of elements which are irrelevant or inadequate.
He can try out tentative “solutions” in various ways. Does the machine do the job as well as he hoped it would? Does the painting, or essay, or dance give him a deep satisfaction and sense of well-being? Does it give evidence of conveying his feeling and thought to others? Does his “experiment” in human relations increase cooperation and happiness among his family, friends or acquaintances?
If his “solution” proves unsatisfactory, he can learn to try again, he can realize that attitudes of discouragement and defeat destroy energy, and have no place in the life of the creator.
When a person becomes a Bahá’í he accepts as one of his major purposes the increase of “oneness,” fellowship and cooperation among all human beings on this planet. He realizes that tremendous changes must be made in many of our social institutions, if this purpose is to be realized. He finds in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, the great spiritual educator of today, certain principles of human association, which will assist men in practicing the “oneness of mankind.” He comes to understand that the application of these principles will make revolutionary changes in life on this planet. “Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous system—the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.”
The Bahá’í gradually becomes aware that only the creative
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and courageous individual is able to play an active part in the
building of this new world fellowship and cooperation. For
this reason, he strives to change his old habits of inertia, conformity
with tradition, and acceptance of old patterns of behavior.
He learns to ignore the criticisms of those who do not
understand his purpose, and judges his own behavior in terms
of the Bahá’í’ standard, “Does this action increase unity and
fellowship among all those whom its results may touch?”
If the Bahá’í is not already conscious of the importance of art and science, in making a better world for men, he finds them brought to his attention in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, “Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being, and are conducive to its exaltation. Knowledge is as wings to man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. The knowledge of such sciences, however, should be acquired as can profit the peoples of the earth, and not those which begin with words and end with words. Great indeed is the claim of scientists and craftsmen on the peoples of the world.”
Every Bahá’í feels the obligation to contribute to the life of the community in which he lives, and he conceives of the “community” as gradually widening to include all human life on this earth. Even though the work by which he earns his livelihood is largely repetitive, as is that of the factory worker, he realizes that in human relationships and in the activities of his leisure time he has wide scope for the creation of new skills, new forms of art or craft, more satisfying methods of association. He is therefore eager to learn how to become more creative in the use of his energy, and he welcomes all the creative efforts of others which are in any way conducive to fellowship, unity and happiness among men.
“His Highness Christ Called All Men”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá
O ye lovers of Truth and servants of the world of humanity: SINCE a sweet scent was wafted towards me from the rose garden of your thoughts and aspirations, my heartfelt wish compels me to write you this letter.
You will see how the World is upset with internal conflicts, and many lands are dyed in human blood,—nay the earth is kneaded with gore. The flame of war is so ablaze that such terrible struggle finds no parallel in the war records of any of the middle or recent ages. Heads have become like grains and the ruined cities completely wrecked and thriving towns annihilated. Fathers have lost their sons, sons are made fatherless, and mothers have shed tears of blood over the death of their youthful sons. Children are made orphans, women are helpless, and the world of humanity is forced backward in all respects. The wailing cry of fatherless children is raised abroad and mothers’ pathetic lamentation reaches the high heavens.
The source of all these catastrophies is racial fanaticism, patriotic fanaticism, religions fanaticism and political fanaticism. The source of these fanaticisms is ancient imitations, religions imitations, racial imitations, patriotic imitations and political imitations. As long as following such imitations persists, the very foundation of humanity is wrecked and the world of man is in great jeopardy.
Now, in such a shining age when the realities have become
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manifest, and the mysteries of the universe are disclosed, the
morn of Truth has dawned and the world is illuminated—is
it allowable that such dreadful war should occur to throw the
world of humanity into manifest loss? No, by God!
His Highness Christ called all men to peace and reconciliation and ordered His Holiness Peter to sheath his sword. This was the council and commandment of His Highness Christ.
But now all the Christians have drawn their swords! How can this be relevant to that clear text of the Gospel?
In sum: Sixty years ago His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh dawned from the dayspring of Persia like unto the Sun and proclaimed that the horizon of the world is dark and this darkness will provoke dire results and violent wars will ensue.
From the prison of ‘Akká He clearly warned the Emperor of Germany that a fierce war will break out and Berlin will be filled with wailing and lamentation.
Likewise, while He suffered wrong and imprisonment at the hand of the Turkish Sultan, and was verily incarcerated in the fortress of ‘Akká—He explicitly wrote the Sultan that Constantinople shall be seized by a great revolution of such violence that women and children shall weep and lament.
In short, He Wrote all the crowned heads and presidents of republics what has been exactly fulfilled; and certain teachings were revealed from the Supreme Pen relative to the prevention of war, which have been published throughout the world. These teachings are, First: Independent investigation of reality, for blind imitation deadens man’s senses, and when an untramelled search for reality is made, the world of humanity will be released from the shackles of blind imitation.
Second: The oneness of the world of humanity. All men
are God’s sheep and God is the tender shepherd and shows
supreme love to His Whole flock; nor has He distinguished
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any above others. “Thou shalt find no difference in the Creation
of the Merciful One. All are His servants and all seek
His Bounty.” (Qur’án).
Third: Religion is the strongest fort, but it must be the cause of harmony and not the cause of hatred and animosity, and if it causes hatred and hostility, it is useless. For religion is like unto a remedy; If the remedy causes disease, it is better to abandon it.
Similarly, religious fanaticism, racial fanaticism, national fanaticism, political fanaticism,—all such prejudices destroy the foundation of humanity, and all these lead to bloodshed and the destruction of mankind. Consequently, as long as those prejudices persist, hideous warfare will continue.
The remedy of this disease is Universal Peace, and such peace must be organized on behalf of all the powers and nations in a Supreme Tribunal and all national and political questions be referred to it for solution. Whatever that Supreme Tribunal rules, the same shall be carried out, and if any state or nation fails to execute it, the whole world shall arise against it.
These teachings also include the equality of men and women in all rights and privileges, etc.
It has thus become clear and manifest that these teachings are the life of the world of humanity and the ideal spirit.
Now since you are the servants of the world of humanity,
you must strive with your heart and soul, in order that the
human world may be delivered from the darkness of material
manhood and natural prejudices and attain to the light of the
Divine World. Praise be to God, ye are informed of all the
laws, commandments and principles. Today the world of
humanity will not find peace and tranquility except through
these teachings, and this darkness will not, otherwise, be dispelled,
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these chronic diseases be cured. Nay, these would,
otherwise, be aggravated from day to day. The Balkans will
not rest, but become worse than before; the subjugated natives
will not sit quiet, nay they will cling to every instrumentality
until the flame of war will be rekindled. New popular movements
will concentrate their entire energy upon the realization
of their aims. The northern movement (Russian Sovietism)
will attain great importance and will be spread.
You should, therefore, endeavor with a shining heart, merciful spirit and heavenly power and Divine confirmation— in order to become a Lordly Bounty to the world of humanity and become the cause of rest and tranquility to mankind.
Tablet revealed in 1920 to Martha L. Root and others. It is known as the
“Tablet to South America.”
ENRAPTURE THE NATIONS
I implore Thee, O my God, by Thy Most Great Name, to enrapture the nations through the potency of the Word which Thou didst ordain to be the king of all words, the Word whereby the goodly pearls of Thy hidden wisdom were uncovered, and the gemlike mysteries which were wrapped up within Thee were unraveled. Deprive them not, by Thy grace and bounty, of the things which Thou didst desire for them, and suffer them not to be far removed from the shores of the ocean of Thy presence.
The Basic Principle of Truth
Shoghi Effendi
THE Faith standing identified with the name of Bahá’u’lláh disclaims any intention to belittle any of the Prophets gone before Him, to whittle down any of their teachings, to obscure, however slightly, the radiance of their Revelations, to oust them from the hearts of their followers, to abrogate the fundamentals of their doctrines, to discard any of their revealed Books, or to suppress the legitimate aspirations of their adherents. Repudiating the claim of any religion to be the final revelation of God to man, disclaiming finality for His own Revelation, Bahá’u’lláh inculcates the basic principle of the relativity of religious truth, the continuity of Divine Revelation, the progressiveness of religious experience. His aim is to widen the basis of all revealed religions and to unravel the mysteries of their scriptures. He insists on the unqualified recognition of the unity of their purpose, restates the eternal verities they enshrine, coordinates their functions, distinguishes the essential and the authentic from the non-essential and spurious in their teachings, separates the God-given truths from the priest-prompted superstitions, and on this as a basis proclaims the possibility, and even prophesies the inevitability, of their unification, and the consummation of their highest hopes.
As to Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, let none among His
followers who read these pages, think for a moment that either
Islám, or its Prophet, or His Book, or His appointed Successors,
or any of His authentic teachings, have been, or are to
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be in any way, or to however slight a degree, disparaged. The
lineage of the Báb, the descendant of the Imám Ḥusayn; the
divers and striking evidences, in Nabíl’s Narrative, of the attitude
of the Herald of our Faith towards the Founder, the
Imáms, and the Book of Islám; the glowing tributes paid by
Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Íqán to Muḥammad and His lawful
Successors, and particularly to the “peerless and incomparable”
Imám Ḥusayn; the arguments adduced, forcibly, fearlessly,
and publicly by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in churches and synagogues, to
demonstrate the validity of the Message of the Arabian
Prophet; and last but not least the written testimonial of the
Queen of Rumania, who, born in the Anglican faith and notwithstanding
the close alliance of her government with the
Greek Orthodox Church, the state religion of her adopted
country, has, largely as a result of the perusal of these public
discourses of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, been prompted to proclaim her
recognition of the prophetic function of Muḥammad—all proclaim,
in no uncertain terms, the true attitude of the Bahá’í
Faith towards its parent religion.
“God,” is her royal tribute, “is All, everything. He is the power behind all beginnings. . . . His is the Voice within us that shows us good and evil. But mostly We ignore or misunderstand this voice. Therefore, did He choose His Elect to come down amongst us upon earth to make clear His Word, His real meaning. Therefore, the Prophets; therefore, Christ, Muḥammad, Bahá’u’lláh, for man needs from time to time a voice upon earth to bring God to him, to sharpen the realization of the existence of the true God. Those voices sent to us had to become flesh, so that with our earthly cars we should be able to hear and understand.”
What greater proof, it may be pertinently asked, can the
divines of either Persia or Turkey require wherewith to demonstrate
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the recognition by the followers of Bahá’u’lláh of the
exalted position occupied by the Prophet Muḥammad among
the entire company of the Messengers of God? What greater
service do these divines expect us to render the Cause of Islám?
What greater evidence of our competence can they demand
than that we should kindle, in quarters so far beyond their
reach, the spark of an ardent and sincere conversion to the
truth voiced by the Apostle of God, and obtain from the pen
of royalty this public, and indeed historic, confession of His
God-given Mission?
THE POSITION OF CHRISTIANITY
As to the position of Christianity, let it be stated without
any hesitation or equivocation that its divine origin is unconditionally
acknowledged, that the Sonship and Divinity of
Jesus Christ are fearlessly asserted, that the divine inspiration
of the Gospel is fully recognized, that the reality of the mystery
of the Immaculacy of the Virgin Mary is confessed, and the
primacy of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, is upheld and
defended. The Founder of the Christian Faith is designated
by Bahá’u’lláh as the “Spirit of God,” is proclaimed as the
One Who “appeared out of the breath of the Holy Ghost,”
and is even extolled as the “Essence of the Spirit.” His mother
is described as “that veiled and immortal, that most beauteous,
countenance,” and the station of her Son eulogized as a “station
which hath been exalted above the imaginings of all that dwell
on earth,” whilst Peter is recognized as one Whom God has
caused “the mysteries of wisdom and of utterance to flow out
of his mouth.” “Know thou,” Bahá’u’lláh has moreover testified,
“that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God,
the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing
Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created
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things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the
earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom
which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which
any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have
produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers,
are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His
transcendent, His all-pervasive and resplendent Spirit. We
testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor
of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the
leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance.
Through Him the unchaste and wayward were healed.
Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the
blind were opened and the soul of the sinner sanctified. . . .
He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with
a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.”
Indeed, the essential prerequisites of admittance into the Bahá’í fold of Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists, and the followers of other ancient faiths, as well as of agnostics and even atheists, is the whole-hearted and unqualified acceptance by them all of the Divine origin of both Islám and Christianity, of the Prophetic functions of both Muḥammad and Jesus Christ, of the legitimacy of the institution of the Imamate, and of the primacy of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. Such are the central, the solid, the incontrovertible principles that constitute the bedrock of Bahá’í belief which the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh is proud to acknowledge, which its teachers proclaim, which its apologists defend, which its literature disseminates, which its summer schools expound, and which the rank and file of its followers attest by both word and deed.
Nor should it be thought for a moment that the followers
of Bahá’u’lláh either seek to degrade or even belittle the rank
of the world’s religious leaders, whether Christian, Muslim,
[Page 244]
or of any other denomination, should their conduct conform
to their professions, and be worthy of the position they occupy.
“Those divines,” Bahá’u’lláh has affirmed, “ . . . who are truly
adorned with the ornament of knowledge and of a goodly
character are, verily, as a head to the body of the world, and
as eyes to the nations. The guidance of men hath, at all times,
been and is dependent upon these blessed souls.” And again:
“The divine whose conduct is upright, and the sage who is
just, are as the spirit unto the body of the world. Well is it
with that divine whose head is attired with the crown of justice,
and whose temple is adorned with the ornament of equity.”
And yet again: “The divine who hath seized and quaffed the
most holy Wine, in the name of the sovereign Ordainer, is as
an eye unto the world. Well is it with them who obey him,
and call him to remembrance.” “Great is the blessedness of
that divine,” He, in another connection has written, “that hath
not allowed knowledge to become a veil between him and the
One Who is the Object of all knowledge, and who, when the
Self-Subsisting appeared, hath turned with a beaming face towards
Him. He, in truth, is numbered with the learned. The
inmates of Paradise seek the blessing of his breath, and his
lamp sheddeth its radiance over all who are in heaven and on
earth. He, verily, is numbered with the inheritors of the
Prophets. He that beholdeth him hath, verily, beheld the
True One, and he that turneth towards him hath, verily, turned
towards God, the Almighty, the All-Wise.” “Respect ye the
divines amongst you,” is His exhortation, “they whose acts
conform to the knowledge they possess, who observe the statutes
of God, and decree the things God hath decreed in the
Book. Know ye that they are the lamps of guidance betwixt
earth and heaven. They that have no consideration for the
[Page 245]
position and merit of the divines amongst them have, verily,
altered the bounty of God vouchsafed unto them.” . . .
THIS RETRIBUTIVE CALAMITY
This great retributive calamity, for which the world’s supreme leaders, both secular and religious, are to be regarded as primarily answerable, as testified by Bahá’u’lláh, should not, if we would correctly appraise it, be regarded solely as a punishment meted out by God to a world that has, for a hundred years, persisted in its refusal to embrace the truth of the redemptive Message proffered to it by the supreme Messenger of God in this day. It should be viewed also, though to a lesser degree, in the light of a divine retribution for the perversity of the human race in general, in casting itself adrift from those elementary principles which must, at all times, govern, and can alone safeguard, the life and progress of mankind. Humanity has, alas, with increasing insistence, preferred, instead of acknowledging and adoring the Spirit of God as embodied in His religion in this day, to worship those false idols, untruths and half-truths, which are obscuring its religions, corrupting its spiritual life, convulsing its political institutions, corroding its social fabric, and shattering its economic structure.
Not only have the peoples of the earth ignored, and some of them even assailed, a Faith which is at once the essence, the promise, the reconciler, and the unifier of all religions, but they have drifted away from their own religions, and set up on their subverted altars other gods wholly alien not only to the spirit but to the traditional forms of their ancient faiths.
“The face of the world,” Bahá’u’lláh laments, “hath
altered. The way of God and the religion of God have ceased
to be of any worth in the eyes of men.” “The vitality of men’s
[Page 246]
belief in God,” He also has written, “is dying out in every
land . . . The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals
of human society.” “Religion,” He affirms, “is verily the chief
instrument for the establishment of order in the world, and
of tranquillity amongst its peoples. . . . The greater the decline
of religion, the more grievous the waywardness of the ungodly.
This cannot but lead in the end to chaos and confusion.” And
again: “Religion is a radiant light and an impregnable stronghold
for the protection and welfare of the peoples of the
world.” “As the body of man,” He, in another connection, has
written, “needeth a garment to clothe it, so the body of mankind
must needs be adorned with the mantle of justice and
wisdom. Its robe is the Revelation vouchsafed unto it by God.”
THE THREE FALSE GODS
This vital force is dying out, this mighty agency has been
scorned, this radiant light is obscured, this impregnable stronghold
abandoned, this beauteous robe discarded. God Himself
has indeed been dethroned from the hearts of men, and an
idolatrous world passionately and clamorously hails and worships
the false gods which its own idle fancies have fatuously
created, and its misguided hands so impiously exalted. The
chief idols in the desecrated temple of mankind are none other
than the triple gods of Nationalism, Racialism and Communism,
at whose altars governments and peoples, whether
democratic or totalitarian, at peace or at war, of the East or
of the West, Christian or Islamic, are, in various forms and
in different degrees, now worshiping. Their high priests are
the politicians and the worldly-wise, the so-called sages of the
age; their sacrifice, the flesh and blood of the slaughtered multitudes;
their incantations outworn shibboleths and insidious
and irreverent formulas; their incense, the smoke of anguish
[Page 247]
that ascends from the lacerated hearts of the bereaved, the
maimed, and the homeless.
The theories and policies, so unsound, so pernicious, which deify the state and exalt the nation above mankind, which seek to subordinate the sister races of the world to one single race, which discriminate between the black and the white, and which tolerate the dominance of one privileged class over all others— these are the dark, the false, and crooked doctrines for which any man or people who believes in them, or acts upon them, must, sooner or later, incur the wrath and chastisement of God.
“Movements,” is the warning sounded by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “newly-born and world-wide in their range, will exert their utmost effort for the advancement of their designs. The Movement of the Left will acquire great importance. Its influence will spread.”
Contrasting with, and irreconcilably opposed to, these war-engendering, world-convulsing doctrines, are the healing, the saving, the pregnant truths proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Divine Organizer and Saviour of the whole human race— truths which should be regarded as the animating force and the hall-mark of His Revelation: “The world is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” “Let not a man glory in that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.” And again: “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.” “Bend your minds and wills to the education of the peoples and kindreds of the earth, that haply . . . all mankind may become the upholders of one order, and the inhabitants of one city . . . Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the operation of one Will.” “Beware lest the desires of the flesh and of a corrupt inclination provoke divisions among you.”
The fourth in a series of excerpts from “The Promised Day Is Come,” by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith.
Youth Looks Ahead
Horace Holley
CIVILIZATION means the pouring of the fiery metal of youth into the molds of tradition, custom and human law. Four times every century this strange phenomenon of spiritual metallurgy takes place. The result each time is the extension of the past through the life and experience of another generation, or a shattering of some of the molds which until then were regarded as divinely ordained. Life is a struggle between the experience of the past and the needs of the future. Every human being who has had both youth and maturity is scarred by that struggle.
As long as society represents fulfilment and opportunity for the new generation, so long are its forces in balance, for intelligent youth never resents discipline when discipline is the means to a desirable goal, nor hardship when by hardship the deeper wells of enthusiasm and faith are struck from the rock of indifference. Crisis only comes when the molds of tradition represent patterns which repudiate hope and betray intelligence. At such times the rift between the generations widens to an abyss, and the disputes between youth and maturity bring into question every human value and lay bare every motive upon which society has been built.
Never has the apparent chasm been so wide between the generations as during the twenty years or so since the end of the European war in 1918.
The whole outcome of civilization, in the eyes of post-war
youth, had been an international conflict which produced terrible
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suffering without solving one single basic problem of society
nor clarifying one single principle of human life. Revolting
against such confusion and blindness, that generation tried
to vomit up the poison of conflict which had penetrated so
deeply into the human system. Hence that generation’s sense
of tragedy which its parents could not quite grasp, hence its
feeling of impassible isolation from an historic continuity which
had taken that poison as a normal part of its daily food.
Youth learned then to look ahead because it dared not look behind. The normal sense of reverence for the great, formative episodes of history for that generation was thwarted by its desperate need to repudiate all history to begin life anew.
That inner struggle of the post-war youth to rise above the fatalism of the old civilization and the moral weakness of traditional culture has been one of the significant episodes of human history—a sublime, yet tragic crusade of the young to recapture the holy land of human hope and assurance. It had no unified world leadership, no coordinated program, nevertheless its manifestations in America, Europe and the Orient revealed the working of one predominant spirit. To repudiate the evil of the past—the recognition of war as instrument of social policy—and to establish a more humane and universal basis for civilization: this was the instinctive aim animating youth in all parts of the world. Like a sword flashing in the sun, its potential might revealed itself in effort to establish contact and consultation among youth everywhere, the moral equivalent of that movement to found an international political league which was the hope of their fathers and mothers.
Alas, the worldwide crusade soon divided on the question
of economic theory, and never attained real unity on the question
of race and creed. The movement represented a tremendous
unrealized possibility and an unsuspected capacity of human
[Page 250]
beings to rise above traditional social limitations; and as
such, even though youth itself, in attaining maturity, helped
develop the new social divisions characterizing the present
era, the brief glory of that hope remains a landmark on the
highway of human experience.
It is another generation of youth that now looks ahead and renews the flame of faith that mankind can attain world cooperation and order. What is the fundamental difference between the civilization of 1918 and 1940? We have substituted class strife for national rivalry of the traditional type. Whereas the post-war youth attempted to rise above the social limitations of national history, youth today must learn to rise above the armed frontiers of social philosophies which have sought to organize class rivalry and buttress the function of party government with theories about the nature of man and the nature of the state claiming to replace the truths we inherited from all ancient religion.
The issue between man and civilization has become drawn along lines which compel a fundamental decision. On the one hand we have the spiritual and moral principles of peaceful human association, emphasized by the dire results of conflict on an international scale. On the other hand we have such economic and political disorganization that the struggle for existence has intensified the spirit of conquest and aggression, and given this spirit new instrumentalities in the form of social dogmas and state tyrannies through which to operate. It is to be noted that the theory of war has been renewed and extended by these social philosophies. We have not merely war for seizure of lands and populations but also war for the control of the human soul. The times are fanatical, with fanaticism armed with all the power of government to exercise dominion throughout the area of its apparent victory.
[Page 251]
To look ahead, youth today must use the eyes of faith that
see not human powers and human struggle but the fulfilment
of a spiritual power. Intercourse between youth groups of
the different nations has become impossible. Throughout the
present era of war no international conferences can be held and
no programs adopted. In every environment youth in these
dark days must press forward in isolated groups and prepare
for future world solidarity by eliminating such prejudices as
may be local to each group.
The only future that is possible to youth, other than repetition of all yesterdays and all todays, is that future which youth itself assures by manifestation of spiritual will. Let youth destroy prejudice of race, class and creed so far as its own motives and influence are concerned; let youth accept world order as the goal of all human effort; let youth ponder the nature of those social principles which can sustain cooperative human relationships; let youth realize that the thirteen American colonies found a way to unify and coordinate their separate political sovereignties by adopting the federal principle; and the inevitable result will be a future containing opportunities to apply these inner, spiritual achievements to the problems of human civilization.
There is a fire of human suffering that separates iron from rock and hardens iron to steel. There is in history the working of a principle of collective anguish which destiny employs to produce progress and betterment in the life of man on earth. Perhaps the meaning of these days of bitterest anguish is to touch the heart of youth with passionate resolve to destroy the monster of war, to destroy degrading poverty, to abolish the darkness of ignorance from East to West.
Of what stuff, one may ask, is the outlook of youth actually composed?
[Page 252]
First, we can believe, is the realization that citizenship is
no longer a mere political fact having no connection with the
truths of culture, ethics and religion. On the contrary, citizenship
today is a symbol of organic social truth. Political action
has become the outer expression of a world view, a definite
philosophy.
Second, the world can no longer maintain economic, political, social and psychological truths in separate compartments. Whether we realize it or not, our sociology represents our religion in action.
Third, youth knows that civilization can not tolerate one standard of morality for personal relations and a different standard for institutions. If the individual is not to steal, lie, deceive, enslave or murder, then neither are institutions to commit these sins. To call a murderous war by some other term, like “crisis policy” or “national destiny” does not rid the guilty ones of spiritual responsibility. We do not obtain immunity by incorporating our capacity to work evil.
Fourth, the outlook of youth includes the element of conviction that the economic problem can be solved. There is no inherent reason outside of human will why poverty should continue to scourge mankind from age to age. Youth sees that poverty is rooted in war and revolution, and not war and revolution in poverty. The world contains abundance, but a divided humanity has well nigh destroyed its divine heritage.
Fifth, youth has a clearer perception of human psychology
than former generations. It understands the local, historical
reasons why certain states of mind have become fixed and
rigid, and therefore does not accept such states of mind as completely
valid. Youth today does not appear to be falling victim
to hate as result of war between nations, and this is perhaps
the most hopeful sign in the modern world. Youth realizes
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that war is an action of government and a law of the state,
and hence not necessarily a frenzy in which to engulf the minds
of all who suffer on both sides the frontier.
Sixth, youth has come to recognize the inter-dependence of all the peoples of earth. It realizes that the law of cause and effect operates universally and can not be confined to one people, one nation, one class or creed. It gropes for a definition of Deity which will manifest His Fatherhood to all mankind.
These six elements of the consciousness of youth today are more than a program or policy—they are capacities for thought and action; and undoubtedly they are shared by many of those whose youth preceded the youth of today by one or more generations. For whereas physically youth and age are always in opposition, spiritually they are but successive stages on the same path. To be able to grow is of the essence of youth, irrespective of the number of physical years.
The following excerpt bears upon the substance of the present talk.
“A world community in which all economic barriers will have been permanently demolished and the interdependence of Capital and Labor definitely recognized; in which the clamor of religious fanaticism and strife will have been forever stilled; in which the flame of racial animosity will have been finally extinguished; in which a single code of international law—the product of the considered judgment of the world’s federated representatives—shall have as its sanction the instant and coercive intervention of the combined forces of the federated units . . . such indeed, appears, in its broadest outline, the Order anticipated by Bahá’u’lláh.”
Radio talk given over Station WGN, January 26, 1940.
The Social Role of the Man of Knowledge
BOOK REVIEW
G. A. Shook
THE AUTHOR, Florian Znaniecki, tells us in the beginning that “the sociology of knowledge” is not a “sociological theory of knowledge.” This study of the “man of knowledge” in his relation to society is carried out by a sociologist and he does not make any judgments of the validity of any system of knowledge except sociology. He assumes that every system of knowledge is objectively valid and he maintains this position throughout, thereby avoiding the blunders that inevitably befall the philosopher who attempts the complete integration of all knowledge. The definitions and classifications he offers help us to understand how a very complex civilization utilizes the knowledge at its disposal.
In every community two kinds of knowledge are to be found: a specialized or “technical” knowledge for particular individuals and a “common” knowledge which all must possess because they are members of a group. So long as craftsmen confine their work to particular occupations there is no demand for the scientist who has a superior kind of knowledge but when new conditions arise then some kind of advice is necessary. The lay adviser in a small community knows how to deal with specific problems. He does not “practise” a technique but studies technique. His knowledge is “technological.” In large communities we have the “technological leader” who plans and the “technological expert” who diagnoses and advises. The former is a scientist and a social leader. He is responsible for a group. The latter merely furnishes the specialized knowledges: he cannot say how it is to be used and he has no responsibility. Industrial leaders do not always welcome the kind of new knowledge that disturbs the economic structure.
Again there are independent inventors who create new demands.
As occupational roles become diversified and new problems arise,
the demand for new knowledge increases. There must be more cooperation
between the technologist who is concerned with practical problems
[Page 255]
and the scientific explorer who is concerned only with his discovery.
The masses are still content with “common-sense” knowledge
which does not permit any thinking nor variation. It is relative to
practical interests. The author deals at length with the problem of
utilizing the knowledge of the “explorer.”
The sage is a man of encyclopedic knowledge who does most of the “thinking” for the group. His wisdom is not subjected to any kind of test. If the group likes his knowledge it is “true” and vice versa. Unfortunately he is still in demand. On the other hand there must be a “purely theoretic non-evaluative and non-normative kind of cultural reality.” There must be some objective scientific study of the cultural world.
He discusses impartially and thoroughly the old problem of the religious scholar: conserving the traditions and introducing innovations.
The chapter on the “explorer and new knowledge” should be read by every educator.
The author makes it very clear that the man of knowledge is a pioneer and without his researches, discoveries and inventions civilization could not move forward. We are all very much indebted to him.
The reviewer is tempted to suggest, however, that the problem of scientific education is not as simple as one might infer from the author’s remarks. One may have an open mind, be quite free and still not know what to stress and what to exclude. All students are not alike, all are not scholars, all do not develop in the same way and, finally, all are not preparing for the same career.
The author discusses various types of “explorers” but they may all be found in our modern industrial world and had he drawn more freely upon these concrete examples his thesis would have been simplified and enhanced.
The epistemology upheld rests upon a scientific basis. The field of value is practically excluded. One is left with the feeling that the author believes most of the problems of knowledge can be solved by science and that all solutions should be tested by science.
Aside from this undue claim for science, the book is the best of its kind that has appeared and will go a long way toward establishing better relations between the man of knowledge and society.
BAHÁ’Í LESSONS
The Continuity of Revelation
(as proclaimed by Muḥammad in the Qur’án, with illumination by Bahá’u’lláh)
- 1. God has sent many Prophets to men
- 10:48 p. 279 4:161-4 p. 4-28 21:49-92 pp. 154-7 11:27-100 pp. 217-223 5:79 pp. 494-5 Íqán 7, 9, 10, 11, 17-21, 167; Gl 74-75, 20-23 (Note: the figures given above as 10:48, etc., refer to the Súrih and verse of the Qur’án, Rodwell’s translation, Everyman’s Library edition.)
- 2. God has given His Prophets Their divine station
- 19:30-35, 50-59 pp. 119, 120, 121 2:27-37 pp. 340-2 21:49, 52, 72-73 pp. 154, 155 12:100-103 pp. 238-9 6:83-92 pp. 324-5 11:1-2 p. 215 Íqán 99-100; Gl 47-48 (two paragraphs)
- 3. God has endowed each independent Prophet with a Book for His age
- 57:25-27, 29 p. 409 13:36-39 p. 337 5:22, 50, 52 pp. 488, 491 Íqán 199-200 (Gl 270), 200-203; 216; Gl 74 Qur’án p. 120, Footnote 2. (This is interesting)
- 4. God invests each Prophet with divine authority and sovereignty
- 48:8-10, 13 p. 461 24:46-55 pp. 448-9 4:135-151 pp. 425-6 Íqán 97-100, 103-104 (Gl 46-48), 107-112 (Gl 24-26), 178-9 (Gl 54-55); Gl 71-73
- 5. Each Prophet brings proof of His divine mission
- 40:23-24 pp. 241-2 3:43-44, 80, 101-4 pp. 390, 394, 396 10:75-76 p. 281 10:38-39 pp. 278-9 11:20 p. 217 45:1-5 p. 197 Íqán 204-210, 219-221
- 6. All Prophets teach the same Faith (spiritual Message)
- 42:11-14 p. 271 6:83-92 pp. 324-5 21:92 p. 157 54:50 p. 78 Íqán 118-119; also see SAQ 55-56 (“the law of God . . .”)
- 7. Each Prophet has a two-fold station
- Oneness: 2:130-32, 285 pp. 352, 370-1 40:15 p. 241 14:10-14 pp. 226-7 48:10 p. 461
- Distinction: 2:254 p. 366 43:57-64 p. 138 3:73-78 pp. 393-4 9:30-33 pp. 473-4 5:76-80 pp. 494-5 Íqán 99-100, 103-4 (Gl 46-48), 152-155, 176-181 (Gl 50-56); Gl 66-67
- 8. Muhammad identifies Himself as a Prophet
- 61:1-14 pp. 405-6 10:16-17 p.276 33:40 p. 438 6:50 p. 321 42:50-52 p. 274 3:138-9 p. 399 35:21-22 p. 291 Íqán 20-23, 152-154
- 9. The Qur’án is a Revelation from God
- 32:1-3 p. 190 4:84 p. 420 16:104-5 p. 207 53:1-12 p. 69 Íqán 198-206
- 10. The Scriptures confirm one another
- 3:2-5 p. 386 46:8-11 p. 314 5:18, 50-52 pp. 487, 491 Íqán 20-22. (Cf. Íqán 27-28, 38-40, 44-45, 51-52, 71-72, 18)
WITH OUR READERS
How can we Bahá’ís serve humanity? The following experience of one of the believers on the West Coast, sent to the editors to share with our readers, is one answer:
A woman said the other day, “I can no longer send my children to church; I am teaching them religion at home.” Asked why, she answered, “The children are Americans, but I come from Central Europe, and so does their father. We cannot bear to have them go to church and learn to hate us. We are loyal citizens of this country and the children know it; but they also know we were born over there; we do not want them to learn to despise us, their father and mother.”
At the Geyserville Bahá’í School this summer, and lately in one public meeting after another, we on the West Coast have noticed that non-Bahá’ís come and thank us for the atmosphere present in our gatherings; for the universal, humanitarian attitude which is the basis of our life. In Bahá’í groups they have heard no people attacked, no political figure discussed, they have found that we concentrate our thought on the world of tomorrow, beyond the war; that our condemnation is directed not toward one person or people but toward general tendencies in every people—tendencies which have created these present exponents and present situations; that we do not consider one section of humanity as saints and another as devils, but teach rather that all human beings are expiating their common sin.
If we Bahá’ís in America have
been able so to forego the American’s
time-honored privilege of
wrangling over political affairs,
it is because of messages such as
this, cabled us by the Guardian
in 1938: “Loyalty to World
Order Bahá’u’lláh, security of
its basic institutions, both imperatively
demand all its avowed
supporters, particularly its champion
builders American continent
. . . abstain individually, collectively,
in word, action, informally
as well as in all official
utterances, and publications from
[Page 259]
assigning blame, taking sides,
however indirectly, in recurring
political crises now agitating,
ultimately engulfing human society.”
And this, written by
him in that same year: “Through
the clearness and steadiness of
their vision, through the unvitiated
vitality of their belief,
through the incorruptibility of
their character, through the
adamantine force of their resolve,
the matchless superiority
of their aims and purpose, and
the unsurpassed range of their
accomplishments, they who labor
for the glory of the Most Great
Name throughout both Americas
can best demonstrate to the visionless,
faithless and restless society
to which they belong, their
power to proffer a haven of
refuge to its members in the hour
of their realized doom.”
Our function is increasingly this: To provide a shelter for the people; a meeting place where they will not be urged toward hate; a dispassionate center where they can find their poise and take the long view and see the planet as one homeland and its citizens one kindred.
• • •
The following account of teaching experiences has come to us from one who is working in one of the Eastern states: The response that different people make when they first hear of the Bahá’í Faith is most interesting to teachers. Jesus describes a similar response to His teaching by the parable of The Sower and the Seed. Once in a while acceptance seems instantaneous as when Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, “Follow Me” and “straightway they forsook their nets and followed Him.”
Bahá’í teachers have the same wonderful experience on occasion. How does it happen that some people are so ready? Perhaps the answer can be found in nature. A green apple clings to the tree, but an apple fully ripened by the sun falls at the gentlest touch. So with ripened souls. A Jewish singer of distinction entered a small Bahá’í meeting and found her spiritual home. Later she said with joy, “Why, everything is in the Bahá’í Faith—love, music, beauty— everything!” She added, “No one knows how much I love God!” Doubtless in this statement lies the secret of her quick acceptance of the Faith. Love tuned in with Love.
Another case is of a Catholic
young woman who heard a few
questions answered by Bahá’í
[Page 260]
teachers in a social meeting and
accepted the Faith at once. She
had been consciously waiting for
two years and had been praying
for something less materialistic
than her church was giving her.
Suffering and meditation had prepared
her. For months she lay on
her bed with infantile paralysis.
It was a question whether she
ever walked again. She said that
in the long hours alone she decided
if there was nothing to do
but think, she might as well think
good things; so she thought about
God. It is not so strange then
after all that she recognized His
Cause—the “Cause of God”—as
soon as she heard it.
A Protestant lady also went through intense suffering as a preparation, but not of the physical type. She suffered mentally as she enlarged her outlook, leaving the old to take on the new. Thus she traveled from strict orthodoxy to liberalism, and then to the belief that Jesus was not the only Messenger of God sent to our world. She was looking for a group like those of the early Christian days. She heard two Bahá’í lectures and at the second she earnestly asked, “What do you have to do to become a Bahá’í? I want to be one!”
“Everyone who is of the Truth heareth My voice,” said Jesus.
• • •
Our contributors this month include Dr. Genevieve Coy whom our readers will remember as a psychologist of experience whose articles we have printed before. She is now on the staff of a large school in New York. Her article shows us how sound psychology and Bahá’í teachings are linked.
Further excerpts from Shoghi Effendi’s most recent letter are printed this month under the title, “The Basic Principle of Truth.” The letter in its entirety is a book published under the title, “The Promised Day is Come.”
The article “Youth Looks Ahead” by Horace Holley, secretary of our National Assembly and one of our editors was first given as a radio talk.
Dr. Glenn Shook, who writes the timely book review this month, is on the faculty of Wheaton college. Dr. Shook has previously contributed valuable articles to WORLD ORDER. The useful monthly study outline is again contributed by Mrs. Alice Simmons Cox, one of our editors, who states that it is an adaptation of an outline prepared by Harry Jay, member of the Study Outlines Committee.
BAHÁ’Í LITERATURE
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion, the soul, the basis of civilization and the oneness of mankind. Bound in fabrikoid. 360 pages. $2.00.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, translated by Shoghi Effendi. Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh toward the end of His earthly mission, this text is a majestic and deeply-moving exposition of His fundamental principles and laws and of the sufferings endured by the Manifestation for the sake of mankind. Bound in cloth. 186 pages. $1.50.
Kitáb-i-Íqán, Translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past, demonstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purpose of Revelation. Bound in cloth. 198 pages. $2.50.
Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The supreme expression of devotion to God; a spiritual flame which enkindles the heart and illumines the mind. 348 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.00.
Some Answered Questions. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s explanation of questions concerning the relation of man to God, the nature of the Manifestation, human capacities, fulfillment of prophecy, etc. Bound in cloth. 350 pages. $1.50.
The Promulgation of Universal Peace. In this collection of His American talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the basis for a firm understanding of the attitudes, principles and spiritual laws which enter into the establishment of true Peace. 492 pages. Bound in cloth. $2.50.
Bahá’í Prayers, a selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each Prayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, $0.35.
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, by Shoghi Effendi. On the nature of the new social pattern revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the attainment of divine justice in civilization. Bound in fabrikoid. 234 pages. $1.50.
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The Nature of the Bahá’í Faith
THE REVELATION PROCLAIMED BY BAHÁ’U’LLÁH . . . IS DIVINE IN ORIGIN, ALL-EMBRACING IN SCOPE, BROAD IN ITS OUTLOOK, SCIENTIFIC IN ITS METHOD, HUMANITARIAN IN ITS PRINCIPLES AND DYNAMIC IN THE INFLUENCE IT EXERTS ON THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF MEN.
THE MISSION OF THE FOUNDER OF THEIR FAITH . . . TO PROCLAIM THAT RELIGIOUS TRUTH IS NOT ABSOLUTE BUT RELATIVE, THAT DIVINE REVELATION IS CONTINUOUs AND PROGRESSIVE, THAT THE FOUNDERS OF ALL PAST RELIGIONS, THOUGH DIFFERENT IN THE NON-ESSENTIAL ASPECTS OF THEIR TEACHINGS, “ABIDE IN THE sAME TABERNACLE, SOAR IN THE SAME HEAVEN, ARE SEATED UPON THE SAME THRONE, UTTER THE SAME SPEECH AND PROCLAIM THE SAME FAITH.”
HIS CAUSE . . . STANDS IDENTIFIED WITH, AND REVOLVES AROUND, THE PRINCIPLE OF THE ORGANIC UNITY OF MANKIND AS REPRESENTING THE CONSUMMATION OF THE WHOLE PROCESS OF HUMAN EVOLUTION.
THIS FINAL STAGE IN THE STUPENDOUS EVOLUTION . . . IS NOT ONLY NECESSARY BUT INEVITABLE . . . IS GRADUALLY APPROACHING . . . AND NOTHING SHORT OF THE CELESTIAL POTENCY WITH WHICH A DIVINELY ORDAINED MESSAGE CAN CLAIM TO BE ENDOWED CAN SUCCEED IN ESTABLISHING IT.
