by David Maxwell
In the apparent madness of today's world, there appears to be a need for "something" at times, in order that a sense of sanity may be found for the answers to some very vexing questions. The Bahá'í Teachings proclaim to be the message of God for this day, which should be the end of the discussion, but after 160 years on this Earth, with turmoil seeming to increase daily rather than decrease, we seem to have a paradox on our hands. Yet, the Bahá'ís gain a feeling of comfort from the promises of the Teachings.
While thinking of proofs for this subject, I could think of nothing that is happening in the world today that could not be solved, or could have been avoided in the first place, through the following of the precepts and guidance of the Bahá'í Teachings. I must emphasize that the Orthodox position must be assumed in order to make the above statement true. There must be a Guardian at the helm in order for the Faith to yield its intended efficacy. Yet, while we understand that the ignoring of God's plan for this day led to today's problems, we also possess the comfort of the powerful Prayers and assurances in the Writings of this Most Great Revelation.
The skeptic could argue that while the Faith has been on this Earth since the mid-nineteenth century, it has had little to no influence on bringing an out-of-control world to bay, as evidenced by two major world wars, countless world conflicts, famine and pestilence of untold magnitude, not to mention untold heartache to humanity. Thus, it has seemingly had little success in bringing the Kingdom of God on Earth, as foretold in the Holy books. But wait. Did not Bahá'u'lláh proclaim, while he remained a prisoner of unjust governments during most of His ministry, that mankind had a chance of experiencing the prophesied period of peace on Earth if but the rulers of the world would accept his Teachings and follow Him? We know the results of that. And as each succeeding generation has witnessed, the problems and suffering have increased such that many on this Earth can not find safety and peace even in their own homes.
Consider Bahá'u'lláh's statement "Anticipating the System which the irresistible power of His Law was destined to unfold in a later age, He writes: "The world's equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System--the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed. The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation. Storms of human strife are powerless to undermine its basis, nor will men's fanciful theories succeed in damaging its structure." -- Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 109
That quote seems to hold particular power for me, both in providing reasons for the world's troubles, and in proclaiming hope for the future. The world's equilibrium. What can be more important than the equilibrium of an entity? Without equilibrium there is no sense of balance, without balance there is at the very least considerable difficulty. And as each generation has witnessed, the problems have increased to the degree that there seems absolutely no solution for many of them. And why would God destine havoc upon the very creatures He loves? Bahá'ís know that since God's call was not heeded by the rulers of the world many years ago, we were put on the path of "doing it the hard way." Mankind's choice; not His. Yet there remains a comfort..."nor will men's fanciful theories succeed in damaging its structure."
As children, most of us suffered hardships of some sort or another. But the world had a safeness, a saneness to depend upon. At least our world in the United States did. World War II, while murderously horrible to those directly involved, was certainly not the end of things for most of us. In fact, many of the modern medicines and conveniences we have today had their beginnings from that War; penicillin, the harnessing of atomic energy, the development of a network of highways, the development of jet aircraft to enable swift circumvention of the globe. Many of the Bahá'í principles found sanctuary as well, such as the intermarriage of the races.
All the while we continued to feel the safeness and saneness of our country, with a distant view of the hardships of others. And then that was taken from us when the Russians launched their Sputnik beyond the gravitational pull of the Earth in 1957. Now, we became vulnerable. And with the capture of Gary Powers and his U2 spy plane, we came to realize that our government at times withheld information from us, and was capable of the little white lie. Where had the good old days gone? A maturity we did not want was thrust upon us. Would these things have happened to us if the rulers of the world had followed the directives of Bahá'u'lláh and had been following the Bahá'í Teachings?
Then, the ultimate tragedy struck. When the Guardian Shoghi Effendi died in late 1957, the Hands of the Cause quickly tossed out the very essence of the Faith, the Institution of the Guardianship. This act lead additionally to the end of the Institution of the Hands, the re-writing of many passages in the Holy Books, and the illicit handling of the money contributions to the Faith. While the Hand's actions were not bad enough, even more unfortunate was the fact that the overwhelming majority of believers bought it lock, stock, and barrel. Yet there remained a comfort zone for those who continued to support the Institution of the Guardianship.
Later, during the Cuban missile crisis, Russia blinked first. A magnified acceleration of the ills of mankind was everywhere. The rampant use of recreational mind-altering drugs put parents in a dither, and numbed the senses of young people. Would that have happened if the Teachings had been widely followed? And then there was the sexual revolution. Its results have carried unresolved to this day, with increasing perversity. Fast forward. Abortion. What to do? The murder of those who support it. The murder of those who do not support it. And through the Aids virus, the murder of many others. Now we are faced with the consequences of cloning. Will a human clone have a soul? What about stem-cell research? Have to ask the Guardian. Unfortunately, the man on the street has to ask, "What do you mean, ask the Guardian? What Guardian are you talking about?" How do we solve Ebola or SARS? How about terrorism? Shall we solve that on our own, unaided by a Guardian presiding over the Universal House of Justice?
During my working years, I learned many lessons of the goodness of people, and of their treachery. I recall a particularly stressful period when the world-famous McKinsey Corporation came to call, and spent several months roaming around various departments of the company. We were told... "these guys are not efficiency experts, cooperate fully and truthfully with them to assist them in their research." Yeah. Right. When they eventually compiled and released their findings, we had to enact their guidelines. The McKinsey folks, to no one's surprise, found we were overstaffed. That much of our staff was located in the field at various production units, some being hundreds of miles apart, was of no consequence. To cover all the bases we could transfer a half person to cover the defined half-day job at one location; the remaining half person would cover the half-day job at another location. Piece of cake. But over time we somehow managed to accomplish the guidelines. Then management was on our case about the reduced service levels we were providing.
Additionally, our vocabularies were enhanced, with buzzwords such as "rationalization of staff." We were puzzled; what did that mean? Quite simply it meant "reduction of staff." Then I read an article that helped me understand. In order to rebuild a company into a more efficient entity, you must first obliterate the old one. Are not all the old established institutions of the world being obliterated? Like it or not, we are all a part of it. Even the old order of the Bahá'í Faith is in the process of eventual obliteration. While we can take comfort that future generations will benefit from the faithful believers of this period, who hold steadfast to the Bahá'í Covenant, that does not mean it has been an easy path. But God is there with a comforting presence to provide all our needs.
And I cannot recount the continuous tumult we see around us every day of our twenty-first century lives. There is a crisis of the day, and if there isn't a genuine crisis, the news media will fabricate one. Today's scary headline is often never heard of again. We do not know what to believe or who to trust. All the while, our lives and those around us have been in constant change. Most of us hate change. Yet, did not Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu´l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi tell us in their prolific writings, that the World's equilibrium had been upset, and that change of a magnitude never before seen would occur in this world, until the day that Bahá'u'lláh's message was fully instituted?
So here we are, over forty years after the Hands foisted the ultimate crisis on the world, disturbing the intended path of development of the Faith, to make conditions even worse in the world than they would have been had the Second and Third Guardians been recognized by the majority of the Faith. We have the illicit organization in Haifa ruling their flock with their very own man-made version of the Bahá'í Faith. How can the world expect to be any better off? It's a marvel that the world is still spinning, and that the problems are not worse than they are. Now, back to Bahá'u'lláh's quote: "The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His Revelation upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation. Storms of human strife are powerless to undermine its basis, nor will men's fanciful theories succeed in damaging its structure." We are assured of the eventual victory of the Bahá'í Faith. Can anything be more comforting than knowing that men's fanciful theories cannot succeed in damaging the intended path of the Faith?
I challenge anyone to refute that any of the ills of the world over the past 150 years could not have been mitigated through the intended efficacy of the true Bahá'í Teachings, as established by Bahá'u'lláh, taught by the Master `Abdu´l-Bahá, further defined through the pen of Shoghi Effendi, upheld by Mason Remey, and championed through the Guardianship of Joel B. Marangella. Name just one. Can't do it can you?
