GOD’S EARTHLY CREATION

A paper developed in the Fall of 2012, with the expectation of

using it for a class in the San Jose Bahá’í Center in May 2013
]It was delivered on November 17, 2013.]

One morning at early dawn while gazing out the window at silhouettes of autumn trees, time was
given to thinking about three that stood out. One was an evergreen and, thus, had its full dark
shape of abundant leaves. The other two were only distinguished by one having lost all its leaves
and the other still holding onto several on most branches. The birds chose to alight on the tree
void of leaves. The leaves of the latter displayed its rusty fall color as dawn turned into sunrise.
The thoughts that arose on those three apparently insignificant parts of God’s creation turned out
to boggle the wee mind of the gazer. It was realized in great clarity that more time should be
given to pondering in greater depth the matter beneath our feet.

Yes, in the talk, class and CD on Science and Religion: The Search for Compatibility, quotes on
the elemental aspect of physical creation were used, such as this sentence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in
Some Answered Questions:
Then it is clear that original matter, which is in the embryonic state, and the mingled and
composed elements which were its earliest forms, gradually grew and developed during
many ages and cycles, passing from one shape and form to another, until they appeared
in this perfection, this system, this organization and this establishment, through the
supreme wisdom of God. SAQ, p. 182

Yes, in the class and CD on Three Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, this quote was taken from His Tablet to
the Kings:
What is it of which ye can rightly boast? Is it on your food and your drink that ye pride
yourselves, on the riches ye lay up in your treasuries, on the diversity and the cost of the
ornaments with which ye deck yourselves? If true glory were to consist in the possession
of such perishable things, then the earth on which ye walk must needs vaunt itself over
you, because it supplieth you, and bestoweth upon you, these very things, by the decree of
the Almighty. In its bowels are contained, according to what God hath ordained, all that
ye possess. From it, as a sign of His mercy, ye derive your riches. Behold then your state,
the thing in which ye glory! Would that ye could perceive it! Gl., p. 252

But in researching and writing the notes for those classes, the mind went on to other Writings to
study and use in the development of the themes. Now on that autumn morning thoughts entered
that took note of the simplicity and yet complexity of common trees.

The evergreen retains its color all year and keeps the leaves of the past season until after the new
foliage has been completely formed. That, in itself, is a property of its scientific specialty. All
the leaves of the barren tree and those remaining on the other tree would totally decompose and
return to the earth – unless man raked them up and set them afire. Indeed, the barren tree looked
like it was only good for kindling; yet it would be rejuvenated, return to full life and continue to
come and go in the vegetable kingdom – but only thanks to its own material accessing other
physical material from whence it gets most of its nourishment, along with the benefits of the rays
of the sun and abundant rains.
This is what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote on the subject in The Secret of Divine Civilization:
When, through the Divine bestowals, three things appear on earth, this world of dust will
come alive, and stand forth wondrously adorned and full of grace. These are first, the fruitful
winds of spring; second, the welling plenty of spring clouds; and third, the heat of the bright sun.
When, out of the endless bounty of God, these three have been vouchsafed, then slowly, by His
leave, dry trees and branches turn fresh and green again, and array themselves with many kinds
of blossoms and fruits. SDC, p. 108

We derive such joy looking at the beautiful sights of the planets, its moons and the distant
galaxies of creation, pictures of which are the result of man’s investigation of creation. Indeed,
their numbers, immense sizes and distances alone are awe inspiring. Yet few of us think about
the ground that we walk upon and what miraculous elements reside underneath its surface. This
morning, I cut a pear into slices as part of my breakfast. Removing the seeds, I could not
distinguish them from the seeds that would be removed from the apple in the fruit bowl.
Horticulturalists and farmers would sort and classify such seeds – and all other fruit seeds – for
the planting of orchards. Naturally, the planting would take place in the soil beneath the surface
of the earth, with its invisible matter. A simple quote from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on this truth:
The vegetable spirit is the power of growth which is brought about in the seed through
the influence of other existences. SAQ, p. 208

In contemplating those three trees, the very general quote of the kingdoms of creation explained
by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were recalled, as that quote is often repeated by Bahá’ís. It relates how the
mineral kingdom has the power – spirit – of cohesion, the vegetable kingdom the powers of
cohesion and growth, the animal kingdom of those two plus movement and the senses, and the
human kingdom all of these in addition to that of the everlasting soul, with its powers of
ideation, memory, imagination. Now, in retrospect, I confess to rather shortchanging the
importance of those parts of God’s physical creation that exist beneath our footsteps.
Bahá’u’lláh’s statement to the kings of the earth testified that within its bowels contain all that
they possess.

Well, what is true for the kings in respect of material possessions is true for us. Stretching the
thoughts that early morning and connecting them to those words to the kings, I looked around the
neighborhood from my window. Yes, all the buildings, pavements, street lights, lawns, in my
condo complex came from the properties of within and on top of earth, thanks to man’s
manipulation and use of them. Looking around the contents of the condo unit itself, everything
from the books to the sinks, from the dining table to the computer printer, derive their existence,
again, thanks to the stuff of physical creation. Our own physical being originally manifested
itself from the earth. Let’s put that on hold for the moment and look at the Power of God’s Love
being the foundation of all.

We humans banter about this word “love” but in respect of God, it is an all-encompassing power,
for all of the universe, not just the earthly creation theme of this paper. This from a talk ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá gave in Maine during His 1912 visit to America:
We declare that love is the cause of the existence of all phenomena and that the absence
of love is the cause of disintegration or nonexistence. Love is the conscious bestowal of
God, the bond of affiliation in all phenomena. We will first consider the proof of this
through sense-perception. As we look upon the universe we observe that all composite
beings or existing phenomena are made up primarily of single elements bound together
by a power of attraction. Through this power of attraction, cohesion has become manifest
between atoms of these composing elements. The resultant being is a phenomenon of the

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 lower contingent type. The power of cohesion expressed in the mineral kingdom is in
reality love or affinity manifested in a low degree according to the exigencies of the
mineral world. PUP, p. 255

The address, we know, goes on to discuss the other kingdoms: vegetable, animal and man.
And this is from another talk given that same year at the Theosophical Lodge in New York:
There is no cessation to His bounty. The divine spirit is penetrating from eternity to
eternity for it is the bounty of God and the bounty of God is eternal. Can you conceive of
limitation of the divine power in atomic verities or cessation of the divine bounty in
existing organisms? Could you conceive the power now manifest in this glass in cohesion
of its atoms, becoming non-existent? The energy by which the water of the sea is
constituted, failing to exert itself and the sea disappearing? A shower of rain today and
no more showers afterward? The effulgence of the sun terminated and no more light or
heat?
When we observe that in the kingdom of minerals the divine bounties are
continuous, how much more shall we expect and realize in the divine spiritual Kingdom!
How much greater the radiation of the lights of God and the bounty of life everlasting
upon the soul of man! As the body of the universe is continuous, indestructible, the
bounties and bestowals of the divine spirit are everlasting. PUP, pp. 159-60
Of course, parts of that last phrase lead to the subject of the divine world, which was discussed in
the class and CD on Thoughts on the Soul.

Moving on – when we are finished with those material possessions, except for the recyclable, all
are buried in the ground, to return to nature’s recycling system. Unlike nature’s reprocessing of
its own material, parts of what we build or manufacture, we now know, become toxic upon
decomposition – but that is still another subject. Here is what Bahá’u’lláh said about particular
unnamed toxic substances beneath our feet – then undiscovered:
Strange and astonishing things exist in the earth but they are hidden from the minds and
the understanding of men. These things are capable of changing the whole atmosphere of
the earth and their contamination would prove lethal. Great God! We have observed an
amazing thing. Lightning or a force similar to it is controlled by an operator and moveth
at his command. Immeasurably exalted is the Lord of Power Who hath laid bare that
which He purposed through the potency of His weighty and invincible command.
TB, p. 69
One cannot but think of radioactive elements such as plutonium, which is associated with nuclear
bombs, but this is a supposition on my part.

The words “progression” and “progressive” are regularly used in Bahá’í literature. The most
obvious one when considering religion is Progressive Revelation, brought by the divine
Teachers, Prophets, Messengers, Manifestations of God on His behalf during periodic stages of
history. Those divine Revelations are progressive not because of the limitations of the Prophets
but because of our gradual development. As this truth is a basis principle of the Bahá’í Faith and
discussed very often with detailed quotes, we’ll mention other progressions, sometimes referred
to as evolution, such as cultural stages.

All cultures have various stages of progression in their history. Let’s just look at two, Egypt and
the West.
Egypt went through the: Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
New Kingdom
Coptic Period
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We’re more familiar with these names in the West, and most overlapped. The
Dark Ages
Middle Ages
Renaissance
Age of Enlightment
Industrial Age
The west also had various eras, such as:
The Victorian Era of Great Britian
The Reconstruction Era of the United States

Let’s take the subject of our own physical creation, which above was put on hold. There is so
very much in the Writings from which to quote. Usually, I select two or three short statements
that reference man, in the beginning of his existence and in the womb of the earth, developing
like the embryo in the womb of the mother. SAQ, p. 182 Here I’ve chosen one longer quote from
another 1912 presentation given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; this one at an Open Forum in San Francisco.
The two paragraphs, one long and one short, are in reference to human evolution, progression:
The philosophers of the Orient in reply to those of the western world say: Let us suppose
that the human anatomy was primordially different from its present form, that it was
gradually transformed from one stage to another until it attained its present likeness, that
at one time it was similar to a fish, later an invertebrate and finally human. This
anatomical evolution or progression does not alter or affect the statement that the
development of man was always human in type and biological in progression. For the
human embryo when examined microscopically is at first a mere germ or worm.
Gradually as it develops it shows certain divisions; rudiments of hands and feet appear --
that is to say, an upper and a lower part are distinguishable. Afterward it undergoes
certain distinct changes until it reaches its actual human form and is born into this
world. But at all times, even when the embryo resembled a worm, it was human in
potentiality and character, not animal. The forms assumed by the human embryo in its
successive changes do not prove that it is animal in its essential character. Throughout
this progression there has been a transference of type, a conservation of species or kind.
Realizing this we may acknowledge the fact that at one time man was an inmate of the
sea, at another period an invertebrate, then a vertebrate and finally a human being
standing erect. Though we admit these changes, we cannot say man is an animal. In each
one of these stages are signs and evidences of his human existence and destination. Proof
of this lies in the fact that in the embryo man still resembles a worm. This embryo still
progresses from one state to another, assuming different forms until that which was
potential in it -- namely, the human image -- appears. Therefore, in the protoplasm, man
is man. Conservation of species demands it.
The lost link of Darwinian theory is itself a proof that man is not an animal. How
is it possible to have all the links present and that important link absent? Its absence is
an indication that man has never been an animal. It will never be found. PUP, pp. 358-59

There is also progression in the beginning of creation that man has given names to in its
scientific investigation of original matter. This will boggle your mind – at least it did mine.
Sir Fred Hoyle, English astronomer and mathematician, was the one to coin the phrase the Big
Bang, much to his regret. These are the 9 names given to the epochs of the ultra nanosecond of
the Big Bang to, approximately, the next 20 minutes. Each has the word “epoch” after its name:
Planck
Grand unification
Electroweak
Inflationary
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 Quark
Hadron
Lepton
Proton
Nucleosynthesis
Can one comprehend actually giving names to such insignificant periods of time?
Then, 377,000 years later came the:
Recombination Epoch, when hydrogen and helium atoms formed
Between 150 million and a billion years later came the:
Reionization Epoch, when the first stars and quasars formed

Here is part of a talk given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the Metaphysical Club in Boston, MA, during
that 1912 visit to America:
The elemental atoms which constitute all phenomenal existence and being in this
illimitable universe are in perpetual motion, undergoing continuous degrees of
progression.
And
In its ceaseless progression and journeyings the atom becomes imbued with the virtues
and powers of each degree or kingdom it traverses. PUP, p. 284

This statement by physicist Richard Feymann in his Lectures was used in the class/CD on
Science and Religion: The Search for Compatibility:
If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one
sentence passed on to the next generation of creatures, what statement would contain the most
information in the fewest words? His answer was: knowledge of the atom – little particles that
move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but
repelling upon being squeezed into one another. In that one sentence, you will see, there is an
enormous amount of information about the world, if just a little imagination and thinking are
applied. The Feymann Lectures on Physics, Volume 1, Section 1-2, Addison-Vesley Publishing Company, 1977

‘Abdu’l-Bahá said about a half century before:

If the atoms which compose the kingdom of the minerals were without affinity for each
other, the earth would never have been formed, the universe could not have been created.
Because they have affinity for each other, the power of life is able to manifest itself, and
the organisms of the phenomenal world become possible. When this attraction or atomic
affinity is destroyed, the power of life ceases to manifest; death and nonexistence result.
PUP, p. 4

This paper has already referred to the elements beneath our feet. In May of this year, 2012, I
watched a Public Broadcasting System documentary titled Hunting the Elements. I was able to
catch two showings of it and took notes.

The film reports that there are:

90 elements considered the basic building blocks
118 elements on the Table of Elements
And that, we are made up of only 6 elements plus some trace elements

In “progression” of evolution the main archeological Ages are:

Paleolithic
Mesolithic
Neolithic
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Then there are these more familiar Ages:
Stone
Bronze
Iron
To which was added the Copper Age.

In the documentary:
Gold was the first element covered, giving such facts as:
Our averaging one ounce of gold for every ton of earth displaced and
That all the gold in the world is equal to a 60 foot cube.

Copper was the next element with such information as:

It was used 7,000 years ago
That copper is king, attached to economics because it is used for everything
from conducting electricity to repelling bacteria and
That 20 million tons of copper futures are traded each year on the New York Stock
Exchange

Consider this from Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh regarding these two elements:
"Is it ever possible," they ask, "for copper to be transmuted into gold?" Say, Yes, by my
Lord, it is possible. Its secret, however, lieth hidden in Our Knowledge. We will reveal it
unto whom We will. Whoso doubteth Our power, let him ask the Lord his God, that He
may disclose unto him the secret, and assure him of its truth. That copper can be turned
into gold is in itself sufficient proof that gold can, in like manner, be transmuted into
copper, if they be of them that can apprehend this truth. Every mineral can be made to
acquire the density, form, and substance of each and every other mineral. The knowledge
thereof is with Us in the Hidden Book. Gl., p. 197
And from another book of Bahá’u’lláh’s utterances :
For instance, consider the substance of copper. Were it to be protected in its own mine
from becoming solidified, it would, within the space of seventy years, attain to the state of
gold. There are some, however, who maintain that copper itself is gold, which by
becoming solidified is in a diseased condition, and hath not therefore reached its own
state. KI, p. 157

Now it is by adding tin to copper that you get bronze. The arrangement of atoms with the right
amounts of copper and tin, however, is very specific. In the film on elements, this was illustrated
at an American bronze bell factory where 20%-30% of the bells failed, the ratio was faulty. One
piece of a bell was taken to a lab at Cornell University and, with a very high-powered
microscope, was magnified 100 million times. It was likened to looking at the entire contingent
United States and zooming in on a ladybug clinging to a blade of grass.

Placing a piece of bronze the size of a small round sequin under an even more powerful
microscope, actual atoms were viewed. The perfect pattern of the numerous rows of atoms could
only have been designed by an All-Powerful Creator. We have yet to uncover images on the
subatomic level. What new scientific doors will open when that is accomplished by scientists!

Which leads us into two quotes from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá talks given during that nine-month 1912
journey through North America. They have to do with those scientists and man’s God-given
right to discover the mysteries of God’s creation. The first quote is from when He spoke at
Stanford University:

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 The greatest attainment in the world of humanity has ever been scientific in nature. It is
the discovery of the realities of things. . . .
The highest praise is due to men who devote their energies to science, and the
noblest center is a center wherein the sciences and arts are taught and studied. Science
ever tends to the illumination of the world of humanity. It is the cause of eternal honor to
man, and its sovereignty is far greater than the sovereignty of kings. The dominion of
kings has an ending; the king himself may be dethroned; but the sovereignty of science is
everlasting and without end. PUP, p. 348

The second is from His talk at Cornell University and refers to our God-given gift of the
intellect:
The outcome of this intellectual endowment is science, which is especially characteristic
of man. This scientific power investigates and apprehends created objects and the laws
surrounding them. It is the discoverer of the hidden and mysterious secrets of the
material universe and is peculiar to man alone. The most noble and praiseworthy
accomplishment of man, therefore, is scientific knowledge and attainment. PUP, p. 29

However, the powers given to the kingdom of man, for we are first spiritual beings, place
restrictions on the mandate of unearthing – good word for our subject – the mysteries of the
phenomena. Per just this one quote from a Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh known as the Book of
Effulgences, Tajalli:
In the third Tajalli (effulgence) of the Book of Tajalliyat (Book of Effulgences) We have
mentioned: "Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being, and are conducive to its
exaltation. Knowledge is as wings to man's life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its
acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. The knowledge of such sciences, however,
should be acquired as can profit the peoples of the earth, and not those which begin with
words and end with words. Great indeed is the claim of scientists and craftsmen on the
peoples of the world. Unto this beareth witness the Mother Book in this conspicuous
station." ESW, p. 26

The Mother Book referenced in the quote is Bahá’u’lláh’s Book of Laws, the Kitab-i-Aqdas. On
page 48 appears:
We have permitted you to read such sciences as are profitable unto you, not such as end
in idle disputation; better is this for you, if ye be of them that comprehend.
On page 250 of the Notes on the Kitab-i-Aqdas is written:
The first sign of the coming of age of humanity referred to in the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh
is the emergence of a science which is described as that "divine philosophy" which will
include the discovery of a radical approach to the transmutation of elements. This is an
indication of the splendours of the future stupendous expansion of knowledge.

It is interesting to note that the largest man-made scientific instruments of research, such as
reactors and accelerators, are built to capture, discover, study and/or manipulate the smallest of
God’s invisible physical creation. More recently, we have at CERN, the European particle
physics research centre, the Large Hadron Collider, the size and inner working as awesome as
the discovers made with it as captured in the film.

Let’s skip on to a couple of important elements, carbon and oxygen:

Carbon is the foundation of all life on earth.
Of the six elements that make up man:
18% is carbon and 65% is oxygen.

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Returning to Fred Hoyle, Sir Hoyle, who together with William Fowler first noticed the
remarkable arrangement of carbon and oxygen nuclear resonances, is reported to have said that
nothing has shaken his atheism as much as this discovery.

This appears in the description of a publication of Fred Hoyle’s talks titled Of Men and Galaxies:
In this compilation of popular lectures delivered in 1964, he comments on the nature of
the scientific enterprise, gives his view of life on Earth from the perspective of astronomy,
and speculates about the future. Among the many interesting ideas discussed in this book
is Hoyle's suggestion that 'the emergence of intelligent life is not a meaningless accident'
and he estimates that the existence of intelligent life on other planets is highly probable.
“the book of the cosmos – Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to Hawking,” p. 525, an anthology
edited by Dennis Richard Danielson, Helix Books, Perseus Publishing, 2000

So what does Bahá’u’lláh say to that? – well, actually before that as He passed away in 1892:
As to thy question concerning the worlds of God. Know thou of a truth that the worlds of
God are countless in their number, and infinite in their range. Gl., pp. 151-52
And
Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures,
whose number no man can compute. Gl., p. 163

Let me interject the reason for all of creation with two very short quotes from the same book of
Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings used above:
Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct
operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique
distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him – a capacity that must needs be
regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of
creation. Gl., p. 65
And
The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing Himself unto men is
to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves.
Gl., p. 287
I find it interesting that He uses gems, gorgeous compositions of the humble mineral kingdom, as
the analogy. Ah, to enlarge upon that theme! but that’s another paper.

Well, dear listeners, you can now understand why my wee mind was boggled in respect of the
thought process moving from three insignificant trees to a few aspects of our earthly creation,
especially in association with the truths and knowledge permeating the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh
and the Writings and talks of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His Son and authorized interpreter of that
Revelation.

Before concluding this paper, the contents of which are minimal to the knowledge of the
Revelation and the scientific data available for this time in which we live, I’d like to present
three more items:
- Give a disclaimer
- Pass on just a mere few recommendations in respect of pursuing avenues of study on this
subject and
- Add a couple of closing quotes

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The disclaimer:
I am not a scientist. I know no more about physical creation than the average person who takes
an interest in and reads publications on the various fields of science. Thus, apologies are given if
this paper has erred in conceptualizing the theme we have looked at. No apologies need be given
for the truths conveyed from Bahá’í literature.

The recommendations:
Most PBS documentaries can be purchased at its website. I wholeheartedly recommend getting a
DVD copy of the NOVA 2-hour special Hunting the Elements. For those familiar with the inner
workings of computer technology, perhaps the show can be watched online.

One specific book from the Pen of Bahá’u’lláh cannot be given. His Writings are like scattered
jewels and the subjects of science and creation appear throughout His hundreds of Tablets. This
student found it helpful to use “Ocean,” the database of Bahá’í literature, where key words can
be searched leading to quotes to study.

It is a bit easier with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Quotes from two particular publications were used. One
was Some Answered Questions. The first two chapters of Part 1 of that book are titled Nature Is
Governed by One Universal Law and Proofs and Evidences of the Existence of God. Part 4 is
called On the Origin, Powers and Conditions of Man and its first two chapters are Modification
of Species and The Universe Without Beginning. The 7th chapter of Part 5, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá answers
the question, How many kinds of preexistence and of phenomena are there?

The other publication quoted from several times is The Promulgation of Universal Peace, which
chronicles 139 talks given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in that 1912 trip to America. One need only look at
the index to see numerous references under “science,” or under “body,” and “element,”
“creation,” “cycle,” “evolution,” “existence,” “God, the Creator,” “man,” “mysteries,” “nature,”
“sun,” and “world.”

Of course, the publication covers hundreds of other subjects. Just as we know that the universe
is endless, the index has a reference to “Revelation of God is ceaseless.” The Revelation of
Bahá’u’lláh encompasses what amounts to 100 volumes of knowledge. Add to that the Words of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá and so many other books, and there is more than a lifetime of study offered.
Bahá’u’lláh Himself said:
Let no one be content with mere hearing; rather doth it behove everyone to ponder that
which this Wronged One hath revealed. TB, p. 130

We only quoted once from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s The Secret of Divine Civilization. Bahá’u’lláh
actually asked His Son to write this book, which was published in 1875 when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was
only 31 years old; 17 years before the mantle of the Head of the Bahá’í Faith fell upon His
shoulders. The Secret of Divine Civilization is known as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s outstanding
contribution to the future reorganization of the world. WOB, p. 37

Closing quotes:
The first from The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, messages the length of essays sent by the
grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi. Shoghi Effendi was appointed the Guardian of the
Bahá’í Faith by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament and served in that capacity from 1921,
at the passing of His Grandfather, until 1957, when he himself passed away. Today the Head of
the Faith is the Universal House of Justice, the highest institution of Bahá’u’lláh’s World Order.
The quote addresses the challenge we have in immersing ourselves in the ocean of the all-
encompassing Revelation, destined to last no less than a thousand years. It is not meant for the
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believers of Bahá’u’lláh but was brought for the world by that Spirit of Truth Who shall lead us
unto all truths.
To strive to obtain a more adequate understanding of the significance of Bahá'u'lláh's
stupendous Revelation must, it is my unalterable conviction, remain the first obligation
and the object of the constant endeavor of each one of its loyal adherents. An exact and
thorough comprehension of so vast a system, so sublime a revelation, so sacred a trust, is
for obvious reasons beyond the reach and ken of our finite minds. We can, however, and
it is our bounden duty to seek to derive fresh inspiration and added sustenance as we
labor for the propagation of His Faith through a clearer apprehension of the truths it
enshrines and the principles on which it is based. WOB, p. 100

The second and last quote from Bahá’u’lláh was used for the class/CD on God. It leads us to the
foundation of all creation; take note of the description of the elements:
All praise to the unity of God, and all honor to Him, the sovereign Lord, the
incomparable and all-glorious Ruler of the universe, Who, out of utter nothingness, hath
created the reality of all things, Who, from naught, hath brought into being the most
refined and subtle elements of His creation, and Who, rescuing His creatures from the
abasement of remoteness and the perils of ultimate extinction, hath received them into
His kingdom of incorruptible glory. Nothing short of His all-encompassing grace, His
all-pervading mercy, could have possibly achieved it. How could it, otherwise, have been
possible for sheer nothingness to have acquired by itself the worthiness and capacity to
emerge from its state of non-existence into the realm of being? Gl., p. 64

Mary Ann Gorski

Rio Rancho, New Mexico

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