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WORLD
ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
June, 1943
• Men of the Promised Day . . . . . . . . . . Alta M. Gaines 73
• Panama—The Crossroads . . . . . . . . . . C. E. Hamilton 83
• My God, My Adored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bahá’u’lláh 88
• The Re-Newed Day . . . . . . . . . . . Kathrine S. Baldwin 89
• A Call to Greatness . . . . . . . . Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick 92
• Evolution of the Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ida Judith Baum 94
• Security for the Jew, Editorial . . . . . . Horace Holley 102
• Bahá’í Lessons . . . 104 • With Our Readers . . . 106
FIFTEEN CENTS
THE REVELATION OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, WHOSE 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,
BE REGARDED AS SIGNALIZING THROUGH ITS 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.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS SHOULD BE REPORTED
ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE
WORLD ORDER is published monthly in Wilmette, Ill., by the Publishing Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. EDITORS: Garreta Busey, Alice Simmons Cox, Horace Holley, Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick.
Editorial Office
1109 WEST GIFT AVENUE, PEORIA, ILL.
Publication Office
110 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, Ill., under the Act of March 3, 1879. Contents copyrighted 1943 by Bahá’í Publishing Committee. Title registered at U. S. Patent Office.
JUNE, 1943, VOLUME IX, NUMBER 3
WORLD ORDER
THE BAHÁ’Í MAGAZINE
VOLUME IX JUNE, 1943 NUMBER 3
Men of the New Day
Alta M. Gaines
HUSAYN SHOW CHARACTERISTICS NEEDED TODAY
NABÍL, of Persia, gives to the world in his unique narrative,
The Dawn-Breakers, a history of the early beginnings of the
Bahá’í Faith. He also describes the first signs presaging the
dawn of a great world civilization, and in so doing relates
story after story about men and women, who, fired by the
potency of a new Revelation, arose to champion its cause.
Among these chronicles is that of two young men closely connected
with the youthful Báb, Forerunner of Bahá’u’lláh.
Ḥusayn, of Bushrú’í, a young Muḥammadan mullá, and Quddús, a descendant of the Prophet Muḥammad, are stirring examples of spiritual character, and together reveal the richness of true spiritual fellowship. Their attributes of self-renunciation, discipline, justice, fair-mindedness and spiritual insight are qualities which must distinguish the race of men who form the warp and woof of the new social pattern given to mankind by Bahá’u’lláh for this age.
“The supreme and distinguishing function of the Revelation
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of Bahá’u’lláh is none other than the calling into being
of a new race of men”, Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í
Faith, emphatically states in The Advent of Divine Justice.
Bahá’u’lláh, Himself, says: “Is not the object of every Revelation
to effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind,
a transformation that shall manifest itself, both outwardly
and inwardly?” And the Guardian makes clear that
the New World Order can never be realized except as the
inner man is regenerated and made new. Human and social
relationships can be changed only as the inner and individual
lives of the people are transformed through the spiritual potency
of their religious faith. “The most vital duty in this day,”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written, “is to purify your characters, to
correct your manners and improve your conduct.”
The basic spiritual requirements of the new civilization, which are gradually, and imperceptibly to most minds, taking form in almost every country, include a high sense of moral rectitude in the social and administrative activities of its people, and complete freedom from prejudice in dealing with peoples of a different race, class, creed or color. Justice, chastity, equity, truthfulness, honesty, fairmindedness and trustworthiness must distinguish every phase of life. For man to inculcate these qualities in his innermost being and daily action, demands, according to the Guardian, “constant scrutiny, continual self-examination and heart-searching”.
THE WORLD OF SPIRIT
Nabíl describes the first meeting between Mullá Ḥusayn
and Quddús, the first and last of the eighteen chosen disciples
of the Báb. One day as the Báb and the youthful mullá were
walking along, there appeared a youth, “disheveled and travel-stained”.
He spoke to Mullá Ḥusayn, who walked behind
the Báb and who tried to calm the new youth’s agitation, advising
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him to rest and hear later the great news. But young
Quddús was not to be put off. He declared, as he gazed at
the Báb, that he recognized His gait, and that none other
besides Him could lay claim to the Truth. Mullá Ḥusayn,
marveling at these words, left the young man and hastened to
rejoin the Báb, Whom he informed of the conversation.
“Marvel not,” observed the Báb, “at his strange behavior. We have in the world of the spirit been communing with that youth. We know him already. We, indeed, awaited his coming. Go to him and summon him forthwith to Our presence.”
Nabíl tells how Mullá Ḥusayn was reminded by the Báb’s words of the following traditional utterance: “On the last Day, the Men of the Unseen shall, on the wings of the spirit, traverse the immensity of the earth, shall attain the presence of the Promised Qá’im, and shall seek from Him the secret that will resolve their problems and remove their perplexities.” “Otherwise,” Nabíl continues, “how could Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid Káẓim have known of the Báb? . . . The mystic bond of the spirit linked their souls together.” And that, too, is characteristic of the new race of men—spiritual communion.
It is related how Quddús was chosen by the Báb to accompany
Him on the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, and thus
was given the chance for close, unbroken companionship which
this long voyage provided. Mullá Ḥusayn, who had anticipated
being in the divine Presence of the Báb during His
journey, was assigned by the Báb the arduous mission of carrying
the Word of the new Revelation into northern Írán and
there meeting the attacks of a relentless enemy. “The hosts
of the invisible Kingdom . . . will sustain and reinforce your
efforts,” Mullá Ḥusayn was assured by His Beloved Teacher.
“The essence of power is now dwelling in you, and the company
of His chosen angels revolves around you. His almighty
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arms will surround you, and His unfailing Spirit will
ever continue to guide your steps.”
Later Mullá Ḥusayn went on foot from the city of Mashhad, where he had been teaching, to visit the Báb after His incarceration in the mountain fastness of the Castle of Máh-Kú, situated in a most inhospitable part of northern Írán. Nine precious days these two had together, and they were destined not to meet again face to face. The Báb instructed him to visit the believers in the different towns and cities on his return. “You will strive to inflame their hearts anew with the fire of the love of the Beauty of God, and endeavor to fortify their faith in His Revelation,” He said in farewell. “From Ṭihrán you should proceed to Mázindarán, where God’s hidden treasure will be made manifest to you.”
THE HIDDEN TREASURE
In the meantime, Quddús had gone back to his home town, Bárfurúsh, in the province of Mázindarán, and settled in the house that had been his father’s. He freely associated with all classes of people and was well liked by them. Quddús was only twenty-two years old when he had embraced the Faith. Nabíl makes notable comment upon the modesty of this youth and his reverent silence, which had always distinguished him from the rest of his student companions. Nabíl’s remark calls to mind the words of Bahá’u’lláh: “Yes, there exists a sign in the being of man which guards and protects him from that which is unworthy and unbecoming. That sign is called Modesty. But this virtue is assigned to a few; for all are not endowed with this station.”
Mullá Ḥusayn, eagerly expectant of witnessing the revelation
of the hidden treasure promised to him by his Master,
proceeded to Mázindarán, and arriving at Bárfurúsh, went
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directly to the home of Quddús and was most affectionately
received by him. Quddús waited upon his guest himself, and
with his own hands removed the dust, and washed the blistered
skin of the traveler’s feet. He offered him the seat of
honor in the company of his assembled friends, and introduced,
with extreme reverence, each of the believers who had come to
meet him. Mullá Ḥusayn seemed to have accepted all this
attention as a matter of course. It must be remembered that
he was a very brilliant young man, and a natural leader. He
had great charm, high integrity and amazing courage. Indeed, a
learned disciple of Shaykh Aḥmad said that had Mullá
Ḥusayn declared himself to be the Báb, he would have been
the first to champion his cause, in view of his remarkable
traits of character and breadth of knowledge.
When the assembled believers had left, and Quddús and Mullá Ḥusayn were once more alone together, Quddús inquired whether he had brought with him any of the Báb’s Writings, and being informed to the contrary, presented his guest with a manuscript and requested that he read certain passages. After he had read one page, the features of Mullá Ḥusayn showed admiration and surprise at the loftiness, the profundity—above all the penetrating influence—of the words he had read. He said to Quddús:
“I can well realize that the Author of these words has
drawn his inspiration from that Fountainhead which stands
immeasurably superior to the sources whence the learning of
men is ordinarily derived. I hereby testify to my wholehearted
recognition of the sublimity of these words, and to
my unquestioned acceptance of the truth which they reveal.”
From the silence of Quddús and from the expression of his
face, Mullá Ḥusayn concluded no one else except his host
could have penned those words. He instantly arose from his
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seat and standing with bowed head at the threshold of the
door, reverently declared:
“The hidden treasure of which the Báb has spoken now lies unveiled before my eyes. Its light has dispelled the gloom of perplexity and doubt. Though my Master be now hidden [in prison] . . . the sign of His splendor and the revelation of His might stand manifest before me. I have found in Mázindarán the reflection of His Glory.”
Nabíl relates that on the night when Mullá Ḥusayn was a guest of the Báb for the first time, the young scholar was at first conscious “of his own infinite superiority” and inclined to belittle the claims advanced by the son of an obscure merchant of Shíráz. But as soon as the Báb began to unfold His theme, Mullá Ḥusayn, with keen judgment and absolute fairness, “did not fail to perceive the incalculable benefits” latent in the Revelation of the Báb. He eagerly and disdainfully abandoned any personal bias that might hamper his own efforts for the proper understanding and the effective promotion of its interests.
And now, again, when this same young man was given the opportunity to appreciate the sublimity of the writings of Quddús, a young fellow disciple, he “with his usual sagacity and unerring judgment, was likewise able to estimate the true worth and merit of those special gifts with which both the person and the utterance of Quddús were endowed.” His own vast acquired knowledge dwindled into insignificance before the all-encompassing, the God-given virtues which the spirit of Quddús displayed.
Nabíl explains that Mullá Ḥusayn in his deference for his
companion was solely actuated by a firm conviction of the
reality of those super-natural gifts which so clearly distinguished
Quddús from the rest of his fellow disciples. The
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young mullá’s keen spiritual insight apprehended the great
power which lay latent in Quddús, and the nobility of his own
character impelled him to demonstrate his recognition of that
truth. The citizens of the New Day may not refuse to discharge
the due reward of any one.
The next morning when the believers gathered at the home of Quddús they were surprised to find that the guest who the night before had occupied the seat of honor had given his place to his host and was now standing, in his stead, at the threshold in an attitude of complete humility. And Quddús in the company of the assembled believers, addressing Mullá Ḥusayn, outlined the plans which he had for the furtherance of the new Faith.
Surely Mullá Ḥusayn in his fairness, his insight and sincerity, and that “integrity which no self-interest can shake”, exemplified perfectly those words of Bahá’u’lláh in Gleanings, where He says in regard to the sincere seeker after Truth:
“So great shall be the discernment of this seeker that he
will discriminate between truth and falsehood, even as he
doth distinguish the sun from shadow. If in the uttermost
corners of the East the sweet savors of God be wafted, he
will assuredly recognize and inhale their fragrance, even
though he be dwelling in the uttermost ends of the West. He
will, likewise, clearly distinguish all the signs of God—His
wondrous utterances, His great works, and mighty deeds—
from the doings, the words and ways of men, even as the
jeweler who knoweth the gem from the stone, or the man
who distinguisheth the spring from autumn, and heat from
cold. When the channel of the human soul is cleansed of
all worldly and impeding attachments, it will unfailingly perceive
the breath of the Beloved across immeasurable distances,
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and will, led by its perfume, attain and enter the City of
Certitude.”
Mullá Ḥusayn may be ranked as a pioneer member of the “new race of men”, exemplifying that type of human relationship which is to distinguish the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh,—when every one seeks for the hidden treasure in his brother, when no one will wish for others that which he doth not wish for himself, nor promise that which he doth not fulfill.
THE NEW RACE ARISING
In revealing his plans to Mullá Ḥusayn, Quddús first of all advised that he place full reliance upon the grace of God, and fearlessly disclose the distinguishing features of the Revelation. Then he told Mullá Ḥusayn to go to the city of Mashhad, buy ground and there build a house where the two of them would live. Now Mashhad was the greatest place of pilgrimage in all Írán. Thousands of pilgrims every year visited the tomb of the Imám Riḍá located there, and through their religious superstitions were imposed upon and exploited by the greedy officials who separated them from their last penny before they returned home. Often the pilgrims quarreled among themselves and led immoral lives while on their so-called spiritual pilgrimage.
In this city Mullá Ḥusayn built the house. It was given
the name of Bábíyyih which it bears to the present day, according
to Nabíl. “To it,” said Quddús, “you shall invite every
receptive soul who we hope may be guided to the river of
everlasting life.” So there the two young men dwelt. Nabíl
describes how a steady stream of visitors, whom the energy
and the zeal of Mullá Ḥusayn had prepared for the acceptance
of the Faith, poured into the potent presence of Quddús,
acknowledged the claim of the Cause, and willingly enlisted
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under its banner. A wave of enthusiasm for the new teachings
swept over Mashhad and the surrounding territory; the house
of Bábíyyih became a rallying center for a multitude of followers
who resolved to demonstrate the great inherent energies
of their new Faith.
The growing popularity of the Báb’s Revelation aroused the resentment of the religious leaders as well as of the civil authorities of Persia. They were concerned and envious of the interest aroused and arose to persecute and martyr the followers of the new Faith.
This attitude is quite understandable in view of the fact that the Revelation of the Báb instituted drastic reform which shook the supports of the religion, morals, the conditions, the habits and the customs of Írán (Persia), instituted new rules and new spiritual laws. Through its teachings and spiritual potency, divine education was imparted to an unenlightened and superstitious multitude and produced marvelous results in the lives of many.
The recordings of Eastern history show the corruption of the official hierarchy in Persia at the time of the advent of the new Revelation. Government official positions were, almost without exception, conferred in return for gifts. Merit and training had nothing whatsoever to do with securing a post.
In the ecclesiastical realm, superstition, vice and deception prevailed. Religious prejudice and racial antagonism flourished. In the entire set-up, self-interest and personal gain were the motivating influences.
Into this welter of injustice and general corruption came
the dawn message of God, preparing the way for a new cosmic
cycle, for a reign of justice on earth, for which a new set of
laws and customs was inevitable. No more shall there be any
distinction between higher and lower races, or between men
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and women; no longer unjust discrimination between classes.
All men will become brothers in a common religious faith
that guides and motivates a universal civilization.
“Who,” says Shoghi Effendi, referring to the inauguration of a world civilization such as no mortal eye hath beheld or human mind conceived, “can visualize the realm which the human spirit, vitalized by the outpouring light of Bahá’u’lláh, shining in the plentitude of its glory, will discover?”
Mullá Ḥusayn and Quddús joyfully suffered martyrdom in defending the new Faith for which they labored unceasingly after their acceptance of it in 1844, the year the Báb declared His mission. It is related how Bahá’u’lláh extolled the virtues of Mullá Ḥusayn in these words: “But for him God would not have been established upon the seat of His mercy, nor ascended the throne of eternal glory.”
Quddús was among the first to suffer persecution, on Íránian soil, for the sake of the new Revelation. Bahá’u’lláh bestowed upon him the unrivaled station of “The Last Point”, a station second to none in that Dispensation except the station of the Báb Himself.
O people of God! Do not busy yourselves in your own concerns; let your thoughts be fixed upon that which will rehabilitate the fortunes of mankind and sanctify the hearts and souls of men. This can best be achieved through pure and holy deeds, through a virtuous life and goodly behavior. Valiant acts will insure the triumph of this Cause, and a saintly character will reinforce its power. Cleave unto righteousness, O people of Bahá! This, verily, is the commandment which this wronged One hath given unto you, and the first choice of His unrestrained Will for every one of you.
Panama—The Crossroads
of the World
C. E. Hamilton
ON THIS VITAL, strategic and overwhelmingly important strip
of land, the country of Panama, diversity prevails almost beyond
imagination. Several thousand species of constantly
blooming, luxuriant plant life, stimulated by an abundance
of rain and warmed by the tropical sun, grow with such superabundance
that a trail cut through the jungles is completely
closed and lost within a few days.
The jungles, haven of wild pig, stalking jaguar, huge boa, chattering monkey and gorgeously colored birds, hem modern cities on all sides. There are Indian tribes who know nothing of the world a few miles from their jungle retreat, living as they have for hundreds of years, within a comparatively short distance from educational institutions and the Panama Canal, one of the engineering feats of modern civilization.
On the streets we meet United States soldiers, sailors, marines and civilians, San Blas Indians, Hindus, Chinese, Latin Americans from all parts of Central and South America, Europeans, and many Negroes.
Man’s most modern means of transportation, the aeroplane, roars its challenge while constantly guarding the air.
Within a few minutes’ drive of Panama City with its many imposing homes, the oxcart and thatched roof hut are quite common-place.
The history of Panama dates back to 1501 when it was
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first visited by Rodrigo Galvan de Bastidas. It was rediscovered
by Columbus in 1502 on his fourth and last trip. The
discovery of the South Sea (Pacific Ocean) by Balboa in 1513
made it necessary to build a city on the Pacific shores in order
to carry on successfully the conquest of the lands beyond. In
1519 two cities were actually established and linked by narrow
trails across the Isthmus—Nombre de Dios on the Atlantic
side and Panama City on the Pacific. The fame of the city
on the Pacific grew rapidly. It supported, according to some
historians, 10,000 inhabitants; according to others, 30,000. It
became the focal point for gold convoys traveling between
Peru and Spain. Immense quantities of gold were stored
awaiting shipment.
This great wealth attracted the hoards of pirates who roamed the Caribbean, and in 1671 Henry Morgan, the English buccaneer, committed the most audacious act in the annals of piracy by attacking and capturing Fort Lorenzo at the mouth of the Chagres River on the Atlantic side. Then, assembling a force of twenty-seven ships and two thousand men, he sailed up the river to the town of Cruces, from whence he went overland to Panama City.
On Wednesday, January 28, 1671, he challenged the Spanish on the Plains of Mataznillo. The defenders were beaten back, but before leaving, they destroyed all stores of gun powder, thus reducing the city to smoking ruins.
Although the Spaniards hid much of their treasure, the wealth of Old Panama had been so great that Morgan and his men had booty enough to load 195 pack mules.
The site chosen for the new Panama City (the present one)
was a rocky peninsula, joined to land by a narrow causeway.
It was surrounded by high walls, strongly fortified, and separated
from the mainland by a moat which was filled at high
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tide, thus converting the peninsula into an impregnable island.
The only link to the mainland was a drawbridge, lowered at
6:00 A.M. and raised at 9:00 P.M. Parts of the original wall
and the gate are still in existence.
The ruins of the old city still stand and are visited by hundreds of tourists each year.
After achieving its independence from Spain in 1821, Panama, a small country, remembering the sack of Old Panama, chose to join Colombia, her southern neighbor, for protection.
An era of prosperity again came to Panama in 1849 when the California gold rush once more made her the crossroads of the world. Panama City became so prosperous and so large that the wall was finally broken in 1866 and again in ’77 so that the city could be enlarged by joining to it the suburbs of Santa Ana and Salsipuedes.
In 1855 the Panama Railroad was built, linking the Atlantic and the Pacific. This railroad still carries a great part of the traffic across the Isthmus.
In 1879 a French company, headed by Ferdinand de Lesseps, obtained a concession to build a canal across the Isthmus. However, poor sanitation and subsequent epidemics doomed this first effort to failure. In 1884 the work was discontinued, but it is still possible to see the remains of the original canal started by these gallant pioneers.
On November 3, 1903, Panama declared her independence from Colombia and immediately signed a treaty with the United States, leasing a strip of land ten miles wide, extending across the Isthmus, for the purpose of the construction of a canal. This strip of land is known today as the Canal Zone.
In making the lease, the two terminal cities of Colon and
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Panama City, which were already in existence, were exempted
from the strip and it is the exemption of these two cities in
the Canal Zone which makes it possible to be literally within
the Zone, but still in the Republic of Panama. Thus you are
in the Republic one moment and in the Zone the next.
Automobiles must be licensed for both countries and traffic disputes on the border streets are frequently settled by getting two policemen—one Panamanian and one American.
In 1904 the work on the American canal was begun. With the discovery of the theory of infection from mosquitoes, the problem of yellow fever and malaria was solved.
In 1915 the United States opened the Panama Canal to commerce and Panama for the third time became the crossroads of the world.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, referring to the Latin States in one of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, said “All have importance, but especially the Republic of Panama, wherein the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans come together through the Panama Canal. It is a center of travel and passage from America to other cantinents of the world, and in the future it will gain most great importance.” Likewise, He again has written, “Ye must give great attention to the Republic of Panama, for in that point the Occident and the Orient find each other united through the Panama Canal, and it is also situated between the two great oceans. That place will become very important in the future. The teachings once established there will unite the east and the west, the north and the south.”
We Bahá’ís in this pivotal center feel with all our souls
our responsibility in firmly establishing here the faith of
Bahá’u’lláh. Inasmuch as we are all employed, a large part
of our time is taken by our employers. Because no private
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business enterprise is allowed in the Canal Zone, it is necessary
for us to do our shopping at government commissaries or pay
very high prices in Panama. The commissaries close at 5:30
P.M., making it necessary for us to rush from work to supply
our material needs.
The tire shortage, four gallons per week gasoline rationing, and the scarcity of public conveyances, make transportation very difficult. The limited lighting in the early evening and total blackout after 11:00 P.M. has discouraged many from attending our meetings, especially the young women, among whom we believe are several future Bahá’ís.
In this land of all races and creeds, where the black, the white, the yellow and the brown are all blending together, where the child on the street is often a mixture of the Caucasian, the Ethiopian and the Mongolian, where the Buddhist, the Hindu, the Moslem and Christian are neighbors, prejudices run rampant and the good as well as the vices of the world are all mixed together. Our two staunch Bahá’í pioneers, Cora Oliver and Louise Caswell, have encountered many obstacles and disappointments. However, their efforts, with the help of God, are made manifest in our regular Bahá’í meetings where the attendance is of all colors, some speaking Spanish, some English, and others both languages.
The enthusiasm of the pioneers who have stopped off here en route to South America has been wonderfully inspiring.
May God grant our prayers and the prayers of all Bahá’ís that these courageous pioneers will soon be rewarded by seeing Spiritual Assemblies established in each country, then in each community of each country.
My God, My Adored
My God, my Adored One, my King, my
Desire! What tongue can voice my thanks to
Thee? I was heedless, Thou didst awaken me.
I had turned back from Thee, Thou didst graciously
aid me to turn towards Thee. I was as
one dead, Thou didst quicken me with the water
of life. I was withered, Thou didst revive me
with the heavenly stream of Thine utterance
which hath flowed forth from the Pen of the All-Merciful.
O Divine Providence! All existence is begotten by Thy bounty; deprive it not of the waters of Thy generosity, neither do Thou withhold it from the ocean of Thy mercy. I beseech Thee to aid and assist me at all times and under all conditions, and seek from the heaven of Thy grace Thine ancient favor. Thou art, in truth, the Lord of bounty, and the Sovereign of the kingdom of eternity.
The Re-Newed Day
Kathrine S. Baldwin
RAIN gently falls on the dried-up earth of the courtyard
surrounded by a high gray stone wall. In the center of the
enclosure a leafless plum tree stands prepared for winter’s
sleep; already the tree dozes soothed by the gentle drops.
An aged Chinese philosopher looks through the casement window of his low roofed house onto this sheltered world all his own. In a quiet manner he rejoices over the falling drops and the season’s broken drought. The philosopher looks at the plum tree through the mist and fast fading light and tries to follow the outline of branches with his dimming eyes, but sees only two main branches parting from the trunk. He glances toward the western end of the small garden and faintly sees the round tiled pool sunken near the wall. The glimpse of the pool starts him musing and he again lives in spring when the first crimson lotus bud appeared there above flat green leaves; he lives over the days when patiently he watched the slow growth of the flower in its watery bed, and remembers the hour each petal unfolded and opened gladly its heart to the sun. And then his thoughts turn to the past centuries of his country’s outstanding achievements in cultural and scientific knowledge; gratified is he with these marvelous achievements. And he has absolute assurance of his great country’s future which will come after the present smoke of cannon-fire drifts away into the atmosphere of universal peace.
Nearby the hooting of an owl breaks the monotone of
falling rain. The old philosopher moves forward in his chair
so as to catch more clearly the bird’s call; slowly his wrinkled
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and noble face turns upward toward the night sky waiting for
another note; but now no sound comes: only the drip! drip!
drip! of raindrops falling from the eaves is heard. Gradually
he settles back in his chair and a slight shade of disappointment
passes across his face. Once again his eyes turn toward
the plum tree though into the night it has passed; yet, he sees
the tree, now forlorn and sad, in the glorious re-birth awaiting
it at the time of coming spring when delicate blossoms will
fall to carpet the earth beneath in exquisite whiteness.
“Re-birth awaiting it at the time of coming spring”, he says aloud. The certitude of hope surges through his entire being as he remembers the never failing phenomenal law of the return of re-newed growth after the dormant period of winter. Immediately his thoughts turned to a book which he had read that day. The book stating with absolute certainty that a New Day of God had appeared in this world bringing to humanity fuller life, and the fulfillment of all the prophecies of past ages. It was more complete than any philosophical book he had ever read; for it revealed the knowledge of the return of another Manifestation of God upon earth during his own life time. Slowly the aged man rises from his chair and lights a lamp standing on a high teak wood table for he wishes again to read the wondrous words. At the end of the table he sees the paper-covered book which had been translated into a modern dialect of the Chinese language. He eagerly takes it in his withered hands, pulls the chair near the lamp and settles himself. At random he opens the pages and reads:
“Do you know in what Day you are living? Do you
realize in what Dispensation you are alive? Have you not
heard in the Holy Scriptures that at the consummation of the
ages there shall appear a Day which is the sum of all the past
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Days? This is the Day in which the Lord of Hosts has come
down from heaven on the clouds of glory! This is the Day
in which the inhabitants of all the world shall enter under
the shelter of the Word of God.
“This is the Day whose real sovereign is His Highness the Almighty. This is the Day in which war and contention shall be forgotten. This is the Day in which nations and governments will enter into an eternal bond of amity and conciliation. This Century is the fulfillment of the Promised Century.
“Now is the dawn; ere long the effulgent Sun shall rise and station itself in the meridian of its majesty. Then you shall observe the effects of the Sun. Then you shall behold what heavenly illumination has become manifest. Then you shall comprehend that these are the infinite bestowals of God! Then you shall see that this world has become another world. Then you shall perceive that the Teachings of God have universally spread.
“Rest ye assured that this darkness shall be dispelled and these impenetrable clouds which have darkened the horizon shall be scattered, and the Sun of Reality shall appear in its full splendor. Its rays shall melt the icebergs of hatred and differences which have transformed the moving sea of humanity into hard frozen immensity. The vices of the world of nature shall be changed into praiseworthy attributes, and the lights of the excellences of the Divine realm shall appear.
“The principles of His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh, like unto the spirit, shall penetrate the dead body of the world, and the Love of God, like unto an artery, shall beat through the heart of the five continents.”
With a feeling of wonderment and joyous satisfaction the aged Chinese philosopher closes the book.
A Call to Greatness
THE TITLE of a recent book attracted me. It is, “A Time for Greatness”.
The author, Herbert Agar, believes that the highest kind of
morality must be applied to economic, national and international affairs.
Without greatness we cannot hope to have true or enduring civilization.
High moral standards have been neglected, forgotten. They
must be called forth and revived. This call to greatness is directed
especially to America and American citizens, for the author believes
that the United States has a responsibility to the world, that the
American tradition must prevail not only in America, but in the world.
It is only by understanding and acknowledging that it is our failures in high morality which have brought the world to its present plight, that we can hope to remedy the world sickness. Mr. Agar believes that it is only by applying standards of right and wrong that we can ever solve our tangle of social and economic problems. He refutes the idea that civilization is a “by-product of economic progress”. “The essence of civilization,” he holds, “is a restraint, imposed by either divine law or reason, upon man’s instinct.” Such a sentence as this reminds us of the repeated emphasis which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid, in His talks in America thirty years ago, upon the necessity of distinguishing between material civilization and divine civilization. The former without the latter, He warned us, would lead us to the very condition in which we find ourselves today.
The whole first chapter of Mr. Agar’s book is concerned with driving home to us, the citizens of a free world, our absolute failure to recognize that the root of our troubles is not economic but moral, that economic maladjustments are symptoms, not causes, of world sickness. And he is specific. The crisis began, Mr. Agar believes, when the nations who had signed the Kellogg Pact and who were members of the League, refused through indifference and through ignoring high principles, to go to the aid of Ethiopia. After that, nation after nation called upon their allies in vain. “We found more than excuses,” he says, “we praised ourselves as realists, as hard headed sensible men who took the economic view of life and who could not be moved by moralistic propaganda. It is human to sin and be selfish; but to boast of our crimes and to make a virtue of them is as sacrilegious as black mass.”
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Analysing this condition of apathy Mr. Agar lays the blame on
the citizens of the free democracies, not excluding those of our own
country. He accuses all of the democracies of lying upon “the sickbed
of inertia”.
The bulk of this book is taken up with facing problems which exist in America. They can only be solved, be believes, by putting first things first. The real meaning of the present war, the race problem, political degeneracy and corruption, the weakness of the press, labor relations, equality, or lack of it,—all these are discussed as moral issues. The author is by no means hopeless, but he would arouse us from our apathy. Again and again he insists that good and evil, right and wrong, do exist, and that we must choose the right and the good if we would build a true civilization.
In his last chapter Mr. Agar pleads for the American idea. He holds that it has always been universal and that the idea that is feared by those who oppose us is “all men”. “America stands for the idea that respect for every man (based on our equality in God), and free government, and economic well being can spread across the world.” He believes that we have inherited responsibilities to spread these ideas, though we have not yet deserved such responsibilities. We must grow up to them. “And the American idea cannot be saved by the sword alone; it can only exist if we live it.”
The writer of this book fully recognizes the power and influence of America, her moral responsibility, and her failure, alas, in the past to rise to this responsibility.
Those acquainted with the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá know that this responsibility is more than moral; it is a spiritual responsibility. “May America,” said ‘Abdu’l-Bahá while in this country, “become the distributing center of spiritual enlightenment and all the world receive this heavenly blessing.”
Bahá’ís know that there is suffering before us and reverses before America will fulfill her moral mission. Do we realize too that the speedy fulfillment of America’s moral mission depends upon how quickly and completely the followers of Bahá’u’lláh fulfill their spiritual mission?
Bertha Hyde Kirkpatrick
This is the third in a symposium of discussions to be printed this year
under the general subject of “The Evolution of Peace”.
Evolution of the Soul
Ida Judith Baum
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks,
So panteth my soul after Thee, O God.”
AND so like the hart that panteth for the water brooks, my
heart did thirst for brooks because I longed to rise above my
physical handicap of impaired vision. In my ardent yearning,
a voice within me said, “Be still my soul.” Then I became
silent, reflected, and meditated—“What is the soul?” If my
soul is indestructible, surely I could rise above any handicap.
Eagerly, I went to the books of Bahá’u’lláh and other masters
and therein I found knowledge of the abstract subject—the
soul and the vital importance of its evolution.
Bahá’u’lláh writes: “Thou hast asked me concerning the nature of the soul. Know, verily, that the soul is a sign of God, a heavenly gem whose reality the most learned of men have failed to grasp, and whose mystery no mind, however acute, can ever hope to unravel. It is the first among all created things to declare the excellence of its Creator, the first to recognize His glory, to cleave to His truth, and to bow down in adoration before Him.”
Also, “All praise and glory be to God Who, through the power of His might, hath delivered His creation from the nakedness of non-existence, and clothed it with the mantle of life. From among all created things He hath singled out for His especial favor the pure, the gem-like reality of man and invested it with a unique capacity of knowing Him and of reflecting the greatness of His glory.”
In Proverbs, we find this statement, “The spirit of man
is the candle of the Lord.” There are, however, few direct
[Page 95]
references in the Bible to the origin of the soul, its nature and
its relation to the body. But commentators in the Talmud
express some very interesting interpretations of the Scriptures.
For instance, “The soul I have given thee is pure; if thou
givest it back to me in the same state, it is good for thee.”
And finally ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gives this remarkable definition of the soul adapted to this scientifically-thinking age: “Know verily the soul is cosmic energy, an emanation from the Life Source of the universe, and is endowed with spiritual motion that is distinct and higher than that found in the lower kingdoms.” How close the brilliant Jewish commentator, Saadia, comes to this new definition of the soul before the day of science dawned. He writes: “The substance of the soul resembles that of the spheres; but it is of finer quality for it is possessed of a thinking power which is lacking in the spheres.”
In considering the relation of the soul to the body, Victor Hugo contributes the following inspiring passage: “You say the soul is nothing but the resultant of bodily powers. Why then is my soul more luminous when my bodily powers begin to fail? Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.”
These words of Victor Hugo are substantiated by the Bahá’í teaching on this angle of the subject: “The human body serves a temporary purpose in the development of the soul. . . . The body should be the servant of the soul, never its master.”
One of the distinguished Rabbi commentators gives the same thought: “The body of man is not the prison of the soul, but, on the contrary, its medium of development and improvement.”
Bahá’u’lláh writes with majestic style, “Know thou that
the soul of man is exalted above and independent of all infirmities
[Page 96]
of body or mind.” And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá clarifies this
subject by saying: “The human spirit or rational soul does
not enter the physical body, rather it has some attachment to
it as the sun to the mirror.”
“How then,” I asked myself, “does the soul of man, thus seen to be independent of the infirmities or conditions of the body, gain its own growth and individual development?” That was the next momentous question. I was convinced that I could not attain proper development with my finite mind. In searching the Bahá’í Scriptures, I found most enlightening words to this effect, that the soul of man, like the candle, can never be ignited through its own unaided efforts. How then can it be lighted? The answer followed immediately—“And since there can be no tie of direct intercourse to bind the one true God to His creation. . . . He hath ordained that in every age and dispensation a pure and stainless Soul be made manifest in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. . . . Led by the light of unfailing guidance, and invested with supreme sovereignty, they are commissioned to use the inspiration of their words . . . and the sanctifying breeze of Their Revelation for the cleansing of every longing heart and receptive spirit from the dross and dust of earthly cares and limitations. Then, and only then will the Trust of God, latent in the reality of man, emerge . . . resplendent.”
I searched and prayed for months “if haply I might find Him.” “A servant always draws near unto Me in prayer until I respond unto him,” writes Bahá’u’lláh. One day my longing was answered when, aided by the power of God, my heart tuned in through the great heart Contact of Bahá’u’lláh, God’s Intermediary for this age, and I wrote these words in a poem—“My soul responded to the Prophet who could link my heart to His, the tie of true accord.”
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Earnest indeed—in very truth——must be the desire of a
soul to attain such a supreme goal. Bahá’u’lláh describes how
intense must be the quest as follows: “Only when the lamp
of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of fervid love
is enkindled within the seeker’s heart, and the breeze of God’s
loving kindness is wafted upon his soul, will the darkness
of error be dispelled, the mists of doubts and misgivings be
dissipated, and the lights of knowledge and certitude envelop
his being. At that hour, will the mystic Herald, bearing the
joyful tidings of the Spirit, shine forth from the City of God,
resplendent as the morn, and through the trumpet-blast of
knowledge, will awaken the heart, the soul and the spirit from
the slumber of heedlessness. Then will . . . the everlasting
Spirit confer such new life upon the seeker that he will find
himself endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart and
a new mind.”
In seeking to attain this most blessed condition, one is like a wayfarer traveling “from his earthly abode to his heavenly home.” Seven stages or “Seven Valleys” are said to mark this journey. I have chosen the highlights from each of these “Seven Valleys” to furnish a perspective of the “Evolution of the Soul.”
The first Valley is the Valley of Search, in which the wayfarer must ride the “Steed of Patience.” “It is requisite for such travelers to purge the heart, which is the well-spring of divine treasure, from every impression, to forsake blind imitation inherited from their forbears, and to close the door of friendship or enmity to all upon the earth.” “Total sacrifice is required to reach the necessary goal.”
Through the help of God, the wayfarer may enter the Valley of Love. “The steed of this Valley is Pain”. The Valley of Love is the subordination of the human ego to God. “Love admits of no life and seeks no existence.”
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The next Valley is the Valley of Knowledge. It is the
Valley of Discernment and so the last station of limitation.
We can indeed see why this is the case because “Knowledge is
power.” When we use this power, we can “see with both the
inner and the outer eye and behold the end in the beginning.”
After leaving the Valley of Knowledge, the wayfarer attains the first stage of the Valley of Unity. On this plane, “he rends away the veils of plurality, flies away from the worlds of lust, and ascends to the heaven of singleness. . . . He will gaze upon all things with the eye of oneness, and will find the splendor of the Divine One from the heavenly Day Spring, shedding the same light on all beings, and will see the lights of singleness reflected and visible upon all creation. Some dwell in this plane of oneness; some in the world of limitation; others in the stages of self, and still others are totally veiled. God is the First and Last, the Manifest and the Hidden.”
The next Valley is the Valley of Contentment. The wayfarer will “feel the breezes of divine Contentment wafting from the plane of the Spirit.” Because the traveler here has received the heart contact through the Manifestation of God, he attains the eye of discernment and will witness the meaning of the verse, “In that Day God will make all independent out of His abundance.”
“After journeying through the stages of pure Contentment the wayfarer reaches the Valley of Wonderment and plunges into the sea of Grandeur. His amazement increases at every moment. He witnesses a wondrous world and a new creation and adds astonishment upon astonishment and becomes dazed at the new creation of the King of Oneness.”
“After scaling this lofty height of Wonderment, the
traveler arrives at “The valley of True Poverty and Absolute
Nothingness.” Bahá’u’lláh says, “This state is that of dying
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from self and living in God, and being poor in self and becoming
rich in the Desired One.” A person who has attained
to this condition is sanctified above all worldly things and finds
himself in the city called the “Immortality of God.”
During all these journeys, in order that you and I may be given these extra bounties and be “grounded in the mysteries of Truth,” we must show implicit obedience and resignation to the Divine Will. Upon our obedience or disobedience to the Law of God rests the progress or retrogression of the soul of man. “There are two aspects to man. One is divine; the other is worldly; one is luminous, the other dark, one is angelic, the other diabolic. If the angelic aspect becomes more powerful and the divine power and brightness surrounds man, then the second birth takes place and eternal life is attained at this point. Man becomes then the noblest of creatures. But if terrestrial darkness and sensual passions predominate, if they meet in man only the worldly feelings, if they find him a captive of evil qualities, then such a man is the basest and most abject of all creatures. In such a man divine power does not exist. An animal is not considered unjust and evil because of its cruelty and injustice, because it is not endowed as is man, with divine qualities. But if a man falls into the same evil condition, it is evident that he has permitted the divine qualities with which he was endowed to be overcome by his ungodlike attributes.” What ‘Abdu’l-Bahá expresses in the above quotation about our responsibility of choice, reminds me of the following quotation from the “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam”
- “I sent my Soul thro the Invisible,
- Some letter from that after-life to spell;
- And after many days my Soul return’d
- And said, ‘Behold, Myself am Heaven and Hell’.”
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Our choice in our earth life of which way our “soul shall
go” affects not only our own development, but also constantly
affects those around us. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says, “If we are caused
joy or pain by a friend, if a love proves true or false, it is the
soul that is affected. When we find truth, constancy, fidelity
and love, we are happy; but if we meet with lying, faithlessness,
and deceit we are miserable. These are all things pertaining
to the soul.” He also cautions us to be careful of our
speech for a “hundred years will not consume the fire of a
venemous tongue.”
While we are thus cautioned not to be the “cause of grief to anyone” else in his development, we are told by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá not to regard suffering in our own lives as futile. He says on this point, “The soul of man advances when we are tried by suffering. The more the ground is ploughed, the better the seed will grow, the better the harvest will be.”
Bahá’u’lláh says, “All things must needs have a cause, a motive power, an animating principle and results.” Let us consider, now, the cause of the creation of the soul. We find the answer in a prayer written by Bahá’u’lláh, “I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee.” Thus, to seek to know and love God would be our first step in the progress of the soul so that we may reflect His heavenly attributes and be arrayed in His Spiritual garments. From “Hidden Words” also we find: “I loved Thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore do thou love me that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.”
When the earnest seeker finally tunes his heart to the
beat of this animating Force, his soul in turn pulsates in the
same rhythm and can rise in full crescendo because it is released
from mortal fetters. This animating Principle, or
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Holy Spirit, working through the Prophets and Messengers
of God, guides mankind to the straight path of Truth. The
purpose underlying the Revelation they bring has ever been
“to educate all men that they may, at the hour of death, ascend
in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment
to the throne of the Most High.”
If each individual should earnestly desire and take the pathway for soul growth and understanding, think how the entire community would be raised in its development. Speaking collectively, consider how communities all over the world would become more kind, more productive of social organization for the general welfare, more purified in moral and political aspects and more harmonized as to their component parts. When civilization shall have developed to this supreme apex, “Then,” writes the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, “will the coming of age of the entire human race be proclaimed and celebrated by all the peoples and nations of the earth. Then will the world-wide sovereignty of Bahá’u’lláh be recognized, acclaimed and firmly established. Then will a World Civilization be born, flourish and perpetuate itself, a Civilization with a fullness of life such as the world has never seen, nor can as yet conceive. Then will the everlasting covenant be fulfilled in its completeness.”
Every verse which this pen hath revealed is a bright and shining portal that discloseth the glories of a saintly and pious life, of pure and stainless deeds. The summons and the message which We gave were never intended to reach or to benefit one land or one people only. Mankind in its entirety must firmly adhere to whatsoever hath been revealed and vouchsafed unto it. Then and then only will it attain unto true liberty. The whole earth is illuminated with the resplendent glory of God’s Revelation.
Security for the Jew
BEFORE the nations became aware of their fatal insecurity in this age,
Bahá’u’lláh revealed truths, principles and laws to assure the continuance
of human life and the survival of the means of civilization
on earth. He called upon all the peoples to realize that they had set
their feet upon the road to bitter suffering, chaos, mutual struggle
and even extinction. Condemned to pass His days in prison and exile,
Bahá’u’lláh employed all the means at His disposition to convey His
message to East and West. Spiritually, He had made ‘Akká the very
gate between earth and heaven, between human realities and divine
Revelation. But the world had made ‘Akká a vile prison for those
condemned by the leaders of the Islamic world, and from its darkened
cells they could recognize no message of truth and no authority
above their own.
The physical death of Bahá’u’lláh could not stay His love for a race immured in a darker prison of ignorance, and exiled by its own wilfulness from the realms of holiness and worship, spiritual knowledge and obedience. His body they had confined, but His Spirit traversed all the worlds of God; their bodies were free, but their souls lay in chains.
As the greatest blessing of the divine Kingdom, Bahá’u’lláh sent His eldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to proclaim the Word, warn the peoples, disclose the path to God, and establish the basis of the oneness of mankind. From 1892 to 1921, nearly thirty years, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá consumed Himself in the performance of the most important mission ever laid by the Manifestation of God upon a human temple. In letters, in talks with visitors, in books and in public addresses, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá conveyed to all and to each the essence of the Promise and the Warning of the Day of God.
He foreknew the bitterness of the war of 1914-1918, and He
foreknew the wider havoc of the later conflagration, as He foreknew
the full eventual victory of truth and of peace. What He could
reveal to each individual or audience was measured by its limitation
of understanding and corruption of motive, but the glory shines
through and the truth has been given eternal existence. Those who
seek the expression of divine power in this age, let them trace it
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in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s miraculous performance of the mission entrusted
to Him by Bahá’u’lláh, that they may comprehend what Bahá’u’lláh
Himself revealed.
The world today gropes passionately toward the conceptions of life which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá exemplified. His history, with its record of travel in Europe and America, preserves the promise which Bahá’u’lláh enkindled, inextinguishable by the tempests of human fury.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá disclosed the nature of civilization, its origin, its development and its destruction, as successive phases in the unfoldment of revealed religion. What humanity must undergo, He made clear, is the crucial stage of purification marked by the downfall of whatever institutions have become instruments of violence and evil, that a regenerated race may fulfill its devotion to God not merely in worship but also in obedience to His laws for social life.
Among the significant episodes in His public life were contacts with Jews in America. Employing their long historic experience as opportunity to develop larger conceptions of religion and civilization, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá made an exposition of the subject in a synagogue of San Francisco which might well be made a text book or guide to the processes by which truth and society are correlated in the life of man. In a then Christian environment He exalted Muḥammad, and in a Jewish gathering He called upon the Jew to accept the divine station of Christ. Questioned later, He declared:
“This humiliation will continue forever. The time may come when in Europe itself they will arise against the Jews. But your declaration that Christ was the Word of God will end all such trouble. My advice is that in order to become honorable, protected and secure among the nations of the world . . . you should be willing to announce your belief in Christ the Word of God.”
In this world there are different types of security: security of wealth, security of government, security of armed force. What ‘Abdu’l-Bahá offered the Jew was spiritual security, the security which rests upon obedience to the Will of God. The smoke of battle can only for a brief time obscure the significance of those words.
BAHÁ’Í LESSONS
The Kitáb-i-Íqán
IV. The Presence of God
- (References: pages 136-147; 168-176)
- A. How can He be conceived as powerless? (136-137).
- B. The essential Purpose and the knowledge of the Mystery and Substance of the Cause of God . . . attaining unto the Presence of God (138-139).
- Day of Resurrection (139-141).
- Most Holy Outpouring (141).
- Holy Outpouring (141-142).
- Attaining to the presence of these holy Luminaries (142-143).
- No day is mightier than this Day (144-145).
- How can he be called learned? (145-146).
- Sign of the Day of Revelation (146-147).
- Testimony of the Qur’án (169).
- Resurrection and attainment unto His Presence (169-170).
- Respite to an appointed time (170-172).
- 1280 years have passed (172).
- How the peoples are brought to a reckoning (172-174).
- C. Able to unfold innumerable mysteries (175-176).
V. The Return
- (References: pages 120-123; 147-168)
- A. The purpose of the Prophets to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms “life”, “resurrection” and “judgment” (120).
- B. Only those will attain the knowledge of the Word of God that have turned unto Him (122-123).
- C. Unnumbered doors of knowledge set open (147-148).
- D. Already have Apostles before Me come to you (148-149).
- How could those people in the days of Muḥammad have existed thousands of years before? (149-150).
- If Muḥammad was the “return” of the Prophets, His Companions must be the “return” of the bygone companions (151).
- The Prophets regarded as one soul and the same person (152-154).
- The return of their chosen ones definitely proved (154).
- The people so transformed that they renounce all things (155-156).
- Have not this people exemplified the mysteries of “rebirth” and “return”? (156).
- Potency of the Divine Elixir (157-159).
- Those who lead in faith can be regarded as the “return” of those who had achieved this distinction in a former Dispensation (158-159).
- Consider the rose (159).
- Observe the return of the same qualities (160).
- E. The worlds of unity, diversity, variation, oneness, limitation and detachment (160-161).
- The term “Seal of the Prophets” (162).
- The “first” and the “last” (162-163).
- F. In that Court all names are non-existent (163).
- G. Piercing the veils of Glory (164).
- Blindly following religious leaders (164-166).
- Certain terms also “veils of glory” (166).
- How many the mysteries (167).
- “I was with a thousand Adams” (167-168).
WITH OUR READERS
TWO LETTERS from friends in
Auckland, New Zealand, have
been generously passed on to the
editors to share, in part, with our
readers, who will recall that the
article “Love and Friendship” in
our May issue was by Kitty Carpenter,
a member of the Auckland
Bahá’í Community. These
letters give us a little more intimate
glimpse of our New Zealand
friends. “Although not a
large community here,” writes
one of these friends, “we are an
exceedingly happy one. Some of
our members have belonged since
’19. They are all very firm and
steadfast. I have belonged since
1939. I heard of the Bahá’í
Faith towards the end of April,
1939, and joined in July. Too
good to stay away from, isn’t it?
And not worth while ‘sitting on
the fence’. I believe you met
Martha Root? It was through
Martha that I first heard of the
Bahá’í Teachings. I was at the
Overseas Club rooms one Friday
afternoon when Martha gave a
talk on “World Peace”. I was
most intrigued, got some pamphlets
that same afternoon, found
out how, what, and where and
seemed to become her shadow
until the night she sailed north
to Fiji and Honolulu with the
Stanley Boltons of Sydney.
When I found out that Martha
had been in New Zealand three
weeks before I heard her speak—
well, you can imagine how I
felt. However her last day in
Auckland was wonderful. She
called her time spent here with
us ‘spiritual skylarking’; and although
she was so terribly ill,
after the farewell luncheon and
talks were finished would go to
the hospital to see my husband
who had been there since November,
1938. It is wonderful,
the power that sustained her. We
went aboard to say goodbyes, but
found her in bed, so visited her
singly or in pairs. With Martha’s
going I wondered if there would
be a dropping off the fence on
the wrong side, but no, it was a
case of getting in deeper and
deeper. In fact, I am sure I
belonged that afternoon at the
Overseas Club. . . . There is an
ocean of love and kindness here,
and no need for me to mention
anything about spiritual guidance,
is there?”
[Page 107]
The writer tells also of a
youth group just started and of
plans for another in a different
part of the city and encloses a
newspaper clipping giving notice
of a public lecture at their Bahá’í
center on a Sunday evening.
The other letter gives a bit of New Zealand Bahá’í history. It is written by a daughter of Mrs. Sarah Blundell, one of the New Zealand Bahá’í pioneers, and tells briefly of a pilgrimage to Haifa in 1925 “a visit on which, in memory, ‘the sun still shines’”. The letter continues, “Margaret Stevenson, Effie Baker, my beloved mother, brother Hugh and myself made that pilgrimage (Effie Baker, the dear soul who remained in service at the Pilgrim House in Haifa for some years and who traveled to Persia to secure photographs of places shown in Nabíl’s Narrative.). Beloved Martha who had visited New Zealand the year before waited in Port Said for us and journeyed with us to Haifa. There we met the Master’s sister, wife and daughters and their children,—also the Guardian, a great privilege which cannot be fully expressed.”
* * *
In her article, “Men of the New Day” Alta Gaines points out characteristics of some of the early disciples of the Báb to which builders of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh must attain. A previous article by Mrs. Gaines was published in our issue of December, 1940. She serves the Cause in the community of Urbana, Illinois.
In response to a request for
news from Panama comes C. E.
Hamilton’s article, “Crossroads
of the World”, which helps us
to understand the history and
present conditions there and the
importance of establishing the
Cause there as well as the difficulties.
Mr. Hamilton tells us
that he was born and brought up
in the state of Michigan where
he had a normal and happy boyhood,
that later he was engaged
in various business enterprises
which took him well over the
United States, Canada and
Mexico and that until the winter
of 1938-39 his religious views
were definitely agnostic. That
winter in Houston, Texas, he
and his wife learned of the
Bahá’í Faith through Mrs. Kathryn
Frankland. He writes, “We
became completely absorbed with
the teachings. We found them
satisfying, broad in scope and
logical. The loose ends left
dangling by other religions were
neatly woven into a perfect pattern,
and a plan too wonderful
[Page 108]
not to become a part of.” In
the fall of 1941 he went to
Panama in answer to a call for
more Bahá’í help there and soon
after Mrs. Hamilton joined him.
“Two more Bahá’ís at the Crossroads
of the World”, he concludes.
In her contribution, “Evolution of the Soul”, Ida Judith Baum reflects something of her own experience. Of herself she further writes, “Several years ago I became blind, but after several operations have now partial vision. The Bahá’í Religion during this time brought me rebirth and new impetus to live.” In the very active Bahá’í community of Binghamton, New York, Miss Baum is music chairman and telephone chairman, and speaks publicly in her own and other communities. Her writings, both prose and poetry, are accepted by various publications and she is a well known singer in her home city. Her last previous contribution to World Order was a poem, “Gleaning”, in the May, 1940, issue.
From Hawaii comes the sketch “The Re-newed Day” by Kathrine Baldwin reminding us that age and race make no difference in finding the truth and beauty of God’s Revelation for today. Mrs. Baldwin is a member of the Spiritual Assembly on the island of Maui and was instrumental in establishing that group. She writes, “It was my very great blessing to have in my Honolulu home our precious Martha Root during the last four months of her earthly life. I was with her when she passed into the realms beyond.”
Our new department, “The Evolution of Peace”, continues this month with thoughts based on Herbert Agar’s recent book, “A Time for Greatness”. We hope to have many voluntary contributions from our readers for this department which is designed to be a symposium noting current events and writings which point to the Lesser Peace. This month Horace Holley, whom all our readers know, contributes the editorial article, “Security for the Jew”. Bahá’í Lessons concludes this month the study outline of The Íqán, also by Horace Holley.
Bahá’í Literature
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated
by Shoghi Effendi. The Bahá’í teachings on the nature of religion,
the soul, the basis of civilization and the oneness of mankind. Bound
in fabrikoid. 360 pages. $2.00.
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, translated by Shoghi Effendi. Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh toward the end of His earthly mission, this text is a majestic and deeply-moving exposition of His fundamental principles and laws and of the sufferings endured by the Manifestation for the sake of mankind. Bound in cloth. 186 pages. $1.50.
The Kitáb-i-Íqán, translated by Shoghi Effendi. This work (The Book of Certitude) unifies and coordinates the revealed Religions of the past, demonstrating their oneness in fulfillment of the purposes of Revelation. Bound in cloth. 262 pages. $2.50.
Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, selected and translated by Shoghi Effendi. The supreme expression of devotion to God; a spiritual flame which enkindles the heart and illumines the mind. 348 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. $2.00.
Some Answered Questions. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s explanation of questions concerning the relation of man to God, the nature of the Manifestation, human capacities, fulfillment of prophecy, etc. Bound in cloth. 350 pages. $1.50.
The Promulgation of Universal Peace. In this collection of His American talks, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laid the basis for a firm understanding of the attitudes, principles and spiritual laws which enter into the establishment of true Peace. 492 pages. Bound in cloth. $2.50.
Bahá’í Prayers, a selection of Prayers revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, each Prayer translated by Shoghi Effendi. 72 pages. Bound in fabrikoid, $0.75. Paper cover, $0.35.
The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, by Shoghi Effendi. On the nature of the new social pattern revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for the attainment of divine justice in civilization. Bound in fabrikoid. 234 pages. $1.50.
BAHÁ’Í PUBLISHING COMMITTEE
110 LINDEN AVENUE, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH
RECOGNIZES THE UNITY OF GOD AND HIS 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,
ABOLISHES EXTREMES OF POVERTY 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.