"O SON OF BEING!"

"O SON OF BEING! Walk in My statutes for love of Me and deny thyself that which thou desirest if thou seekest My pleasure."

Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, No. 38 Arabic

Asheboro Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Jan. 17

Asheboro's Martin Luther King, Jr. Activities
Monday January 17, 2011


"Of one tree are all ye the fruit, and of one bough the leaves. Let not man glory in this that he loveth his country, let him rather glory in this that he loveth his kind. "
-Bahá'u'lláh

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

8 a.m., Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast, Central School Gym, 621 Franks St., Asheboro. Musical entertainment from the Gospel Gents and a speaker, the Rev. John Gullett.

10 a.m., Annual Symbolic March walking about 10 neighborhood blocks, which begins and ends at the Central School Gym. For those physically unable to make the walk transportation provided by Hodges Funeral Services, St. Luke Church and Wesley Chapel Church.

Noon, Youth Speeches at Central School Gym

2 p.m., Youth Tree planting at Central School Gym. Owen George, with Trees Asheboro, said the environmental group plans to help the youth plant fruit trees.

6 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Worship Service at Wesley Chapel AME Zion Church, 1017 Brewer St., Asheboro. The event will be sponsored by St. Luke United Methodist Church. Guest speaker will be the Rev. David Miller of Christ Fellowship.

From reports in the Courier Tribune 1/16/11

"Nothing whatever can, in this Day, inflict a greater harm upon this Cause than dissension and strife, contention, estrangement and apathy, among the loved ones of God."

"Show forbearance and benevolence and love to one another. Should any one among you be incapable of grasping a certain truth, or be striving to comprehend it, show forth, when conversing with him, a spirit of extreme kindliness and good-will. Help him to see and recognize the truth, without esteeming yourself to be, in the least, superior to him, or to be possessed of greater endowments.

The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of grace which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore, consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle. The portion of some might lie in the palm of a man’s hand, the portion of others might fill a cup, and of others even a gallon-measure.

Every eye, in this Day, should seek what will best promote the Cause of God. He, Who is the Eternal Truth, beareth Me witness! Nothing whatever can, in this Day, inflict a greater harm upon this Cause than dissension and strife, contention, estrangement and apathy, among the loved ones of God. Flee them, through the power of God and His sovereign aid, and strive ye to knit together the hearts of men, in His Name, the Unifier, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise."

-Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, V, pp. 8-9

“On the day when the earth shall be changed into another earth.”

"Would that the hearts of men could be cleansed from these man-made limitations and obscure thoughts imposed upon them! haply they may be illumined by the light of the Sun of true knowledge, and comprehend the mysteries of divine wisdom. Consider now, were the parched and barren soil of these hearts to remain unchanged, how could they ever become the Recipients of the revelation of the mysteries of God, and the Revealers of the divine Essence? Thus hath He said: “On the day when the earth shall be changed into another earth.” 6"

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 47, paragraph 49

6. Qur’án 14:48.


Alberto Giacometti (detail)

" What injustice have they committed? Whom have they betrayed? Whose blood have they spilled, and whose property have they plundered?”

"Lauded be Thy name, O Thou Who beholdest all things and art hidden from all things! From every land Thou hearest the lamentations of them that love Thee, and from every direction Thou hearkenest unto the cries of such as have recognized Thy sovereignty. Were their oppressors to be asked: “Wherefore have ye oppressed them and held them in bondage in Baghdád and elsewhere? What injustice have they committed? Whom have they betrayed? Whose blood have they spilled, and whose property have they plundered?” they would know not what to answer.

Thou knowest full well, O my God, that their only crime is to have loved Thee. For this reason have their oppressors laid hold on them, and scattered them abroad. Aware as I am, O my God, that Thou wilt send down upon Thy servants only what is good for them, I nevertheless beseech Thee, by Thy name which overshadoweth all things, to raise up, for their assistance and as a sign of Thy grace and as an evidence of Thy power, those who will keep them safe from all their adversaries.

Potent art Thou to do Thy pleasure. Thou art, verily, the Supreme Ruler, the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting."

-Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, XX, p. 23

Duer

" ... the Fire which Thou didst kindle can never go out, though all the seas of the earth be poured upon it. "

"I know not, O my God, what the Fire is with which Thou didst light the Lamp of Thy Cause, or what the Glass wherewith Thou didst preserve it from Thine enemies. By Thy might! I marvel at the wonders of Thy Revelation, and at the tokens of Thy glory. I recognize, O Thou Who art my heart’s Desire, that were fire to be touched by water it would instantly be extinguished, whereas the Fire which Thou didst kindle can never go out, though all the seas of the earth be poured upon it. Should water at any time touch it, the hands of Thy power would, as decreed in Thy Tablets, transmute that water into a fuel that would feed its flame.

I, likewise, recognize, O my God, that every lamp, when exposed to the fury of the winds, must cease from burning. As to Thy Lamp, however, O Beloved of the worlds, I cannot think what power except Thy power could have kept it safe for so many years from the tempests that have continually been directed upon it by the rebellious among Thy creatures.

I swear by Thy glory, O my God! Thy Lamp which Thou didst light within the tabernacle of man crieth out to Thee and saith: “O Thou the one alone Beloved! How long wilt Thou forsake me? Lift me up to Thee, I pray Thee. Though this wish of mine be the wish of a human creature, yet Thou knowest that my true wish is to sacrifice myself in Thy path. Thou art He Who hath made my desire to be the same as Thy desire, and my will the same as Thy will. Do Thou preserve Thy loved ones, I beseech Thee, in the shelter of Thy shadowing mercy which transcendeth all things, that haply the sufferings they bear may not deter them from turning in the direction of Thy name, the All-Glorious, the Most Bountiful.” "

-Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh, LXXXIX, pp. 150-151

" ... that its flame may burn up all else except my remembrance of Thee ..."

"Magnified, O Lord my God, be Thy Name, whereby the trees of the garden of Thy Revelation have been clad with verdure, and been made to yield the fruits of holiness during this Springtime when the sweet savors of Thy favors and blessings have been wafted over all things, and caused them to bring forth whatsoever had been preordained for them in the Kingdom of Thine irrevocable decree and the Heaven of Thine immutable purpose. I beseech Thee by this very Name not to suffer me to be far from the court of Thy holiness, nor debarred from the exalted sanctuary of Thy unity and oneness.

Ignite, then, O my God, within my breast the fire of Thy love, that its flame may burn up all else except my remembrance of Thee, that every trace of corrupt desire may be entirely mortified within me, and that naught may remain except the glorification of Thy transcendent and all-glorious Being. This is my highest aspiration, mine ardent desire, O Thou Who rulest all things, and in Whose hand is the kingdom of the entire creation. Thou, verily, doest what Thou choosest. No God is there beside Thee, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving."

-Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations by Bahá’u’lláh,XCVI, pp.160-161


"The spiritual fire will cook you. If you retreat like a coward you will remain raw.
If you don't flee the fire you will be cooked completely, you will become lord of the table.
Come to the table, be served to your companions, like bread, become help for the soul — become soul."
Jalaluddin Rumi