All right, this is getting ridiculous.
I'm spending so much time trying to finish this book on the Iqan that I'm totally ignoring this blog. I think that needs to change.
Oh, wait. What book on the Iqan? Sorry. Maybe I should explain that first. Normally I'd write it as an aside, but that would make the aside way too long to be an aside, so I'll just keep it here. And then! Then I'll tell you about my new favourite quote.
So, many years ago, like somewhere around 2000 (the year, not that many years ago) I was living with my friend Samuel. He was a relatively new Baha'i at the time and thought it would be a good idea to study the Writings together whenever we were home together with nothing else to do. Naturally I agreed, so I asked what he wanted to study I was thinking the short obligatory prayer, or perhaps the Hidden Words. Maybe even the unity prayer. Who knew? Well, Samuel did. "The Kitab-i-Iqan", he said.
After picking my jaw up off the floor, we began a study of this book. Minimum 2 hours per week, almost always more. But then I got married, so we took a short break. When we resumed, neither of us could figure out where Baha'u'llah was in His argument in the book, so we decided to start over. We regularly met over coffee and began this whole thing again.
Then my wife and I had a child.
Once again we had to take a break, resumed, and had no clue where He was in His argument. Start again. But this time we decided to blog it, one paragraph at a time. That blog can be found here.
Anyways, more than 25 years later, we're still at it. We just published our thoughts on paragraph 217.
All that to say that after so long a time studying that single text, I had a lot more I wanted to say. So I did. I wrote a book about it, looking at sections of paragraphs at a time and sharing some thoughts and insights. Sent it off to various publishers, and the Publishing Trust in Australia said "sure", they'd love to publish it.
Great.
But then I got a call one day (e-mail, actually), saying that test readers were loving it, but stopped reading and didn't pick it up again. The book, they said, was great, but it was "the wrong book". Rather than write about it in chronological order, they suggested, I should re-write it looking at the various methods Baha'u'llah uses to present His case. Great idea. So that's what I've been doing. And good news is I'm nearly done. Finally.
But I've been neglecting this blog. Not good.
So, after watching a movie about another blog, I decided that I really should get back into this one. And yes, I know I've said that before, but now I have a thought. I'm going to try to publish 100 articles this year. (<-- That's a commitment. I'm going to report on it as I go.)
This has gotten me to ask myself, "Self," I asked, "what is it about this blog that is unique? What makes it work?" My answer is, "I'm so glad I asked. I think it's my deep love combined with a sense of playful joy. While I take the Writings seriously, I try not to take myself seriously."
To give you an idea of what that means, this entire article up to this point has been written in... (checks the clock) under 15 minutes, so far. I speak to you, dear Reader, as I would a friend. And I just type what I'm saying.
Anyways, my thought today? There is a passage I read a while ago, like a few months back, and I just loved it. I re-read for many nights in a row. What is it, you may wonder? Glad you asked. Light of the World, section 50.
It begins with this incredible and stirring passage about a number of previous Manifestations of God:
He is God.
O thou who rejoicest in the glad-tidings of God! In every age and century, the Dayspring of the world is made manifest, shining with a particular splendour and revealed through a mighty sign. In the time of the Friend of God,83 the horizon of existence was illumined with the lights of friendship. During the era of Him Who conversed with God,84 the dawning-place of creation was brightened by the Light that glowed upon Sinai. In the days of the Spirit of God,85 the realm of being was perfumed by the sweet savours of holiness. With the dawning of the Day-Star of Medina,86 the horizon of the world was flooded with the light of love and grandeur. When the veil of concealment was rent asunder from the beauty of the Primal Point, the Morn of divine guidance was adorned with the resplendent rays of the most joyful tidings. And with this Most Great Revelation and the dawning of the Day-Star of the Ancient Beauty, the horizons of the world have been encompassed, blessed, and made evident and complete by all the divine bounties, effulgences, names, and attributes combined. For the Most Great Ocean possesseth and embraceth all the perfections that are to be found in every sea, gulf, river, spring, and stream.
I mean I could go on and on about all the things that capture my attention in this paragraph, from the description of what each Manifestion brought, with Abraham bringing friendship, and Moses the Light of the Law, and on and on. Or I could even describe the movement from the grandiose to the miniscule in that very last phrasing, from the mighty and majestic seas all the way down to the humble stream that flows just outside the house.
But no. That's not what really caught my attention.
I mean, I could go on from paragraph 3 through to the end, and talk about how 'Abdu'l-Baha further describes the progression of the Faith of God throughout history and all the various aspects of this mighty procession He points out. I could, but I won't.
No, what really caught my attention and made me sit up was paragraph number 2.
After this powerful and insightful opening, He continues with this simple observation:
This was written with a broken-nibbed pen. The pen hath been changed and the theme is now elaborated.
I actually sat up and laughed. Aloud. For a good couple of minutes.
I'd catch my breath, re-read that paragraph, and then start laughing again.
Every night for weeks I'd re-read this passage over and over and fall asleep with an over-riding sense of joy.
Despite being the Mystery of God, despite being the Master, the Centre of the Covenant, the Most Mighty Branch, the Perfect Exemplar, the Unerring Interpreter, and even despite being 'Abdu'l-Baha, the Servant of Glory, He was still, in His very essence, human.
Yes, He "towers, in conjunction with (the Bab and Baha'u'llah), above the destinies of this infant Faith of God". And, yes, "wide as is the gulf that separates ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá from Him Who is the Source of an independent Revelation, it can never be regarded as commensurate with the greater distance that stands between Him Who is the Center of the Covenant and His ministers who are to carry on His work."
But here, with this singular paragraph, He reminds us that He, too, is human, prone to the same insignificant troubles we are all heir to. And that, dear Reader, makes me smile with a joy that is deep within my heart, and makes me love the Master even more than before.
1 down, 99 more to go.
