On in Praise of the Priesthood: A Baha’i Writes
By george wesley dannells on Jun 1, 2008 in All categories
I don’t know which Baha’i “Gerald” in the world wrote this, but it is sure beautiful. Written as a comment to a blog post on raising children (of God) by a Serbian Orthodox Catholic Priest… -gw
Gerald Says: 
May 31, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I hope you don’t mind a bit of interfaith praise. Baha’is do not have a priesthood, and most of us have a pretty negative idea of the role that clergy has played over the eons in religion. This post however reminds me of a quotation from Baha’u’llah that I am sure applies and I send to you in praise and encouragement for your work:
“He that bringeth up his son or the
son of another, it is as though he hath brought up a son
of Mine; upon him rest My glory, My loving-kindness,
My mercy, that have compassed the world.”
(Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 37)
It struck me, that what an honest priest tries to do is no different than the responsibility fathers are given by God in my Faith, the education of the children (Son, according to certain Baha’i interpretive principles set down later in this same book, would mean Sons/Daughters). When you set forth to take the role, responsiblity, hardships and gifts of fatherhood in any context, you step-forward to raise a child of God. In a sense, as parenting is an act that often calls for an incredible vulnerability, you set yourself as a martyr where God has asked. In our Faith we recognize that not all martyrs must die, some suffer and offer vulnerable sacrifice to God while living, and that is one thing I can say for sure in praise of Priesthood.
God Bless,
Gerald
Photo: “Serbian Orthodox Priests Shopping Belgrade,” Uploaded on March 10, 2006 by Doc Kozzak on flickr, licensed uner Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
On Jun 1, 2008, Gerald said:
George,
Thanks for quoting my comment! I see on the RSS reader and I laughed when i saw this. This is the same Baha’i Gerald you know and have conversed with and quoted.
God Bless,
Gerald
On Jun 1, 2008, Gerald said:
When I saw this, it reminded me of a point that a Bosnian Muslim friend of mine made. Her point was that our beliefs and doctrines may be different, and those differences are important and beautiful, but comparison and focus on our doctrines often leads to schism and fighting. Instead she thinks religious people need to look at how we express our faiths, our actions. These are very often the same between religious.
God Bless,
Gerald
On Jun 1, 2008, george wesley dannells said:
My favorite Gerald in the world! Ageless Gerald. Insightful Gerald. Friend to all of humanity Gerald. Baha’i Gerald.
I’d like to say, I knew it was you, but the truth is I concluded that the writer must be a father himself with children of his own. Wrong! But what a good father you will make.
On Jun 2, 2008, Gerald said:
I hope so!
I look forward to being a father, and this idea of spiritual fatherhood reminds me of two Baha’is in my community who are like mothers to me. Even though we have no priesthood, people still take on that role of spiritual parenthood.
God Bless,
Gerald