Postby Sean H. » Tue Aug 15, 2006 1:01 pm
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"No obstacle should be placed before any soul which might prevent it from
finding the truth. Baha'u'llah revealed his directions, teachings and laws so that souls might know God, and not that any utterance might become an obstacle in their way.
Holding to the letter of the law is many times an indication of a desire
for leadership. One who assumes to be the enforcer of the law shows an
intellectual understanding of the Cause, but that spiritual guidance in them is not yet established.
The alphabet of things is for children, that they may in time use their
reasoning powers. "Following the spirit" is a guidance by and through the heart, the prompter of the spirit. The Pharisees were extremely orthodox, holding strictly to the law. They were the cause of the condemnation and ultimate crucifixion of Jesus. . . .
The ones in real authority are known by their humility and self-sacrifice
and show no attitude of superiority over the friends.
Some time ago a tablet was written stating that none are appointed to any
authority to do anything but to serve the Cause as true servants of the
friends-and for this no tablet is necessary; such service when true and
unselfish requires no announcement, no following, nor written document.
Let the servant be known by his deeds, by his life!
To be approved by God alone should be one's aim.
When God calls a soul to a high station, it is because that soul has supplicated to be taken into His service. No envies, jealousies, calumnies,
slanders, plots, nor schemes, will ever move God to remove a soul from its intended place, for by the grace of God, such actions on the part of the people are the test of the servant, testing his strength, forbearance, endurance, and sincerity under adversity. At the same time those who show forth envies, jealousies, etc. toward a servant, are depriving themselves of their own stations, and not another of his, for they prove by their own acts that they are not only unworthy of being called to any station awaiting them, but also prove they cannot withstand the very first test-that of rejoicing over the success of their neighbor, at which God rejoices. Only by such a sincere joy can the gift of God descend unto a pure heart.
Envy closes the door of Bounty, and jealousy prevents one from ever
attaining to the Kingdom of Abha.
No! Before God! No one can deprive another of his rightful station, that
can only be lost by one's unwillingness or failure to do the will of God, or by seeking to use the Cause of God for one's own gratification or ambition.
No one save a severed soul or a sincere heart finds response from God.
By assisting in the success of another servant in the Cause does one in reality lay the foundation for one's own success and aspirations.
Ambitions are an abomination before the Lord!
How regrettable! Some even use the affairs of the Cause and its
activities as a means of revenge on account of some personal spite, or fancied injury, interfering with the work of another, or seeking its failure. Such only destroy their own success, did they know the truth.
Star of the West, vol. 6, no. 6 (June 24, 1915)
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