Bahais Online Bahais Online

  • Skip to content
  • Jump to main navigation and login

Nav view search

Navigation

Search

You are here: Home

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Entries by category
  • Bahai Life by category
  • Search

Login Form

  • Forgot your password?
  • Forgot your username?
  • Links

Mastodon

Home

The reality of forgiveness

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Category: Alison Marshall's Column
Created: Tuesday, 04 July 2006 16:12
Published: Tuesday, 04 July 2006 00:00
Hits: 5354

I was talking with a Christian guy the other day and he suggested that the Jews were forgiven for murdering Jesus because Jesus asked for them to be forgiven when he was on the cross. I couldn't reconcile myself to this idea and it began a long meditation in my mind on the reality of forgiveness.

The suggestion put to me (as I understood it) seemed far too simplistic and naïve. I know that I used to struggle with the idea that God actually did punish people for doing bad things. I never used to believe it. But now I do. I was pulled up short when I read the Tablet of Fu'ad, which is published in Summons of the Lord of Hosts, pages 177 to 181. In it, Baha'u'llah describes what happened to one of his persecutors when he died. You can say that the imagery used in the tablet is symbolic, but Baha'u'llah is describing a horrible reality that Fu'ad experienced when he died. Oh yes, as far as I'm concerned, hell is a reality all right—an inner one in the soul—and God does punish. Besides, Baha'u'llah is crystal clear that creation works on the twin pillars of reward and punishment. "The Great Being saith: The structure of world stability and order hath been reared upon, and will continue to be sustained by, the twin pillars of reward and punishment." (Baha'u'llah: Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p 164)

Read more: The reality of forgiveness

Tablet to Salman on Detachment (intro and audio)

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Category: Alison Marshall's Column
Created: Thursday, 15 June 2006 15:46
Published: Thursday, 15 June 2006 00:00
Written by Alison Marshall
Hits: 5231

Hi everyone,

Here is the recording and introduction to the Tablet to Salman on Detachment. It is a short tablet in which Baha'u'llah discusses the meaning of detachment and, in this context, comments on the situation of the believers who were exiled to Mosul from Baghdad as a result of the scheming of the Persian Ambassador.

Listen to Mark Choveaux's reading of the tablet:

{sstreamtalk}http://whoisbahaullah.com/Alison/readings/Salman_on_Detachment.mp3|250|Tablet to Salman on Detachment|#5192CA{/sstreamtalk}

The translation is by Juan Cole and is at http://www.whoisbahaullah.com/Alison/salman.html.

My introduction to the tablet follows.

Read more: Tablet to Salman on Detachment (intro and audio)

The Protestant work ethic and spiritual wellbeing

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Category: Alison Marshall's Column
Created: Friday, 02 June 2006 15:12
Published: Friday, 02 June 2006 00:00
Hits: 4703

I was inspired to pick up on something that Karen said on her blog, Karen's Path. She talks about the fact that she has been working part time over the last few months and that this has been stressful for her. She wonders how people who work full time cope. She says that she can cope with working only part time because she needs space to think: "I never really learned to balance work with all the other obligations in my life. ... I've never been a person who thrives on being busy. I need that space to think." I have thought about this issue a great deal because I am like Karen and go crazy if I am too busy with work. I work part time and try to ensure that I have enough space each day to reflect and do my devotions. When I work full time, I do this at great cost to my spiritual wellbeing.

Read more: The Protestant work ethic and spiritual wellbeing

Ascension of Baha'u'llah

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Category: Alison Marshall's Column
Created: Sunday, 28 May 2006 04:56
Published: Sunday, 28 May 2006 04:56
Written by Alison Marshall
Hits: 4916
"His bed was in the middle of the room. The mattress and quilt were covered with white sheets and He was propped up on two or three pillows. Mirza Diya'u'llah and Mirza Badi'u'llah were fanning Him. His body was extremely frail and his voice was weak - though He spoke clearly. He revealed words of separation and departure, emphatically commanding unity and love among the believers. ...

As we heard these words and clear verses from the mouth of the Beloved of the worlds, the effect on us can be imagined. 'Andalib was utterly distraught; his heart broke. With tears in his eyes, he cried out: 'Ya Baha! Ya Baha!' expressing his grief.

Full story...

Nightingale of Separation (audio and intro)

  • Print
  • Email
Details
Category: Alison Marshall's Column
Created: Monday, 22 May 2006 21:54
Published: Monday, 22 May 2006 00:00
Hits: 4905

Hi everyone,

Best wishes for this holy day, the Declaration of the Bab.

Here is the recording and introduction to Baha'u'llah's Nightingale of Separation. Again, it is a work that won't be known to many Baha'is because it is not officially translated. It deals with the grief Baha'u'llah and the believers suffered when Baha'u'llah was forced to move from Baghdad to Istanbul.

Listen to Mark Choveaux's reading of the tablet:

{sstreamtalk}http://whoisbahaullah.com/Alison/readings/Nightingale_of_Separation.mp3|250|Nightingale of Separation|#5192CA{/sstreamtalk}

The translation is by Juan Cole and is at http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai/nightsep/nightsep.htm.

My introduction to the tablet follows.

Read more: Nightingale of Separation (audio and intro)

Page 6 of 666

  • Start
  • Prev
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • Next
  • End

Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Bahais Online. All Rights Reserved.
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU General Public License.