Hands of the Bahá'í Faith

Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name

The Bahá'í Calendar includes the month of Asma’, Names, and is observed by believers during the period between August 20 and September 8.

“Say: Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, Creator. Its manifestations are diversified by varying causes, and in this diversity there are signs for men of discernment. Nature is God’s Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world. It is a dispensation of Providence ordained by the Ordainer, the All-Wise.”
-- Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, page 142 --

S. I. Hayakawa, the noted semanticist, and former Senator from Hawaii, could probably have a field day with the above quote. As I recall, he had a saying, which I cannot locate and must paraphrase, that dictionary definitions allow us to hide from ourselves and others the fact that we have not a clue what a word really means, even though we can recite with authority its definition.

Upon reading Bahá'u'lláh’s quotation, I suspect that the coming Kingdom, prayed for daily by our Christian friends when they recite the Lord‘s Prayer, will demand of us a new type of education, and a new understanding of some meanings of things that we think we understand in the context of today’s world. And why should it not be so, when you consider another of Bahá'u'lláh’s Writings, “…this most great, this new World Order, the likes of which mortal eyes have never witnessed…”

Remember, He began the process of awakening the embryos of this new World Order over 160 years ago. Although humans generally have not a clue of their existence, those embryos have been slowly, and in some cases quickly, unfolding ever since Bahá'u'lláh’s Message gave them the go-ahead signal, each within its own jurisdiction, to mature into their intended function. We have the rush of material progress over the past decades as proof of that. What we have not yet seen is the human acceptance of the properties of His New Spiritual World. Yes, while the material world has been blooming forth, the spiritual aspects of this New Order have been shackled by the fetters of human ignorance. I’ll bet the Concourse on High feels a terrible imbalance while holding the power of the Spirit as it glows brighter and brighter in the heavenly realm, hoping beyond hope that humans of this world will get a clue, and allow them to fully release its splendor.

Let me reiterate Bahá'u'lláh. “Say: Nature in its essence is the embodiment of My Name, the Maker, Creator.” Accordingly, in this new World, do we not need to contemplate what that really means? It appears that He is asking us to become more aware of the lessons of nature, and come to realize that in this new World most of what we are comfortable with will need to be modified. Apparently, nature will provide us the clues we need if we but contemplate the rhythms and workings of nature. This is one more tool for our use. How Fortunate that His love allows us this opportunity. We may share this love with others if we wish.

We won’t have to become agronomists to do that. We always notice the spate of growth every springtime, after a winter of rest and rebuilding of root systems, and may not fully realize its lessons. His love gives us an explosion of green every spring. Shall we again contemplate the wisdom of Christ to become more aware that the tiniest of mustard seeds magnifies its size exponentially from its complex embryonic capability with the addition of a little soil, a little sunshine, and some water. Individually we do not need to fully understand the embryo; God has already provided all the embryos we need. Nor do we need that knowledge to reap the harvest. But we do need to do our part to provide a harvest system if we wish to benefit from that particular cycle of its never-ending conclusion each year. If we don’t want to gain from this year’s harvest, the cycle will repeat, again and again, perhaps for someone else.

I wonder if that is not a part of what Bahá'u'lláh expects of us? He wants us to realize that if we do not now, during the most opportune time for us to do so, harvest some gains from the spiritual system He has sent in the Manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh, that He will patiently await the next natural cycle of spiritual growth, and do it all again in the exact same manner. His love is always available for us, but is most likely more potent if accepted in the optimum time of the natural cycle. We may be thankful that His love has provided countless examples for gaining the knowledge we will need in the emerging new World.

It is most fortunate that the Báb provided special recognition for the month of Names in His calendar, which was later adopted by Bahá'u'lláh for His believers. This is a time when a special efficacy may be available to us while we ponder another of the spiritual avenues that leads to God’s bountiful release of His love, in order that we may worship Him in a fuller capacity than was available to any of the generations of the past. Indeed this is the Day of wondrous events that will guide humanity to the promised Kingdom of God on earth. The month of Names provides one more example of His love and bounty, and a potent tool for our contemplation and growth during our spiritual journey.

Hand of the Cause of God David Maxwell

Thoughts on the month of Perfection

The Bahá'í month of Perfection (Kamal) is the nineteen day period from August 1 through August 20. Perfection seems to be a word that is easily understood by humans due to its straightforward definition; no fancy explanations or even the need to find a dictionary. Sure enough, Webster tells us that perfection is “…the quality or condition of being perfect; extreme degree of excellence according to a given standard.” Yet, in its simplicity it seems to have alluded most humans so far as the world’s health is considered.

Here is one of the things that `Abdu'l-Bahá has to say about perfection: “Man is in the highest degree of materiality, and at the beginning of spirituality--that is to say, he is the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection. He is at the last degree of darkness, and at the beginning of light; that is why it has been said that the condition of man is the end of the night and the beginning of day, meaning that he is the sum of all the degrees of imperfection, and that he possesses the degrees of perfection.” -- `Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 235 --

`Abdu'l-Bahá’s statement seems to validate in spades that humans are imperfect.. We additionally know that He has instructed “…the embryo contains from the first all perfections, all the powers--but they are not visible and become so only by degrees…” We may easily confirm, as citizens of this troubled world, that humans are the sum of all degrees of imperfection. History proves that. Oh, there are instances of goodness and progress from man’s acceptance of some of God’s bounties, but it has taken us many thousands of years to arrive where we are now. Overall, few would deny that a vast

improvement needs to come about in order that we may truly recognize the trait of perfection in a preponderance of humans. We know it exists, at least in the embryonic state, since `Abdu'l-Bahá affirms it.

I recall in my early Baha’i years, particularly during the month of Perfection, that anything that happened then had a sort of mystical possibility of perfection attached to it, and that success was practically assured in any venture undertaken or pursued during that time. Pretty naïve, huh? As we all should have learned by now, very little happens automatically out of the ordinary to us individually. While the preponderance of the goodness of God’s bounties happen on a continual basis, such as an abundance of air to breath, day following night, and countless other routine daily events, we give them not a second thought. We have yet to learn that spiritual progress, the only true and lasting progress, comes about through diligence and sustained effort on the part of each of us individually.

As a part of the aging process, and the maturing of us all, we begin to realize that the material gains of this world are so very fleeting and futile. A friend once related that she attended a wealthy friend’s funeral fully expecting that Brinks trucks would arrive during the burial, with loads of gold for its owner to take with him, since he was such a cunning and successful business man. If anyone could do it, he could. We all know that the trucks of gold did not arrive, and that he passed on to the next world in the same manner that we all will, taking only any spiritual qualities that he had managed to develop during his life of material ease. Is a rich man accorded a special blessing as he approaches the Throne of God? Not according to any viable and realistic teaching I know of.

It would seem that the one thing we should come to realize during the month of Kamal is that the only hope of true perfection in this life is related to our attempts to attain the spiritual bounties that Bahá'u'lláh allows us to strive for. He and His Concourse are eager to bestow upon us all sorts of goodness, but we must fervently work to put aside the human tendency for the want of material gain to the detriment of all else, and strive for the spiritual avenues available to us through a life-long study of the Bahá'í Teachings. While we may never achieve the ultimate degree of perfection in this life, knowing that is no excuse not to try with all our heart and soul to do the very best that we possibly can, in honor of His bounties.

Although humans possess the embryonic possibilities of perfection, our only hope to begin to attain some of those qualities is to learn from the life of The Master, `Abdu'l-Bahá, and follow in His footsteps as best we can in an attempt to elevate the human species along the path of His goodness.

By Hand of the Cause of God David Maxwell