Wanderings

With fixed and steady gaze, born of the unerring eye of God, scan for a while the horizon of divine knowledge, and contemplate those words of perfection which the Eternal hath revealed, that haply the mysteries of divine wisdom, hidden ere now beneath the veil of glory and treasured within the tabernacle of His grace, may be made manifest unto you. The denials and protestations of these leaders of religion have, in the main, been due to their lack of knowledge and understanding. Those words uttered by the Revealers of the beauty of the one true God, setting forth the signs that should herald the advent of the Manifestation to come, they never understood nor fathomed.

~ Bahá’u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 16-17

Today is the Feast of Kalimat, which means ‘words’.

TeacherJay Kitab-i-Iqan Feast, knowledge, manifestations, spiritual maturation

If Christians of all denominations and divisions should investigate reality, the foundations of Christ will unite them. No enmity or hatred will remain, for they will all be under the one guidance of reality itself.

~ Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 198

Having lived as a Christian for many years, I remember vividly the problems that arise between different denominations of the Church.  With so many different sects whose beliefs all come from the same message from Christ it always bothered me that they let petty differences that were the result of man’s intervention keep them apart.  During the time they were arguing over how to do communion, if people could marry outside the denomination or if baptism required a few drops of water or a full body immersion, they were bickering over thins that were irrelevant to God’s will and making a mockery of it.  I have always appreciated that the Baha’i Faith has not fractured into sects, though I fear that it may happen one day.  We are directed in the Kitab-i-Aqdas to not allow that to happen, but sometimes what is written does not come to pass.

TeacherJay Promulgation of Universal Peace, The independent investigation of truth, spiritual maturation, unity, world peace

The title of this post comes from the song “Hard to Get” by one of my favorite Christian artists, Rich Mullins.  The line has stuck in my head for years, because I always found a dual meaning in it.  The terms “lost” and “found” are often used to refer to the stations in life and the search for a deeper meaning in life—the gospel song “Amazing Grace” comes to mind.

These lines are the very end of the song and were originally worded as:

I can’t see how you’re leading me unless you’ve led me here
Where I’m lost enough to let myself be led
And so you’ve been here all along I guess
It’s just your way and you are just plain hard to get

I see these four lines as a depiction of someone realizing, perhaps for the first time, that the troubles of life may have been the journey that God had planned for him.  It is both humbling, but uplifting to learn that the whole time through all of those hardships that God was not making him suffer, but actually there to serve as the guide to lead him through.  The man was not able to understand what God had in store, or what His intentions were, or even that God was the one leading him.  He must have thought that God had abandoned him.  But, then he realized that would not happen, and as confusing it may seem, this was just God’s way.

The Baha’i Faith teaches us that we are not yet ready to comprehend many things in God’s kingdom.  As each generation passes we learn more, and throughout our development, different manifestations have come to explain more of it to us.  Jesus Christ was one of those manifestations and His message is that of God.  Baha’u’llah was the latest of those manifestations and His message is that of God.

I saw something more in these lines though… I love the idea that before we can be led, we must first be lost.  Many times in life, I felt that I was strong, capable, independent and needed no leadership from anyone—that I was a leader.   I believed that I knew who I was and where I was going in life—that I was the one responsible for my successes and even my failures.  Some hard times came, and I will not pretend that I always had faith—I doubted, I tested, I did things I am not proud of.  There was never one cathartic event in my life that made me think that I had hit bottom, or in which I became a new person, but believe me when I tell you I wandered for a long time… and still am wandering.

Not until I had lived enough of life and lost my direction to the point that I was ready to follow and not to lead all of the time did I find and accept the Baha’i Faith.  In other words, I had to lose myself enough to be led.

(Incidentally, this line comes from the same song as the line, “Only lashing at the one who loves me the most”, which I have already written about here.)

TeacherJay Reflections difficulties, faith, independent investigation of truth, spiritual journey, spiritual maturation, tests

Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not want what belongs to others. It does not brag. It is not proud. It is not rude. It does not look out for its own interests. It does not easily become angry. It does not keep track of other people’s wrongs.

Love is not happy with evil. But it is full of joy when the truth is spoken. It always protects. It always trusts. It always hopes. It never gives up.

Love never fails. But prophecy will pass away. Speaking in languages that had not been known before will end. And knowledge will pass away.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

I have chosen today’s post not only because of its beautiful message, but to let everyone know that Elika Mahony (whom I have previously mentioned), is allowing people to download a song from her new album.  A Baha’i artist, Mahony has set the above quote from the New Testament to music.  It is a beautiful adaptation and I encourage everyone to give it a listen by clicking here.

Seeing this quote in context is also important though.  It was written by St. Paul (of Tarsus).  In the 13th chapter he is discussing how to worship God when he turns to the topic of love and opens the chapter his way:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV)

Following the first quote on this page is another well-known verse:

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:11-12 (NIV)

This always give me a sense that Paul understood the way that we are able to mature in our thoughts and spirituality just as we mature physically.  The Baha’is believe that humankind has been undergoing our own spiritual maturation over millennia and each successive manifestation of God was able to reveal more and more of God’s message to us.

TeacherJay Christianity independent investigation of truth, love, music, spiritual journey, spiritual maturation

The Divine Messengers have been sent down, and their Books were revealed, for the purpose of promoting the knowledge of God, and of furthering unity and fellowship amongst men.

~ Baha’u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 12

Baha’is believe that the founders of each of the major religions were Divine Messengers of the same God.  We believe in only one God, and only one true religion.  These manifestations were able to give us texts—from the Zand-i-Avesta to the Qur’ān and from the Tripiṭaka to the New Testament—these books were meant to provide us with instructions on how to create a more unified and peaceful world.  Each one revealed to us more of God’s message.

TeacherJay Epistle to the Son of the Wolf independent investigation of truth, manifestations, progressive revelation, prophets, spiritual maturation, unity

I recently had the great honor to sit in on a Children’s Class.  Baha’i Children’s Classes are for young people of all faiths and focus on the morals and values that are common to all religions while also promoting the concept of becoming a world citizen.

The children were memorizing the following quote:

All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.

~ Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 214

They were a little stuck on exactly what “an ever-advancing civilization meant”.  The teacher and I seemed to explain that “ever-advancing” refers to something that continuously progresses and improves; and that a civilization is comprised of the society we live in, containing social rules and a government.  They were not quite seeing how it all fit together, though.

I attempted to use the example of technology, presenting my digital camera, and how devices such as that have advanced over time—each generation making slight improvements.  They seemed to accept this concept, though I’m not sure it was fully absorbed.  Unfortunately, it was not until after the class that more ideas came to me.

While technology certainly is one advancement that can be seen, it came to mind first only because it is tangible.  Other advancements in our civilization have been much more profound, though not always as apparent on the surface:

• 600 years ago people believed the world was flat
• 150 years ago there was slavery in the United States
• 90 years ago women in the United States were not allowed to vote
• 70 years ago nobody had heard of a computer
• 60 years ago placing a long-distance telephone call required speaking to an operator
• 60 years ago White and Black were prohibited by law from attending the same schools
• 20 years ago the World Wide Web had not yet come into existence
• 100 days ago all of the Presidents of the United States were White

There have clearly been some advancements that our civilization has realized.  Baha’u’llah has told us all that our purpose is to “carry forward” further advancement and there are still plenty of area that need it:

• 2,700,000 = the number of slaves in the world, including children
• 93,000,000 = the number of children who are being denied an education
• 2,800,000,000 = the number of people living on less than $2 per day

Incidentally, the teacher of this class is the author of Meeting the Dual Challenge

TeacherJay Gleanings, Reflections children, development, education, poverty, progress, spiritual maturation, world citizen

When the light of Bahá’u'lláh dawned from the East, He proclaimed the promise of the oneness of humanity. He addressed all mankind saying: “Ye are all fruits of one tree. There are not two trees, one a tree of divine mercy, the other a tree of Satan.” … Therefore we must exercise the utmost love toward one another. We must not consider any people the people of Satan, but know and recognize all as servants of one God. At most it is this: some do not know, they must be guided and trained. … Some are ignorant, they must be informed. Some are as children, they must be helped to reach maturity. Some are ailing, their moral condition is bad, they must be treated until their morals are purified. But the sick man is not to be hated because he is sick; the child must not be shunned because he is a child, the ignorant one is not to be despised because he lacks knowledge. They must be treated, educated, trained and assisted in love. Everything must be done in order that all humanity may live under the shadow of God in the utmost security, in happiness of the highest type.

~ Dr. J.E. Esslemont, Baha’u'llah and the New Era, p. 159

Esslemont was (posthumously) appointed as the first Hand of the Cause by Shoghi Effendi and wrote an excellent book to introduce the Faith.  This passage from that book should remind us all that we come from the same God.  Some may not have heard of Baha’u’llah or may not be ready to accept his station as the Manifestation of God for this era.  Just like a child matures in his thinking as he grows older and gains an education, he will progress in his spiritual maturity by becoming more educated about the oneness of humanity.

TeacherJay Baha'u'llah and the New Era Satan, spiritual maturation, unity