-----Original Message-----
From: Don Calkins
> Vaughn Sheline wrote:
>
> To my mind, spiritual winter denotes spiritual oppression and the
widespread
> disappearance of the love of God and human virtues.
>
> Although I suppose there must be occasional periods of time during which
> future Manifestations of God will be recognized initially by only a few
and
> initially will be opposed, I think the authoritative interpretations of
the
> Baha'i Writings indicate that one of the distinctions between the present
> Day of God and previous Days is that spiritual winters will not occur
during
> the successive Dispensations which will occur within the 5,000 century
> Baha'i Cycle.
Could you give some citations for this idea? The only ones I can think
of circle around the idea of this being "the day which shall not be
followed by night".
Dear Don,
Sure. Although 'Abdu'l-Baha many times used the succession of Spring,
Summer, Fall and Winter as an analogy for the developmental pattern which
has been repeated in past Dispensations, 'Abdu'l-Baha has indicated that in
this new Day, unlike previous Days, the establishment of "the Spiritual and
Everlasting Kingdom" will be achieved. Further, Baha'u'llah Himself has
proclaimed that this Day will not be the same as previous Days and describes
His Day as the "Springtime which autumn will never overtake":
... In the day of the manifestation of the Lord of Hosts, and at the epoch
of the divine cycle of the Omnipotent which is promised and mentioned in all
the books and writings of <57> the Prophets -- in that day of God, the
Spiritual and Divine Kingdom will be established, and the world will be
renewed; a new spirit will be breathed into the body of creation; the season
of the divine spring will come; the clouds of mercy will rain; the sun of
reality will shine; the life-giving breeze will blow; the world of humanity
will wear a new garment; the surface of the earth will be a sublime
paradise; mankind will be educated; wars, disputes, quarrels and malignity
will disappear; and truthfulness, righteousness, peace and the worship of
God will appear; union, love and brotherhood will surround the world; and
God will rule for evermore -- meaning that the Spiritual and Everlasting
Kingdom will be established. Such is the day of God. For all the days which
have come and gone were the days of Abraham, Moses and Christ, or of the
other Prophets; but this day is the day of God, for the Sun of Reality will
arise in it with the utmost warmth and splendor.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 56-57)
"This Day a different Sun hath arisen, and a different Heaven hath been
adorned with its stars and its planets. The world is another world, and the
Cause another 79 Cause." "This is the Day which past ages and centuries
can never rival. Know this, and be not of the ignorant."
(Shoghi Effendi quoting Baha'u'llah in The Advent of Divine Justice, p.
78)
"This," He [Baha'u'llah] furthermore declares, "is the king of days," the
"Day of God Himself," the "Day which shall never be followed by night," the
"Springtime which autumn will never overtake," "the eye to past ages and
centuries," for which "the soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine
Messenger, hath thirsted," for which "all the divers kindreds of the earth
have yearned," through which "God hath proved the hearts of the entire
company of His Messengers and Prophets, and beyond them those that stand
guard over His sacred and inviolable Sanctuary, the inmates of the Celestial
Pavilion and dwellers of the Tabernacle of Glory."
(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 98)
Furthermore, Shoghi Effendi has indicated that the unfoldment of spiritual
civilization in the Baha'i cycle will be unprecedented:
Anticipating the System which the irresistible power of His Law was destined
to unfold in a later age, He [Baha'u'llah] writes: "The world's equilibrium
hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new
World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been revolutionized through the
agency of this unique, this wondrous System -- the like of which mortal eyes
have never witnessed." "The Hand of Omnipotence hath established His
Revelation upon an unassailable, an enduring foundation. Storms of human
strife are powerless to undermine its basis, nor will men's fanciful
theories succeed in damaging its structure."
(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 109)
Dearly-beloved friends! Enough has been said, and the quoted excerpts from
the writings of the Bab, of Baha'u'llah and of 'Abdu'l-Baha are sufficiently
numerous and varied, to convince the conscientious reader of the sublimity
of this unique cycle in the world's religious history. It would be utterly
impossible to over-exaggerate its significance or to overrate the influence
it has exerted and which it must increasingly exert as its great system
unfolds itself amidst the welter of a collapsing civilization.
(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 112)
Who can doubt that such a consummation -- the coming of age of the
human race -- must signalize, in its turn, the inauguration of a world
civilization such as no mortal eye hath ever beheld or human mind conceived?
Who is it that can imagine the lofty standard which such a civilization, as
it unfolds itself, is destined to attain? Who can measure the heights to
which human intelligence, liberated from its shackles, will soar? Who can
visualize the realms which the human spirit, vitalized by the outpouring
light of Baha'u'llah, shining in the plenitude of its glory, will discover?
What more fitting conclusion to this theme than these words of
Baha'u'llah, written in anticipation of the golden age of His Faith -- the
age in which the face of the earth, from pole to pole, will mirror the
ineffable splendors of the Abha Paradise? "This is the Day whereon naught
can be seen except the splendors of the Light that shineth from the face of
thy Lord, the Gracious, the Most Bountiful. Verily, We have caused every
soul to expire by virtue of Our irresistible and all-subduing sovereignty.
We have then called into being a new creation, as a token of Our grace unto
men. I am, verily, the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days. This is the Day
whereon the unseen world crieth out: 'Great is thy blessedness, O earth, for
thou hast been made the foot-stool of thy God, and been chosen as the seat
of His mighty throne!' The realm of glory exclaimeth: 'Would that my life
could be sacrificed for thee, for He Who is the Beloved of the All-Merciful
hath established His sovereignty upon thee, through the power of His name
that hath been promised unto all things, whether of the past or of the
future.'"
(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 206)
Best regards,
--- Vaughn
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