Spiritual Work, letter to Sherlock

(Spiritual Work, letter to Sherlock, 7/4/06):

Sherlock, I'm curious to know what kinds of conversations you anticipate with me and perhaps others, as we enter into an approach to the threshold of the Beloved. I think it is quite difficult to anticipate what might happen, since to truly break new ground, we will witness the breaking of the old foundations of our life--the attachments to self and this world. The noise resulting from a true transformation of our old self may not be something we have quite heard of late. Perhaps the sixties was a taste of it, without the religion to guide it. Letting go of ego and pride and the old 'tricks' will be a necessary precursor to a humble receiving of the Spirit. We will have to feel a divine safety in order to reveal the tender underlayers of our personhood, to empty out enough to 'merit' the infusing of the Glorious Transcendent Light! How can this occur without a tumult and upheaval, the likes of which can tear down an entire civilization!

Alas, for we, as the spiritual descendants of the Dawnbreakers, must sacrifice all of ourselves on the altar of His Love. Thus, all that was built up for the sake of self, in all its subtlest forms, must be razed to the ground, ground up, and with the power of the Divine Elixir itself, turned into spirit, and unleashed onto the world with the overwhelming radiant splendor of Baha! All the needs and longings will be used for fuel to create the very love that will heal hearts and minds. We cannot bypass the struggle, for the struggle is the fuel for the fire! It is the pain of longing which leads us to Him. Without pain we cannot grow. The pain humbles us and shows us that we are in need of greater love, and that our ego is still here, needing more purifying. Those who don't struggle have false humility, since they feel they have arrived and have no inner need or impetus to seek with fervor for a greater measure of the Beloved. The Beloved is infinite--He never ends--our search for Him is ongoing.

Praise God we can be humble at His threshold, be honest about our needs and shortcomings, and bare ourselves to Him, since He sees us, and He created us. May we be able to, if in our longing for Him it is deemed beneficial, to also bare ourselves to one another, so that we can better reflect His love in our interactions, without the veils of contrived personality we are so used to. God, give us the wisdom and grace to accomplish this. We do this for Your Cause, out of the outpourings of Your Love and Mercy. Give us patience and humility, and discernment. Give us an open mind and heart, and cause us to apprehend the glorious intimations of regeneration and renewal which are vibrating within every atom of existence, so that we can rest assured that we are alive and growing beings, capable of change and transformation, in accordance with Your glorious command!

Through His Love,

Bob

"Through that Word the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly Kingdom, entities of a new creation." --Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations, pp. 295-96

"Throughout the world, immense intellectual and spiritual energies are seeking expression, energies whose gathering pressure is in direct proportion to the frustrations of recent decades. Everywhere the signs multiply that the earth's peoples yearn for an end to conflict and to the suffering and ruin from which no land is any longer immune. These rising impulses for change must be seized upon and channeled into overcoming the remaining barriers that block realization of the age-old dream of global peace. The effort of will required for such a task cannot be summoned up merely by appeals for action against the countless ills afflicting society. It must be galvanized by a vision of human prosperity in the fullest sense of the term-an awakening to the possibilities of the spiritual and material well-being now brought within grasp." --Bahai International Community, The Prosperity of Humankind (Haifa: BahaiInternational Community Office of Public Information, 1995) P. 1.

"I beg of Thee, O my God, by Thy most exalted Word which Thou hast ordained as the Divine Elixir unto all who are in Thy realm, the Elixir through whose potency the crude metal of human life hath been transmuted into purest gold, O Thou in Whose hands are both the visible and invisible kingdoms, to ordain that my choice be conformed to Thy choice and my wish to Thy wish, that I may be entirely content with that which Thou didst desire, and be wholly satisfied with what Thou didst destine for me by Thy bounteousness and favor. Potent art Thou to do as Thou willest. Thou, in very truth, art the All-Glorious, the All-Wise." --Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 53

"Know thou, moreover, that every created thing is continually brought forth and returned at the bidding of thy Lord, the God of power and might...Verily, the Word of God is the Cause which hath preceded the contingent world--a world which is adorned with the splendours of the Ancient of Days, yet is being renewed and regenerated at all times." --Baha'u'llah