Combining love and faith brings about trust, which is very similar to what we experience as infants, but with one exception.
If you did not get a chance to read part I of Spirit of Faith, the link is:
http://3-d-project.blogspot.ca/2013/03/theme-spirit-of-faith-part-i_28.html
Devotion
That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men, is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion. (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 13) |
Do thou ponder on the penetrative influence of the Word of God. Every single one of these souls was first ordered to blaspheme and curse his faith, yet none was found to prefer his own will to the Will of God. (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 75) |
Deeper Learning
According to Abdu’l-Baha, “The first sign of faith is love.”
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 337). Combining love and
faith brings about trust, which is very similar to what we experience as infants,
but with one exception. In human relationships we deal with visible faces, but
in a divine engagement we travel into the unknown. It is also true that
whatever belief system we acquire we have to take responsibility for it. “For
the faith of no man can be conditioned by anyone except himself.” (Baha'u'llah,
Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 143) Our belief, regardless of
whether it is truth or not, makes us accountable to every action we take.
Faith requires trust. To better understand the relationship
between the two, let’s consider briefly the life of a blind person. Without
vision, day-to-day life is full of risk. Without knowing what lies ahead, she
could run into things, burn her hands on a stove, fall into a hole or eat the
wrong food. Danger is always around the corner. She decides to get a dog to
help her with daily activities. Just any dog wouldn’t do the job. One with
proper training is needed, but she has to trust her new friend. With a seeing-eye
dog, daily living becomes easier. With the help of a trusted friend, many blind
people do tasks ordinary to others such as take public transportation, go to
work and walk around town.
Spiritually, sometimes our inner vision is blurry. We are
asked to do something, without knowing exactly where it will lead. In the Baha’i
Faith, some take the journey into the unknown because of obedience to higher
authorities, such as the Central Figures, the Guardian or the Universal House
of Justice. Our history pages are filled with many inspirational stories in
which heroic deeds were accomplished purely based on faith and knowledge. When
individuals take the first step, divine assistance comes when needed. There are
many accounts of great travel teachers and pioneers who selflessly moved around
the world and martyrs who gave up their lives for the love of God.
One such example is the remarkable life of Martha Root. She
was called the “archetype of Baha’i teachers” by the Guardian..” In 1909 she
became a Baha’i and had two private interviews with Abdu’l-Baha during His
visit to America and Canada. Fascinated by the simplicity and majesty of the
Faith, this small-framed woman, from an ordinary family in Cambridgeboro,
Pennsylvania, decided to discover the communities around the world of her newly-found
religion. In 1915, she started her global journey, alone, with the hope of
financing her travel as a journalist. She went to Egypt, India, Burma, Japan,
Hawaii and finally back to the USA. She met Baha’is wherever possible. Her
great regret was that she could not enter Haifa to visit the Master, as the
region was engulfed in conflict during that time. In 1919, Martha Root decided
to take another world voyage, this time fuelled by the idea that she had gems
of Baha’u’llah’s message in her hand and she should share them with the world.
In her many travels she reached millions through her newspaper articles and
radio broadcasts. She met with common people as well as kings and queens,
scholars and prominent leaders. Among those
whom she met was Queen Marie of Romania (who eventually became a Baha’i), and president
of Czechoslovakia and Nobel-prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore. Was it
easy? Not at all. She suffered from cancer, fatigue and apprehension of her
limitations. She was not strong, rich nor attractive according to the standards
of the time. Many times she was in great danger. Whenever she was downhearted,
she read the counsels of Abdu’l-Baha and, more importantly, she prayed for
greater capacity to serve more intelligently and lovingly. Traveling alone,
Martha Root came across many men behaving badly, at times in challenging ways,
yet she was careful not to become a barrier between any soul and the message of
Baha’u’llah.
Regardless of what stage of growth you are at, faith can be
at risk. Once you profess your belief in Baha’u’llah, there is no guarantee
that you will not lose it. Perhaps you or someone you know has experienced this.
Losing faith in God happens all the time. The challenge is that faith is tested
over and over again. The closer you are to God, the harder faith is to hold on
to. When faced with persecution by the Romans, the disciples of Jesus Christ
started to lose their faith in their Savior. Mary Magdalene, the strongest of
them all, saved them during this extreme time. In the Baha’i Faith, there have even
been many covenant breakers who were defiant and disobeyed the Authorities.
Many join the Faith with great enthusiasm and expectation, but when
disappointment creeps in, slowly their steadfastness withers away. Why? In my
opinion, trivial issues become more important than love of God.
Reflection:
There is a connection between love and faith. Can you recall
the first time you made that relationship?
Deeds (path of service)
We have
admonished Our loved ones to fear God, a fear which is the fountain-head of all
goodly deeds and virtues. It is the commander of the hosts of justice in the
city of Baha. Happy the man that hath entered the shadow of its luminous
standard, and laid fast hold thereon. He, verily, is of the Companions of the
Crimson Ark, which hath been mentioned in the Qayyum-i-Asma. (Baha'u'llah,
Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 135)
Fear of God has been mentioned in scriptures of all
religions. As indicated in this extracts, it could lead one to good deeds and
pursuit of virtues. Our instinct is to run away from anything that cause fear
in us. How do we reconcile these two opposite emotions.
Previous post links are:
http://3-d-project.blogspot.ca/2013/03/theme-spirit-of-faith-part-i_28.html
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