Archive for October, 2011

One Voice Press is a new Baha'i publishing company based Baltimore, Maryland. It has just released its first title in July, "The Flower at the End of the World," a poetry and short fiction collection by David Erickson.

 

A forthcoming release is "Return to Tyendinaga" by Evelyn Loft Watts and Patricia Verge, the biography of the first Canadian Native American Baha'is, Jim and Melba Loft, who, after encountering the Bahá'í Faith in Marysville, Michigan, returned to their homeland, the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory east of Toronto, Ontario, to teach their fellow Native Americans about the young religion.

THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE INTERMEDIARY POWER

BETWEEN GOD AND MAN

4 Avenue de Camoens,

October 31st

 

The Divine Reality is Unthinkable, Limitless, Eternal, Immortal and Invisible.

 

The world of creation is bound by natural law, finite and mortal.

 

The Infinite Reality cannot be said to ascend or descend. It is beyond the understanding of man, and cannot be described in terms which apply to the phenomenal sphere of the created world.

 

Man, then, is in extreme need of the only Power by which he is able to receive help from the Divine Reality, that Power alone bringing him into contact with the Source of all life.

 

An intermediary is needed to bring two extremes into relation with each other. Riches and poverty, plenty and need: without an intermediary power there could be no relation between these pairs of opposites.

 

So we can say there must be a Mediator between God and Man, and this is none other than the Holy Spirit, which brings the created earth into relation with the 'Unthinkable One', the Divine Reality.

 

The Divine Reality may be likened to the sun and the Holy Spirit to the rays of the sun. As the rays of the sun bring the light and warmth of the sun to the earth, giving life to all created beings, so do the 'Manifestations'[of God] bring the power of the Holy Spirit from the Divine Sun of Reality to give light and life to the souls of men.

  

Behold, there is an intermediary necessary between the sun and the earth; the sun does not descend to the earth, neither does the earth ascend to the sun. This contact is made by the rays of the sun which bring light and warmth and heat.

 

The Holy Spirit is the Light from the Sun of Truth bringing, by its infinite power, life and illumination to all mankind, flooding all souls with Divine Radiance, conveying the blessings of God's Mercy to the whole world. The earth, without the medium of the warmth and light of the rays of the sun, could receive no benefits from the sun.

 

Likewise the Holy Spirit is the very cause of the life of man; without the Holy Spirit he would have no intellect, he would be unable to acquire his scientific knowledge by which his great influence over the rest of creation is gained. The illumination of the Holy Spirit gives to man the power of thought, and enables him to make discoveries by which he bends the laws of nature to his will.

 

The Holy Spirit it is which, through the mediation of the Prophets of God, teaches spiritual virtues to man and enables him to attain Eternal Life.

 

All these blessings are brought to man by the Holy Spirit; therefore we can understand that the Holy Spirit is the Intermediary between the Creator and the created. The light and heat of the sun cause the earth to be fruitful, and create life in all things that grow; and the Holy Spirit quickens the souls of men.

 

The two great apostles, St Peter and St John the Evangelist, were once simple, humble workmen, toiling for their daily bread. By the Power of the Holy Spirit their souls were illumined, and they received the eternal blessings of the Lord Christ.

oh! obedience! + the importance of saying yes + Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child – a book review

October 21, 1911, Saturday, Paris: The pitiful causes of war, and the duty of everyone to strive for peace.