"As it is in heaven"

"AS IT IS IN HEAVEN"

Every practicing Christian, if asked, would be able to insert the words that precede the above quoted phrase in "The Lord's Prayer" and would be able to inform you that the completed quotation is a supplication to God to establish the Kingdom of God on earth "AS IT IS IN HEAVEN."

Will the Kingdom of God that is established on earth in response to this supplication be one that has been imperfectly fashioned by the minds of men, who possess no knowledge of the features of that heavenly Kingdom, or must it possess only those divinely-appointed features that have been uniquely revealed by the Manifestation of God in this long-awaited "Day of God?"

In the "Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh" penned by Shoghi Effendi one finds the following wonderful description of the manner in which the Bahá'í Administrative Order has been divinely-conceived in accordance with the above criteria and formally delineated by the Center of the Covenant, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, in His sacred and immutable Will and Testament:

"The creative energies released by the Law of Bahá'u'lláh, permeating and evolving within the mind of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, have by their very impact and close interaction, given birth to an Instrument which may be viewed as the Charter of the New World Order which is at once the glory and the promise of this most great Dispensation. The Will may thus be acclaimed as the inevitable offspring resulting from the mystic intercourse between Him Who communicated the generating influence of His divine Purpose and the One Who was its vehicle and chosen recipient. Being the Child of the Covenant-the Heir of both the Originator and the Interpreter of the Law of God-the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá can no more be divorced from Him Who supplied the original and motivating impulse than from the One Who ultimately conceived it."

In the light of the foregoing explanation, it becomes crystal clear that the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá is actually the Will of Bahá'u'lláh, as well, and for this reason Shoghi Effendi has referred to it elsewhere in his writings as "their Will." Furthermore, as evidence of the sacredness and immutability of every provision of this Document, Shoghi Effendi has further emphasized that the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá "together with the Kitab-i-Aqdas [Bahá'u'lláh's Most Holy Book] . . . .are not only complementary but that they mutually confirm one another and are inseparable parts of one complete unit" and that the divinely-conceived Administrative Order delineated in that Document is "God's immutable Purpose for mankind in this day."

Joel B. Marangella
http://bahai-guardian.com/onearth.html