THE MONTH OF BEAUTY, JAMÁL

The month of Beauty is the nineteen day period beginning April 28.

“Consider the past. How many, both high and low, have, at all times, yearningly awaited the advent of the Manifestations of God in the sanctified persons of His chosen Ones. How often have they expected His coming, how frequently have they prayed that the breeze of divine mercy might blow, and the promised Beauty step forth from behind the veil of concealment, and be made manifest to all the world. And whensoever the portals of grace did open, and the clouds of divine bounty did rain upon mankind, and the light of the Unseen did shine above the horizon of celestial might, they all denied Him, and turned away from His face--the face of God Himself. Refer ye, to verify this truth, to that which hath been recorded in every sacred Book.”
 
-- Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitab-i-Iqán, p. 4

How easy it is for Baha’is to read the above paragraph from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh and knowingly consider how lucky we are to have discovered and accepted in this day, the Day of the Manifestation, that Our Lord has returned to establish His Kingdom on earth. God forbid that we should ever so smugly smile within our selves with the congratulatory feeling that we are a special group, and let it go at that. Accepting Bahá'u'lláh and His Message is not an end. It is but the beginning of a life-long path of diligent dedication and self-refinement.

Oh! How beautiful it can be, to follow Bahá'u'lláh!

We are so fortunate to know, from the Teachings, that we have the support of Bahá'u'lláh to help us abandon the human tendency to follow the crowd. We know that His support will assist us to truly reach out to our neighbors and reflect the goodness that the Teachings allow us to radiate. Should we look within ourselves and find a quality not in keeping with the Teachings, we will find the strength to overcome any tendency to promote our own ego and develop a greater appreciation for the good we find in others. When we want to rid our inner selves of any inappropriate quality in order to relate more lovingly to any person, His assistance will be there. Even though we do not now have Bahá'u'lláh physically among us, we have the means to praise Him by effectively radiating His love as the beacon for managing our relationships with others.

Oh! How beautiful it can be to follow Bahá'u'lláh!

   “Keep Thou, O God, the door of my heart that no evil thought proceed from it; and guard my lips that they utter no uncharitable word.
   Teach me to look for the good in others that I may rejoice in it; and for the evil in myself that I may amend it.
   Watch over my actions that I do no injustice, nor cause unhappiness to any one.
   Divest me of pride that I count myself less than any other, and may become the servant of all for love of Thee, my Lord.”
    
 --The Mission of Bahá'u'lláh, page 130--

May I be so bold as to suggest that each line of that short prayer is ripe with Bahá'u'lláh’s expectation of how He expects us to live our individual lives? Did not `Abdu'l-Bahá lovingly follow its admonishments every day of His life? We all recognize that we, as mortals, will find it impossible to follow those guidelines to the letter. Even so, should we not do our best to establish that higher standard in our lives as our tribute of thanksgiving to Bahá'u'lláh?

Oh! How beautiful it can be to follow Bahá'u'lláh!

We may be thankful that there were valiant souls living during the time of the Manifestation who gave their all toward the fulfillment of His desires in establishing the beginning elements of the Kingdom of God on earth. Even though we do not have the same opportunity that they had, we do have the opportunity to do all that we can with what has been presented to us. Oh what a joy it is that He left the ultimate guidelines for us to follow in order that we may do our part in treating each of our fellow humans with the courtesy and respect that Bahá'u'lláh outlined for us, as His wish for future civilizations.

The only time we have to radiate His love and His beauty is now.

Oh! How beautiful it can be to follow Bahá'u'lláh!

Hand of the Cause of God David Maxwell