Friday, November 16, 2018

"For this—mastery of the Teachings—there is no effective substitute."


© 2018 Chuck Egerton

"The Universal House of Justice has received and read with interest your letter dated 10 December 1995 seeking its guidance in regard to the work of achieving race unity in the United States. We have been instructed to send the following reply.

Since the Writings contain so much material on this subject, already brilliantly
summarized and expounded by the beloved Guardian, the House of Justice does not feel it would be feasible or useful to rehearse that with which you are already very well familiar. The friends, generally, need to digest this material, to study and internalize it, until they have a profound grasp of the Bahá’í perspective on the matters which you have identified as ones on which there is no true unity of thought. For this—mastery of the Teachings—there is no effective substitute.






In essence, the House of Justice feels that methods should be subordinated to purposes and goals, and are to be selected, adapted or discarded, as they show themselves to be effective or not. In this regard, it has often been observed that attempts which set out, self-consciously, to arrive at unity often lose momentum, unless they lead beyond discussion to some form of action. With respect to principles, it will assist the friends greatly if the issue of addressing race unity can be formulated within the broad context of the social development of the community. The distinctiveness of the Bahá’í approach to many issues needs to be sharpened. In our public outreach, we need to correlate the Teachings with current thought, and be very clear about the bases and assumptions upon which various conceptions rest, and not swallow uncritically whatever ideas happen to be in vogue. Likewise, as a community we need to be future oriented, to have a clear vision and to think through the steps necessary to bring it to fruition. This is where consultation with the Bahá’í institutions will provide a critical impulse to your own efforts."

-Written on Behalf of the Universal House of Justice, from a letter dated 25 February 1996

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

"...O Lord my God! Sanctify mine eye, and mine ear, and my tongue ..."


© 2018 Chuck Egerton
"Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! Sanctify mine eye, and mine ear, and my tongue, and my spirit, and my heart, and my soul, and my body, and mine entire being from turning unto anyone but Thee. Give me then to drink from the cup that brimmeth with the sealed wine of Thy glory." 

“He hath let loose the two seas, that they meet each other: Between them is a barrier which they overpass not."


© 2018 Chuck Egerton

“I have not created spirits and men, but that they should worship me.” 1 Wherefore, wed Thou in the heaven of Thy mercy these two birds of the nest of Thy love, and make them the means of attracting perpetual grace; that from the union of these two seas of love a wave of tenderness may surge and cast the pearls of pure and goodly issue on the shore of life. “He hath let loose the two seas, that they meet each other: Between them is a barrier which they overpass not. Which then of the bounties of your Lord will ye deny? From each He bringeth up greater and lesser pearls.” 2

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá

1.Qur’án 51:56.   [ Back To Reference]
2.Qur’án 55:19–22.   [ Back To Reference]

Monday, November 12, 2018

200,000 + Pageviews!

Thank you to our followers and others around the world who have visited our blog for over Two Hundred Thousand page views!

Sunday, November 11, 2018

"The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and that which is its recipient."


© 2018 Chuck Egerton
"That which hath been in existence had existed before, but not in the form thou seest today. The world of existence came into being through the heat generated from the interaction between the active force and that which is its recipient. These two are the same, yet they are different. Thus doth the Great Announcement inform thee about this glorious structure. Such as communicate the generating influence and such as receive its impact are indeed created through the irresistible Word of God which is the Cause of the entire creation, while all else besides His Word are but the creatures and the effects thereof. Verily thy Lord is the Expounder, the All-Wise."

Bahá'u'lláh LAWḤ-I-HIKMAT (Tablet of Wisdom) p. 140

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Birth of the Báb and Birth of Bahá'u'lláh

West Hawk Lake, Manitoba - © 2018 Chuck Egerton


"The Tongue of Wisdom proclaimeth: He that hath Me not is bereft of all things. Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but Me. I am the Sun of Wisdom and the Ocean of Knowledge. I cheer the faint and revive the dead. I am the guiding Light that illumineth the way. I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the Almighty. I unfold the drooping wings of every broken bird and start it on its flight."

Bahá'u'lláh  Lawḥ-i-Maqṣúd; cf. Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1988), p. 169

Monday, November 5, 2018

" ... so long will men be unable to achieve the greatness which might be theirs.”


St. Boniface Cathedral, Winnipeg © 2018 Chuck Egerton


“As long as women are prevented from attaining their highest possibilities, so long will men be unable to achieve the greatness which might be theirs.”



-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks: Addresses Given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Paris in 1911 40.33 

Friday, November 2, 2018

Feast of Qudrat (Power) "the new age will be an age less masculine and more permeated with the feminine ideals ..."

St. Boniface, Winnipeg © 2018 Chuck Egerton

“The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both of body and mind. But the balance is already shifting; force is losing its dominance, and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendancy. Hence the new age will be an age less masculine and more permeated with the feminine ideals . . . an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly balanced.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in Wendell Phillips Dodge, “Abdul-Baha’s Arrival in America,” in Star of the West 3 (April 28, 1912), no. 3, p. 4.) 

“The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly. "





© 2018 Chuck Egerton

“The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly. Until womankind reaches the same degree as man, until she enjoys the same arena of activity, extraordinary attainment for humanity will not be realized; humanity cannot wing its way to heights of real attainment. When the two wings . . . become equivalent in strength, enjoying the same prerogatives, the flight of man will be exceedingly lofty and extraordinary.”

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 375

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

"Thus have their superstitions become veils between them and their own hearts and kept them from the path of God "

Seine River, Winnipeg, MB © Chuck Egerton 2018

"... Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers.  For the people are wandering in the paths of delusion, bereft of discernment to see God with their own eyes, or hear His Melody with their own ears.  Thus have We found them, as thou also dost witness. Thus have their superstitions become veils between them and their own hearts and kept them from the path of God, the Exalted, the Great..." 

-Bahá’u’lláh, Tablet of Ahmad

"O MAN OF TWO VISIONS!"

© Chuck Egerton 2018

O MAN OF TWO VISIONS! Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty of the Beloved.  

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

" ... it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul ..."

Red River © Chuck Egerton 2018


O CHILDREN OF MEN! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory. 

Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, Arabic no. 68

Monday, October 29, 2018

"The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice ..."

© Chuck Egerton 2018

O SON OF SPIRIT! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes. 

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, Arabic no. 2

Saturday, October 27, 2018

"Bring thyself to account each day ..."



 O SON OF BEING! Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.

 -Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, Arabic no. 31 

" ... ever remember the earth plane is a workshop, not an art gallery for the exhibits of powers."

Charles John Egerton - 1912
"Man in this age has learned the weight of the sun, the path of a star, the movement of an eclipse -- the advance step now is to learn the expansion of the inflexible law of matter into the subtler kingdom of spirit, which contains a finer gravitation which holds the balance of power from age to age unbroken. Blessed is that soul who knows that against all appearances, the nature of things works for truth and right forever . . . . The emancipated soul sees with the eyes of perfect faith because it knows what vast provisions are made to enable it to gain the victory over every difficulty and trial. Yet man must ever remember the earth plane is a workshop, not an art gallery for the exhibits of powers. This is not the plane of perfection, but earth is the crucible for refining and moulding character." –‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Star of the West Vol. 16 Issue 5, p. 518, August 1925 (also quoted in Vol. 24 Issue 11 p. 350, Feb. 1934)