Service is Prayer
True worship is
talking of the Truth with love and sincerity and translating what we say into
action.
Prayer,
which is simply and in reality a communion of a friend with his and her true
Friend, is a highest form of loving expression and praise, glorification and
gratitude; it is a purely sincere, unconditional joy in celebrating love and
growing freely by its light. It is an expression that is best translated and
understood when manifests itself in an action of its original, unsoiled but
genuine kind. Such an act is worship; it
is called service. “Service is prayer.”
(`Abdu’l-Baha, Compilations, vol II, p. 236 )
The wisdom of prayer", `Abdu'l-Baha has said,
"is this: That it causeth a
connection between the servant and the True One, because in that state man with
all heart and soul turneth his face towards His Highness the Almighty, seeking
His association and desiring His love and compassion. The greatest happiness for a lover is to
converse with his beloved, and the greatest gift for a seeker is to become
familiar with the object of his longing; that is why with every soul who is
attracted to the Kingdom of God, his greatest hope is to find an opportunity to
entreat and supplicate before his Beloved, appeal for His mercy and grace and
be immersed in the ocean of His utterance, goodness and generosity." (Revealed by `Abdu'l-Baha,
"Baha'i World Faith", p. 367)
Should Prayer take the form
of an action?'
`Abdu'l-Baha has responded: "`Yes: In the Baha'i Cause
arts, sciences and all crafts are (counted as) worship. The man who makes
a piece of notepaper to the best of his ability, conscientiously, concentrating
all his forces on perfecting it, is giving praise to God. Briefly, all
effort and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship,
if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to do service to
humanity. This is worship: to serve mankind and to minister to the
needs of the people. Service is prayer."
This
truth explained by `Abdu'l-Baha directs the seeking minds to a totally
different sphere of understanding. It transforms what has frequently been
thought perhaps to be only an imaginary, a binding but illusionary submission
to an invisible source--out of fear, helplessness, lack of vision and
perception, or just a naive notion of going with the flow and what was accepted
by the common and popular--to a dynamic real force and energy, and to a new
height of freedom and bliss. It uplifts the pondering souls to an
understanding and knowledge which recognizes, willingly and
progressively, through one's own volition and actual experience, of a
magnificent Source of Power and Knowledge. Service could be said is the
economy of appreciating and utilizing the Power of Divine assistance.
Such power, however, will be drawn to anyone who with an independent spirit and
vigilant mind, with a sincere heart and free soul converses with the One
Beloved--Who is there, always, and is ever-Hearing, ever-Watchful. Prayer
and service go hand and in hand--and thus, it could be said that a simple daily
act of worship and prayer which you and I may offer could bring down on the earth
the heaven!
"If one friend loves another, is it not natural that he
should wish to say so? Though he knows that the friend is aware of his
love, does he still not wish to tell him of it?...It is true that God knows the
wishes of all hearts; but the impulse to pray is a natural one, springing from
man's love to God." (By Abdu'l-Baha, the
Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, no. 34, p. 12)
What better way of showing to God, and
because of His love and out of His love to His people, that we truly and
sincerely love, than directing its powers to guide our actions and by putting
all our affection and sentiments for “service”,
a service which would benefit everyone, whether young or old, whether poor or
wealthy, whether ignorant or knowledgeable?
Please
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Timeless
Treasures: Words with Meanings
