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[Page 251]WORLD ORDER

TH E BAHRI’ MAGAZINE

November, 1942 0 The Word Is Made Flesh . . . . . . . .Mary Hammond 2 53

- Thou Art the Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ba/zzi’u’Zla'/z 261

- On Carmel’s Aged Slopes, Poem William Kenneth C/zristitm 262

- The Bahá’í Community: A Divine Creation C/zester F. Barnett 264.

0 A Divine Policy, Editorial . . . . . . . ..H0race Holley 270 - The Covenant, Part II . . . . . . . . . ..Albert Wimiust 272 - Love and Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Henry C. Beecher 284

- With Our Readers. . 286

Fl!-‘TEEN CENTS

[Page 252]Z ..A._ .__..........=x5.as=..;z—.4_...,- _

THE REVELATION or Bahá’u’lláh, WHOSE SUPREME MISSION rs NONE OTHER BUT THE ACHIEVEMENT or THIs ORGANIC AND SPIRITUAL UNITY or THE WHOLE BODY 03' NATIONS, SHOULD, IF WE BE FAITHFUL To ITS IMPLICATIONs, BE REGARDED As SIGNALIZING THROUGH ITs ADVENT THE COMING OF AGE or‘ THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE. IT SHOULD BE VIEWED . . . As MARKING THE LAST AND HIGHEST sTAcE IN THE STUPENDOUS EVOLUTION OF MAN’s coLLEcTIVE LIFE ON THIS PLANET. —SHOGHI 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 Oficc 1109 WEST GIFT AVENUE, PEORIA, ILL.

Publication Office I10 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILL.

C. R. Wood, Business Manager Printed in U.S.A.

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, I1l., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1942 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. 8. Patent Office.

NOVEMBER, 1942, VOLUME VIII, NUMBER 8

[Page 253]WORLD ORDER

THE BAHAW’ MAGAZINE

VOLUME VIII NOVEMBER, 194.2 NUMBER 8

T /26 PV0m' Is Made Flesh Mary Hammond

ONCE AGAIN A DIVINE PROPHET APPEARS TO MAKE NEW THE WORLD

EVERYONE is asking, with suffering and blood. The old words cannot be made to answer, in answering lives. If we know of “truth”, if we have The Books, we fail to perceive their meaning or capture their force. If we believe, we fail to live our belief; and this day is above all a day of action. We know that something tremendous has happened to the world, not to its economy, geography, social institutions, science, art or philosophy individually, but to the whole world of matter and all things touched by man’s spirit and intellect. We are aware, but our only response is chaos. Out of fear and desolation men rush blindly to the support of one ideology after another, seeking “salvation”. Yet each of these ideologies answers only half the questions, “saves” only one limb. Each catches us finally in the vortex of death and destruction. Some believe their death. Most only die.

We discover one value after another is “not enough”. We discover that liberty and freedom have become symbols for tyranny and anarchy; that peace has become negative, co ,___J

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operation a scattered mirage, and love a personal equation. The traditional religions have become, at best, poetics, philosophies, or creeds. We are no longer quickened; the Word is not flesh.

Yet economic and political systems fail. They neither give nor require enough’. They do not answer our real questions in terms to which we can respond with our whole being or our

highest consciousness. Any response less than that is failure. To this the world bears witness.

INTELLECT INADEQUATE

In despair over the injustice and pathlessness we turn to education. Through education We can spread “right”, obliterate prejudice, teach cooperation and altruism. Psychology can teach us how to “handle” our fellows so that they will be happy, the wheels will turn and the work be done. But this, too, is insufficient. Circumstance soon brings us to the wall. The faith of pure reason and intelligence is easily frightened, easily twisted back to prejudice and the falseness of our confusion, partisan values, self—destruction. We must have some Word, some transcendent values that embrace our intellect. We require some universal devotion and loyalty in order that learning and invention be motivated towards the good of all humanity: in order that We move, in order that we create, not destroy, in order that we find some meaning in the gift of “life”.

Man’s intellect and reason, his rich, discovering mind is inadequate. With this gift added to the attributes and distinctions of the animal, man is capable of evil, of his own destruction and even a more nauseous darkness foreign to the creatures of “lower” kingdoms. That infinite skill of mind and hand contrives these bombers as well as those systems of

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injustice and prejudice which are now destroying mankind and wiping out the last vestiges of a millenium.

All growing things require the sun in order to exist; man requires also the “sun”: the force of a Superior Spirit to direct his action, give significance to his whole existence, and make law for his society. For no matter how enlightened, he cannot do this for himself. “For if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit.” The God who created man as a reality standing between darkness and light, gave him more than the capacity and instruments, the mind and the body, for the attainment and progression towards light, harmony, creative worship, and life. He also gave means for understanding these gifts, and for their inspired, intelligent development: criteria and values of intelligence and development. He gave, that is to say, the necessary organic law that man might live in harmony. He must know himself and recognize his station as a creature of infinite capacity in an infinite world of universes beneath the sovereignty of an Unknowable God.

It is not the sun itself, but the Warmth and rays of the sun which give life to our planet. And so it is not God himself who “descends”, but His force and Word through those unique human instruments whom We call Prophets. These Figures stand through the milleniums of history as the source of all knowledge. These Men did not come to establish religions or to found nations or sects. They did not wish to be worshipped. Their purpose was to awaken and lift up the peoples “because they were as sheep not having a shepherd”. They came to establish harmony, the oneness of God and mankind.

THE LIGHT or: G01)

It has been said: “Any soul who proves to be the educator of mankind and the teacher of the human race is undoubtedly

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2 56 World Order

the Prophet of his age.” Let us look at Moses. He lived in Midia, a member of a severely oppressed, enslaved and illiterate people. He delivered them from the bondage of Egypt into the Holy Land. Gathering His scattered people He destroyed their idols, sundered the veils of superstition, and revealed Reality. And then He disciplined, educated and conferred wisdom upon them, gave reverence and code to their society. He made princes of slaves, sages of the ignorant; sages to whom such wise men of Greece, as Hippocrates and Socrates, were to travel.

It is indeed a manifestation of his “darkness” and his need for frequent renewal that man abandons the original spirit and, disregarding its purpose and significance, returns to the golden calf, fabricates the creeds, brews the inquisitions, superstitions and rituals which are completely at variance with the teachings and word of his “Christ”. Poised so tenuously between darkness and light, man is easy prey to superstition, quickly blind and easily selfish. In the name of Light he Worships the lamp, and in the name of God destroys His servants. Yet the followers of each of these came to worship the rods and the names of their Shepherds, not their virtues and wisdom. They oppressed beneath the banner of The Protector and burned the discoverers of scientific mystery in the name of Him who “opened the door”.

It is here that the agnostic puts down his foot and points his finger. He says, “Ah, you admit your light is not all—purging: and God’s force is limited and corruptible!” We must both think clearly and patiently here. First of all, the agnostic must remember our definition of man. We have never called him an angel. Secondly, let us not confuse the light and the mirror with one another. The light, or spirit of God, shines

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on all alike but the reflected warmth and brilliance is relative to the purity of the mirror. If man chooses to darken or mutilate the mirror, that is his choice. It is his mirror. The consequent relative power of light is therefore a limitation, not of the spirit, not of God’s power, but of man, the mirror. We cannot deny or belittle Christ simply because those who have called Him by name have fostered darkness. Remember His words: “My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers.” This is an intricate subject open to much discussion and greater explanation. I can only touch it. I do so lest people misunderstand this definition of religion, and lest they falsely confuse the creeds, institutions, and superstitions by Which man has limited himself, with the Word of God and man’s potential capacity through that word.

RHYTHM or CYCLES

And further. We must remember that, like all living things, mankind has cycles of development, birth and springtime, fruitfulness, winter and death. If we examine the teachings of the Prophets, Their history and appearance in history, we find the same evidence of movement and cycle as that in nature. We must remember the seasons’ rhythm, the principle of movement that underlies all life. We must remember that death is not end, but change. However blind and bloody the warfare and chaos, the birth and movement are here. There is no ennui. There are gigantic forces of birth and change in this death. The artist, however lonely, is dissecting, reasserting and hunting a new reality, new symbols and new language. Medicine is “creating” new life in the conquest of disease and the knowledge of physiology and psychiatry; social as well as physical sciences are dispelling superstition and ignorance which were smothering and dividing mankind.

[Page 258]2 5 8 World Order

I believe that all these things, however secular and disconnected they may seem, all these inching forces of springtime are organically related, have their source as well as their meaning in the advent of a new Prophet in this day. Nineteen hundred forty—four will mark the end of the first century of this new era. I believe that Bahá’u’lláh is the promised one of the Adamic cycle, the prime Instrument Who has “rolled up the world and all that is therein and spread out a new order in its stead.”

Could the “signs of the times” be more fully realized, or the need of divine enlightenment be more poignant than in this world, in this Day?

“When,” as Muhammad said, “the day that must come shall have come suddenly, none shall treat that sudden coming as a lie: Day that shall abase! Day that shall exalt! When the earth shall be shaken with a shock, and the mountains shall be crumbled with a crumbling.”

And as Christ said:

“Ye shall hear wars and rumors of wars . . . nation shall rise against nation . . . and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places . . . all these things are the beginnings of travail . . . and many false prophets shall arise and shall lead many astray.

“And as the lightning cometh from the east and is seen even unto the west so shall be coming the Son of Man . . . and

this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations. . . .”

Bahá’u’lláh lived in Persia. This new cycle opened with the Declaration of His Forerunner, the Báb, in 1844.. Because of the material unity of the globe, He was the first Prophet capable of originally addressing “the whole world”.

[Page 259]The Word i 2 59

He carried out much of His teaching and Wrote from an exile and imprisonment enforced by the despotic Persian government that feared the influence of Him and His followers. It would be impossible to outline His principles on the history of His cause in this essay, nor is that my purpose. My thesis is rather the reality and necessity of the Prophet as the Instrument, for the unification, not only of mankind, but of the individual’s complete being: the means for the attainment of Life. And could not we say that our world war, all the world upheavel, chaos and discovery may finally be attributed to a search for Life?

BY THEIR FRUITS

In a World strangling at the hands of “false prophets”, we must admit the need of investigating him whom we call Prophet. “By their fruits we shall know them.” Although it is yet early for the ripening of the true Prophet's fruits we can already discern their development in the world birth earlier outlined, even in the characteristic of “search” itself. However insignificant these blossoms appear before the awful harvest of the false prophets, they are growing, and each blossom contains infinite seeds. Bahá’u’lláh said: “. . . We have, at the bidding of the Omnipotent Ordainer, breathed a new life into every human frame and instilled into every word a fresh potency. All created things proclaim the evidence of this world wide regeneration.” Likewise, the very destruction of outmoded and defective hierarchies and institutions (looked upon by the wives of Lot as sheer calamity) is necessary to the ripening of the divine fruits, the creation of and capacity for “new life”.

Christ said “. . . no man putteth new wine into old wine skins; else the wine will burst the skins and the Wine perisheth

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and the skins; but they put new wine into the fresh wine skins and both are preserved.” Every soul has its particular aspiration, every age has its particular problem. The remedy for the affliction of the World today is unique and specific, though the agency and underlying spirit is ancient and timeless. The teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are in accordance with this evolution and need to which the Prophets have always administered. From the teachings and the fruits we perceive, we have found that this Teacher is not false. Having investigated the reality, we ask ourselves: Are we, for example, who believe in Christ, going to deny ourselves the “wine” because it has been renewed and delivered to us in a new receptacle? Are we, like so many men before us, worshippers of the Name, not the Light? Are we to forget: “Not everyone who saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven”? When we find that the “Will of the Father” has been renewed, we must follow that will. Otherwise our science and our mind murder us, and our civilization brings down its smothering destruction.

Once again the word is made Flesh. The renewed energy and power are released, and even now exert their influence. And mankind, still shaken, bewildered and deranged by the awful power of a new reality and a new order, has yet to consult and believe the Word, has yet to accept the spirit which alone can guide him out of his darkness, raise him from death and gather him into one people.

“With men it is impossible but not with God: For all things are possible with God.”

[Page 261]

O THOU Who art the Lord of Lords! I

testify that Thou art the Lord of all creation, and the Educator of all beings, visible and invisible. I bear witness that Thy power hath encompassed the entire universe, and that the hosts of the earth can never dismay Thee, nor can the dominion of all peoples and nations deter Thee from executing Thy purpose. I confess that Thou hast no desire except the regeneration of the whole world, and the establishment of the unity of its peoples, and the salvation of all them that dwell therein. ——BAH.X.’U’LL.&H

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[Page 262]On Carmel’s Aged Slopes William Kenneth Christian

On Carmel’s aged slopes let Him be laid to rest. And let the people see the simple tomb

And let the people weep.

There is a time for sorrow,

There is a time for tribute that does wrench the heart, There is a time for eulogy,

for Words so beautiful: Let them be spoken!

He had known the time was near, He had blessed the wedding of a servant in His house, He had given to the poor the Friday alms,

in each hand a coin He placed,

to each one He spoke some cheer. And then He rested in the garden, For the time was near And the evening close at hand.

Weary body now at rest, The long life ended, the life of servitude. The One Who made humility a priceless crown, The One Who brought the east and west about a festive board, The One Who made of love a stirring call, a spark of life for faded embers, a badge of honor in a world of fear.

It is now the quiet time. The jeering throngs forgotten, The weary miles of exile fade,

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[Page 263]On Carmel 26 3

The man who sought to crucify,

The betrayers and the mockers are now nameless ones, The prison has become a holy place.

See the people gather—hundreds, thousands,

Rich, poor, Gentile, Jew, Muslim, Parsee, European, American, General official, mulla, priest, man and woman of the streets. Hear them speak:

“Whom are ye bewailing?

Is it he who but yesterday was great in his life

And is today in his death greater still?”

“Weep one hour for the sake of him

Who, for Well nigh eighty years,

Hath wept for you.”

“Woe unto the poor,

For lo! goodness hath departed from them,

Woe unto the orphans,

For their loving father is no more with them!”

You walked the chosen highway,

You taught the people, lived the life,

Crossed the continents and seas,

Planted the ensign of the Father in the east and west, And laid the great foundation stone

For the centuries still to come.

Let the throng walk up the winding road. Let the thousands bear aloft the wooden box.

On Carmel’s aged slopes let Him be laid to rest. And let the people weep. There is a time for sorrow.

This poem was written in 194.1 for a Bahá’í commemoration of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, November 28, 1921.

[Page 264]The Bahá’í Community

I. A DIVINE CREATION Chester F. Barnett

“IN EVERY Dispensation,” Writes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá., “the light of Divine Guidance has been focussed upon one central theme. . . . In this Wondrous Revelation, this glorious century, the foundation of the Faith of God and the distinguishing feature of His Law is the consciousness of the Oneness of Mankind.” 1

This lofty conception has found further expression in the illuminating words of the Guardian: “Let there be no mistake. The principle of the Oneness of Mankind—the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve——-is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. Its appeal is not to be merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely in the fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples and nations. Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its message is applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily With the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the states and nations as members of one human family. It does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal, but stands inseparably associated with an institution adequate to embody its truth, demonstrate its Validity, and perpetuate its influence. It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced. It constitutes a challenge, at once

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bold and universal, to outworn shibboleths of national creeds —creeds that have had their day and which must, in the ordinary course of events as shaped and controlled by Providence, give Way to a new gospel, fundamentally different from, and infinitely superior to, What the World has already conceived. It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitari2ation of the Whole civilized World—a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units.” 2

This central theme for Divine Guidance in this age is safeguarded by divinely ordained institutions comprising the Administrative Order of the Bahá’í Faith. In this Revelation, unlike any former Revelation, the means of protecting and preserving the integrity of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh have been explicitly made a part of the Revelation. The Administrative Order may not in any manner, nor in the slightest degree, be divorced from the other tenets of the faith Without quenching the Spirit of Bahá’u’lláh enshrined therein. Therefore, a consciousness of the divine origin of the Cause and its institutions must ever remain uppermost in the minds and hearts of the believers. Specifically, the truth must never be forgotten, nor heedlessly neglected, that the Cause, by direct authority from Bahá’u’lláh, became incarnate in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His station as the Center of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant, and that the local spiritual assemblies, the national spiritual assemblies, the Universal House of Justice, and the Guardianship, together with the powers and functions rightfully possessed and exercised by each, are derived from Bahá’u’lláh’s Book of Laws (Kitáb-i-Aqdas) and the Will of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

With the assurance of the divine origin and nature of the

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Administrative Order of the Bahá’í Faith, a special significance attaches to the relationship which a believer bears to the Community of which he is a part.

Let no one imagine that relationship with the Community is a mere social tie similar to those in man made organizations, religious or secular. No such religious and social concept as a Bahá’í' Community has ever before existed. Because of the divine nature of its origin, membership in the Community carries with it a grave responsibility which, when once assumed, cannot be disregarded on the ground of any self—interest or personal opinion.

The spiritual influence of the Community as visualized in connection with the divinely ordained institutions of the Administrative Order, can be more fully appreciated by a consideration of the well—known and accepted truths contained in the faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Throughout the ages the Holy Spirit in its fullness has operated through an intermediary in the persons of those Holy Ones which are designated as Messengers or Manifestations of that “innermost Spirit of Spirits”. This is not a mere theory, but the fact has been demonstrated by the spiritual influence which has been exercised upon humanity throughout the ages by such exalted Persons as Abraham, Zoroaster, Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Báb, and now in this dispensation by Bahá’u’lláh. During their lives these exalted Persons were in contact with the Holy Spirit in a manner not vouchsafed to ordinary man. “The intellectual power of the world of nature is a power of investigation, and by its researches discovers the realities of beings, and the properties of existence; but the heavenly intellectual power which is beyond nature, embraces things and is cognizant of things, knows them, understands them, is aware of mysteries, realities, and divine

[Page 267]Ba/m"é Community 267

significations, and is the discoverer of the concealed verities of the Kingdom. This divine intellectual power is the special attribute of the Holy Manifestations, and the Dawning-places of Prophethood; a ray of this light falls upon the mirrors of the hearts of the righteous, and a portion and a share of this power comes to them through the Holy Manifestations?’ “The infinite reality cannot be said to ascend or descend. It is beyond the understanding of man, and cannot be described in terms which apply to the Phenomenal Sphere of the Created World.” 4 “The Divine Reality may be likened to the Sun, and the Holy Spirit to the rays of the sun. As the rays of the sun bring the light and warmth of the sun to the earth, giving life to all created beings, so do the Manifestations bring the power of the Holy Spirit from the Divine Sun of Reality to give light and life to the souls of men.” 5 Jesus, the Christ, taught this same spiritual reality wherein he declared in the Gospel “No man cometh to the Father but by Me.” And “I am the vine, ye are the branches.”

As the Revelations brought to man by Jesus, the Christ, and Muhammad, were not intended to be final, (as the accepted versions of the Sayings of each by express terms indicate) only such means were employed and institutions ordained before Their ascension as were necessary to efiectuate their respective Revelations under the conditions and circumstances then existing in the world. But after Their departure, the means employed were sufficient to insure a continuance of the pure guidance of the Holy Spirit vouchsafed to man by God, the “innermost Spirit of Spirits”, so that man was not left to his own devices to discover the real knowledge of God. Throughout the ages it would appear that God has never left man without Divine Guidance, if he cares to accept it. And now after the departure from the physical world of the Báb

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and Bahá’u’lláh, man has not been left without Divine Guidance. The institutions of the Administrative Order are the divine means left by the Founders of the Bahá’í Faith whereby the Holy Spirit may continue to mediate between God and man and will ever continue to do so.

The Community is an inseparable part of the Administrative Order. It is through the relationship of the believers to the Community and one with another that spiritual sustenance is received by the individual. The Nineteen Day Feast is a means of grace wherehy the sincere believer experiences communion with the Holy S pirit in a special way. Such communion and a strengthening of the spiritual life may likewise

be realized by participation with the Community in the observance of the Holy Days in the manner prescribed by the Guardian in his instructions.

The crowning activity of the Community in the Nineteen Day Feast is much more than a mere social relationship which may be put aside at pleasure. It is man’s greatest bounty from Bahá’u’lláh in his individual spiritual development, and the foundation for the development of that spiritual order destined ultimately to unite the whole of mankind. Fundamentally the Feast is a meeting of believers in devotion, in consultation on affairs of the Community and the world, and in social unity.

“Fear not, fear not if this Branch be severed from this material world and cast aside its leaves; nay, the leaves thereof shall flourish, for this Branch will grow after it is cut 01} from this world below. It shall reach the loftiest pinnacles of glory and it shall bear such fruits as will perfume the world with their fragrance?‘ Are not these reassuring words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá deeply significant of the real place which the Community holds in the spiritual life of the believer?

As the Administrative Order evolves, unfolding all the

[Page 269]Ba/m"é Community 269

potentialities with which it has been divinely endowed, there will appear that New World Order of Bahá’u’lláh which is to provide for mankind a civilization of peace, unity and justice. In Community life within this world-wide Order, members of the human race, regardless of race or nation, will exercise the duties and receive the bounties of a new and finer citizenship than the World before has ever known, or was ready to experience.

1T/ze World Order of Bo/za"u’llzi/2, p. 36; 2Tlze World Order of Balm’’u’lla'/z, pp. 42, 4.3; 3Some Answered Quextiom by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chap. LVIII; ‘T/ze Wixdom of ‘Abdu’l-Ba/M’, p. 51; 5T/ze Wisdom of ‘Abdu’lBalm’, p. 52; (‘The World Order of Ba/za"u’lla'/l, p. 146.

UNLIMITED LOVE

0 YE BELOVED of the Lord! 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 lovingkindness, 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. The light of the sun shineth upon all the world and the merciful showers of Divine Providence fall upon all peoples. . . . In like manner, the affections and lovingkindness of the servants of the One True God must be bountifully and universally extended to all mankind. Regarding this, restrictions and limitations are in no wise permitted.

——‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament

[Page 270] ‘-'»Eu'é-‘J‘__%n..*.A"‘-A‘_<'_p<fi.z~&§~u&é

A Divine Policy

ACTIVITY is the most constant joy which can be realized by man. In their life work, human beings express their conception of the chief and essential aim of existence. Throughout the full scale of character and capacity, from physical action to Work of mind and spirit, men respond to a profound inner impulse, and in their work they at

once cultivate their innate powers and reap the reward of their use and expression.

Work is the zest of the hunter, the accomplishment of the farmer’s harvest, the patient exploration of the scientist, the authority

of the manager and the joy of the poet. Work is a divine gift and endowment by which fulfilment comes.

But what has happened to this divine gift? Why have the wings of adventure and spiritual development become broken in the morass of economic discontent? Where is the inner assurance, the conviction, the capacity to concentrate one’s entire being upon the working out of some dream of perfection? In the child at play, the universe renews its vital life and recovers its mystery of’ purpose. In the economic man, the thrill of power finds the ancient channel choked. Modern men bend their energies, not to work, but to struggle for the right to work, or the means to live.

The substitution of conceptions of business or state policy for the true ends of human labor has confused the modern mind. Enterprise has come to mean too much consideration of profit and too little sense of why men are active, how they can Work together, and what they might produce. We have developed, and capitalized, immense establishments to do mechanically what millions of human beings used to do; but we have not developed any adequate notion of the new and higher tasks which human beings, freed by the machine, might set forth to accomplish.

The modern nation unites millions of human beings under one

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authority and one law, but there is no organic purpose animating these vast human establishments other than the ancient struggle for existence magnified, multiplied and unbearably complicated by the lack of collective vision and the absence of world—kindling tasks.

Here is the actual social problem of modern man. The problem of capital and labor, the problem of free enterprise and communism, the problem of democracy and absolutism, all alike concentrate upon different symptoms of the same disease and differ fatally as to its diagnosis and treatment. i

What man must realize once and for all is this fundamental truth: that after every civilized society has attained a certain size, its collective purpose has become war. War has been the one and only organic activity and collective undertaking of civilization. Up to now no way has been found to extend the creative purpose of the individual soul to embrace society, nor to translate the ardor of the family into the means and ends of the nation.

This is the very essence of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh: that He, in fulfilment of the purpose of religion, has placed upon human society the seal of a spiritual, a divine intention. The collective purpose of every human establishment has been made the attainment of world unity and the realization of universal peace. For human policy we have the policy of God; and for the human struggle to enact class legislation we have the law of God.

“How vast is the tabernacle of the Cause of God! It hath overshadowed all the peoples and kindreds of the earth, and will, erelong, gather together the whole of mankind beneath its shelter. . . . My object is none other than the betterment of the world and the tranquillity of its peoples. 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.”-——Bahá’u’lláh. H. H.

[Page 272]TH E COVENANT Compilea’ by Albert W'z'7za'ust

PART TWO

“THE Divine Minstrel held the stringed instrument in His hand and preluded a melody and tune after the Persian note, and sang this Song with a loud voice as follows:

‘This is the Ancient Covenant! This is the One Who has the Cup in His hand!

This is the One Who has brought failure in the market of Joseph of the Merciful God!

This is the Testament of Accord!

This is a Covenant to hold to, and utterly detach one’s self from aught else!

This is the cause of stopping the cries of contradiction (made by deniers) through the Divine Mercy!

This is the Pre-existent Covenant! This is the weighty Mystery! This is the greatest Secret of the Countenance of El-Bahá.

——May my soul redeem His beloved ones!’ ”

——‘Abdu’l-Bahá. (from “The Song of the Covenant”, Star of the West, vol. V, p. 209.)

4. Firmness in the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh

Word: of ‘Abdu’l—Ba/24': “Today, the most important affair is firmness in the Covenant, because firmness in the Covenant wards ofl’ differences.” —Star of the West, vol. XII, p. 22.7.

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[Page 273]Covenant 273

Words of ‘A hdu’l—Ba/ta’:

“With the utmost resolution and constancy call the souls to the Kingdom of Abhá and invite them to firmness and steadfastness in the Covenant and Testament. Read to them the translation of the T ahlet of The Branch, and speak with gentleness, moderation and loving-kindness, saying:

“We have no other aim save the protection of the fortified Fortress of the Cause of God. We must guard this fortified Fortress from the attack of the thoughtless ones. Hence we must all turn our faces to the appointed Center in order that Bahá’í unity might he preserved; otherwise in one year the Bahá’í’s would he divided into a thousand sects. We entertain no other ohject except the safety of the Cause of God./”*

——Star of the West, Vol. V, p. 233.

Words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

“O ye Apostles of Bahá’u’lláh! . . .

“To attain to this supreme station is, however, dependent on the realization of certain conditions:

“The first condition is firmness in the Covenant of God. For the power of the Covenant will protect the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh from the doubts of the people of error. It is the fortified fortress of the Cause of God and the firm pillar of the religion of God. Today no power can conserve the oneness of the Bahá’í world save the Covenant of God, otherwise differences like unto a most great tempest will encompass the Bahá’í world. It is evident that the axis of the oneness of the World of humanity is the power of the Covenant, and nothing else. Had the Covenant not come to pass, had it not been revealed from the Supreme Pen, and had not the Book of The Covenant, like unto the rays of the Sun of Reality, illumined the world, the forces of the Cause of God

[Page 274]

274. World Order

would have been utterly scattered and certain souls who were the prisoners of their own passions and lusts would have taken into their hands an axe, cutting the root of this Blessed Tree. Every person would have pushed forward his own desire and every individual aired his own opinion! Notwithstanding this great Covenant, a few negligent souls galloped with their chargers into the battlefield, thinking perchance they might be able to weaken the foundation of the Cause of God; but Praise be to God!—all of them were afflicted with regret and loss, and ere long they shall see themselves in poignant despair. Therefore, in the beginning one must make his steps firm in the Covenant so that the confirmations of Bahá’u’lláh may encircle from all sides, the cohorts of the Supreme Concourse may become the supporters and the helpers, and the exhortations and advices of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, like unto the pictures engraved on the stone, may remain permanent and inelfaceable in the tablets of the hearts.” -—Um2eiliiig of the Divine Plzm, p. 67; and America’: Spiritual Mission, pp. 22-24.

Words of ‘Aédifil-Biz/zci: “Misunderstanding cannot be eliminated by any power save that of the Covenant. . . . All previous Books are subordinate to the Book of The Covemiit. . . . Consider . . . if the friends remain firm in the Covenant, will there be any misunderstanding among them? No, by God! Except those souls who have an evil intention and are thinking of leadership and of forming a party. . . . These souls are themselves at present among the pioneers of violation. This is because of their personal motives, for they thought of securing leadership and Wealth. . . .” ———Star of the West, vol. X, pp. 235, 236.

[Page 275]C ovemmt 27 5

Words of ‘Aédu’l—Ba/21$:

“Whosoever is firm in the Covenant and Testament is today endowed with a seeing eye, and a responsive ear, and daily advances in the divine realm until he becomes a heavenly angel.” ——Star of the West, vol. X, p. 251.

Word: of ‘A bdu’l—Bcz/m’:

“The confirmation of the Kingdom of Abhá. shall descend uninterruptedly upon those souls who are firm in the Covenant. Thou hast well observed that every firm one is assisted and aided, and every Violator is degraded, humiliated and lost. It is very astonishing that people are not admonished. They have observed how Mirza Muhammad ‘Ali,1 on account of violation of the Covenant, descended to the lowest degree of humiliation, and yet they do not become mindful. They have seen how others, through disobedience to the Testament, have fallen into a well of degradation, and yet they are not awakened.

This Covenant is the Covenant of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh. Now its importance is not known befittingly, but in the future it shall attain to such a degree of importance that if a king violates to the extent of one atom, he shall be cut off immediately.” —S/tar of the West, vol. IV, p. 241.

Words of ‘Abdu’l—Bzz/zci:

“From the graces of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh, I beg for you firmness and steadfastness. Today, whosoever is a herald of the Covenant is confirmed and assisted. In these days a number of souls, Whose deeds are known in America as clear as the sun, have arisen in enmity against the Center of the

‘The half-brother of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

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Covenant. Their’s is the vain imagination that they can extinguish the Light of the Candle of the Covenant. Vain indeed -is their thought. The Candle of the Covenant is like unto the morning star which never sets.”

—Star of the West, vol. V, p. 201.

5. Leprosy: The Spiritual Disease of Violation

Wordx of Ba/zci’u’llti/t:

“Leprosy may be interpreted as any Veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, his God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All-Praised.”

—GZealti7¢g5 from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh'/2, p. 86.

Words 0 f ‘A bdu’l—Ba/zci:

(Cctélegrams sent to America during the month of His Departure [tleat/2], 1921.)

November 8—“How is situation and health of friends?”

November I2—“He who sits with leper catches leprosy. He who is with Christ shuns Pharisees and abhors Judas Iscariots. Certainly shun Violators. . . .”

November I2—“I implore health from divine bounty.”

—Sttzr of the West, vol. XII, p. 232.

Word: of ‘A 5a,'u’l—Btz/ta’: (in at Tablet to Dr. Zia Bagdtzdi, Chicago.)

“O thou who are firm in the Covenant:

“Your letter was received. You have Written that some of the waverers had written to me and that I had written answers to them; [and] that some have taken this as a proof

[Page 277]Covenant 277

that association with the waverers is permissible. This is the essence of error! For ‘Abdu’l-Bahá corresponds with all the people, even with the enemies. This emanates from his mercy and not from their merit.

“One of the Women of Chicago has written me a letter . . . an answer has been written and enclosed. . . . Read this to the Spiritual Assembly . . . then give it to her and know this is the standara’.* Undoubtedly the unworthy souls must be shunned, otherwise the morals will be entirely corrupted.”

-—Star of the West, vol. XII, pp. 232, 234.

Words of ‘A5du’l—Ba}ui.' (to the woman referred to in the above Tablet.) “O thou dear maid-servant of God!

“Thy letter was received and the contents became known. Thou hast asked some questions; that why the blessed and spiritual souls who are firm and steadfast, shun the company of degenerate persons. This is because that just as the bodily diseases, like consumption and cancer, are contagious, likewise, the spiritual diseases are also infectious. If a consumptive should associate with a thousand safe and healthy persons, the safety and health of these thousand persons would not affect the consumptive and would not cure him of his consumption. But when the consumptive associates with those thousand souls, in a short time the disease of consumption will infect a number of those healthy persons. This is a clear and self—evident question.

“Likewise, if a thousand magnanimous persons associate with a degraded one, the perfection of those souls will not affect this debased person. On the contrary, this mean person will be the cause of their going astray. Therefore, His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh says in the Tablets: ‘Soon will a foul odor

[Page 278]278 World Order

be spread; shun it, so commandeth the Omniscient and the Wise. That is, in that city a stinking odor will soon be spread. You should avoid it. So are ye commanded by His Holiness, the Knower and the Wise.’ T/tat foal odor is that of violation.* Also in the T alzlet of Advice He says: ‘Now, do not neglect your Sower, Protector and Educator; and do not choose and prefer others to Him, lest foul and poisonous Winds should pass over you.’

“His Holiness Christ says that the owner of the garden does not leave the dried tree, but certainly cuts it and throws it into the fire, because the dried Wood is Worthy and deserving of fire. Again, His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh says: ‘Then, O ye trees of the blessed garden of My bestowal, protect ye yourselves from the poison of the treacherous souls and stinking Winds, which are the association of the polytheist and the negligent ones, so that the trees of existence, through the bounty of the Worshipped [One] be not deprived of the blessed breaths and breezes of love.’ ”

——Star of the West, V0l. XII, pp. 233, 234..

Read Old Testament, Numbers XII, V. I-15.

Comment: Violation in the family of Moses———Miriam, the sister of Aaron,

becomes leperous on account of violation against the Manifestation of God, Moses.——-Compiler.

Read Old Testament, Numbers XVI, 1-3 3 and 4.6-4.9.

Comment: Violation in the Camp of the Israelites—(v. I-33) Korah and others rebel against Moses and Aaron and are destroyed by an earthquake; (v. 4.6-4.9) fourteen thousand and seven hundred die of a plague, undoubtedly, leprosy of violation.—Compiler.

Words of ‘Abdu’l—Ba/ta’: “. . . the brothers of His Holiness Christ came to Him and it was said, ‘These are your brothers.’ He answered that

[Page 279]Covenant 279

His brothers were those who believed in God, and refused to associate with His own brothers. .

“His Holiness Christ did not exercise despotism in the case of Judas Iscariot and His own brothers, but they separated themselves. In short, the point is this: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. is extremely kind, but when the disease is leprosy, what am I to do? . . . One must protect and safeguard the blessed souls from the breaths and fatal spiritual diseases, otherwise violation, like the plague, will become a contagion and all will perish.” ——Star of the West, vol. XIII, pp. 24., 25.

Comment: This was violation within the family of Jesus Christ, the Manifestation of God.——Com}>iler.

Words of ‘A bdtt’l—Baltci:

“Thou hast written that in View of the questions of violation thou art perturbed. There is no occasion for perturbation, for the Blessed Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh] has closed all doors of error and doubt and has entered into a Covenant and Testament. . . . Will they [the teachings] be promulgated through senseless words by those who pretend to be philosophers, or through the doubts of the people of Violation and lust?”

-—Star of the West, vol. X, pp. 23 3-234.

6. Spiritual Death Through Violation

Read Old Testament, Daniel XII, V. I, 2, 3, I0.

‘‘(I) And at that time [the time of the end] shall Michael [He—Who—Is-Like—God] stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of Thy people. . . . (2) And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (3) And they that be Wise shall shine as the brightness of

[Page 280]280 World Order

the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. (10) Many shall be purified, and made white and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”

Comment: The Manifestations of God and the Prophets have taught the continued existence of every individual soul or spirit of humanity after its separation from the body; they also have taught that some awaken to everlasting Life and some to Death. What is the meaning of this?—Compiler.

Words of ‘Ahdn’l—Bahd (to the Compiler in the year 1913):

“O thou divine servant! . . .

“Convey the wonderful Abhá greeting to the believers. Chicago, in comparison with the cities of America, was in advance and numerically contained more Bahá’í's. But when the stench (vile odor) of the nakazeen [violators of the Covenant] was spread in that city there was stagnation. The Cause in other cities of America is progressing day unto day, but Chicago is stationary. Therefore, strive that the sweet fragrance of the Testament and Covenant may become diffused, the nostrils of the spiritual ones become perfumed, the banner of ‘Ya—Baha’u’l—Abhá!’ be unfurled, and the tent of the oneness of the world of humanity be pitched. Then ye shall observe that Chicago will become the Paradise of Abhá. These few nakazeen cannot accomplish anything worth while. The utmost is this that they will be the means of the drooping of the believers of God in that city. A person deprived of the spirit of the Covenant is [judged and] sentenced as dead.* Therefore, breathe the spirit of the Covenant and Testament as much as ye can in the hearts so that the souls may progress day unto day and obtain a new exhilaration.”

—-—-Star of the West, vol. XI, p. 319.

[Page 281]Covenant 28 1

Excerpt from article by Charles Mason Remey, approved by ‘A l2du’l-Ba/m’:

“Now consider the body of the faithful believers: If any one member severs his connection with the Center of the Covenant———from Whom all receive their spiritual force-—he ceases to be a living and active member of the body; and again, if he be not Working and performing his function in the Kingdom, the supply of spiritual sustenance flowing to him from the Center of the Covenant will be diminished in proportion as he fails to perform his work.”

——Star of the West, Vol. IV, p. 242.

Read New Te5tamemr—St. John XI, V. I-44..

Comment: Lazarus’ sickness; his death; note reference in verse 39 to the statement of his sister (“by this time he stinketh”); Lazarus resurrected by the power of the Manifestation of God, Jesus Christ. From the idioms used by Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, is it not evident that Lazarus was sick unto death on account of the leprosy of violation ? —-Compiler.

Read Standard Dz'ctiomzry—the definition of the word, LAZAR: “One afflicted with a loathsome disease; a leper.”

Comment: The very name, Lazarous, means a leper——one afflicted with the spiritual disease of violation, which only the Divine Manifestation of God and His Chosen Ones can “raise from the dead”.—Com}zilcr.

Words of ‘Abdzfil-Bahci:

“The people of Christianity have clung to literal interpretation of the statement in the Gospel that Christ came from heaven. . . . The text of the Gospel states that He came from heaven although physically born of the mother. The meaning is that the divine reality of Christ was from heaven, but the body was born of Mary. . . .

“The reality of Christ was always in heaven and will al [Page 282]

2 8 2 World Order

Ways be. This is the intention of the text of the Gospel. For While His Holiness Jesus Christ walked upon earth, He said: ‘The Son of Man is in heaven.’ . . . Unless we perceive the reality, We cannot understand the meanings of the Holy Books, for these meanings are symbolical and spiritual, such as for instance, the raising of Lazarus, which has spiritual interpretation.* . . . we must understand the interpretation of Christ’s words concerning ‘the dead’. A certain disciple came to His Holiness and asked permission to go and bury his father. His Holiness answered: ‘Let the dead bury their dead.’ Therefore, Christ designated as ‘dead’ some who were still living; that is, let the living ‘dead’, the spiritually ‘dead’, bury your father. They were dead because they were not believers in Christ. Although physically alive they were dead spiritually. This is the meaning of Christ’s words, ‘That which is born of flesh is flesh; that which is born of spirit is spirit.’ He meant that those who were simply born of the human body were dead spiritually, while those quickened by the breaths of the Holy Spirit were living and eternally alive. These are the interpretations of Christ himself. . . .

“The Holy Books have their special terminologies which must be known and understood.” “Reflect upon them and the meanings of the Holy Books will become clear as the sun at midday.” “Deprived of the Holy Spirit and its bounties,

man is spiritually dead.” ——The Promulgation of Universal Peace, vol. II, pp. 24.0, 24.1, 297.

Read New Testament—-Jude, v. 5-13.

Comment: Violation in the early days of Christianity (66 A.D.); reference to Cain and Coré (Korah).

[Page 283]Covenant 2 8 3

Jude, the disciple of Christ:

“I Will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed

not. . . . For there are certain men crept in unawares . . . deny: ing the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . Woe unto them! For they have gone the way of Cain . . . and

perished in the gain—saying of Coré (Korah). . . . Clouds they are without water; carried ahout of winds; trees without fruit ,twice dead! . . . raging waves of the sea, foaming out their shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the darkness of error forever!”*

Words of ‘A hdu’l-Baha':

“When a dead body is thrown into the ocean, the waves will throw it back upon the shore. So it is with the Ocean of truth—-—it will not accept a dead body; and if a believer has not these bounties of God, the sea will roll until he is finally cast out.” ——Bahá’í' Scriptures, p. 501, V. 964..

Words 0 f ‘Abdu’l-Bahá':

“The Covenant of God is like a vast and fathomless ocean. A billow shall rise and surge therefrom and shall cast ashore all accumulated foam.”

“Today, every wise, vigilant and foresighted person is awakened, and to him are unveiled the mysteries of the future,

that nothing save the power of the Covenant is ahle to stir and move the hearts of humanity.”*

——Star of the West, Vol. X, p. I53.

(To he continued)

• ltalics by the Compiler.

[Page 284]Love and Justice Henry C. Beecher

IT WAS a long time before this writer could reconcile Bahá’u’lláh’s characterization of “Justice” in His Hidden Word: as “of all things the best beloved in My sight” with Christ’s acceptance of “Love” as the greatest thing in the world. What seemed to the writer to be the solution of the problem came to him as a great relief.

When Christ came to earth an international federation of nations was physically impossible and mentally inconceivable. Hence it was impracticable either as a religious conception or a political ideal. Therefore Christ taught and ministered to the hearts and souls of men as individuals rather than as a collective body, and love was the supreme law of His teaching.

In this great day the human race is approaching its maturity so that the New World Order of Bahá’u’lláh can become available to it. This new Divine Order is adding to man’s spiritual relationships-—those existing between man and his neighbor and man and his God—a race relationship out of which emerges the vaster conception of man as a whole, that of the “Oneness of Mankind”, embracing the entire gamut of human relationships and involving not only the inner or spiritual phases of his existence but the outer or political phases as well.

Man’s inner or spiritual unity finds its realization in the religious fellowship established by Bahá’u’lláh as the daily guide and balance wheel of man, the individual, and the source of light and inspiration for every branch of individual human

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endeavor. It is here we find dominant the great spiritual fundamental, the law of love.

The outer form of man’s unity, the body politic, on the other hand, finds its ultimate and complete realization in Bahá’u’lláh’s new political organization culminating in federation of the nations of the world and embracing all mankind.

It is in this outer court, this body politic of humanity, including within its protective jurisdiction every nation, every state and every hamlet, that justice, the quality extolled by Bahá’u’lláh as “best beloved”, particularly applies and functions. Thus, while love remains the basic law of being in the spiritual life and development of man as an individual, justice becomes the guiding light and dominant law in the body politic, be it local, national or international.

We could hardly visualize a vast political organization, with its law-making, law-administering and law-enforcing functions, as being motivated primarily by the purely spiritual law of love rather than by the distinctly administrative law of justice. Hence, Bahá’u’lláh, without minimizing the greatness or importance of love, elevates and accentuates the greatness and importance of justice in its larger relationship to His New World Order based upon the oneness of mankind. Justioe thereby becomes closely correlated to that other divine attribute which manifests as love in man’s inner, individual consciousness. A

O ye beloved of the Lord! The greatest of all things is the protection of the True Faith of God, the preservation of His Law, the safeguarding of His Cause and service unto His Word.

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament

[Page 286]

WITH OUR READERS

OUR readers Will notice that the number of members of our editorial committee has shrunk from five to four. We regret the loss from the stafl of Stanwood Cobb who has served the Bahá’í magazine, both World Order and Star of the West, for many years. His long experience as a Bahá’í, his fine editorial ability and his talents for consultation and cooperation have been of inestimable value. Travel difficulties brought about this change in the committee through decision of the National Spiritual Assembly.

On renewing her subscription an old time subscriber writes, “I think World Order gets better all the time.” And a new subscriber states, “I would like the subscription to begin with the June, 1942, issue. . . . I have read that splendid number and it has convinced me that I can no longer do without the Bahá’í magazine.” The editors hope that this feeling that World Order is indispensable will spread rapidly among Bahá’ís. We hope too that you will continue to send

us better and better articles. In writing be simple, direct and clear, rather than weighty and diffuse.

Like all Bahá’í' activities the magazine is a cooperative undertaking. So the magazine needs your help not only as writers but also as subscribers. As you know we carry no advertisements as most magazines do and so are dependent upon subscriptions to pay the costs of printing and distribution. No articles are paid for, the editors receive no salaries. The outgo is as low as possible and yet this little magazine has to be subsidized by the National Spiritual Assembly. So by subscribing to the magazine you are also giving to the National Fund. And besides that you receive the magazinel!

For this column we like brief suggestions or experiences about teaching. The aim is to make World Order “contribute regularly and directly to the success of the great teaching campaign in which the American Bahá’í Community is now engaged.” One correspondent suggests that

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[Page 287]With Our Readers

we have a children’s department in the magazine. At present this is beyond the scope of our resources both in workers and funds. However, this department warmly welcomes teaching suggestions whether they concern children, youth or adults.

The matter of teaching the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh through Braille transcription is enlarged upon by one of our correspondents. She has found that it develops one’s own capacities and gifts as well as opens the Cause to the blind. And it leads to new acquaintance and friendships. She found the learning process not too easy but immensely worth While. It “requires patience and perseverance, pluck and prayer,” she says, but “it is worth striving for with its vast possibilities. . . . It awakens the subconscious mind and develops concentration. . . . God bestows upon man ‘a mind which should be cultivated continually like a garden’ or it will go to weeds. . . . Braille is a marvelous invention, a whole alphabet formed on six dots.”

For her final mastery of Braille she gives praise to the fine character of her teacher. She

287

had tried for a long time to commence the course in Braille transcription when she was at last sent by the American Red Cross to Mr. Bernard Krebs, librarian and instructor at the Jewish Guild for the Blind, a graduate with high honors from New York University though himself without sight. His “patient training” and his continual encouragement and keen mind which saw the possibilities of achievement were her great aid. “Now it seems so easy,” she writes and adds, “Life

would now seem drab without Braille.” I’!

There is a national Bahai Braille transcription committee and several are doing this transcription work, but many are needed as each book or pamphlet has to be painstakingly done by hand. The great goal, as our correspondent says, “is to assist the sightless” but in addition new friends are made and new opportunities are opened for telling about our Faith. Ba/xzi’u’llah and the New Era when transcribed into Braille makes four large volumes. These Braille transcriptions are placed in institutes for the blind or circulated through public libraries.

at :0: at:

Our leading article this month

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is written by one of our younger Bahá’ís, Miss Mary Hammond of Winnetka, Illinois. The article was published originally in the Bennington College (Vermont) Silo as one of three papers Written by students on the general theme of My Idea of God. Miss Hammond was graduated from college in June and tells us that she spent the summer on an Illinois farm. “What I am most interested in however,” she writes, “is painting and it is that which absorbs me most fully. I took a year at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago in my junior year of college.”

The second part of a series of compiled materials on “The Covenant” by Albert Windust of Chicago appears in this number for the illumination and assistance of the friends. In the September issue Mr. Windust arranged the quotations under three main headings: (1) The Forgotten Covenant, (2) The Power of the Covenant, and (3) The Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh. He will complete the series in the December number.

One of the days which Bahá’ís commemorate in November is the day of the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l World Order

Baha. The poem by William Kenneth Christian entitled “On Carmel’s Aged Slopes” fittingly and beautifully reminds us of this anniversary. The articles which Mr. Christian has contributed to World Order make him well known to constant readers of the magazine.

Readers of World Order will remember several short articles and a poem written by Henry C. Beecher of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. His article on “Love and Justice” makes it clear why Bahá’u’lláh emphasizes justice so strongly in His Revelation for this new age.

A new series of helpful material for Bahá’ís, but which we feel certain will be of interest to non-Bahá’í readers as well, is “The Bahá’í Community”, the first article of which appears in this number of the magazine. It was written by Chester F. Barnett of Peoria, Illinois. The series will be continued next month with a discussion of the Bahá’í Community in its function as

“Community, not Church” by William Kenneth Christian.

Horace Holley writes for us again this month in the editorial, “A Divine Policy”.

-—THE EDITORS.

[Page 289]Bahá’í Literature

Gleanings from the Writings of Baha"u’lla'};, 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 Walf, 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-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.

Prayers 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 dmwered 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 Pramulgatian 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 World Order of Ba}m"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.

BA!-lA’I PUBLISHING COMMITTEE 110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS

[Page 290]2—.r.—V-.

THE Bahá’í FAITH

RECOGNIZES THE UNITY o1= G01) AND H15 PROPHETS,

UPHOLDS THE PRINCIPLE OF AN UNFETTERED SEARCH AFTER TRUTH,

CONDEMNS ALL FORMS OF SUPERSTITION AND PREJUDICE,

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

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

PROGRESSIVE SOCIETY. . . .

INCULCATES THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES FOR

BOTH SEXES, ADVOCATES COMPULSORY EDUCATION,

Anousnns EXTREMES or povmvrv AND WEALTH,

EXALTS WORK PERFORMED IN THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE TO THE RANK OF WORSHIP,

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

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

—SHoc.H1 El-‘FENDI.

a