Bringers of Joy!
“Never is it the wish of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to see any being hurt, nor will He make anyone to grieve; for man can receive no greater gift than this, that he rejoice another's heart. I beg of God that ye will be bringers of joy, even as are the angels in Heaven.” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp.203-204)
The image of God, the essence of His light, placed in the inner reality of each of our beings and gifted by the hands of His power, mercifully, bountifully, is a Truth which while emphatically testifies to the nobility of the human beings and its preciousness and distinction—so highly and uniquely standing and dazzling in reality above all the other existent beings in the universe by God Himself—it in no ways implies or should ever be misunderstood as such that the Creator’s peerless Essence and absolutely exalted station beyond the understanding and knowledge of every human being, however keen and brilliant in mind and abilities, could even remotely be co-possessed and shared by mortally finite and feebly imperfect humans. God’s could be likened to the existence and station of the shining sun in the firmament of the physical world, gracefully rising from the horizon and enlightening this world of dust, the planet earth, and sustaining with its life-giving and generous light and warmth every existent. Ours, the humans’, could in its best possibility be as the rays of that sun—which while emanated only from the sun, each potentially bearing a relative capacity to carry and transfer its light and its empowering heat and glowing brightness. The existence and power of the ray depends upon the sun and however bright the sparking light emanated from the sun, its status in comparison is like that of a drifting shadow. And to the extent the ray is faithfully conscious of its inner potential gifts and its relation to the source of its light, free from the veils and clouds, and above blinding arrogance and pride, it not only shines radiantly and high, its light brightens many lives and fills their days with happiness and delight, with goodness flowing freely and natural, transforming lightly and wafting like a breeze, it gives and only gives—and flying in haste without any expectations and waiting, waves of joy and smiles is all that it aspires for and reaps.
“My fatigue does not matter –as long as I find loving souls like yourselves, my heart is happy… The sea of materialism is at flood tide and all the nations of the world are immersed in it. It is my hope that the fish will rise to the surface, so that they may behold other wondrous aspects of creation; for the people are like unto the fish swimming in the deep – ignorant of the rest of the universe. May they be transformed into birds of the air and soar in the nether atmosphere! May they break all bonds of limitation, so that they can observe from the height the lordly processions of infinite creatures; they will see the blue heavens studded with luminous stars, rivers flowing with salubrious water, gardens bedecked with fragrant flowers, trees adorned with blossoms and fruits, birds singing songs of light, humanity ever striving forward, every atom of existence breathing life and force—the universe of God a wonderful theatre upon the stage of which every created thing plays its part.” (By ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “Divine Philosophy”, p.138)
“O Thou Whose face is the object of my adoration, Whose beauty is my sanctuary, Whose habitation is my goal, Whose praise is my hope, Whose providence is my companion, Whose love is the cause of my being, Whose mention is my solace, Whose nearness is my desire, Whose presence is my dearest wish and highest aspiration, I entreat Thee not to withhold from me the things Thou didst ordain for the chosen ones among Thy servants. Supply me, then, with the good of this world and of the next. Thou, truly, art the King of all men. There is no God but Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Generous.” (Revealed by Baha’u’llah, “Prayers And Meditations”, p. 259)
I just wrote another post on the related theme in my other blog below. You are welcome to visit at:
Learning Felicity
