Flying with Baha'u'llah

When I do briefly look at what the Bahai's get up to, I always think that they miss the point of why Baha'u'llah came. I know that the Baha'is like to emphasise the uniting of humanity - and that is certainly one goal - but it is a social goal and it misses the very personal nature of the revelation, which is addressed to each one of us in a very intimate fashion.

As I read the writings, Baha'u'llah had another purpose - one that is central to his revelation - and that is to offer each one of us the opportunity to make the spiritual journey to join him in his spiritual realm of eternal glory. In other words, he came to invite each one of us to come home with him, to be eternally reunited with him in his celestial sanctuary. In a sense, if we choose to, we can climb in our celestial rocket (or, to use Baha'u'llah's image, take the cup of wine offered by the hand of the cupbearer) and just blast on up to our everlasting nest. Baha'u'llah seeks to be with us, individually. Being a manifestation, he can multitask and give a private audience to an infinite number of people at any one time. So each one of us is invited and is important.

Here is a quote from the Hidden Words in which he tries to inspire us to make the journey to be with him: "O son of spirit! Burst thy cage asunder, and even as the phoenix of love soar into the firmament of holiness. Renounce thyself and, filled with the spirit of mercy, abide in the realm of celestial sanctity." The Hidden Words are filled with invitations for us to fly away to be with him - the same message worded differently over and over again.

It seems to me that, if the Baha'is want to be effective at promulgating the message, they need to 'renounce themselves', as the quote above says - in other words, get over themselves and see beyond the worldly reality of the community and its activities and administration, and even its development - and look to the celestial realm of Baha'u'llah. What's important is for people to know that Baha'u'llah is asking them to fly up on spiritual wings, through the experience of wonderment, delight and the joy of reunion, to live forever in their heavenly home, with the One who created them for that very purpose.

Each of us, right now, can climb into our rocket and just leave all the nightmares behind. Baha'u'llah tells us that this is the most important thing we can ever do. Never mind all the stuff about us being unworthy. Who is worthy? The very act of lifting ourselves off the earth to fly into the realm of sanctity is the very act of freeing ourselves from sin and the past. God is all-forgiving. We can take Baha'u'llah at his word on this.

Happy flying
Alison