Blotting Out from the Realms of Our Hearts
December 17th, 2008“Vouchsafe unto me, O my God, the full measure of Thy love and Thy good-pleasure, and through the attractions of Thy resplendent light enrapture our hearts, O Thou Who art the Supreme Evidence and the All-Glorified. Send down upon me, as a token of Thy grace, Thy vitalizing breezes, throughout the daytime and in the night season, O Lord of bounty.
No deed have I done, O my God, to merit beholding Thy face, and I know of a certainty that were I to live as long as the world lasts I would fail to accomplish any deed such as to deserve this favor, inasmuch as the station of a servant shall ever fall short of access to Thy holy precincts, unless Thy bounty should reach me and Thy tender mercy pervade me and Thy loving-kindness encompass me.
All praise be unto Thee, O Thou besides Whom there is none other God. Graciously enable me to ascend unto Thee, to be granted the honor of dwelling in Thy nearness and to have communion with Thee alone. No God is there but Thee.
Indeed shouldst Thou desire to confer blessing upon a servant Thou wouldst blot out from the realm of his heart every mention or disposition except Thine own mention; and shouldst Thou ordain evil for a servant by reason of that which his hands have unjustly wrought before Thy face, Thou wouldst test him with the benefits of this world and of the next that he might become preoccupied therewith and forget Thy remembrance.
- The Bab
There are so many perspectives with which to look at our lives; it is difficult at times to know which take on what has happened to us is the correct one for adoption. It is often the case that none of the perspectives we may consider are entirely wrong; there is a degree of truth in almost everything, a truth we would do better not to deny or overlook if we want to arrive at the best possible understanding of any situation. We can integrate the various perspectives that we become aware of, even if they seem initially to oppose one another, and develop a unified approach to our personal histories, present circumstances and future potentialities.
Yet the Writings offer us a precise and infallible lens through which to look at reality. We can see, once being made aware of the new perspective they offer, that many of the frameworks we have had in place for judging or even asking about our lives have been fundamentally flawed in their foundational outlook. For example, when reviewing what has happened in our lives, we need not ask, “Can I see that I have been prosperous and successful, that the evidences of God’s approval and blessing upon me may be apparent?” Rather, we might ask, “Has God blotted out from the realm of my heart every mention or disposition except His own mention?” Or, rather, “O my God, hast Thou blotted out from the realm of my heart every mention or disposition except Thine own mention?”
Ya Baha’u'l-Abha!