We started with the three questions:

1. What is innocence?, What is it not?
2. Are we born innocent?
3. Can we become/stay innocent?, How?

This progressed nicely, and the discussion centered around how we define innocence and what it is that takes it away from us. We eventually moved on to the concept of ‘Original Sin‘ and the idea that we are all born not only with the desire to do things that would be an affront to God, but that we carry with us the burden of all of the sin that was committed before we were alive. That would hardly make us innocent. However, Christians believe that Jesus dies for our sins, which does raise the concern over whether or not we need to be careful about not sinning, or if it is okay because we will be forgiven anyway.

In the end, we came around to look at how we have allowed our differences such as whether or not a baby is born carrying the sins of his ancestors all the way back to Adam & Eve, who a piece of land belongs to, or who has the right to wear a scarf on her head and where she is allowed to do so. These are all differences created by man and may represent the true lack of innocence. However, all we truly need to do to receive God’s love is to love Him back.

The earth has one surface. God has not divided this surface by boundaries and barriers to separate races and peoples. Man has set up and established these imaginary lines, giving to each restricted area a name and the limitation of a native land or nationhood. By this division and separation into groups and branches of mankind, prejudice is engendered which becomes a fruitful source of war and strife. Impelled by this prejudice, races and nations declare war against each other; the blood of the innocent is poured out, and the earth torn by violence. Therefore, it has been decreed by God in this day that these prejudices and differences shall be laid aside.

Abdu’l-Baha : The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 316

Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.

Baha’u'llah : The Persian Hidden Words #5

O SON OF BEING!
Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with gold We test Our servants.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #55

I recently used this quote in some devotions that I hosted focused on the topic of fire.  In particular with this quote, we contemplated using fire to test the purity of gold and in turn using gold as a temptation to test the loyalty and honesty of servants.  Upon further viewing of this passage I noticed something I missed the first time around though – the way that ‘We’ begins with a capital letter signifying that perhaps it is referring to God and and us alike.  Could humanity be like the gold that God is referring to being tested by the fires of hard experiences in our lives, while also being the servants of God and tested by the trappings of materialism?  Detachment is often associated with this quote and can be seen in the beginning words where we urged not to pay too much attention to the mundane things of this world, but to focus on the spiritual world.

Photo credit: Baha’i Media Bank: Award-winning fire dancer, Hogan Toomalatai, performing at the Baha’i jubilee festivities in Samoa.

O SON OF SPIRIT!
Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #22

We spend so much time and energy doing things that degrade our position in this world.  Instead, we should funnel those efforts into the service of God—the purpose for which we were created.

O SON OF EARTH!
Wouldst thou have Me, seek none other than Me; and wouldst thou gaze upon My beauty, close thine eyes to the world and all that is therein; for My will and the will of another than Me, even as fire and water, cannot dwell together in one heart.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words #31

Having God in our lives and placing nothing else but Him at such a high station is both a challenge and a reward.  It is not possible for both the supreme goodness of God to coexist alongside the darkness and evil of temptations of other facets of our earthly lives.  Once again, this impossible duality makes it difficult for us to not only choose one or the other, but to fully commit to it, though once we have have chosen God, it is what will keep us on a spiritual path.

O SON OF SPIRIT!
My claim on thee is great, it cannot be forgotten. My grace to thee is plenteous, it cannot be veiled. My love has made in thee its home, it cannot be concealed. My light is manifest to thee, it cannot be obscured.

~ Baha’u'llah, Arabic Hidden Words #20

So great and powerful is God that His effect and influence on us cannot be ignored, hidden, avoided, nor denied.  He is not just there for us when we need Him—He is in us.

O MY CHILDREN!
I fear lest, bereft of the melody of the dove of heaven, ye will sink back to the shades of utter loss, and, never having gazed upon the beauty of the rose, return to water and clay.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words #13

I had to read this one through several times… the images that stand out to me are the ‘dove of heaven’ and to ‘sink back to the shades of utter loss’.  I can see in this the sadness and disappointment if we were to never see the beauty of God, or to hear that wonderful ‘melody of the dove of heaven’.  If we were never to do those things, it would seem that we would even cease to be human and return to our elemental materials.

O SON OF SPIRIT!
Ask not of Me that which We desire not for thee, then be content with what We have ordained for thy sake, for this is that which profiteth thee, if therewith thou dost content thyself.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words

Trusting in what God has provided for us and not asking for things that are either unnecessary in life, or that are merely to fulfill are wanton desires goes against God’s teachings.  We can be content and fulfilled with what we have.  God shall provide no more nor no less than we need to carry out His will.

O FRIEND!
In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the nightingale of affection and desire loosen not thy hold. Treasure the companionship of the righteous and eschew all fellowship with the ungodly.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words

I like the concept of planting a rose in one’s heart–especially when that rose is the rose of love.  I have made wonderful friends in this world that are good people who wish to be close to God.  I treasure their friendship more than anything else in this world.

O SON OF BEING!
How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy thyself with the faults of others? Whoso doeth this is accursed of Me.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words

I must admit that I am occasionally guilty of this myself.  All too often we spend our energies looking for the faults of others, or letting them define the relationships we will have another.  This problem is twofold—first, we begin to obsess on the negative aspects of life and not on the positives, and second we ignore the faults we have ourselves and thereby prevent ourselves from working on them, or even using them to our advantage to find common ground with others.

O MY SERVANT!
Free thyself from the fetters of this world, and loose thy soul from the prison of self. Seize thy chance, for it will come to thee no more.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words

This world we live in has many chains that bind us to it, keep us a prisoner and shackle us to materialistic ways. We have the power to fight it, to free ourselves, but we must make an effort to do so. If we do not, we will forever be caught up in attempts to become better than one another, but make no real progress towards anything.

O SON OF MAN!
Rejoice in the gladness of thine heart, that thou mayest be worthy to meet Me and to mirror forth My beauty.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #36

I love the imagery of the mirror… it comes up frequently in Baha’i writings.  There is something special about becoming worthy of reflecting the illimitable radiance of God’s love.  Worthy is a word that I wanted to focus on though.  It is an awesome gift and privilege to be permitted to carry on God’s grace, but also one that comes with responsibility.  The Hidden Words, are just that… they have so many hidden meanings.  The more I look at writings such as this, the more I see.  For example, could the word ‘mayest’ be taken to mean that the gladness is in the reader’s heart and s/he will mirror forth Baha’u’llah’s beauty, or is there a test that must be passed?  What is meant by the word ‘meet’?  Should that be taken as a literal meaning, or is that just figurative that we will meet in a more spiritual connection.  I don’t have answers to these questions, and never well, but it is these daily readings that keep me interested and asking questions in my own quest to make sense out of the world.

O SON OF DUST!
Beware! Walk not with the ungodly and seek not fellowship with him, for such companionship turneth the radiance of the heart into infernal fire.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words #57

I noticed that when I became a Baha’i, my group of friends began to change.  Many of the people that I had associated with previously were really just people that I drank with in bars.  There was not much of a spiritual connection.  I found that the Baha’is that I met were interesting people and I was able to make better connections with them because I knew we would have similar insights into a variety of topics, yet with the community being as diverse as it is there was always some new perspective that the other was able to bring into the discussion.  These changes were not intentional, nor did they occur overnight, but when I read this quote, I wondered if something had me do this that I was unaware of.

O SON OF MAN!
Should prosperity befall thee, rejoice not, and should abasement come upon thee, grieve not, for both shall pass away and be no more.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #52

For me, this is a nice reminder that those things that bring us happiness and also those that bring us sadness are short-lived.  The things of this world will be only temporary in our lives.  Eventually we will move on to an afterlife in which splendors beyond our imaginations are in store for us.  This does not mean, however, that we are to ignore the good and bad in this world.  We can still enjoy this life, and indeed, we should.  Having grown up near the beach, I frequently think of the ebb and flow of the tides pulling the sands away from the short.  Whether there is a beautifully intricate sand castle, or the unfortunate remnants of a late-night party, the waves will erase all in a matter of hours.

O YE RICH ONES ON EARTH!
The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust, and be not intent only on your own ease.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words #54

I am sure I could write volumes on this concept, but I will let this idea stand on its own. I wish to add just one thing… money is not the only way to measure one’s wealth. Rich and poor do not necessarily refer to the amount of money a person has, but can also refer to other qualities such as honesty, wisdom, faith, or compassion.

O SON OF MAN!
If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me and I may eternally live in thee.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #7

This short writing from the Hidden Words reminds me that in order to truly love God, His creations and the rest of humanity, I must look not towards myself and my desires, but must focus my energies, my thoughts, my talents, and my life on Him.

O CHILDREN OF THE DIVINE AND INVISIBLE ESSENCE!
Ye shall be hindered from loving Me and souls shall be perturbed as they make mention of Me. For minds cannot grasp Me nor hearts contain Me.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #66

The Hidden Words were meant to contain spiritual truths in their most elemental forms.  Combined with the King James English that they were translated into, the terse statements become almost enigmatic.  This is what I appreciate most about them—I cannot simply breeze through them, but must spend some time pondering their meaning in order to understand, although I cannot understand them completely.  Each time I read one, and reflect upon it, I discover something new.  Today’s selection reminds me that, try as I might, I am simply incapable understanding all of God’s message for us.  For many this could be a source of consternation and frustration as it hinders mankind’s attempts at understanding the world.  I prefer to look at this differently though—as a source of comfort.  It enables me to turn things over to God in His wisdom.

O MAN OF TWO VISIONS!
Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty of the Beloved.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words, #12

I appreciate the brevity, yet profoundness of this utterance from the founder of the Baha’i Faith.  Baha’u’llah wrote this while exiled in Baghdad from his native Tehran.  As Baha’is have been directed to read from The Hidden Words every day, I like to imagine us all reading doing just what these two sentences direct us to do—shut out the material world and focus upon the spiritual world.  Even if we have just a few precious moments during the day, spending them in prayer and meditation will bring a return much greater than we could ever imagine.

O SON OF SPIRIT!
I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #13

I love the first two questions posed here, and the analogies that lie within them.  Surely we were not all born as wealthy royalty.  On the other hand, we are provided with all of the things we need to live a healthy, and rewarding life.  But, we have a tendency to turn away from those gifts from God.  We become confused by the trappings of this world and begin to think that riches are equal to money and goods. consequently we begin to focus on comparing ourselves to others, and trying to fill voids with things we now perceive to lack.  However, Baha’u’llah tells us here that if we stay focused on those wonderful abilities, talents and wonders that have bestowed upon each of us by God, we will see how wonderful they are, and, in turn, see God working with us.

O Lord! Thou art the Remover of every anguish and the Dispeller of every affliction. Thou art He Who banisheth every sorrow and setteth free every slave, the Redeemer of every soul. O Lord! Grant deliverance through Thy mercy, and reckon me among such servants of Thine as have gained salvation.

~ The Báb, Baha’i Prayer

I first ran across this prayer a few years ago when I first declared as a Baha’i.  However, it was not until a few years later that a friend gave me the Elika Mahony CD, Fire & Gold, in which she sings these words so beautifully that it really had an impact on me.

Of course this is praise for the way in which God’s love and presence can mitigate the difficulties and trials in our lives, but there is more.  It has become a symbol to me of the diversity of the Baha’i Faith and its ability to cross international borders.  Although people in different parts of the world face different afflictions, they can all find redemption and salvation in the same God and this is one of the unifying principles of the Faith.

Mahony’s parents are from Iran, though she was born in the United States, raised in Kenya and now lives in China.  I was in India, on my way to Bangladesh and then Honduras, visiting a friend I knew from NYC who was born in Panama and had also lived in Argentina, who introduced me to her new friend who was India, but had lived in China.  All of us had led different lives, in different places, and yet we all knew this same prayer.

To add to the international flavor, a second woman enters into the song for the following words from Baha’u’llah:

¡OH HIJO DE LA LUZ!
Olvídate de todo menos de mí y entra en comunión con mi espíritu. Esto pertenece a la esencia de mi mandamiento, por tanto vuélvete a él.

~ Baha’u'llah, Palabras Ocultas del Árabe no. 16

in English:

O SON OF LIGHT!
Forget all save Me and commune with My spirit. This is of the essence of My command, therefore turn unto it.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #16