Charles Mason Remey, Second Bahá'í Guardian: The Protection of the Cause of God

 

THE PROTECTION OF THE CAUSE OF GOD

 

By Charles Mason Remey

 

            These days are the days of the Light of God in the world.  From the Center of the Covenant of God is now proceeding the Light of the guidance of His Kingdom, and through this channel of Divine Grace the people of the Covenant are spiritually sustained and enabled to do God’s work in the world.  THEREFORE it is of the greatest importance that each and every Baha'i be protected from all those evil forces which are attacking the friends of the Cause seeking to separate and cut them off from the Center of the Covenant.

            Sacred history tells us that the day of Revelation has ever been the time of supreme spiritual test for the people.  When the sun is at the zenith then the shadows are the blackest and the most sharply defined, while in the night there are no shadows.  So it has been during the ministry of each Divine Manifestation.  In the day of each of God’s Messengers upon earth the belief and faith of the people has been sorely tried and tested; while in the times following the ministries of the Prophets (which spiritually speaking was for humanity the time of night) the signs of the Truth became so manifest that the people were able to follow God’s word without danger or difficulty.

            During the day of Moses He was the point of revelation and all who attached themselves to Him were firm and strong in the Lord while those who allowed the spirit of denial to enter into their hearts thus severed themselves from the source of light and became as dead trees without life nor fruit.

            In the days when Moses was leading the Children of Israel through the Wilderness the dangers, trials and tests were many.  The people were constantly doubting and violating the law and Moses had great difficulty in keeping them firm in his command; but during the age which followed, the commandments of Moses were so firmly established in Israel that the people followed the law in comparative ease and safety, for after the departure of Moses from this earthly plane it became clear and evident to all that He was the Prophet of God and thus all became strong in Him who was the point of Divine Guidance in His Day.

            During the days of Jesus, the Christ, there were vast multitudes which followed Him and which were attracted to the principles of His teachings but of these there were but a very few who knew Him to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  Theirs was the supreme test, for Jesus was the channel of Eternal Life.  The people who knew Him to be the Son of God were to Him.  They were attacked upon all sides by the doubts of the world, but those who remained firm in the Cause became the foundation of the Church and were the means through which Christianity was perpetuated and handed down to the people of future generations.

            The apostles of Christ suffered many doubts and their belief was sorely tested but through the care and guidance of their Divine Shepherd Jesus they were shielded from denial and in the end all save one remained firm in the Cause.

            Thus the true foundation of Christ, which was in Jesus Himself, having been firmly laid in the hearts of the earliest Christians it was comparatively easy for the people of after generations ro come into faith for with them there was no question as to the all impotant point of the Faith – namely that Christ was the source of their spiritual life.

            Thus as one examines into the early history of each of the religions of the past it is clearly seen that in each day of revelation the all important thing has been that the people should know and accept the anointed One – the Point of Divine Manifestation; that they should implicitly follow His teaching and then turn their backs upon all doubt and denial which would cause their separation from the source of spirit which is in the Manifestation Himself.

            As it has been in the past revelations so it is in the present revelation of these latter days.  During the ministry of the First Point, the Bab, the great test to the people was His divinity.  He labored and taught and suffered years of imprisonment and He shed His blood that the people might know that He was the First Point of this latter day revelation and that through Him they might be prepared and made ready to receive the Promised One Baha’o’llah.

            Those followers of the Bab who remained free from the doubts and evil suggestions of the enemies of the Cause became the pillars of steadfastness and in the days which passed before the coming of Baha’o’llah they were the strength of the Cause.

            When Baha’o’llah appeared and declared Himself to be the One whose coming the Bab had foretold those who in reality were firm in the Covenant of the Bab received Baha’o’llah and through Him received the new spirit of the Kingdom which He brought.

            In the day of Baha’o’llah there was no refuge for any save Him.  The tests of the believers were severe.  Many violators arose endeavoring to sow seeds of doubt in the hearts of the Baha’is thus to sever them from the source of light which was the Manifestation “Baha’o’llah”.  Those who withstood all tests and remained firm and steadfast were blessed and showered with the Divine Bounties of the Kingdom; while those who entertained doubts grew cold and cut themselves off from the living root of truth.  These doubting souls came to naught – they were as limbs falling to the ground.

            Again in this present day of the ministry of the Divinely appointed Center of the Covenant of God the people are being tested and tried in faith.  Baha’o’llah appointed a center of guidance who should be as a  shepherd to the flock of Spiritual Sheep – the believers in the Baha'i Cause.  The center of the Covenant is the explainer of the teachings of Baha’o’llah and from the center is now being radiated to the people of the cause the living spirit of Baha’o’llah.

            As the leaves on a tree receive their sustenance from the rest of the tree through the branch, so do the Baha’is now receive their spiritual sustenance from Baha’o’llah through obedience to the one whom He appointed to be the shepherd and the guardian of His flock –  Abdu’l-Baha.*

            Therefore in this day of the Center of the Covenant the all important thing is for the Baha’is to be firm in  Abdu’l-Baha, and the one thing to be avoided is the spirit of denial of the Testament of Baha’o’llah.  If that spirit of violation which is the spirit of the Nakazeen enter into the soul of the Baha'i it is as poison and death for his spirit, for it cuts him off from the source of Divine light, and he becomes as a dead member of the kingdom and perforce casts himself down from the high station to which he was called. 

            In the sacred teachings we are taught that spiritual enemies are of two kinds - - open enemies who oppose frankly face to face, and those enemies who come in the guise of friends seeking by seditious means to destroy the faith of the believers.  As for the first who openly combat the cause Abdu’l-Baha tells us to love them and to treat them with the utmost consideration and kindness as friends and thus soften their hearts and win them to the cause; but as for the second, those who would deceive us into believing them to be friends in order that they might secretly attack the Cause and thus accomplish its destruction - - Abdu’l-Baha tells us to avoid all association with them.  So long as the friends obey this injunction the Cause is protected and safe and no harm can come from them, but if Abdu’l-Baha’s word is not obeyed and those people be allowed to associate with the friends spiritual death and destruction will inevitably follow. 

            The Center of the Covenant is the heart of the body of Baha’is in the world, and from the Center each member of the body (each believer) is receiving spiritual life and force.  In the physical body when the blood circulation is in good order each organ and member of the body is being sustained and nourished and the whole body is active and in health, but if poison be injected and the circulation be stopped, the organs cease to be sustained and illness and death will ensue.

            In like manner it is with the Baha’is.  When the spirit of denial enters into their midst the souls become severed from Abdu’l-Baha, their source of light is cut off and spiritual degeneration and destruction and death come quickly.

            When a member of the physical body becomes gangrenous it is necessary to amputate that member and cast it away, otherwise the whole body will become infected and die.

            If perchance a believer has a doubt or is suffering spiritually the love and attention of the friends must be poured out upon him in order that he be healed and again made strong in the cause, but if a Baha'i falls into the conditions of the nakazeen he immediately becomes a danger to all Baha’is with whom he contacts, and for the safety of the cause he must be cast out.  When people associate with one who is in contact with a person ill with a contagious disease it is as if they were with the sick person for the disease germs are carried by the one to the many.

            So it also is with one who associates with the nakazeen upon one side and with the true Baha’is upon the other side, for in this way the poisonous doubts and spirit of the nakazeen may be conveyed to many believers without their contacting directly with the first cause of the trouble.  The reality of the matter is this, that as soon as one violates, he places himself in the category of the nakazeen and then the people must avoid him along with all other violators.

            This avoidance of the Nakazeen (violators) applies to all the Baha’is whether they be old and firm in the Cause or they be young in the Covenant; no individual nor assemblage of Baha’is can under any condition violate this order of the Divine Physician without suffering the inevitable consequences.

            It is reported that in order to illustrate this point Abdu’l-Baha once said that an army of one thousand men in perfect health and vigor could not heal one man ill with infectious disease, but that association with that one man would cause the infection of the whole army.

            We all know how necessary it is to quarantine certain diseases notwithstanding our love for the ill persons and our sorrow at being separated from them.  However at such a time personal sentiments must be sacrificed for the good of the community, and the infected must be separated from those whom they might infect.  In like manner must all personal desires and attachments be sacrificed for the welfare of the Cause of God and particularly at a time when the Cause is being assailed by the disease of violation.  It was reported that the other day in the city of Leipzig an enemy had been caught with a bottle of cholera germs with which he was about to pollute the city water supply.  He was arrested and imprisoned.  Though hard upon the aggressor it was indeed a mercy upon the people of Leipzig that the police lost no time in placing this man where he could do no harm.

            Now with equal alacrity let us Baha’is all arise to carry out the command of the Center of the Covenant.  As soon as we know anyone to be poisoning or polluting the source of our spiritual light by secretly spreading false teachings and doubts as to the validity of the Covenant and Testament of Baha’o’llah, which is Abdu’l-Baha, let us immediately separate ourselves from that person so that we may be safe and that person be in a position where he cannot harm the cause, for such a one can do no harm to the cause without mingling with the believers.  So long as the poison is kept out from the body all is safe and well.

            The spirit of the Covenant is ever going out from the Center to those who are working and serving in the far corners of the world, Abdu’l-Baha is the spiritual Commander and the believers are His soldiers in the field.

            We can draw a lesson from the warfare now right here in Europe.  In order that soldiers may be in condition to fight and overcome the enemy they must have good ammunition, be properly fed and nourished and kept free from disease and illness.  It is a generally acknowledged fact in the military world that it is more difficult to keep an army in good physical condition free from internal weaknesses than it is to overcome an enemy in the open field. 

            Like the military commander’s thought for his soldiers, Abdu’l-Baha’s concern is ever for the protection and spiritual welfare of those who are teaching the cause of Baha’o’llah in the various countries - - that His spiritual soldiers may be nourished and fed upon the pure food of the Word of God and kept in good condition free from all spiritual disease and weakness.  Therefore, Abdu’l-Baha is protecting His people from the poison of violation.

            During the past two years it has been my privilege to travel extensively in America and Europe visiting all of the larger and many of the smaller Baha’is assemblies.  I found in those assemblies where the people are entirely free from the spirit of the nakazeen, and strong in the Covenant and Testament that there was activity, movement, growth, harmony and spirit very manifest; whereas in those Centers where there are those who in the gatherings of the friends are mingling with the Baha’is (those who secretly deny the Covenant and Testament of Baha’o’llah) there is always the spirit of quasi-cause, no movement nor growth, in-harmony and all of those characteristics which indicate stagnation, disintegration and spiritual death.

            Such signs prove conclusively the spiritual wisdom of Abdu’l-Baha and the necessity of all following minutely the commands of our spiritual commanders even though we ourselves may not see nor comprehend His wisdom.

            Sheep have been used to symbolize the believers of God; of all animals sheep are the most gentle, unsuspecting of danger and the most helpless in the presence of the wolf.  Their only safety lies in obeying the voice of the shepherd and remaining safe within the fold.  If the wolf be let into the fold nothing can save the sheep, but so long as he is kept out from amongst the sheep all are perfectly safe from harm.  In a parallel manner are the true Baha’is sheeplike in their gentleness and love and in following their spiritual shepherd Abdu’l-Baha, and like the sheep who meekly follow their shepherd Abdu’l-Baha, the Baha’is who unquestionably obey the Center of the Covenant are protected and safe in the Testament of Baha’o’llah.

 

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Stuttgart, 2^nd September, 1914.                              C. Mason Remey.

 

            Some Quotations from Abdu’l-Baha’s Tablets, Regarding Firmness in the Covenant and Avoiding the Violators.

 

            “The spirit of this age is the Covenant and Testament of God.  It is like the pulsating artery in the body of the world.”

 

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            “Today the greatest of all affairs is obedience to the Center of God’s Covenant.  The power of the Covenant shall stir the regions and the spirit of the Covenant shall resuscitate.”

 

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“Today the divine magnet is the power of the Covenant and Testament.  If you desire to observe the real condition and the spiritual success of each person, you must observe the degree of his firmness; and according to that degree he will become the manifestor of Divine assistance and Confirmation - - This is the Standard.”

 

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            “Today the penetrative power in the heart of the world is the power of the Covenant, the more the believers are firm the more they are confirmed.”

 

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            “Firmness in the Covenant contains an odor like unto the fragrance of the musk which perfumes the nostrils; while violation of the Covenant has a stench smell which nauseates the nostrils.  Therefore when one inhales with a spiritual power unquestionably he will distinguish between the two smells.

            “The world of violation is like a rootless tree; ere long it will entirely die.  The world of the Covenant is like unto the Blessed Tree which is growing beside the River of the Water of Life; in the utmost delicacy and beauty day by day it is developing and adding to its verdancy.  Ere long no trace will be left from the world of violation.  No one will ever abandon His Holiness Baha’o’llah and His incontrovertible texts and no one will ever follow the superstitions of the Nakazeen.  For in His irrefutable utterances and Blessed Writings He has most emphatically commanded all the Nakazeens to obey (the Center of the Covenant).  All the Nakazeen whom you observe know this fact, but self-interest having crept in they are following the violation.”

 

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            “These few Nakazeen can not accomplish anything worth while; the utmost is this, that they will be the means of the drooping of the believers of God in that city.  A person deprived of the spirit of the Covenant is sentenced as dead: the dead surely disintegrate.”

 

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            “Awaken the friends for ere long a test shall come.  Perchance some persons outwardly firm and inwardly wavering shall come to those parts in order to weaken the faith of the friends in the Covenant of God.  Let them be awake!  Let them be mindful!  As soon as they see a trace of violation of the Covenant they must hold aloof from the violator.  Day and night let them strive so that the light of the Kingdom of Abha may encircle the globe and the darkness of error may be entirely dispelled.”

 

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            “Highway robbers are many and hypocrites are innumerable.  The wolves clothe themselves with the shepherds’ garments, and thieves show themselves in the form of watchmen.

            “Every Persian or non Persian who comes from the East and has not in his hand a letter from Me, although he be one of my relatives, the believers must not associate with him, neither should they let him enter their meetings, for some wolves are coming from Persia to those parts in order to tear the sheep of God, and to scatter the seeds of corruption and to become the means of division…

            “To receive these souls would be like permitting a thief to enter a home, or like letting a wolf into a flock of sheep.  Unquestionably this is not permissible.

            “A man may receive his own enemy into his house and show him the utmost respect and consideration, but it is not allowable to receive a thief into his house nor a traitor into his home, nor a wolf into the flock.  This would be injustice.  Although the heart of the wolf be displeased at this yet the sheep of God must be protected.”

 

 

*Charles Mason Remey had such a thorough understanding of the Baha'i Covenant and was so united with the mind of Abdu’l-Baha, that he predicted the title given to His successors: the guardian.

 

From the Charles Mason Remey papers, Library of Congress: Reminiscences and Letters, Volume 5, 1914-1921.