Incontrovertible

"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. Ignorance may deride it. But in the end, there it is!"  Sir Winston Churchill

Wisdom

Beyond the acquisition of knowledge, however, wisdom is needed.
Bahá’u’lláh describes wisdom as “the greatest gift,” as humanity’s “unfail-
ing protector,” and as the “foremost teacher in the school of existence.”

(Bahá'u'lláh quoted in Creating a New Mind by Paul Lample)

Highlights this week:

First week back at work in the French School.
Friday: Celebrating end of Ramadan with Islamic community
Saturday:
Sunday:

Wisdom unites knowledge and action

"Wisdom unites knowledge and action; it involves the application of
knowledge according to the exigencies of each situation."
(Paul Lample, Create A New Mind, p. 16)

...with pure motives, and only for the sake of God ...arise...serve

Is there any greater blessing conceivable for a man, than that he
should become the cause of the education, the development, the
prosperity and honor of his fellow-creatures? No, by the Lord God!
The highest righteousness of all is for blessed souls to take hold of
the hands of the helpless and deliver them out of their ignorance
and abasement and poverty, and with pure motives, and only for
the sake of God, to arise and energetically devote themselves to the
service of the masses, forgetting their own worldly advantage and
working only to serve the general good.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Paul Lample, Creating a New Mind, page 14) 

“our past is not the thing that matters so much in this world as what we intend to do with our future”

Acquiring humility calls for the rejection of both guilt—the paralyzing, harsh judgment of the failure to live up to the standard—and complacency—the reinterpretation of the standard, lowering it to suit personal comfort and preferences. The Guardian’s words that 'our past is not the thing that matters so much in this world as what we intend to do with our future' help us to overcome feelings of guilt. And we can avoid complacency by always acknowledging the truth of the divine standard raised by Bahá’u’lláh, upholding it under all circumstances, and refusing to compromise it with the commonly accepted standards of our time."
 (Shoghi Effendi, quoted in Paul Lample, Creating a New Mind, page 15)

Attraction vers le royaume de Dieu

O toi qui es attiré vers le royaume de Dieu! Chaque âme cherche un objet, nourrit un désir et, nuit et jour, s'efforce d'atteindre son but. L'une aspire à la richesse, l'autre est assoiffée de gloire, une autre encore languit après la renommée, l'art, la prospérité, etc. Pourtant, elles sont toutes vouées, en fin de compte, aux privations et aux déceptions.

L'une comme l'autre, elles laissent derrière elles tout ce qui leur appartient et, les mains vides, se hâtent vers le royaume de l'au-delà.

Tous leurs efforts resteront vains: elles retourneront toutes à la poussière, dénudées, déprimées, découragées et en proie au plus profond désespoir.

Loué soit le Seigneur, tu es engagé dans ce qui t'assure un gain qui durera éternellement, et ce n'est rien d'autre que ton attraction vers le royaume de Dieu, ta foi et ta connaissance, l'illumination de ton coeur et tes efforts soutenus pour la promotion des divins enseignements. En vérité, ce présent est impérissable et cette richesse est un trésor issu des cieux!

Abdu'l-Baha : Selection des ecrits d'Abdu'l-Baha

"Honor lies ...in one's efforts to promote the welfare of humanity"

Honor lies not in ephemeral positions of power, but in one’s efforts to promote the welfare of humanity.
(Bahá'u'lláh, in Tablets 64)


Happy the soul that shall forget his own good, and like the chosen ones
of God, vie with his fellows in service to the good of all. . . .
(Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization 116)


Through the divine teachings, the urge to indulge the self throughdominance over others is subdued by spiritual competition to serve the
well-being of all. It is only in the acquisition of divine virtues and in
service to God and His Cause that individuals vie with one another.
(Paul Lample, Creating a New Mind, p 17)