Mirza Abu'l-Fadl with Ali kuli Khan in the United States
April 26, 2015
April 19, 2015
“If thou desirest to be freed from affliction, recite thou this prayer which hath been revealed by the Pen of the All-Merciful:”
“O God, my God! I testify to Thy unity and to Thy oneness. I
beseech Thee, O Thou Possessor of names and Fashioner of the heavens, by the
pervasive influence of Thine exalted Word and the potency of Thy supreme Pen,
to aid me with the ensigns of Thy power and might, and to protect me from the
mischief of Thine enemies who have violated Thy Covenant and Thy Testament.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Powerful.”
This invocation is an impregnable stronghold and an
indomitable army. It conferreth protection and ensureth deliverance.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Tabernacle of Unity’)
April 16, 2015
7 May 1963: To the annual National Conventions of the Baha’i World
Beloved Friends,
The marvelous happenings which have transpired during and immediately after the
twelve days of Ridvan attest the greatness of the Cause of God, and fill every
Bahá'í heart to overflowing with joy and gratitude. It was in obedience to the
summons of the Lord of Hosts Himself that the elected representatives of the
fifty-six national and regional communities of the Bahá'í world were called to
elect, in the shadow of God's Holy Mountain and in the house of the Center of
His Covenant, the members of the Universal House of Justice. It was the Sign of
God on earth, the Dayspring of Divine Guidance, the Guardian of the Cause of
God, who gathered more than six thousand Bahá'ís from all parts of the earth to
the celebration of the Most Great Jubilee in London.
The first of these historic occasions was marked by events of extreme spiritual
and administrative significance at the World Center of the Faith. The daily
visits of large groups of believers, of many varying backgrounds, to the sacred
shrines in the twin holy cities; the holding of the first International Bahá'í
Convention and the successful accomplishment of its main task; the celebration
of the Ridvan Feast by some three hundred believers in the company of the Hands
of the Cause of God in the precincts of the Haram-i-Aqdas, are events of unique
character and untold significance in the history of our beloved Faith.
April 11, 2015
Hand of the Cause Dr. John Esslemont (1874-1925)
John Ebenezer Esslemont, who passed away at Haifa November
22, 1925, was born on May 19, 1874, the son of John E. Esslemont of Fairford,
Cults, Aberdeenshire.
He received his preliminary education at Ferryhill public
school and continued his studies at the Robert Gordon College and ultimately at
Aberdeen University, where he graduated with honors in April, 1898, obtaining
not only the medical degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and of Surgery, but also a
Philip Research Scholarship at the University. He spent the second half of 1899
at Berne and Strasburg, at both of which places he wrote papers on his research
work, which were published and considered valuable.
Returning to Scotland in December, 1899, Esslemont took up
the position of assistant to Professor Cash at Aberdeen University, which
position he held until 1901, when he went to Australia, remaining there two
years. During this residence in Australia, he married on December 19, 1902.
Early in his life Esslemont’s health proved a cause of
trouble and anxiety, and in 1903 he was obliged to leave Australia, returning
to Aberdeenshire, where he spent the summer, but found it necessary in the
winter of that year to proceed to South Africa, the climate of which country it
was hoped would prove beneficial to his pulmonary ailment. He remained in South
Africa for five years, returning to his native country in 1908, when he
obtained the post of resident medical officer at the Home Sanatorium,
Bournemouth, which he continued to hold until 1923, when, owing to the death of
the proprietor, the Sanatorium was closed and Esslemont found himself without
medical occupation.
April 4, 2015
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
From: Baha’i
Pilgrim Notes
'Abdu'l-Baha said:
Jesus Christ had two bodies -- one spiritual and one
material. The material body is of no importance; it changes and
changes and changes always. An old person's body is not the same, as that of
the same individual when young.
The visible world does nothing but change, and change leads
to annihilation.
We must be sure that when the soul of man leaves his body,
it never returns to that body again.
In the Gospel record, when Jesus Christ was crucified and
ascended, Mary Magdalene and the other disciples had fallen into such a state
of excitement and agitation, that during three days the cause of God was
annihilated for them. After three days their agitation having abated, they
realised that the cause of Jesus Christ, and His teaching was everlasting in
the world. The disciples would not at first write to the other believers openly
that Jesus was crucified till Mary Magdalene said to them what does it matter;
His soul is with us. When Jesus was crucified, some said "His religion is
annihilated and gone." Mary Magdalene said "Matter is gone, and flesh
-- but the soul of the religion is forever."
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