-----Original Message----- From: Patti Goebel ... God leaves not His children comfortless, but, when the darkness of winter overshadows them, then again He sends His Messengers, the Prophets, with a renewal of the blessed spring. The Sun of Truth appears again on the horizon of the world shining into the eyes of those who sleep, awaking them to behold the glory of a new dawn. Then again will the tree of humanity blossom and bring forth the fruit of righteousness for the healing of the nations. Because man has stopped his ears to the Voice of Truth and shut his eyes to the Sacred Light, neglecting the Law of God, for this reason has the darkness of war and tumult, unrest and misery, desolated the earth. I pray that you will all strive to bring each child of God into the radiance of the Sun of Truth, that the darkness may be dissipated by the penetrating rays of its glory, and the winter's hardness and cold may be melted away by the merciful warmth of its shining. (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 32)
Dear Patti, I think 'Abdu'l-Baha enunciated the principle that if spiritual winter befalls humanity then God will always intervene by sending the Sun of Truth. But I think this does not necessarily mean that these are the only circumstances in which a Manifestation can be sent. Specifically, I don't think the spiritual oppression which has been seen in the past must always be repeated before the next Manifestation will be sent. Why then will future Manifestations come? When spiritual winter befalls humanity, obviously, but perhaps also merely when we are ready for the next step -- for more education and for fine tuning of the revealed Law of God. Best regards, --- Vaughn ---------- You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
