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[Page 215]ORDER

I THE BAH/SH’ MAGAZINE October, 1942

0 The Purpose of Aflliction. . 4 . . .Eliza&et/z Hackley 217 0 Glorified Be Thy Name . . . . . . . i . . . . . .Ba/m"u.’lla'/z 222 0 I Would Not Leave American . . . . . . . . .‘/1bdu’l—Bzz/m’ 223 - In Haifa, Poem . . . . . . . . . . . T . . Polly McCle7men 224 - The Covenant, Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . ./llberz Windust 225

l - Independent Investigation of Truth U/illiam Kemzet/2. Christian 236

0 Education for Armageddon, Editorial. iGarreta Busey 241 - The Repudiation of Materialism. Robert Lam’: Koe/zl 243

- The Timeless Land, Book Review. . . . . .Art/zur Da/zl 246

- With Our Readers. . 250

FIFTEEN CENTS

[Page 216]THE REVELATION OF Bahá’u’lláh, wt-IOSE SUPREME MIssION Is NONE OTHER BUT THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THIS ORGANIC AND SPIRITUAL UNITY OF THE WHOLE BODY OF NATIONS, SHOULD, IF WE BE FAITHFUL TO ITs IMPLICATIONS, EE REGARDED As sIGNAI.IZING THROUGH rrs ADVENT THE COMING OF AGE OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE. IT SHOULD BE VIEWED . . . As MARKING THE LAST AND HIGHEST STAGE IN THE STUPENDOUS EVOLUTION OF MAN’s COLLECTIVE LIFE ON THIS PLANET.

—SHOGI~II EFFENDI.

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 Kirk patrick.

Editorial Office 1lo9 WEST GIFT AVENUE, PEORIA, ILL.

Publication Office 110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILL.

C. R. Wood, Business Manager Primed in USA.

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 ofice at Wilmette, IlI., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 194-2 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent Office.

OCTOBER, 1942, VOLUME VIII, NUMBER 7

[Page 217]WORLD ORDER

TH E BAHAW’ MAGAZINE

VOLUME vm OCTOBER, 194.2 NUMBER 7

T /26 Purpose 0 f A fliction Elizabez‘/2 P. Hackley

HOW SUFFERING IS A BLESSING FROM GOD TO THE SINCERELY SEEKING SOUL

THERE is so much agony and tribulation in the world today, that often we are weighed down, overwhelmed by the burden of it. Often, too, our minds are confused with the seeming injustice of human suffering. Although this is a problem which we may never fully understand, yet perhaps it would be worth while for us to try, in a humble way, to think over some of the causes and purposes of suffering, at the same time seeking help in our thinking from those Whose mental and spiritual development is greater than our own. We should be humble in approaching this subject for most of us have not suffered very deeply if we compare our lot with that of many others, especially those who live in subjugated countries. Yet We have to admit that when We are confronted with a difficult situation, We are usually indignant about it, and say: “Why should I have to go through this ordeal?” as though We should have special privilege and protection.

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Bahá’u’lláh, the great teacher of the Bahá’í Faith, and His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have answered this question many times and in many ways. Their answers mean more to us because we know they have proven the sincerity of their words by great personal suffering. At one time ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote: “Tests (or trials) are a means by which a soul is measured as to its fitness, and proven out by its own acts. God knows its fitness beforehand, and also its unpreparedness, but man, with an ego, would not believe himself unfit unless proof were given him. Consequently, his susceptibility to evil is proven to him when he falls into the tests, and the tests are continued until the soul realizes its own unfitness, then remorse and regret tend to root out the Weakness. The same test comes again in greater degree, until it is shown that a former weakness has become a strength, and the power to overcome evil has been established.”

Weknow our Bible has taught us the same truths. In Hebrews, the twelfth chapter, we find these Verses: “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.

“If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? . . .

“Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

“For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasures; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous,

but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Someone from America wrote ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. asking Him

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this question: “Are troubles and catastrophes sent by God, or are they the result of man’s own evil deeds?” To this ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied, “Know thou that ordeals are of two kinds: one kind is for trial (to test the soul), and the other is punishment for actions. That which is for testing is educational and developmental and that which is for punishment of deeds is severe retribution.”

FOR MAN’s GROWTH

As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has pointed out, many of our troubles we bring upon ourselves by failing to obey the laws of God either through ignorance or by wilful disobedience. Probably everyone of us can bear witness to this truth in his own life. We know that if we had always lived the best life we knew how to live we could have saved ourselves many problems and much suffering. Yet there still remain many seemingly undeserved misfortunes in our lives and in the lives of others. This is especially true just now when war brings to the innocent as well as to the guilty the most terrible deprivation and suffering. About such experiences ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. writes in one of his letters: “Grieve not at the divine trials. Be not troubled because of hardships and ordeals; turn unto God, bowing in humility, and praying to Him while bearing every ordeal, contented under all conditions and thankful in every difficulty. Verily, Thy Lord loveth His servants who are patient, believing and firm. He draws them nigh unto Him through these ordeals and trials.” “Unless man accept suffering, undergo trials, and endure vicissitudes, he will reap no reward nor will he attain success and prosperity.” “There is a great wisdom in tests. Were it not for tests, genuine gold would not be distinguished from the counterfeit. Were it not for tests the courageous could not be known from the coward. Were it not for tests, the people of faithfulness could not be known from those of selfishness.

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Were it not for tests the intellects of scholars would not be developed. These are some of the mysteries of tests.”

When Bahá’u’lláh was enduring the greatest persecution and physical suffering, He wrote these beautiful lines: “I am not impatient of calamities in God’s way, nor of affliction for His love and at His good pleasure. God hath made affliction as a morning shower to this green pasture and as a match for His lamp whereby earth and heaven are illumined——”

THE PRISONER WHO KNEW

About ten years ago these words just quoted were read by a prisoner in one of our state penitentiaries. Although he had broken the law of the land, he was a man of sensitive spirit and brilliant mind who had learned much through adversity. He wrote the following editorial for the newspaper which is published by the inmates of the penitentiary:

“Many years ago Bahá’u’lláh said: ‘God hath made afi‘liction as a morning shower to this green pasture, and as a match for His lamp, whereby earth and heaven are illumined!’

“Not through ease and soft ways and pleasant paths are men made fitting in the sight of the All-Giver. Not by happiness and consummation of desires are we made pleasing in His sight. It is the man who has known adversity’s storms in his own soul, who has bowed his head to the levin flash of affliction, who has fought against temptation—and lost the fight and gathered strength from his failure to fight anew—-who has known all too well of sorrow and suffering and bitter disappointment who attains to peace and the true happiness. The numbed hand cannot rightly feel either pain or pleasure. The soul numbed by satiety of good fortune cannot understand the true meaning of happiness. As a morning shower to a green pasture——bringing out the hidden tints of emerald that lie

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stilled beneath the dust of wanton winds and the sere yellow of dead blades—is affliction to the soul, Washing it clean of selfishness and sordidness, strengthening and refreshing the growth of virtue, developing the strength that comes from endurance.

“Aflictionl It is but the pressure of God’s Hand that will not let us go. It is the fire in which the dross is burned away and the true Worth brought to light. It is the hidden blessing that we so often fail to see, the good fortune that we cannot understand. Look back upon the days of affliction and see if they were not in reality days of building and strengthening, of learning to appreciate true blessings, the spur to worthy effort that brought peace and the joy of accomplishment in its wake.”

One thing Bahá’u’lláh especially emphasizes,——that we should never become discouraged. He once wrote a letter to a man in Persia named Haydar—‘Ali, who had suffered great persecution for preaching the Bahá’í principles of tolerance, brotherhood and progressive religion. This man had been beaten, scourged, dragged across the desert, and finally thrown into a loathsome dungeon in Egypt where he remained for twelve years. To Haydar—‘A_l1’, who had been faithful throughout his agonizing experiences, Bahá’u’lláh wrote: “I have heard thy cries and am conscious of thy tears. Remember at all times and in all places that God is faithful and do not doubt this. Be patient even though calamities may come upon thee. Yet fear not! Be firm in the path of thy Lord; as a mountain unmoved, unchanging in thy steadfastness.”

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GLORIFIED be Thy Name, 0 Lord my God! I beseech Thee by Thy power that hath encompassed all created things, and by Thy sovereignty that hath transcended the entire creation, and by Thy Word which was hidden in Thy wisdom, and whereby Thou didst create Thy heaven and Thy earth, both to enable us to be steadfast in our love for Thee, and in our obedience to Thy pleasure, and to fix our gaze upon Thy face, and celebrate Thy glory. Empower us, then, O my God, to spread abroad Thy signs among Thy creatures, and to guard Thy Faith in Thy realm. Thou hast ever existed independently of the mention of any of Thy creatures, and wilt remain as Thou hast been for ever and ever.

In Thee I have placed my whole confidence, unto Thee I have turned my face, to the cord of Thy Loving providence I have clung, and towards the shadow of Thy mercy I have hastened. Cast me not as one disappointed out of Thy door, O my God, and withhold not from me Thy grace, for Thee alone do I seek. No God is here but Thee, the Ever—Forgiving, the Most Bountiful.

Praise be to Thee, O Thou Who art the Beloved of them that have known Thee! —Bahá’u’lláh.

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[Page 223]I Would Not Leave America ‘Abdu ’l-Ba/152

BECAUSE of my many occupations, it is impossible for me to ask each one of you for an interview, but I supplicate and pray in your behalf, individually, at the Threshold of the Kingdom of Abhá. Those who came and whom I had not met, I called upstairs and saw them. I have had repeated interviews with you, and I have told you all that I should have told you, and you must carry in your memory Whatever I have told you, and you must beg of God to enable you to act in accord therewith.

I am going to the Orient, for many, many pilgrims are coming to the Orient, to visit the Holy Tomb. They come with all longing and ecstasy from remote parts. Some come on horseback and some come afoot. Sometimes it happens that some of them travel for three months, and they walk all the way those three months to get there. They come in order to visit the Holy Tomb of Bahá’u’lláh, and they become honored by presenting themselves at that Holy Threshold. But coming from such long distances, and not finding the Guardian of the Threshold, the Keeper of the Holy Tomb, would make them sad, and they would cry and weep greatly; consequently, I, as the Keeper of the Tomb and the Threshold, am obliged to return. Otherwise, I would always tarry among you, and I would by no manner of means leave America, for I am very, very pleased with you. I shall never forget your love, and shall always supplicate at the Threshold of the Blessed Perfection, so that divine confirmations may surround you from all sides, and that the gaze of Divine Providence may always rest upon you, and the utterances of the Blessed Perfection may reach you all;

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that you may all be submerged in the sea of His Light; and n that you may all take a share from His Ocean, and that you may all seek His light.

5 Hitherto unpublished address of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at 309 West 78 St., New l York City (Mrs. Champney’s), Nov. 25, 1912 (A.M.)

’ In Haifa POLLY MCCLENNEN

Veiled by an evening light beyond a shadowed tree, The ladies of the household wait for tea;

Their conversation, behind walls, and vines,

Bears a Beloved Name; the sound

Of their gentle voices holds my heart.

Around the room, on a long bench they wait; They spread their linen dresses to the floor And lean to speak. The samovar is filled, Warming the corner with its copper shine. The Greatest Holy Leaf receives her tea.

There have been people talking about life Until it seems that some of us must know Something of life; but in that quiet room There is the secret that will free the mind And set the heart ablaze, and raise the dead!

[Page 225]THE COVENANT Compiled by Albert W indust

PART ONE

IT WAS my privilege and bounty to become awakened by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to a consciousness of the meaning of The Covenant. It was not accomplished in a short period of time. It began from the hand as well as the divine bounty of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when He was in Chicago in the year 1912, in the waiting room of the Northwestern railway terminal on the day of His departure for St. Paul, when He beckoned me to sit beside Him and there administered three stinging slaps upon my left thigh, saying with each blow: “There are many wolves in Chicago!”

From this startling experience, it was apparent that we needed to be awakened to something happening within the Bahá’í fold, or to some fundamental phase of the Faith of which we were unaware. Whatever it might be it was important that an effort be made to understand and to correct it, as We were editing and publishing the Star of the West, the Bahá’í magazine at that time——now, WORLD ORDER.

It soon became apparent that there was a lack of consciousness among the Bahá’í’s of the meaning of The Covenant, and the importance of manifesting firmness therein.

That we did awaken is evidenced by the fact that in that same year, 1912, we began a presentation of this subject of The Covenant in the Star of the West, beginning with the November 23rd issue-—the date nearest to the Day of The Covenant

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—and continued to do so in every issue of that date until the Ascension [death] of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. in 1921. He also set in motion, when in America, means for the awakening of this consciousness in certain devoted Bahá’í's in different centers, as well as to enlighten all and to discipline some.

It is my belief that this subject is the most vital and fundamental of all Bahá’í’ teachings, and that every follower of the Faith, sooner or later, must come to an understanding of it.

I have been asked by the National Spiritual Assembly to share with the Bahá’í's an outline of references used in presenting this subject on several occasions. Realizing that many of the references are from volumes not easily available, the quotations are given. Where only the reference is given and not the quotation, it is understood that such is easily available. The purpose of the arrangement of the selections becomes apparent, we believe, as the subject unfolds. Our hope is that it will assist the reader and the student to a deeper understanding and appreciation——especially among those who have recently come into the Cause——of this most important fundamental principle of the Faith.

——T/ze Compiler.

I. The Forgotten Covenant Word: 0 f Ba/zzi’u’lZa'/z:

“Q My Friends! Call ye to mind that Covenant ye have entered into with Me upon Mount Paran, situate Within the hallowed precincts of Zaman. I have taken to witness the concourse on high and the dwellers in the City of Eternity, yet now none do I find faithful unto the Covenant. Of a certainty pride and rebellion have elfaced it from the hearts

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in such wise that no trace thereof remaineth. Yet knowing this, I waited and disclosed it not.”

—Balm”1’ Scriptures, p. 182, v. 2 53.

Comment: In this “Hidden Word” we hear the Voice of the Creator speaking to our inmost soul. Has humanity deteriorated so much, through “pride and rebellion”, that its Covenant with the Creator is entirely efiaced?-Compiler.

2. The Power of the Covenant

Words of ‘Abdu’l-Ba/2a’:

“Bring them together again, 0 Lord, by the power of Thy Covenant, and gather their dispersion by the might of Thy promise, and unite their hearts by the dominion of Thy love; and make them love each other so that they may sacrifice their spirits, expend their money and scatter themselves for the love of one another. 0 Lord! cause to descend upon them quietness and tranquillity! Shower upon them from the clouds of Thy mercy in great abundance, and make them to characterize themselves with the characteristics of the spiritual! O Lord! Make us firm in Thy noble command, and bestow upon us Thy gifts through Thy bounty, grace and munificence. Verily, Thou are the Generous, the Merciful, and the Benevolent!”—Smr of the West, vol. IV, p. 24.0.

Words of ‘A bdu’l—Ba/La’:

“There is a power in this Cause——a mysterious powerfar, far, far away from the ken of men and angels; that invisible power is the cause of all these outward activities. It

moves the hearts. It rends the mountains. It administers the complicated affairs of the Cause. It inspires the friends. It dashes into a thousand pieces all the forces of opposition.

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It creates new spiritual worlds. This is the mystery of the Kingdom of Abba!”-—Star of the West, vol. XI, p. 243.

Words of ‘Abdu’l—Ba/2e’:

“Today, the stirring power that exhibits itself throughout all regions is the power of the Covenant, which, like unto the artery [heart], beats and pulsates in the body of the world. He who is firmer in the Covenant is more assisted, just as ye are manifestly witnessing how firm souls are enkindled, attracted and corlfirmed.”—Star of the West, Vol. X, p. 233.

Word: of ‘A hdu’l-Bahzi:

“Know this for a certainty that today the penetrative power in the arteries and the nerves of the world of humanity is the power of the Covenant. There is no other power like unto this. Consider what a transformation has been efiected since my first visit [to New York in 1912]. This has been made possible through the power of the Covenant.”

—Star of the West, vol. XI, p. 121.

Words of ‘A hdu’Z—Baha':

“Although in the body of the universe there are innumerable nerves, yet the main artery, which pulsates, energizes and invigorates all beings, is the power of the Covenant. All else is secondary to this. Nobody is assisted and confirmed save that soul who is firm. Consider it well that every soul who is firm in the Covenant is luminous, like unto a candle which emanates its light on those around it. While every wavering soul is an utter failure, frozen, lifeless, dead——yet moving. This one proof is sufficient.” C

———Star of the West, vol. XI, p. 308.

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Words of ‘A bdu’l—Ba/m’:

“Know that no soul is quickened except through the spirit of the Covenant, no eye is illumined except by the light of the Covenant, no ear is thrilled except by the melody of the Covenant, and no heart shows forth the divine sentiments except by the bounty of the Covenant. . . . Now make an effort, and with all your might enkindle the fire of the love of the Covenant . . . for in this day, the moving power throughout the whole world is the power of the Covenant; it is the artery pulsating in the body of the phenomenal.”

-—Star of the West, vol. X, p. 226.

3. The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh Words of ‘A bdu’l—Ba/m’:

“In former cycles no distinct Covenant was made in writing by the Supreme Pen; no distinct personage was appointed to be the Standard differentiating falsehood from truth, so that whatsoever he said was to stand as truth and that which he repudiated was to be known as falsehood. At most His Holiness Jesus Christ gave only an intimation, a symbol, and that was but an indication of the solidity of Peter’s faith. When He mentioned his faith, His Holiness said, ‘Thou art Peter,’ which means rock, ‘and upon this rock will I build My church.’ This was a sanction of Peter’s faith; it was not indicative of his (Peter’s) being the Expounder of the Book—but was a confirmation of Peter’s faith.

“But in this Dispensation of the Blessed Beauty (Bahá’u’lláh) among its distinctions is that He did not leave people in perplexity. He entered into a Covenant and Testament

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with the people. He appointed a Center of the Covenant. He Wrote with His own pen and revealed it in the Kitdb-i-A qdczs, the Book of Laws, and Kita’&—i—‘/1 bd, the Book of the Covenant, appointing Him (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) the Expounder of the Book. You must ask Him (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) regarding the meanings of the texts of the verses. Whatever He says is correct. Outside of this, in numerous Tablets He (Bahá’u’lláh) has explicitly recorded it, With clear, sufficient, Valid and forceful statements. In the Tablet of the Branch He explicitly states: ‘Whatsoever The Branch says is right, or correct; and every person must obey The Branch with his life, with his heart, with his tongue. Without His will, not a Word shall anyone

‘utter.’ 1 This is an explicit text of the Blessed Beauty. So

there is no excuse left for anybody. No soul shall, of himself speak anything. Whatsoever His (‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s) tongue utters, whatsoever His pen records, that is correct; according to the explicit text of Bahá’u’lláh in the T4515; of T he Branch.

“His Holiness Abraham covenanted with regard to Moses. His Holiness Moses was the Promised One of Abraham; and He, Moses, covenanted with regard to His Holiness Christ saying that Christ was the Promised One. His Holiness Christ covenanted with regard to His Holiness ‘The Paracelete’, which means His Holiness Muhammad. His Holiness Muhammad covenanted as regards the Báb, Whom He called ‘My Promised One’, His Holiness the Báb, in all His Books, in all His Epistles, explicitly covenanted with regard to the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh, that Bahá’u’lláh was the Prom 1 Bahá’u’lláh’s admonitions to the teacher: “The eEect of the word spoken by the teacher depends upon his purity of purpose and his severance . . . The words must be according to what has proceeded from the Mouth of the Will of God, and is recorded in tablets"; and His command to turn to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s interpretation thereof—-—also recorded in tablets——is what we understand by these statements:-—Editors of Star of the Wext.

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ised One of His Holiness the Báb. His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh covenanted, not that I (‘Abdu’l-Bahá.) am the Promised One, but that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the Expounder of the Book and the Center of His Covenant; and that the Promised One of Bahá’u’lláh will appear after one thousand or thousands of years. This is the Covenant which Bahá’u’lláh made. If a

person shall deviate, he is not acceptable at the Threshold of Bahá’u’lláh. In case of difference, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. must

be consulted. They must revolve around His good pleasure. After ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, whenever the Universal House of Justice is organized, it will ward 0H differences.”

—Star of the West, vol. XII, pp. 227, ¢28.

Comment: When this was revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Guardianship of Shoghi Effendi was a hidden mystery.—Compz'ler.

Read the Kitcilz-i-‘Alzd, Book of the Covenant—Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. ——Bahá’í' Scriptures, pp. 259-262.

Read the Tablet of the Branch—Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh. —Bahá’í' Scriptures, pp. 255-258.

Tablet 0]‘ Ba}tzi’u’lla'/2 to ‘Abdu’l—Ba/ta’:

“O Thou My Greatest Branch! . . . Verily, we have ordained Thee the Guardian of all the creatures, and a Protection to all those in the heavens and earths, and a Fortress to those who believe in God, the One, the Omniscient! . . . I beg of Him to water the earth and all that is in it by Thee . . . ”

——Star of the West, vol. IV, p. 239.

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Tablet of Ba/2a"u’lla'/2 to ‘/1bdu’1-Ba/2a’, when he was in Beirut, Syria:

“Praise be to Him! Who honored the land of Beirut with the feet of Him around Whom all the Names revolve. . . . Blessed is the land which is honored with His footsteps! . . . Blessed is the eye which is illumined by His beauty, the ear which is favored with hearing His voice, the heart which has tasted the sweetness of His love, the breast which is dilated by commemorating Him, the pen which moves in praising Him, and the Tablet which bears His signs! . . .”

—Star of the West, vol. IV, p. 239.

Comment: The Guardian’s new translation of the two preceding quotations may be found on pages 135 and 136 of The World Order of Ba/za"u’llah.—Com;bz'ler.

Words of Mirzai /lbw’!-Fzzgil (Abul—Fazl). “During His last days Bahá’u’lláh Wrote the Kim'b-z'—‘A/zd (The Book of the Covenant, Testament or Will) with His blessed fingers, in- which He clearly stated and appointed the ‘Center of the Covenant’, directing peoples to the Orb of the Universe.’ . . .

“When the Sun of Guidance was set and the rustle of the Sadratu’l-Muntahéz hushed, then the Orb of the Covenant dawned and the ‘Moon’ of the Testament appeared with the utmost brilliancy and efiulgence. The glorious ‘Branch extended from the Ancient Root’ arose to promote the Word of the King of the Day of Judgment . . . crying and heralding throughout all regions:——‘The Judgment of God hath come, 2Sadratu’l-Muntahé, the furthermost Tree, refers to a tree planted by the Arabs in ancient times at the end of the road, to serve as a guide. Here it refers to the Manifestation of God on earth. It also means the Tree beyond which there is no passing, that is, the Manifestation of God.——Comp1'lar.

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respond ye, respond ye unto the Call of God! Hearhen ye, hearken ye to the Melodies of God.’ Inhale ye the Fragrances of God! Be illumined, he illumined with the lights of the Face of Bahá’u’lláh! The promises of the Prophets have already been fulfilled, the prophecies of the Messengers realized; the Day of Judgment hath come, and mankind hath stood before the Lord of the Creatures.” 3

“After the breezes of the Testament had blown and the fragrances of the Covenant wafted, the pure writings rapidly circulated and were spread throughout all regions; just as the petals of roses are scattered in springtime and light diffuses its efiulgence, souls were revived and breasts dilated, ‘thousands thousands and ten thousands times ten thousand ministered unto Him, and those in the graves [of heedlessness] arose!’

“Then the signs of violation appeared in the faces of the people of discord, and armies of retreat joined the ranks of the people of opposition. Souls were taken away and branches‘ were cut down; those of the right hand were divided from those of the left hand; the dwellers in hell-fire were distinguished from the abiders in the Exalted Heaven, and the suspicious were separated from the people of Assurance. Blessed are those who attain! Glad—tidings unto those who are assured!”—-The Bahá’í Proofs, pp. 130-132.

Words of Mirza' Ahu’l—Fa_dl (Ahul—Fazl):

“To the people of faith, the clear appointment of the Center of the Cause, after the Departure [death] of the Manifestation [Bahá’u’lláh], is considered the most important point in religious matters, as it is the greatest channel which con 3Italics are the compilei-’s. ‘Some members of the Holy Family.

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nects the servants of God with holy divine Truth. . . . They were all sure and convinced that the Center of the Covenant is no other than His Holiness ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.; for, apart from the divine signs that were manifest in Him, Bahá’u’lláh clearly and implicitly, Verbally and in writing, directed all His servants to the blessed Person of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and under all circumstances, clearly showed that He was far distinguished above others, in order that all the servants should look unto Him alone, and follow His Commands. [For it is only through His explanation and decision that all discord is removed. . . . ]

“But notwithstanding all this, as Bahá’u’lláh foresaw, that when His Beauty of Oneness was concealed under the veils of disappearance, the people of desire, through jealousy, would hold to groundless doubts and suspicions, and disregard the prohibition to interpret the Book. . . .

“All these clear texts of God, commanding people to turn to the Day-spring of the Light of the Covenant, did not check the evil thoughts of the people of discord; and His repeated exhortations and advices did not soften the hard hearts of the men of hostility, nor prevent them from ruinous discords and divisions. For when, in May, 1892 A.D., Bahá’u’lláh ascended to His Most Holy Station, and nine days after His Departure, the Book of the Covenant of God was chanted in the Holy Tomb in the assembly of believers, the gloom of animosity and disappointment became instantly manifest upon the faces of those who had groundless pride and desire for leadership, and who sought to raise discord and contradiction. On the other hand, cheerfulness and joy were manifest in the shining faces of those who had no desire but that of seeking the Truth and telling the Truth. . . .

“From that day, the thorn of violating the Covenant of God, grew in the Garden of the Bahá’í community and the

[Page 235]Covenant 2 3 5

signs of senseless hatred and hostility proceeded from a limited number of persons who are known as the ‘nakazeen’ (violators of the Covenant). . . . Although these people . . . received during the life of Bahá’u’lláh and after His Departure every kindness and favor from His Holiness ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who considered their welfare and prosperity before His own and that of the faithful believers, yet, on account of jealousy and selfishness, they violated the Cause of God. . . . [Their] number does not exceed thirty.”

—The Bahá’í' Proofs, pp. 108-1 12; also printed in Star of the West, Vol. X, p. 259.

Comment: We are reminded that Judas betrayed His Holiness Christ for thirty pieces of silver.—Compz'ler.

Read from Addresses of ‘Abdu’l—Bah:5. in America. The Promulgation of Universal Peace, vol. II, pp. 375-38 I.

(To be continued)

Death proficreth unto every confident believer the cup that is life indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of gladness. It conferreth the gift of everlasting life.

As to those that have tasted of the fruit of man’s earthly existence, which is the recognition of the one true God, exalted be His glory, their life hereafter is such as We are unable to describe. The knowledge thereof is with God, alone, the Lord of all worlds.

-—Bahá’u’lláh.

[Page 236]

Independent Investigation

of Truth William Kenneth Christian

IN THE MANY talks which He gave in this country in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stressed the independent investigation of truth as the first of those general principles paramount in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. We find His talks filled with the plea that men turn from “ancestral forms and limitations” and seek out the reality brought by Bahá’u’lláh so that they might arrive at “real conclusions” and be “bound only by that reality”.

It is interesting to regard the attitude necessary to the individual who sets out to investigate truth. We can see at once that it is useless for a person to investigate truth of any kind if his real desire is the justification of his own opinions or past actions. What would a scientist produce if he spent hours in his laboratory trying to work out a formula which would justify some personal whim? On the contrary, the true scientist is so eager that he welcomes truth gladly, even if it means that all that he has Written or thought up to that moment is proven false and worthless. To investigate in any field of knowledge means that we are prepared to accept the authority of the discovered truth, even if it denies our whole experience upto the moment of our discovery. For truth is not like a suit of clothes —~—designed and cut to fit the individual. Truth stands always as a separate reality, superior to our likes and dislikes and not dependent upon belief for its validity.

And we cannot separate truth from obedience to it. When we discover the laws of health, we have found some truths.

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[Page 237]Independent I nverti gation 237

Our next and immediate task is to obey those laws of health just as completely as we can. If we do not, we suffer. And how frequently we all have seen individuals in ill health because of a deliberate disobedience to physical laws. . . . As our knowledge and understanding of social problems grow, we come to realize that no group of people can get along together unless there are laws which regulate a basic part of their conduct. As soon as individuals realize this, they also realize that laws must be obeyed. . . . When we realize that reading and writing and the acquisition of knowledge are essential to an advanced form of civilized life, then we obey this truth—set up schools, devise educational methods, etc. In each of these cases, and in many others which naturally come to mind, once the truth is discovered, obedience is the only natural thing to follow. ii

And each time we have discovered a truth, we have discovered an authority to be obeyed. It (the truth which we have come to recognize as an authority) may be a principle“laws” of health, necessity for an education, or it may be an institution—laWs and courts. But the independent investigation of truth always leads to three things: a truth; realization that the truth is an authority in its field; and obedience to that authority which our investigation has discovered. . . . And the discovery of a truth, no matter how small, is rarely a justification of an idea from our past thinking or experience. Otherwise, why investigate?

The basic truth spiritually for our age is the recognition that Bahá’u’lláh is the Manifestation of the Knowledge and Will of God. The individual comes to this recognition through his independent investigation of that body of teachings which has come from the pen of Bahá’u’lláh. An individual accepts Bahá’u’lláh as the authority in spiritual and social values because of the overwhelming proof of His life, His

[Page 238]

2 3 3 World Order

teachings, and the influence already exerted through His Word.

After this recognition has been made, naturally the next step is to obey, i.e., apply and follow the teachings as immediately and completely as possible. For in submitting our personal wills and desires to the standards set by Bahá’u’lláh, We are obeying the Will of God for our lives and for our time. . . . As we obey the physical laws of health, health results ; as we obey the spiritual and social laws of the Manifestation of the age, spiritual health and knowledge result to the individual, unity and new social institutions appear in the World. Always the results are in direct proportion to the completeness of our obedience.

Investigation of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh shows that He stands not merely as the renewer of the spiritual life of religion and the reawakener of the hearts of men. He also stands as the enunciator of social principles and social laws. If He had not enumerated social laws and designated social institutions for His followers, His exhortations to unity would have stood as well—meaning and fervent expressions of a high and goodly sentiment. But this period of history Bahá’u’lláh called the “Day of deeds”, the time when the spiritual aspirations of all past revealed religions would be brought into the arena of actuality, expressed in social institutions. Consequently the obedience of Bahá’ís to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh means the acceptance of spiritual principles and obedience to social principles, social laws, and social institutions which He provided for. To separate one part from another would be patent dishonesty. To accept a complete body of truth as authority in its field, is the mark of the sincerity of the person investigating truth.

Bahá’u’lláh made a Covenant with His followers. This Covenant is His teachings and laws and the appointment of

[Page 239]I miejzemient Investigation 2 3 9

‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the Exemplar and sole Interpreter of His teachings. And Bahá’u’lláh wrote that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. would be under the constant protection and guidance of God. And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, with the divine authority thus conferred by Bahá’u’lláh, appointed Shoghi Effendi as the first Guardian of the Faith, stating emphatically that whosoever disobeyed him thereby deviated from the pattern of unity established by Bahá’u’lláh as the Will of God. Thus Bahá’u’lláh cast aside the right of personal opinion and of egotistical desire and designated the appointed Interpreter as the point of social unity, the mark of faith, and the touchstone of spiritual growth. In addition, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá created the institutions of the Houses of Justice, local, national, and international (now called Spiritual Assemblies). These democratically—elected bodies of the believers are charged to act as “the trustees of the Merciful among men”, to render justice and to conduct by majority vote those activities and affairs of the believers which come within the scope of the teachings.Thus our investigation of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh reveals that He has brought a definite social pattern of conduct and institutions for the development of spiritual ideals. Through the medium of a written Revelation and the appointment of an Interpreter, Bahá’u’lláh has given us the means for the building of an age of justice. Our investigation leads us to realize that if Bahá’u’lláh had not given us the specific means for the realization of unity and justice, these key-note ideals of His message would have been bandied about and abused according to the limitations and personal motives of individuals. This Revelation, with the knowledge of which Bahá’u’lláh has so richly blessed our lives, is so complete because His Faith is to usher in that condition of human life which Prophets of old heralded as the Kingdom of God. Only a specific and all-embracing Faith, and teachings clear,

[Page 240]

.240 V ‘ ’ World Order

impersonal, and dynamic, could provide the framework for so tremendous an achievement.

But this great application of the principle of the independent investigation of truth does not stop with the recognition of the Manifestation and with obedience to His teachings. Every act of the Bahá’í life is an adventure in investigating truth, a further delving into the mysteries of being, and into the purposes of creation. Through our obedience to the teachings we learn more and more of the dynamic value of prayer. The daily obligatory prayer and use of the rich literature of Bahá’í prayers become a means of spiritual poise and greater understanding. The experiences of Bahá’í community life and the establishment of Spiritual Assemblies make us aware of our personal shortcomings and enable us to solve justly the many problems which naturally arise. The discipline of Bahá’í community life gives us an awareness of justice which transcends the limitations of our personal desires.

Recognizing the Manifestation is like discovering a beautiful house in which we may spend our brief span on this planet. Moving into that house is like obeying His teachings fully. But this is just the beginning of the adventure in truth. Every day, week, month, year spent in a house is a fresh experience—the discovery of something new. This is why obeying the Manifestation of God in every age means living the teachings as fully as possible, both the general and specific aspects of the revelation. It means the beginning of an unending adventure in the discovery of truths, after the discovery of and obedience to the basic one. . . . The life of faith is the perfect means for the investigation of truth; that is why the men of faith in every age have been the creative ones who produce What enriches the world.

[Page 241]Education f or Armageddon

THE COLLEGES and universities now reopened with an accelerated program are concerned more than ever with the problem of adapting education to the immediate practical emergency. Nevertheless, President Hutchins, addressing the graduating students of the University of Chicago last June, defined the task of education as that of isolating the permanent and abiding and preserving it for future generations, so that _they may “strive to lead the good life and to be citizens of the good state”. It is not naive, he declared, to strive for a good world, but it is naive to expect to see it in our time. “ ‘God give us peace in our time’ is a strangely selfish prayer,” he said. It is not peace in our time, or a pint of milk in our time, or universal education in our time, or the good life for everybody in our time, that we must hope for. We have neighbors in time as well as in space.”

Perhaps no one realizes the neighborhood of time, as well as that of space,,more deeply than do the members of the Bahá’í Community throughout the world. They have become informed with a sense of humanity as one identity, past, present, and future. Ingrained in them is the rhythm and sweep of the great prophetic tradition, moving through the millenia towards the establishment of the good life in the frame of the good state. When Jesus said: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” and yet gave signs of its coming which are only now being fulfilled, He identified humanity in His time with us today. That same prophetic tradition, continuing through Muhammad and the Báb, has reached its culmination in Bahá’u’lláh’s tremendous proclamation: “The time fore-ordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled.”

To be prepared to struggle for a good world without hope of seeing it is an attitude of the highest nobility, but this is not the hero 241

[Page 242]

242 World Order

ism ordained for us. In the midst of extraordinary disaster, we are assured of extraordinary compensations. The first of these is understanding. Bahá’u’lláh, in the lavish wealth of His teachings, has provided the basic education necessary to prepare us for our part in the great drama now reaching its climax. We know that this is the whirlwind sown not only by ourselves but by the generations before us, and yet, feeling ourselves one with them, we accept it willingly. Not prolonged, uncertain struggle is our destiny, but rather the greatest suffering, crowned by the greatest victory.

We know the work which we must do. We have first, by daily contact with the Divine Will, to “purify our motives and illumine our powers”. We have then to discipline ourselves in the training school of the Bahá’í administration. And finally, we have to “canalize every resource”, in ourselves as individuals, and, increasingly, in the world at large, until ultimately all the treasuries of human knowledge that lie so richly at our disposal shall be turned to their highest purpose in the Kingdom of God.

The task seems staggering, impossible; but we know that we do not have it all to do alone. For the second compensation is a new assurance of the nearness of God. A Divine purpose, armed with Divine Power, is moving across the face of the earth. If we will, we may understand it and become its instruments, devoting all our knowledge and all our strength to its fulfilment. This is the purpose of education in our time. —G. B.

§§17@@@@@@@§‘!27@@"@‘@@”°""‘"@

More than ever today when the world is facing such a crisis . . . must we stand firm in Faith seehing that which hind: together instead of tearing asunder.

To those searching for light, Bahá’í Teachings ofer a star which will lead them to deeper understanding, to assurance, peace and good will with all men.

—The late Dowager Queen Marie

[Page 243]The Repudiation of

Materialism Robert Louis Koe/11

AT FIRST glance it may seem wild fancy to talk about the repudiation of materialism in a world lashed into a fury of materialistic dogmas. In an era in which the solid bed-rock materialism of dog—eat-dog economics has been the basis for the culture, it seems mad to talk about its repudiation. Indeed, the very prophecies of a better future have been, since Marx, largely engaged with chromium—plated diagrams of a society which would find its salvation in the ultra-materialistic ideal of a rising standard of living.

Actually, we, the people of America, more than the citizens of Europe, Asia, and Africa, have had the long—term development of man’s spiritual personality obscured for us ‘by unbelievable physical and material success, symbolized by the much—vaunted American-way-of—life. It has been tremendously easy for us to be the liberty-loving, free-thinking nation of this globe, with a continental treasure house at our beck and call. What has been for Europe and Asia a steadily spreading infection—the lack of a common, constructive faith -———has left us comparatively unmoved.

When the evils of Europe drove our ancestors to distraction, they came to the New World. They did not solve the problem. They fled from it. Here in America they were shut out from the disease of ungodliness—which was erupting each decade in some more horrible human struggle. When Harvard University was being founded, Europe was suffering

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[Page 244]244 World Order

from the terrible war fought in the name of religion, the Thirty Years War. We seldom associate the two, because the “world” of 164.0 was really two worlds, the New and the Old, and we think of it as two in our history courses.

’ Today there is one world. The disease of materialism and cynicism toward all else was communicated inevitably to our shores. The whole world suffers.

When we investigate the eras inaugurated by the Holy Ones of God such as Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Zoroaster, and Muhammad, we discover that they are remarkable for their spiritual idealism, their saints, and their righteous men. Those eras stand out in a world history otherwise totally black with materialism and greedy strife. The power of those religious faiths seems to have been cyclical. Just as the warmth of the sun is best felt in summer, and diminishes after the fruits of its power are ripened, so it seems these religious eras produce a fruitful culture and pass away. We of the West live in the back-wash of three religious cultures which waxed and waned, the eras of Moses, of Jesus, and of Muhammad. Europe, Africa, Asia, and America all live amid the decayed and disintegrating institutions of those times. In Asia we discern the ruins of civilizations and the superstition—covered truths of religions even more ancient.

It is with such a background that we face a world rocked in the volcanic catastrophes of its materialism and the decay of its religious faiths, which when young, united hostile tribes as brothers, and soothed the discontented souls of men. Is it strange that born of our era are misshapen faiths which sacrifice the bodies and souls of their adherents in mad orgies based on the purely materialistic superstitions of race and nationality? Their repudiation of materialism is a grim joke on themselves.

The thinking student of the past feels drawn to the con ~«. .. . a....,..5&.a.ua......a

[Page 245]Materialism 24.5

sideration of the possibilities of a fresh divine revelation, while at the same time he is repulsed by the creeds, dogmas, and hierarchy with which he has always associated religion. In such a bewildered position he gropes blindly for some faith. He repudiates materialism, but he cannot conquer it.

The Bahá’í believes that no man can conquer it unaided. Only because God has revealed himself to men once more in Bahá’u’lláh, Who in turn, gave men the courage, the direction, and the power to remake the world after His spiritual Plan, can any mortal soul have hope for the future. With the knowledge that just as in the past, a Divine Physician has come among us, the seeker’s faith becomes a force so dynamic in its qualities as to raise up in the ashes and ruins of a past and dying era, a spiritual Kingdom of God on earth such as was scarcely dreamed of in past religious renaissances.

Materialism is destroying itself, and God has given us in Bahá’u’lláh the Architect of a new and different world.

0 YE THAT PRIDE YOURSELVES ON MORTAL RICHESl

Know ye in truth that wealth is a mighty barrier between the seeker and his desire, the lover and his beloved. The rich, but for a few, shall in no wise attain the court of His presence nor enter the city of content and resignation. Well is it then with him, who, being rich, is not hindered by his riches from the eternal kingdom, nor deprived by them of imperishable dominion. By the most great name!

7 The splendor of such a wealthy man shall illuminate the dwellers of

heaven even as the sun enlightens the people of the earth! —Bahá’u’lláh.

[Page 246]The Timeless Land

BOOK REVIEW Arthur Dahl

THE BASIC cause of racial prejudice is the inability or unwillingness of the people of one race to understand the customs, attitudes, and points of view of the people of other races. It is a natural tendency to distrust that which is strange and incomprehensible. Since what we see of a person upon casual contact are his speech, his clothing, his manners, his social customs and habits, if these are much different from our own we are ill-at-ease and suspicious, and only a few steps away from scorn and even hatred. Because of this we withdraw into our shell and reach dogmatic conclusions regarding the other person’s inferiority, which in time become fixed prejudices.

Such an inclination, instinctive as it may be, should be combatted by the realization that these differences between races are in essence superficial, that there is a common meeting ground of all peoples on the fundamental foundation of their humanity, their common source and their common destiny. But before this meeting ground can be reached the surface differences must be pierced by understanding.

The best method of doing this is, of course, to live with and study sympathetically the people of various races in their own native environments and through the medium of their own languages. Next best is the thorough study of the anthropological, historical, sociological, economic, and political background of the different peoples in the classroom, or independently through scientific and reference books. The third source, which offers the best possibility for increasing the understanding of racial problems among larger numbers of people, is the artistically sound and historically accurate novel, augmented by the higher type of biography and autobiography.

Eleanor Dark’s new novel, “The Timeless Land”,1 is on outstanding contribution to this category of literature. True, it deals with the “primitive” Australian aborigines, a race that is now practically extinct, and its period is that of the first white settlement of

1Eleanor Dark, The Timelen Land, The Macmillan Co., 1941.

24.6

[Page 247]Book Review 247

Australia, from 1780 to 1792. Thus the book would seem at first glance to have little practical application in the solution of the contemporary problem previously discussed. Yet Mrs. Dark has handled her theme in such a way as to universalize for the reader the entire question of racial misunderstanding, by making him see the same situation through the eyes of both proponents, the blacks and the whites, letting him watch mistakes being made and tragedies occurring because one group failed to appreciate the social background and method of reasoning of the other. And the reader cannot help but see the resemblance between many of these instances and disasters in race relations today.

To get the material for her book, Mrs. Dark has drawn heavily on the historians of the period, and on the rather meagre original source material that is available. Many of her characters among both blacks and whites are real, and she has worked into her narrative quotations from the actual journals, letters, and reports of the colonists.

After Captain Cook’s discovery of Australia and his glowing reports to the King, His Majesty’s ministers decided that here was an opportunity to solve two problems at once by settling this new country with some of the more difficult residents of Britain’s overcrowded prisons. Consequently, in 1788 a fleet of vessels containing men and women convicts and a detachment of soldiers, sailors, and marines under the command of Governor Arthur Phillip, set sail for Botany Bay. The land they found was anything but a choice spot for settlement, judged by Western standards. The ground was hilly, hard, and rocky, the interior almost impassable, the weather severe at both extremes. But these were only the first of the obstacles the little colony met in trying to get a start. The convicts were thoroughly irresponsible and resisted all efforts to interest them in cooperatively working for the colony’s welfare. They stole, they caroused, they abused the natives, they tried to run away. Further, there was continual friction between Governor Phillip and Lieutenant Governor Ross, a narrow, petty, bickering army careerist. Several times supply ships were lost or delayed, bringing the colony to the brink of starvation. Whcn the ships did arrive they contained only a fraction of the supplies that were needed, and usually brought an additional con [Page 248]-u-5-an »« ..~.w -an-. ..~.p. .—. ».:

3.

24.8 World Order’

tingent of convicts to be fed and disciplined. That after five frightful years the colony finally did secure a foothold was due almost entirely to the unswerving faith, devotion, and strength of Governor Phillip, in the face of poor health and almost overwhelming difficulties.

The details of this bitter five-year struggle make up an important part of the book. But its most significant contribution is its penetrating analysis of the meeting and inevitable conflict between the society of the natives and the society of the white man. These aborigines were one of the most highly organized of the so-called “primitive” tribes which have been studied. Their every action and ambition was regulated by a Law which was thoroughly understood and rigidly adhered to. Thus in everything they did they were thoroughly consistent. They were quick to become angry and to kill fiercely in battle, but their anger disappeared just as quickly, with no carry-over. A worthy opponent was always regarded with respect, and to die in battle was to die with honor. There was no place in the “black-fellow’s” code or in his emotional make-up for continuous, brooding hatred which would lead to treachery. His approach to religion, to life, to sexual and social problems, to questions of food and shelter, was direct, simple, open, and understood by all. And he was thoroughly acclimated and adjusted to his environment. There had been little change in his way of doing things for centuries. The customs, the religious beliefs, and most of all the Law, were handed down from generation to generation and were rigidly accepted without question.

No wonder, then, that these simple, honest, guileless people failed utterly to understand the complex, contradictory action of the white man. In spite of his magical material accomplishments, the white man’s society was in many ways inconsistent, foolish, or even degrading in the eyes of the native onlookers. The white man kept some of his fellows under the yoke of slavery, so that there was no joy in living. He was exhorted by his religious leader to live according to

'the goodly virtues, yet he went out and did the opposite. He was

capable of treachery and falsehood. He publicly degraded his fellow man with flogging and hanging. And worst of all, neither leaders nor followers ever seemed to get any happiness out of life,

[Page 249]Book Review 249

And so each group found much to criticize and distrust in the other. And in a sense each was right and each was wrong. While the English struggled to gain a foothold in this land they considered barren and hopeless, they failed to appreciate that many of the natives’ habits, customs, and methods which they found most primitive and revolting were the very things which enabled these people to adjust themselves to their environment and wrest a livelihood from it. The natives, on the other hand, had from the beginning lived in such a narrow world that it was beyond their power of thought to comprehend the nature of a civilization as complex and with as broad a horizon as that of Western Europe.

With contact between two such totally different societies, it was inevitable that one must give ground, and that this would be the materially weaker of the two. The ultimate extinction of the aborigines as a pure society is symbolized by Mrs. Dark in the character of Bennilong, a native who knows from boyhood that he is destined to become close to the magical white men, and who lives with them for a while in their camp and eventually is taken to London. He misses the whole point of western civilization, just as the Europeans see

A nothing more in him than a curious savage, and so when the novelty

wears ofi he feels lost in a strange world with nothing to tie to. He loses the will to live and almost dies of pneumonia, being saved only by the news that he is to be taken home. But upon arrival he finds he has absorbed enough of the superficial attitudes and characteristics of the white man to keep him from ever again belonging to his own people, while of course he could never become a true member of the white community. Realizing he has lost all fundamental social ties, he submerges himself in drink.

Bennilong’s personal tragedy is the tragedy of his race. And the reader, understanding the background and points of view of both protagonists, realizes only too keenly what a real tragedy this is, and how unnecessary. If each race had really understood the other’s point of view, they would have seen that each had much to offer the other, without such wanton destruction of social values and virtues built up over centuries. And though this is an extreme instance, the

application of such an experience to contemporary racial problems is obvious.

[Page 250]

WITH OUR READERS

To have VI/orld Order a help in teaching the Cause to newly interested friends is one of our first aims. Like other people we like to know how far we succeed. And so sentences like the following are welcomed by the editors and business manager alike: “I am sending also an extra subscription to a friend who is very close to becoming a declared member. I felt that our wonderful magazine would help a great deal.”

Another of our aims is to furnish something each month which will widen the vision and deepen the knowledge of all who are Bahá’ís in spirit whether or not they bear the name. This corner of our magazine is reserved for exchange of ideas from our readers, suggestions for improving World Order, experiences in teaching or in personal life which will help others. Please limit these letters or contributions to 200 words, but they may be much shorter. We want to hear from our readers.

1: no: :0:

To the question of the relation

of our Faith to Christianity we

find an answer in the following excerpts taken from a letter by a Bahá’í asking for withdrawal from church membership: “Always I have believed in progressive revelation. God took care of humanity in its infancy when he sent Adam to lead a people who had not evolved far mentally. Later he sent Abraham, Moses and all the lesser prophets, each with a message for struggling humanity. As they grew and were able to assimilate new truths, their need for enlightenment grew; therefore 2000 years ago, Christ appeared, the same Spirit from the same Father, appearing as all the rest had appeared in a different body.

“Humanity has made rapid strides in 2000 years, more spiritual guidance is needed, so God with his infinite mercy fulfilled the words of Christ when He said ‘I go but another shall come.’ Another has come, commonly known as the Prophet of Light, the same Light from God in a different lamp. He has brought a new message for this day which shall in time establish God’s Kingdom on earth.

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[Page 251]With Our Readers

“In the Gospel of John, in speaking of the Promised One who was to come after Christ, it is said in chapter 16, verses 12 and 13: ‘I have many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all truth.’ . . .

“A New World Order is being established on this earth. Everyone will suffer before God’s Kingdom is come, but those who know will suffer hopefully. We have only to look about us to see the proofs: all prophecies con cerning God’s new Manifestation are being fulfilled daily.”

• * *

As we announced last month we are continuing the subject of the Covenant in this issue with the first of a series of three articles by Mr. Albert Windust of the Chicago Bahá’í community, one of our earliest believers. We spoke also in the September issue of the special fitness Mr. Windust has for writing on this important subject, an importance which Mr. Windust himself emphasizes in the introduction to his articles. Besides these three articles and the material in the September World Order we refer our readers to Miss Juliet Thompson’s article in our March, 1942, issue

251

and to two Bahá’í' Lesson outlines, one in our September issue and one in the April issue, both of 1942. This new material is published at the request of the National Spiritual Assembly and should enable every believer to obtain a thorough understanding of the great subject of God’s

everlasting Covenant with man kind.

• >5‘ *

The leading article this month, “The Purpose of Affliction”, was written by Miss Elizabeth Hackley of Urbana Bahá’í Community. Miss Hackley writes not only from deep personal experience but from long study of the Bahá’í teachings. She has been a believer for many years, was one of the early students at Green Acre Bahá’ i summer school and is now an active Bahá’í in Urbana, Illinois. F or World Order at frequent intervals she has contributed both poetry and prose of exquisite quality.

0: * :1:

Robert Koehl, who contributes “The Repudiation of Materialism”, is one of our young believers who has been a student enrolled at Harvard University. He tells us that he has had opportunities to discuss the Teachings with his friends there. He

[Page 252]252

learned of the Bahá’í Faith in his home city of Kenosha, Wis consin. at >k >k

William Kenneth Christian is a teacher of English in the New York State Agricultural College at Morrisville and finds time to serve the Cause as chairman of the Regional Teaching Committee in his area, as instructor in our summer schools, by frequent contributions to World Order and in other ways. In his present article on “Independent Investigation of Truth” he deepens our understanding of this fundamental Bahá’í principle.

• * *

“I Would Not Leave America” is another of the hitherto unpublished talks by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in America. While we feel that the translation of these talks is sometimes inadequate ye t the meaning is clear and Shoghi Effendi finds them equally authoritative with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s talks published in The Promulgation of

World Order

Universal Peace. We are fortunate to be able to publish them.

Our readers will be interested in the review of the novel entitled “The Timeless Land”, which deals with race prejudice in the early days of Australia. Mr. Arthur Dahl, Jr., one of the younger Bahá’ís in Palo Alto, is twice a graduate from Leland Stanford University and is now in business in San Francisco. The Bahá’í Faith, he believes, has “tremendous potentialities for good” in the “broader aspects of business and economics as related

to ethics and public welfare.”

This is Mr. Dahl’s first contribution to W/orld Order.

• * >l<

The editorial by Miss Garreta Busey, a short poem with a particular fragrance from the center of the Faith, Haifa, by Polly McC1ennen, who has made several recent contributions to World Order, and this department, complete the contents of this issue.

-—THE Enrrons.

[Page 253]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 Kitdb-i-Iqzin, 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. 262 pages. $2.50.

Prayer: and Meditation: 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 /1 mwered 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 Bab and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each Prayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, $0.35.

The W/orld Order of Ba/zé’u’llzi/1, 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.

BAHA’I PUBLISHING COMMITTEE 110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS

[Page 254]THE BAH./ici FAITH

Rncocmzns THE UNITY or Gov AND Hxs PROPHETS,

UPHOLDS THE PRINCIPLE OF AN UNI-‘ETTERED SEARCH AFTER TRUTH,

CONDEMNS ALL FORMS 01-‘ SUPERSTITION AND PREJUDICE,

TEACHES THAT THE FUNDAMENTAL PURPOSE OF RELIGION IS TO PROMOTE CONCORD AND HARMONY, THAT IT MUST GO HAND IN HAND WITH SCIENCE, AND THAT

IT CONSTITUTES THE SOLE AND ULTIMATE BASIS OF A PEACEFUL, AN ORDERED AND

PROGRESSIVE SOCIETY. . . .

INCULCATES THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES FOR BOTH SEXES,

ADVOCATES COMPULSORY EDUCATION’,

ABOLISHES EXTREMES or povxmrv AND WEALTH,

EXAL1’S WORK. PERFORMED IN THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE TO THE RANK OF WORSHIP,

RECOMMENDS THE ADOPTION OF AN AUXILIARY INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE, . . .

PROVIDES THE NECESSARY AGENCIES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND SAFEGUARDING OF A PERMANENT AND UNIVERSAL PEACE.

—SHOGHI EFFENDI.