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WORLD
ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
January, 1943
• The Divine Banner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 325
• Bahá’í House of Worship, Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
• The House of Worship of a World Faith Horace Holley 327
• The Day of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘Abdu’l-Bahá 338
• The Hour Has Struck, Editorial . . . . . . Garreta Busey 340
• The Bahá’í Community: A Living Organism Annamarie Honnold 342
• The Covenant, Part III concluded . . . Albert Windust 350
• With Our Readers . . . . 358
FIFTEEN CENTS
GOD’S PURPOSE IS NONE OTHER THAN TO USHER IN, IN WAYS HE ALONE CAN BRING ABOUT, AND THE FULL SIGNIFICANCE OF WHICH HE ALONE CAN FATHOM, THE GREAT, THE GOLDEN AGE OF A LONG-DIVIDED, A LONG-AFFLICTED HUMANITY. ITS PRESENT STATE, INDEED EVEN ITS IMMEDIATE FUTURE, IS DARK, DISTRESSINGLY DARK. ITS DISTANT FUTURE, HOWEVER, IS RADIANT, GLORIOUSLY RADIANT—SO RADIANT THAT NO EYE CAN VISUALIZE IT.
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: Garreta Busey, Alice Simmons Cox, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
Editorial Office
1109 WEST GIFT AVENUE, PEORIA, ILL.
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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 1942 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent Office.
JANUARY, 1943, VOLUME VIII, NUMBER 10
The
Divine Banner
ONE of the great events which is to
occur in the Day of the manifestation
of that Incomparable Branch
[Bahá’u’lláh] is the hoisting of the
Standard of God among all nations. By
this is meant that all nations and kindreds
will be gathered together under
the shadow of this Divine Banner,
which is no other than the Lordly
Branch itself, and will become a single
nation. Religious and sectarian antagonism,
the hostility of races and peoples,
and differences among nations, will be
eliminated. All men will adhere to
one religion, will have one common
faith, will be blended into one race,
and become a single people. All will
dwell in one common fatherland, which
is the planet itself.
BAHÁ’Í HOUSE OF WORSHIP
WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
TEMPLES are the symbols of the divine uniting force, so that when
the people gather there in the House of God they may recall the
fact that the law has been revealed for them and that the law is to unite
them. . . . That is why His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has commanded that
a place of worship be built for all the religionists of the world; that all
religions, races and sects may come together within its universal shelter;
that the proclamation of the oneness of mankind shall go forth from
its open courts of holiness; the announcement that humanity is the servant
of God and that all are submerged in the ocean of His mercy.
WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
VOLUME VIII JANUARY, 1943 NUMBER 10
The House of Worship
Of a World Faith
Horace Holley
DEDICATED TO THE ONENESS OF MANKIND
THE COMPLETION of the exterior ornamentation of the Bahá’í
House of Worship discloses a physical edifice impressive in
size, striking in architecture, and superb in its clear white surface
carved to the pattern of symbolic design.
In appearance the structure suggests to the western mind an oriental influence. To the easterner it conveys the effect of occidental tradition. The Bahá’í Temple blends and harmonizes, without artificial effort, many of the creative elements which characterize the historical cultures of mankind. What is familiar acquires new significance by association with what has been remote and strange. The essential spirit of this edifice is too universal to be confined within the form and mold of any race or creed.
Here the utilitarian function of structure has become
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esthetically fulfilled in the achievement of a means suitable
for unified worship of the one true God. A sense of the living
cosmos attaches to the building, as if the architect had
striven, with physical material, to encompass a holy place, and
had learned measure and proportion, height and depth, stillness
and motion, by observation of the flight of suns and stars
through the heavenly world. Outwardly the House of Worship
reflects a passionate, yet reverent spiritual reality, embodying
a fullness of welcome, a certitude of truth, and an
integrity of peace which the soul of religion contains before
faith is darkened by doctrine and narrowed by creed.
FEATURES OF ITS DESIGN
Certain important elements of design in harmonious relationship compose the dynamic nature of the unity which this kingly jewel of temples exemplifies.
The edifice rests upon a great platform, circular in shape,
surrounded by eighteen ascending steps. From this foundation
rises a nine-sided architectural unit, the main story, each
side constituting an entrance arch buttressed by pylons or
towers. The nine symmetrical sides form a series of concave
arcs intersecting the line of the circle marked by the towers.
This main story becomes, in its turn, a platform supporting
the gallery, the clerestory and the dome. The gallery unit,
likewise nine-sided, sets back from the circumference of the
main story. It repeats the effect of the entrance arches below
in its series of nine window arches, but the nine smaller towers
of this level do not coincide vertically with the nine pylons
below. They rise at points midway between the lower pylons,
and their coincidence is with the perpendicular lines formed
by the nine ribs which spring from the base of the clerestory
to meet above the top of the dome. Clerestory and dome, set
back from the outer line of the gallery, form circles and not
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nonagons, their circumference being divided into nine convex
arcs by the ribs. The dome itself is a hemisphere, but the
great ribs meeting above it transform the effect of finality and
resignation emanating from domed structures into the upward
thrust of aspiration fulfilled in answered prayer.
In the solution of the unique problem set for him in designing this house of worship of a world faith, the architect has been less the conventional draftsman than the sculptor. One feels that his material has not been arranged by thought but subdued by will. He has wrestled with titans of atheism and anarchy; he has struggled through jungles of materialism. It is in the essence of spiritual victory that he achieved this structure of massive weight, immovable power, patterned motion and soaring altitude, to provide a shrine for the mention of God.
Having designed the structure, the architect then proceeded to treat each wall as if it were a facet for the transmission of radiant light from the sun to the interior, and from illumination inside the temple to the world at night. The outer surface is, in reality, a series of patterned windows, for the physical function of wall has been transferred to pylon, tower, rib and column. These elements carry the weight. The surface between these elements can therefore become a medium for light and not its interference. This intention has been realized through the development of architectural concrete, a process by which in plastic condition a mixture of white quartz and cement has been poured into molds made from hand-carved models, emerging as units of a surface hard and enduring as granite, clear in texture, and bearing a design delicate as lace.
SYMBOL OF A NEW ERA
The Bahá’í Temple at Wilmette, Illinois, has not arisen
as meeting place of a local congregation. It is the central
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shrine and house of worship of the followers of Bahá’u’lláh
in North America. In the western world, this edifice is the
first public expression made by the believers of the creative
energy and spiritual aims of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Its
construction, however, has been made possible by the contributions
given by Bahá’ís of Europe and Asia as well as of
the United States, Canada, Australia, and South America. The
undertaking has been a world project when one realizes that
the Bahá’í community of East and West is representative, in
the racial and religious background of its members, of the
diverse families of mankind. The period of time covered by
the undertaking, from the original intention to the completion
of the structure and its exterior decoration, has been about
forty years.
During this period of time the nature of man’s collective life has been transformed. The authority and control of ancient religion over human destiny has failed. Royal and imperial thrones have toppled to the dust. Aggressive social philosophies, nurtured in class conflict intensified by the industrial revolution, have become the creed and hope of millions of men. National sovereignty, the particular spiritual achievement of the old era, the most potent instrument for internal order yet created, has encountered the world spirit of the new cycle, refusing so far to subdue itself to the higher sovereignty of truth. Under the impact of two international wars, a major depression and many domestic upheavals, the claim to self-sufficient power and independent policy has jeopardized the very life of mankind. The Bahá’í House of Worship, built by those who knew the destiny of these years as clearly foretold in the Bahá’í sacred writings, has reflected the spirit of the new era arising amidst the agony of the old.
FOR THE HEALING OF ALL THE WORLD
The nine selected utterances of Bahá’u’lláh carved above the entrances of the Temple reveal its fundamental meaning in the life of our age:—
“The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”
“The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me.”
“My love is My stronghold; he that enterest therein is safe and secure.”
“Breathe not the sins of others so long as thou art thyself a sinner.”
“Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.”
“I have made death a messenger of joy to thee; wherefore dost thou grieve?”
“Make mention of Me on My earth that in My heaven I may remember thee.”
“O rich ones on earth! The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust.”
“The source of all learning is the knowledge of God, exalted be His glory.”
The Bahá’í Temple expresses the renewal of religion. It realizes a faith which relates the soul to a universal, a revealed and a divine truth wherein all human beings, of whatever race, class or creed, can meet and share the true equality emanating from their common dependence upon God. It serves a teaching which goes beyond all the social philosophies to make possible a world order capable not only of coordinating and guiding economic effort but also of safeguarding and fostering the highest qualities of man. Bahá’u’lláh declared the oneness of mankind, a spiritual creation inaugurating the universal era of knowledge, justice and peace which ancient Prophets foretold and promised the people would come.
“There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the
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world,” He has written, “of whatever race or religion, derive
their inspiration from one heavenly Source and are the subjects
of one God.” The theme unfolds in these clear, majestic
truths:—“The utterance of God is a lamp, whose light is these
words: Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one
branch. Deal ye one with another in the utmost love and harmony.
. . . So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate
the whole earth!” “The well-being of mankind, its peace
and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly
established. This unity can never be achieved so long as
the counsels which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed
are suffered to pass unheeded.” It sweeps to its fulfilment
in this passage taken from Bahá’u’lláh’s message written to
Queen Victoria of England from His prison in ‘Akká, Palestine,
more than seventy years ago: “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.”
THE REAL TEMPLE IS THE WORD
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh, and Center of
His Covenant, traveled in America during 1912, proclaiming
the Bahá’í teachings and promulgating the principles of universal
peace. On one occasion He addressed a national gathering
of Bahá’ís held at Chicago in the interests of this Temple.
“Among the institutes of the Holy Books,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
said, “is that of the foundation of places of worship. That
is to say, an edifice or temple is to be built in order that humanity
might find a place of meeting, and this is to be conducive
to unity and fellowship among them. The real temple is the
very Word of God, for to it all humanity must turn and it
is the center of unity for all mankind. It is the collective
center, the cause of accord and communion of hearts, the sign
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of the solidarity of the human race, the source of life eternal.
Temples are the symbols of the divine uniting force, so that
when the people gather there in the House of God they may
recall the fact that the law has been revealed for them and
that the law is to unite them. They will realize that just as
this temple was founded for the unification of mankind, the
law preceding and creating it came forth in the manifest Word.
. . . That is why His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh has commanded
that a place of worship be built for all the religionists of the
world; that all religions, races and sects may come together
within its universal shelter, that the proclamation of the oneness
of mankind shall go forth from its open courts of holiness,
the announcement that humanity is the servant of God and
that all are submerged in the ocean of His mercy. It is the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár.
“The world of existence may be likened to this Temple and place of worship; for just as the external world is a place where the people of all races and colors, varying faiths, denominations and conditions come together—just as they are submerged in the same sea of divine favors, so likewise all may meet under the dome of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and adore the one God in the same spirit of truth; for the ages of darkness have passed away and the century of light has come.”
For many persons universality in religion has been difficult
to grasp. Its essential simplicity has proved elusive. They
consider that elaborate complication is required, as if universality
were obtained by adding together all things that are not
universal. Thus the view arose at one time that the Bahá’í
House of Worship when completed would house the shrines
and invite the ceremonies and worship of diverse sects and
creeds, arguing that tolerance of differences represents the
final and utmost victory of divine truth on earth. The Bahá’í
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Faith, having no professional clergy, no ritualistic service, but
maintaining that one’s life itself is one’s practice of faith,
preserves the universality which came into being by divine
creation in the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh unadulterated by
sectarian influence. The Bahá’í recognizes the sublime truth
that revealed religions are fulfilled, not by the perpetuation
of creeds and sects, but by transformation into the later and
larger Revelation.
UNIVERSALITY OF WORSHIP
The Guardian of the Faith, Shoghi Effendi, has plainly set forth the nature of the Bahá’í House of Worship in this passage of a letter addressed to the American Bahá’ís in 1929:—
“It should be borne in mind that the central edifice of the
Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, round which in the fullness of time shall
cluster such institutions of social service as shall afford relief
to the suffering, sustenance to the poor, shelter to the Wayfarer,
solace to the bereaved, and education to the ignorant, should
be regarded, apart from these Dependencies, as a House solely
designed and entirely dedicated to the Worship of God in
accordance with the few yet definitely prescribed principles
established by Bahá’u’lláh. . . . It should not be inferred,
however, from this general statement that the interior of the
central Edifice itself will be converted into a conglomeration
of religious services conducted along lines associated with the
traditional procedure obtaining in churches, mosques, synagogues,
and other temples of worship. Its various avenues of
approach, all converging towards the central Hall beneath its
dome, will not serve as admittance to those sectarian adherents
of rigid formulae and man-made creeds, each bent, according
to his way, to observe his rites, recite his prayers, perform his
ablutions, and display the particular symbols of his faith,
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within separately defined sections of Bahá’u’lláh’s Universal
House of Worship. . . . The central House of Bahá’í worship,
enshrined within the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, will gather within
its chastened walls, in a serenely spiritual atmosphere, only
those who, discarding forever the trappings of elaborate and
ostentatious ceremony, are willing worshipers of the one true
God, as manifested in this age in the Person of Bahá’u’lláh.
“To them will the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár symbolize the fundamental verity underlying the Bahá’í Faith, that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is not final but progressive. Theirs will be the conviction that an all-loving and ever-watchful Father Who, in the past, and at various stages in the evolution of mankind, has sent forth His Prophets as the Bearers of His Message and the Manifestations of His Light to mankind, can not at this critical period of their civilization withhold from His children the Guidance which they sorely need amid the darkness which has beset them, and which neither the light of science nor that of human intellect and wisdom can succeed in dissipating. And thus having recognized in Bahá’u’lláh the source whence this celestial light proceeds, they will irresistibly feel attracted to seek the shelter of His House, and congregate therein, unhampered by ceremonials and unfettered by creeds, to render homage to the one true God, the Essence and Orb of eternal Truth, and to exalt and magnify the name of His Messengers and Prophets Who, from time immemorial even unto our day, have, under divers circumstances and in varying measure, mirrored forth to a dark and wayward world the light of heavenly Guidance.”
FACILITIES FOR SOCIAL SERVICE
In the foregoing explanation the Guardian of the Bahá’í
Faith refers to a number of institutions of social service which
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will be associated with the completed House of Worship. In
the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár the modern world has been given an
embodiment of spiritual truth in its maturity and power. The
Bahá’í House of Worship is to have a direct relation to a
number of other buildings which are to be constructed in
accordance with the directions clearly set forth by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:—
“The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár must have nine sides, doors, fountains, paths, gateways, columns and gardens, with the ground floor, galleries and domes, and in design and construction must be beautiful. The mystery of the edifice is great and can not be unveiled yet, but its erection is the most important undertaking of this Day.
“The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár has important accessories, which are accounted of the basic foundations. These are, school for orphan children, hospital and dispensary for the poor, home for the incapacitated, college for higher scientific education, and hospice. . . . When these institutions . . . are built, the doors will be opened to all the nations and religions. There will be absolutely no line of demarcation drawn. Its charities will be dispensed irrespective of color and race. Its gates will be flung wide open to mankind; prejudice towards none, love for all. The central building will be devoted to the purpose of prayer and worship. Thus . . . religion will become harmonized with science, and science will be the handmaid of religion, both showering their material and spiritual gifts on all humanity.”
This is the new, the universal concept of religion which
Bahá’u’lláh has revealed today: the source of faith is the
Prophet, the Manifestation of God, not the man-made creed,
doctrine, rite, ceremony or church, for the will and the love
of God are conveyed to humanity in each age by His chosen
and inspired Messenger; and the expression of faith is in
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direct service to human needs, sacrifice for the sake of World
peace, and consecration to the cause of the oneness of mankind.
Belief in a sectarian creed, and spiritual acceptance of only
the fellow members of one’s own sect, with indifference for
the needs and rights of the souls of all others, no longer meet
the needs of a world perishing for lack of unity, and are not
accepted as real faith by Bahá’u’lláh.
The Bahá’í House of Worship, in this larger ultimate meaning, discloses the coming of the universal truth able to connect, and unify, the world’s agencies for religion and its agencies for humanitarian service, now dissociated and incapable of healing human ills. It joins them as one spirit permeating one body.
BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
O concourse of the followers of the Son! Verily, the Temple hath been built with the hands of the will of your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Bounteous. Bear, then, witness, O people, unto that which I say: Which is preferable, that which is built of clay, or that which is built by the hands of your Lord, the Revealer of Verses? This is the Temple promised unto you in the Tablets. It calleth aloud: “O followers of religions! Haste ye to attain unto Him Who is the Source of all causes, and follow not every infidel and doubter.” —BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
The Day of God
‘Abdu’l-Bahá
YOU are welcome! This is a beautiful day. There is a good
sun; it is full of light. Even as outwardly the sun illumines
the day, and is in the utmost brilliancy, so in this Day souls
are illuminated through the Light of the Sun of Truth. Just
as by Divine permission this sun gives light to the plants,
trees, existent beings and all things, so likewise, the effulgence
of the Sun of Truth gives life to hearts and souls. Just as
this sun confers delicacy, verdancy, and freshness to the various
gardens, fields and mountains, so similarly the rays of
the Sun of Truth confer verdancy, brilliancy and freshness
to the hearts and souls.
In a word, Praise ye God that He caused you to come into this world of existence, in this age of the Sun of Truth. During past ages no such lights existed, no such effulgence shone forth, not such delicacy and freshness existed, and no such bounties were showered. These bounties are especially characteristic of this great Age. This is the Spring Season, and all of the world of existence is in motion. The spiritual springtime takes effect within the hearts and souls and causes the consciences to be revived. It causes verdancy and freshness to the soils of the hearts. It covers with leaves and blossoms the trees of human personalities. Thank ye God that ye are in this Divine Springtime. Thank ye God that ye are in this Most Great Day.
It is my hope that you will day by day progress in manners,
in spirituality, in peace and in righteousness, so that you
may illumine the world of morals, and become the cause of
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advancement to the world of humanity, and that like unto
lighted lamps you may shine forth in the darkness. This is
my hope. This is my purpose. This is my aim. This is
my prayer.
Good morning!
Hitherto unpublished talk given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the morning of November
30, 1912, at 780 West End Avenue, New York City, the home of
Edward B. Kinney.
PRAYER
I HAVE risen this morning by Thy grace, O my God, and left my home trusting wholly in Thee, and commiting myself to Thy care. Send down, then, upon me, out of the heaven of Thy mercy, a blessing from Thy side, and enable me to return home in safety even as Thou didst enable me to set out under Thy protection with my thoughts fixed steadfastly upon Thee.
There is none other God but Thee, the One, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
The Hour Has Struck
THE HOUR has struck. The great Day of Judgment is upon us.
Within the next few months we shall have stood or fallen.
This Day, this Moment in time, has been prophesied and puzzled over throughout the ages. In the Campo Santo at Pisa there is a mediaeval picture of it—a scene of tremendous activity, in which large numbers of exceedingly energetic devils are engaged in pitching the lost souls into Hell, while angels bear the sainted into regions of everlasting bliss. This was what the Day of Judgment meant to the Middle Ages. The modern world, finding such a conception ridiculous, doubts the whole idea or pushes it into the dim background of the mind as a mystery neither understood nor feared.
It was not until the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh reinterpreted the idea of the Day of Judgment that it became supremely reasonable and acceptable to modern minds. A new Revelation, they taught, is the test of the spiritual capacity of the people. The Revelation given us today, they went on to explain, marks the culmination of that great cycle which comprehends the known history of man. This, then, is the great Day of Judgment, prophesied throughout the Bible, carved on the doors of cathedrals, and forgotten by the modern world.
To Bahá’ís well versed in the teaching of their Faith, this is almost a commonplace. Too many of us, having accepted Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God, now sit back complacently among the saved, singing His praise and watching the rest of the world go to perdition.
But we are not saved yet. The acceptance of Bahá’u’lláh marks only the beginning of our testing. What does He say? “Ere long the assayers of mankind shall, in the holy presence of the Adored One, accept naught but absolute virtue and deeds of stainless purity.”
For each people, there seems to be a time when the test becomes
crucial. No sooner had the Letters of the Living accepted the Báb
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than they, and all the believers, began, with their lives, to prove the
sincerity of their belief. When Bahá’u’lláh was imprisoned in ‘Akká,
the little company of His followers chose imprisonment with Him, and
pilgrims made their way from Persia on foot for the seemingly meagre
reward of seeing Him at a distant window. In the immediate past
Bahá’ís in many parts of the world have undergone their special grinding
test of devotion.
And what of the Bahá’ís of America? We have been given a particular and overwhelming responsibility—to teach the Faith with such inspired enthusiasm that Bahá’í Communities will be established throughout North and South America before the end of the first Bahá’í Century, 1944. Many have sacrificed their money, their comfort, their health, that America may fulfill her high destiny, but the task is for all of us, and every man must save his own soul.
This moment of choice has not come upon us suddenly. The Divine Plan was given to us by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá twenty-five years ago. During the past six years the Guardian has set stints for us, as if we were children; he has urged us to action by his praise, by his warnings, and by the example of his own sacrifice. And he has told us forcefully that every believer must increase his efforts one-hundredfold. We have not been asked to die, or to make long journeys afoot over mountain passes, or even to give up much of our personal comfort. We have been asked only to do this job.
Less than seventeen months remain in which to do it. If we fail, the Most Great Peace will not be prevented, but its coming may be tragically delayed, and on the heads of the apathetic will be the continuation of the world’s agony. The plan of God will be fulfilled, but what of us?
In these last few months, the searchlight of the Day of Judgment is turned on every individual soul. By its light we may assay our sincerity, our severance, our devotion. In this crucial test we judge ourselves, and God will judge us.
The Bahá’í Community
III. A LIVING ORGANISM
Annamarie K. Honnold
THE BAHÁ’Í Faith is a call to world integration. With its
watchword, “unite”, it would eradicate all the barriers which
today keep men in conflict with one another. The obstructions
separating races, classes, religions and nations must once and
for all time be cast aside. And while it seeks world unity
through a world government and the spiritual rebirth of man,
it operates within an administrative order, the spirit and form
of which safeguard its own unity against the changing conditions
of an evolving world. If religion is to be virile, it must
also be united within itself.
Obviously in a world of change any organism must be able to withstand the effects of change if it is to survive and remain strong. The human body adjusts itself to both hot and cold. It is not weakened by these changes, nor does it perish. The same principle holds in the case of political constitutions and religious systems. History has shown that repeatedly religions have in the course of time lost their vigor, potency and strength. Changes brought a lack of unity, and a lack of unity meant atrophy. These same religions might have survived longer had they remained united, for “in unity there is strength”.
The Bahá’í Program is then unique in that it has been
blessed at its inception with a unifying administrative system
divinely conceived and put into operation while yet in its infancy.
No rust is to stain its pristine purity or warp its vital
strength. No change is to split its unity. Indeed the Bahá’í
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World Community is unique in countless ways. Its organization consists of a wholesome combination of the best elements
to be found in democracy, autocracy, monarchy, aristocracy
and theocracy. And yet, strictly speaking, it is none of these.
Unlike any ecclesiastical or political system the world has yet
come to know, it combines effectively initiative with discipline,
and authority with freedom and justice. Its administrative
system is as necessary machinery or, as the streets in a city,
means to an end, rather than an end in itself. For almost a
century in spite of persecution and the martyrdom of twenty-thousand
followers, the Bahá’í institutions have consolidated
themselves. Today it is obvious that the Faith within the
framework of the Administrative Order not only has a unique
chance of living, but nothing could today prevent it from living.
And its life will for centuries prove potent to all of
mankind.
Unlike Jesus Christ who left no explicit instructions for the carrying on of Christianity, Bahá’u’lláh, the Author of the Bahá’í Faith, saw fit to designate His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, as the sole interpreter of His Holy Writings upon His passing. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in His turn, provided in His Last Will and Testament for a successor to interpret the Teachings; and He warned the believers against false interpretations. Today Shoghi Effendi, appointed to be the first of a successive line of Guardians, is guiding and maintaining the unity of the Bahá’í World Community. No longer may any man distort the meaning of the Sacred Writings to suit his own intent and purpose. No longer shall divergent interpretations create factions and schisms.
The Bahá’í administrative system is in every respect a
living organism. Globe-girdling, it stretches from Alaska to
Argentina, and from India to America. As we consider its
structure, we are reminded of a mighty pyramid. At its base,
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creating a solid foundation, are the Bahá’í believers organized
into communities. At its apex stand the Universal House of
Justice and the Guardianship. Uniting top and bottom are
the Local and National Spiritual Assemblies (to be known
as Houses of Justice when their functions expand) and the
National Conventions. All of these vital organs function
together for the good of the unified whole, a dynamic
organism.
The individuals composing the communities independently and of their own free will recognize the stations of the Bahá’í Teachers, the plausibility, sanity and necessity of Their reform-producing programs and the sacredness of the Master’s Will and Testament, together with the entire Bahá’í Administrative Order which His Will and Testament designed. They have found their greatest freedom in God’s will for this day—a united world. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is to them the sanest of the sane, the wisest of the wise, when He says in His Will and Testament, “In this sacred Dispensation, conflict and contention are in no wise permitted. Every aggressor deprives himself of God’s grace. It is incumbent upon everyone to show the utmost love, rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness and sincere kindliness unto all the peoples and kindreds of the world, be they friends or strangers. So intense must be the spirit of love and loving-kindness, that the stranger may find himself a friend, the enemy a true brother, no difference whatsoever existing between them. For universality is of God and all limitations earthly. Thus man must strive that his reality may manifest virtues and perfections, the light whereof may shine upon everyone.”[1]
“Consort with all the peoples, kindreds and religions of
the world with the utmost truthfulness, uprightness, faithfulness,
kindliness, good-will and friendliness; that all the world
of being may be filled with the holy ecstasy of the grace of
[Page 345]
Bahá, that ignorance, enmity, hate and rancor may vanish from
the world and the darkness of estrangement amidst the peoples
and kindreds of the world may give way to the Light of Unity.
Should other peoples and nations be unfaithful to you show
your fidelity unto them, should they be unjust toward you
show justice towards them, should they keep aloof from you
attract them to yourself, should they show their enmity be
friendly towards them, should they poison your lives sweeten
their souls, should they inflict a wound upon you be a salve
to their sores. Such are the attributes of the sincere!”[2]
« Conflict and hatred, slander and backbiting are all condemned. Nothing could more quickly break the chain of unity and precipitate an early death. These believers recognize that their paramount obligation and greatest joy lie in telling others of the Bahá’í program, for only as the many make this plan their hope and goal will it become of benefit to all mankind.
Communities consisting of nine or more adult believers of twenty-one years and over annually elect their local governing bodies, today known as Local Spiritual Assemblies. Without pressure of parties or electioneering, the vote is taken in a spirit of prayer.
A spirit of loving consultation pervades the meetings of these Assemblies. It is the keynote to their inherent life and increasing success. Never before was consultation placed on so lofty a pedestal. Shoghi Effendi says, “Let us remember that at the very root of the Cause lies the principle of the undoubted right of the individual to self-expression, his freedom to declare his conscience and set forth his views.”[3]
“Let us also bear in mind,” the Guardian reminds us, “that
the keynote of the Cause of God is not dictatorial authority
but humble fellowship, not arbitrary power, but the spirit of
frank and loving consultation. Nothing short of the spirit
[Page 346]
of a true Bahá’í can hope to reconcile the principles of mercy
and justice, of freedom and submission, of the sanctity of the
right of the individual and of self-surrender, of vigilance,
discretion and prudence on the one hand, and fellowship,
candor, and courage on the other.”[4]
“Their function is not to dictate,” Shoghi Effendi explains of Assemblies, “but to consult, and consult not only among themselves, but as much as possible with the friends whom they represent. They must regard themselves in no other light but that of chosen instruments for a more efficient and dignified presentation of the Cause of God. . . .
“They should approach their task with extreme humility, and endeavor, by their open-mindedness, their high sense of justice and duty, their candor, their modesty, their entire devotion to the welfare and interests of the friends, the Cause, and humanity, to win, not only the confidence and the genuine support and respect of those whom they serve, but also their esteem and real affection. . . .
“And, when they are called upon to arrive at a certain decision, they should, after dispassionate, anxious and cordial consultation, turn to God in prayer, and with earnestness and conviction and courage record their vote and abide by the Voice of the majority, which we are told by our Master to be the voice of truth, never to be challenged, and always to be wholeheartedly enforced. To this voice the friends must heartily respond, and regard it as the only means that can insure the protection and advancement of the Cause.”[5]
In these bodies then there may well be a “concentration of power”. Alive in the spirit of consultation, these organs will perfect themselves as they perform their triple task; for they serve in executive, legislative and judiciary capacities.
In the National Spiritual Assemblies lies the “centralization
of authority”. Elected annually, they, too, have a triple
[Page 347]
responsibility, but that responsibility is for nation-wide affairs
of the Cause. These bodies are elected annually at National
Conventions by the delegates of the Bahá’í Communities in
which there are Assemblies. Proportional representation determines
the number of delegates a given Community shall
seat at the Convention. These delegates possess “untrammelled
freedom—to advise, deliberate on the actions, and appoint the
successors of their National Assembly.” The National Assembly
links the Local Assemblies with the Guardian. One
thought-provoking point is that these organs are not necessarily
bounded by present national boundaries. Expediency has
given us only one national body for India and Burma, and only
one for the United States of America and Canada.
The Universal House of Justice, legislative in character,
will be erected in the course of time, when world conditions
permit and when there are a sufficient number of strong
National Assemblies. It is not to be killed by premature
birth; thus great caution is shown on the part of the Guardian
concerning the time of its advent. As in the case of the local
and national houses, its members are to be elected by “universal
suffrage” of the believers. Side by side with the Guardian,
this supreme organ will serve the Bahá’í Commonwealth. Men
of understanding, knowledge and wisdom will have the power
to make laws on universal matters not already explicitly stated
in the Holy Text. In this body the fluidity of the Faith becomes
extremely apparent. Progressive society needs progressive
legislation. Thus this body has the “right and power
to abrogate, according to the exigencies of time, its own enactments,
as well as those of a preceding House of Justice.” Its
members are not “responsible to those whom they represent,
nor are they allowed to be governed by the feelings, the general
opinion, and even the convictions of the mass of the faithful,
or of those who directly elect them. They are to follow,
[Page 348]
in a prayerful attitude, the dictates and promptings of their
conscience. They may, indeed they must, acquaint themselves
with the conditions prevailing among the community, must
weigh dispassionately in their minds the merits of any case
presented for their consideration, but must reserve for themselves
the right of an unfettered decision. ‘God will verily
inspire them with whatsoever He willeth,’ is Bahá’u’lláh’s
incontrovertible assurance. They, and not the body of those
who, either directly or indirectly elect them, have thus been
made the recipients of the divine guidance which is at once
the life-blood and ultimate safeguard of this Revelation.”[6]
The Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith with his authority to interpret the Holy Writings has also been made the “permanent head” of the Universal House of Justice. Nevertheless, “he can never, even temporarily, assume the right of exclusive legislation. He cannot override the decision of the majority of his fellow-members, but is bound to insist upon a reconsideration by them of any enactment he conscientiously believes to conflict with the meaning and to depart from the spirit of Bahá’u’lláh’s revealed utterances. He interprets what has been specifically revealed, and cannot legislate except in his capacity as member of the Universal House of Justice. He is debarred from laying down independently the constitution that must govern the organized activities of his fellow-members, and from exercising his influence in a manner that would encroach upon the liberty of those whose sacred right is to elect the body of his collaborators.”[7]
And as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “The legislative body must reinforce the executive, the executive must aid and assist the legislative body so that through the close union and harmony of these two forces, the foundation of fairness and justice may become firm and strong, that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself.”[8]
[Page 349]
It thus appears obvious that uniqueness in the Bahá’í
Community is to be found in the vitality, fluidity and elasticity
of its administrative system. The organs of this living organism
are capable of expansion and adaptation. Rigidity would
be sure and immediate death. The spirit by which the Community
is fed is the “propelling force and the motivating
power of its very life”. The happy balance of divine authority
with human initiative and freedom, of the transforming
Spirit of Bahá’u’lláh with the form of His divinely-planned
institutions, is the basis for the world commonwealth of the
future. It is the living nucleus, not alone of a religious community,
but of an evolving world order, the divinely-ordained
and divinely-guided Kingdom of God on earth.
- “—I dreamed
- That stone by stone I reared a sacred fane,
- A temple, neither Pagod, Mosque nor Church,
- But loftier, simpler, always open-doored
- To every breath from heaven; and Truth and Peace
- And Love and Justice came and dwelt therein.”
Alfred Tennyson, Akbar’s Dream.
THE COVENANT
Compiled by Albert Windust
PART THREE—Concluded
“O GOD! Assist me with the hosts of the Supreme Concourse
and make me firm and steadfast in the Covenant and Testament.*
I am weak in the Covenant and Testament; confer
upon me strength. I am poor; bestow upon me wealth from
the treasures of the Kingdom. I am ignorant; open before
my face the doors of knowledge. I am dead; breathe into me
the Breath of Life!* I am dumb, grant me an eloquent
tongue so that with a fluent expression, I may raise the call
of Thy Kingdom, and quicken all of them in firmness to the
Covenant. Thou art the Generous, the Giver, and the
Mighty!”
—Prayer revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1913 for a
maid-servant of the Faith; from the
Star of the West, vol. III, No. 14, p. 5
9. The Victory of the Covenant
(B) The New Heaven and the New Earth
Read New Testament, Revelation XXI:1-4.
(1) “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . (2)
And I John saw the holy city new Jerusalem, coming down
from God out of heaven. . . . (3) And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall he his people, and
God himself shall be with them and be their God.* (4) And
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall
[Page 351]
be no more death,* neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain, for the former things are passed
away.”*
Comment: This prophecy of “no more death”, refers, no doubt, to the Bahá’í Dispensation—the Day of God—wherein spiritual death, on account of violation of the Covenant, shall pass away. It is the unique characteristic of the “new heaven” and the “new earth”. —Compiler.
Words of Bahá’u’lláh:
“O people of the Delectable Paradise! Let the people of certainty know that a new Garden has appeared* near the Riḍvan in the Open Court of Holiness, and that all the people of the Heights, and the temples of the Exalted Heaven, are around it . . . .” —Bahá’í Scriptures, p. 177, v. 223.
Read The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
Comment: Note reference (p. 16) to the establishment of the Universal House of justice [on Mt. Carmel] “that all the regions of the world may become even as Paradise itself”; also reference (pp. 14, 15) to the appointment of the Hands of the Cause of God, “that the existent world may become even as the Ahhá Paradise”.—Compiler.
Read New Testament, Revelation XXII; 1, 2, 14.
(1) “And he shewed me a pure river of the Water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God, and of the Lamb. (2) In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the Tree of Life* . . . . and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.* (14) Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”*
[Page 352]
Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (in His last Tablet
to the American Bahá’ís):
“O ye friends of God!
“‘Abdu’l-Bahá is day and night thinking of you and mentioning you, for the friends of God are dear to Him. Every morning at dawn I supplicate the Kingdom of God, and ask that you may become illumined candles, shine with the light of guidance and dispel the darkness of error. Rest assured that the confirmations of the ‘Abhá Kingdom will continually reach you.
“Through the power of the Divine Springtime, the downpour
of the celestial clouds and the heat of the Sun of Reality,
the TREE OF LIFE is just beginning to grow! Before long
it will produce buds, bring forth leaves and fruits, and cast
its shade over the East and West. The Tree of Life is the
BOOK OF THE COVENANT . . . .”*
—Star of the West, vol. XIII, p. 19.
Read entire last Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the American Bahá’ís.
—Star of the West, vol. XIII, pp. 19-25; also in World Order, September, 1942.
Words of Bahíyyih Khánum, sister of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, known as the Greatest Holy Leaf:
“Although the hearts of the people of Bahá are intensely
burning on account of the great calamity (of the Ascension
[death] of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá), and the sobbing and sighing of the
friends have reached the ears of the Supreme Concourse, and
the Hosts of Holiness in the ‘Ahhá (Most Glorious) Paradise,*
yet, because this day is the day of service and this hour
is the hour of diffusing the fragrances, the friends of God
[Page 353]
must, like a bright flame, arise in service to the Cause of God
and surpass one another in service. They should be like penetrating
meteors, expelling every disloyal Covenant-breaker, in
order that in the Preserved Tablet of God, they may be recorded
with the group who has fulfilled the Covenant and Testament
of God.”* —Star of the West, vol. XIII, p. 82.
Comment: Note reference to the “burning meteor” in the Song of the Holy Mariner, revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, in the Star of the West, vol. XIII, p. 76, as follows: “ . . . whereupon the burning meteor cast them out from them that abide in the Kingdom of His Presence. . . . ” —Compiler.
Words of Shoghi Effendi in his first letter,[1] as Guardian, to the American Bahá’ís:
“Dearly beloved brethren and sisters in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá! At this early hour when the morning light is just breaking upon the Holy Land, whilst the gloom of the dear Master’s[2] bereavement is still hanging thick upon the hearts, I feel as if my soul turns in yearning love and full of hope to that great company of his loved ones across the seas, who now share with us all the agonies of His separation. . . .
“How dearly the holy Leaves [Ladies of the Household] cherish the memory of the departed Master as He commented upon the fresh tidings that poured in from that continent [America], admiring the untiring activity of the friends, the complete subordination of their material interests to those of the Cause, the remarkable spread of the Movement in their midst and their staunch firmness in the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh.*
“It is these encouraging reflections of the Master about
His loved ones in America and the tests intellectual rather than
[Page 354]
physical which He said He would send to them* to purify
them and make them even brighter than before—it is these
comments and promises of His that make of the Movement
in that land such a potential force in the world today. The
beloved Master’s cable [grams][3] to the friends in that region
is a clear indication of the presence of those counteracting
forces that may usher in those storms of tests that the Master
Himself has said will ultimately be for the good of the Cause
in that land.” —Star of the West, vol. XIII, pp. 17, 18.
Words of Shoghi Effendi in letter[4] to the American Bahá’ís:
“We are called upon by our beloved Master in His Will
and Testament, not only to adopt it [New World Order]
unreservedly, but to unveil its merit to the world. To attempt
to estimate its full value, and grasp its exact significance after
so short a time since its inception would be premature and
presumptuous on our part. We must trust to time, and the
guidance of God’s Universal House of Justice, to obtain a
clearer and fuller understanding of its provisions and implications.*
But one word of warning must be uttered in this connection.
Let us be on our guard lest we measure too strictly
the Divine plan with the standard of men. I am not prepared
to state that it agrees in principle or in method with the prevailing
notions now uppermost in men’s minds, nor that it
should conform with those imperfect, precarious and expedient
measures feverishly resorted to by agitated humanity. Are
we to doubt that the ways of God are not necessarily the ways
of man? Is not faith but another word for implicit obedience,
whole-hearted allegiance, uncompromising adherence to that
[Page 355]
which we believe is the revealed and express will of God,
however perplexing it might first appear, however at variance
with the shadowy views, the impotent doctrines, the crude
theories, the idle imaginings, the fashionable conceptions of
a transient and troublous age? If we are to falter or hesitate,
if our love for Him should fail to direct us and keep us within
His path, if we desert divine and emphatic principles, what
hope can we any more cherish for healing the ills and sicknesses
of the world?”* —Bahá’í Administration, p. 53.
Comment: It is our opinion that the letters of Shoghi Effendi, are also “leaves of the Tree of Life for the healing of the nations” (Revelation XXII:2).—Compiler.
Prayer revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
“O our God! We beg of Thee by the King of Names
and Maker of heaven and earth, by the rustling of the leaves
of the Tree of Life, and by Thine utterances, through which
the realities of things are drawn unto us, to grant that unity
in the love of God may be speedily established throughout
the world; that Thou wilt guide us always and unmistakably
to whatsoever Thou wouldst have us to do, and that we may
ever be strong and fully prepared to render instant, exact and
complete obedience!”
—Bahá’í Prayers (blue cloth-covered), p. 33.
Read The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh (Written by Shoghi Effendi, dated February 8, 1934.):
“‘Abdu’l-Bahá (The Mystery of God).”—pp. 39-44; also in The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 131-136.
“The Administrative Order (The Guardianship).”—pp. 51-60; also in The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 143-152.
[Page 356]
Words of Shoghi Effendi:
“A word more in conclusion. . . . The bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is God’s immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source from which it derives its inspiration is no less than Bahá’u’lláh Himself. Its shield and defender are the embattled hosts of the ‘Abhá Kingdom. Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis round which its institutions revolve are the authentic provisions of the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.* Its guiding principles are the truths which He, who is the unerring Interpreter [‘Abdu’l-Bahá] of the teachings of our Faith, has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses throughout the West. The laws that govern its operation and limit its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.[5] The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár[6] and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and buttress its structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship and of the Universal House of Justice. The central, the underlying aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World Order as adumbrated by Bahá’u’lláh. The method it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the ‘Most Great Peace’; its consummation the advent of that golden millennium—the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have become the Kingdom of God Himself, the Kingdom of Bahá’u’lláh!*
—The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 64, 65; also in The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 156, 157.
[Page 357]
Words of Bahá’u’lláh:
“Thou hast . . . asked Me concerning the state of the soul after its separation from the body. Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly, return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved. By the righteous of God, it shall attain a station such as no pen can depict, or tongue describe. The soul that hath remained faithful to the Cause of God, and stood unwaveringly firm in His Path shall—after his ascension, be possessed of such power that all the worlds which the Almighty hath created, can benefit through him!* . . .
“Verily I say, the human soul is exalted above all egress and regress. It is still, and yet it soareth, it moveth, and yet it is still. It is, in itself, a testimony that beareth witness to the existence of a world that is contingent, as well as the reality of a world that hath neither beginning nor end.”
—Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 161-162.
ALTHOUGH it is conventional to close this Compilation with the words: “The End”, in reality, “the ocean of The Covenant is eternally surging”, ever unfolding and endless. We trust our approach to the subject shall accomplish that for which it was intended and many souls who have entered the Cause of God—as well as those who are standing at its threshold—may have a deeper understanding of this fundamental and most vital principle of the Bahá’í Faith. —The Compiler.
(The End)
* Italics and added capitals, by the Compiler.
WITH OUR READERS
World Order finds its way to
distant places with its message
of the better world that is coming,
and sometimes its friends
pass this message on further. For
a number of years the John
O’Groat Journal of Wick, Scotland,
and this magazine have exchanged
publications and many
a good word has Mr. R. J. G.
Millar, the editor, printed about
our magazine and our Faith. The
following is taken from the
October 2nd issue of that journal:
“We continue to receive monthly copies of World Order, the Bahá’í magazine, published at Wilmette, Illinois, U. S. A. Every issue contains many thoughtful articles in which the indispensability of religion in a true and worth-while new World Order is stressed. ‘Imagine, if we can,’ says an editorial in the August number, ‘what a free world this would be at present if mankind had been obedient to Christ’s words.’ The Bahá’ís believe that the founder of the [Bahá’í] Movement was a messenger who brought a fuller revelation of truth and pointed more explicitly the way to human freedom. It certainly is remarkable that many of his teachings, enunciated some eighty years ago, are such as present day thinkers are finding essential to any hopeful human development in the future, and with which they are (though unwittingly) coming more and more into line.”
* * *
How can we teach and speak
more effectively about the Cause
of Bahá’u’lláh? One of our
readers sends us a suggestion
which came from the Guardian
of our Faith. She writes: “In
going over the notes of our visit
to Haifa I found the Guardian’s
advice to one who wished to teach
the Faith: ‘Master Some Answered
Questions and The Íqán.
Select some passages to memorize
so as to be able to recite them
when you speak instead of reading
them.’ It seemed to me this
was advice which would raise the
level of our speaking. Also I
thought that in speaking we
should try, as some doubtless do,
to bring in a variety of appeals
[Page 359]
so as to touch the various kinds
of people. Practiced speakers can
vary their talks as they sense the
needs of their audience, but for
those of us who have to prepare,
this might be helpful,—instead of
considering only the average
listener, to try to reach out to
the spiritual type, the practical
type and others.”
* * *
The following interesting teaching experience has come to the editors:
“One day when I was talking to a little girl about nine years old, she said: ‘I’ve been wondering where the colored people came from if Adam and Eve were white.’
“‘Who said they were white?’ I asked. She looked puzzled for a moment and then said, ‘Well, I never thought about that.’
“Here was a little human plant that needed guidance. I explained to her that the little Negro boys and girls were created by God just as she was, and that black is just as pretty as white. I asked her if she did not like a white dress trimmed with black or a black dress trimmed with white, and she said, ‘Sure I do.’ When I asked her which dress she thought the prettiest she replied, ‘I don’t know.’
“‘That proves that both colors are equally pretty,’ I said and she agreed.
“I believe, if proper training were exercised from childhood, color and racial superiority and prejudice could be effaced from this earth completely in a very short period of time.”
* * *
All Bahá’ís are rejoicing over the completion of the exterior of our Temple. World Order marks this completion with a special article in this January number about the Temple by Horace Holley and by a picture showing the finished structure. This picture was made from a lovely line drawing of etching quality by Carl Scheffler of Evanston, Illinois. Mr. Scheffler was the first treasurer of the Bahá’í Temple fund. He was for many years Director of the Evanston Art Academy and at present works with the art teachers and lectures in the public schools. Mr. Holley needs no introduction to Bahá’ís or to constant readers of World Order. To others we would say that he is secretary of our National Spiritual Assembly and one of the board of editors of this magazine.
[Page 360]
Frequently in World Order
we have in the past published
talks given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in
America which are not available
to the believers in any of the
Bahá’í literature. In this issue
we print a very short one which
‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave in the home
of Edward B. Kinney in New
York City.
Miss Busey’s editorial, “The Hour Has Struck”, setting out the true meaning of the Day of Judgment and the responsibility of each one of us, seems particularly timely.
The third article in the series, “The Bahá’í Community”, is contributed by Annamarie Honnold. This series has pointed out some of the unique features of the Bahá’í Community, the basis for the New World Order which is growing up all over the world. Mrs. Honnold is active in the new Bahá’í community in Arlington, Virginia, and is secretary for the Regional Teaching Committee for Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
The valuable compilation in which Albert Windust has brought together for us authoritative writings about the Covenant is completed in this number of our magazine. Should not every Bahá’í for his own use and for use in teaching have on file the last five issues beginning with September, 1942?
The front page quotation in this issue, which is here entitled “The Divine Banner”, is from Chapter XII of Some Answered Questions, but is quoted in the Guardian’s translation as it appears on page 126 in his most recent general letter, The Promised Day Is Come. In this passage Shoghi Effendi interprets “the Incomparable Branch” to refer to Bahá’u’lláh Himself. This is illuminating to those believers who, knowing that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was designated by Bahá’u’lláh as “the Most Mighty Branch”, have thought of all references to “Branch” as having specific reference to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
The quotation from Bahá’u’lláh about the Temple which appears on page 337 of this issue was taken from The Promised Day Is Come, page 48, where it is used by the Guardian in explaining that Bahá’u’lláh fulfills the Biblical prophecy of the building of the Temple of Manifestation.
—THE EDITORS.
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.
The Kitáb-i-Íqán, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (The Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past, demonstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purposes 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.
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
Words of Bahá’u’lláh
Inscribed Over the Nine Entrances of the House
of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois
- THE EARTH IS BUT ONE COUNTRY; AND MANKIND ITS CITIZENS.
- THE BEST BELOVED OF ALL THINGS IN MY SIGHT IS JUSTICE; TURN NOT AWAY THEREFROM IF THOU DESIREST ME.
- MY LOVE IS MY STRONGHOLD; HE THAT ENTERETH THEREIN IS SAFE AND SECURE.
- BREATHE NOT THE SINS OF OTHERS SO LONG AS THOU ART THYSELF A SINNER.
- THY HEART IS MY HOME; SANCTIFY IT FOR MY DESCENT.
- I HAVE MADE DEATH A MESSENGER OF JOY TO THEE; WHEREFORE DOST THOU GRIEVE?
- MAKE MENTION OF ME ON MY EARTH THAT IN MY HEAVEN I MAY REMEMBER THEE.
- O RICH ONES ON EARTH! THE POOR IN YOUR MIDST ARE MY TRUST; GUARD YE MY TRUST.
- THE SOURCE OF ALL LEARNING IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, EXALTED BE H1S GLORY.