Losing Faith - a Baha’i Perspective
by Susan Gammage
What is Faith?
The first sign of faith is love. (Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 337).
But how does one love?
Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. (Baha’u'llah, Hidden Words, Arabic 5)
But how do we know that God is even there so we can love him, if we are sick, alone, estranged from our family, bankrupt, homeless and we’ve just been raped?
Faith.
But if we haven’t ever felt loved from our families; if we’ve grown up neglected and abused and have no foundation of loving parents, how can we possibly believe in a loving God?
Faith.
But what if all of these calamites have happened AFTER we’ve recognized Bahá’u'lláh and done all the right things – pioneered, participated in the core activities, donated to the fund, paid our HuqĂşq, prayed and mediated every day and still we are marginized from the society around us, and even worse, from the indifference of the Bahá’Ă community around us – raped, alone, abandoned, homeless, unemployed, bankrupt, sick, estranged from our families . . .
How do we have faith when there is no love? When we feel abandoned by God, or worse, maybe cursed or punished? But for what crime?
These are questions that several of my life coaching clients have been wrestling with this week.
What are your thoughts? Post your comments here:
November 10th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
One reader wrote:
I went to sleep last night saying the Remover of Difficulties for this question. This morning I wondered how you might feel about recommending O God Refresh and gladden my spirit. Quite apart from the fact that they need their spirits to be gladdened, their hearts purified and their powers illumined, there are a few statements of “will” in it which would be very powerful for them to consider.
In addition, it feels to me that at some level they are a prisoner of their perspective on life and God’s wrath.
I wondered what they expected in life as their ‘reward’ for being obedient. Life is full of tests, and I wasn’t sure if they are getting the same one over and over or whether they are different tests because they are being successful with them?
November 10th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Another reader wrote:
Have you recently reread the long prayer Baha’u'llah revealed for the Son of the Wolf? I just love these words:
Hast Thou decreed for me, O my God, any joy after this tribulation, or any relief to succeed this affliction, or any ease to follow this trouble? (Baha’u'llah: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Pages: 7-8)
It gives such insight into the loving and understanding heart of Baha’u'llah. It seems to me that we tend to describe “losing faith” when our emotions are in a state of being shut down: we feel no love for the Faith, or for Baha’u'llah, or maybe for anyone.
Maybe the following prayer might give a glimmer of doubt that present feelings may not persist:
My God, my Adored One, my King, my Desire! What tongue can voice my thanks to Thee? I was heedless, Thou didst awaken me. I had turned back from Thee, Thou didst graciously aid me to turn towards Thee. I was as one dead, Thou didst quicken me with the water of life. I was withered, Thou didst revive me. (Baha’u'llah: Prayers and Meditations, Page: 264)
There is nothing we can do for ourselves in such a state, and most of us have felt it at least once, but He understands and can help, not necessarily as fast as we would like, and maybe, right now, we don’t even “like”, but feelings are not the best judge of what is permanent, for feelings come and go with amazing speed.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Another reader wrote:
Speaking of the bounties of homelessness and poverty, is there any Bahá’Ă in the West who can ever get a glimmer of what this means? Poverty, maybe, but homelessness? Or is it primarily allegorical? poverty of spirit, poverty of will, poverty of understanding and compassion? homelessness of an anchor of faith?
November 10th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Another reader wrote:
Over the years I’ve lost count of people I knew who lost their faith. I think the key must be why. On the surface, often, it seemed to be a person who hurt them or annoyed them. In a couple of cases it was something in the “Administration”. But the real “why” seems to me that these folks were not sufficiently deepened in the Covenant, that when the first (or latest) big test comes along, it blows out the too small flame of their understanding of the Covenant. Those who are strong in the Covenant seem to be able to weather the tests from people or things. I know this doesn’t help much, for the soul going through the test(s).
Maybe you could ask them if they still believe in Baha’u'llah. If they do, there might be a glimmer of hope.
One other tiny remedy might be to just take a break from the Baha’is. Lots of Baha’is do that. Unfortunately some never come back from inactivity, but some do. Lots of ‘inactive’ Baha’is are still believers and are faithful to the Covenant.
If they remain fixed in their ideas, tho, move on. You’ve tried and done your best,
but you are not responsible for their choices, so don’t beat yourself up over this. I’ve been hurt by a couple of really close friends leaving the Faith, but in the end I had to admit it simply wasn’t my fault they did, or that my efforts to reach them were fruitless. Just like we cannot teach somebody who doesn’t want to recognize Baha’u'llah, we can’t re-teach everybody who is having issues.
November 10th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Another reader wrote:
Have you come across the following, which is from “Question Time” by Ali Nakhjavani:
We should be certain that Bahá’u’lláh is watching over His world. He is doing things according to His Major Plan and everything that is happening in the world today is for the promotion of His Cause. Bahá’u’lláh is doing His work, and He wants us to do our share of the work. Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitab-i-Aqdas says that the New World Order is something that humanity has not seen and cannot ever imagine how it will be. We should thank God every day. We should thank Him a thousand times every day that we are living in this Day and we should thank Him and Beg Him to use us in carrying out these plans. We should be sure that Bahá’u’lláh is able to use us, if we offer ourselves. Strength is not from us but from Him. He accepts weak instruments, and uses them. He has used them in the past, so do not think that it is a bad thing to be weak. Strength comes from Him. Offer your service! We read in the Writings that Bahá’u’lláh can change a drop into an ocean. I have seen this with my own eyes. I have seen drops in the Cause, weak people in the Cause becoming oceans through the power of Bahá’u’lláh. He says that He can change a moth into an eagle. This is possible. He has done it. He takes us weak people, He confirms us, He sustains us, He protects us, and He guides us.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Another reader wrote:
I want to add just one little tidbit: It seems to me that the guidance: “approach Me not with lifeless hearts” might indicate that we shouldn’t try to force ourselves into a relationship with God; our condition may not be appropriate. We might consider giving ourselves time to recover from whatever is dragging us down; time to supply ourselves with the companionship of those who inspire us, comfort us, or simply accompany us and see us through tough times. There is a story about ‘Abdu’l-Baha, when He was depressed, seeking the companionship of a believer who told Him funny stories. Know that He understands us better than we understand ourselves and, as the prayer says:
” O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself.”
(`Abdu’l-Baha: Baha’i Prayers (US edition), Page: 152)
April 17th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
I have read all the remarks and I do believe that the process of spiritual awakening and staying awakened is something that we need to work at diligently and with great desire every day. Our soul needs to be nurtured daily and unfortunately because most of the people live for fun and temporary pleasure, most of us, even Baha’is, have forgotten how to live for long-term happiness which according to my understanding of the writings is to grow spiritually, help others to grow spiritually and to cooperate with each other to build a spiritual civilization where we are educated to understand how to create a balanced life between our material needs and our spiritual needs and remembering that our spiritual needs must take precedence. If we are not daily giving our precious souls spiritual nourishment, it is very easy for the soul to lose its sense of direction and to live for temporary happiness whether it is food, sex, t.v. shopping, playing video games, watching movies,and even sleep, extra sleep because our soul is hungry for spiritual food and we medicate it with material distractions which soon turn into addictions. In no time these addictions become a substitute for spirituality and the unhappy soul feels lost, empty, confused and depressed not knowing what to do. It reminds me of this quotation in Ruhi book one.
“Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force of its mighty wings and with complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence it came. Powerless to shake off the burden weighing on its sullied wings, that bird, hitherto an inmate of the heavens, is now forced to seek a dwelling-place upon the dust. Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of waywardness and vain desires, and suffer them not to be stained with the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in the heavens of My divine knowledge.” Baha’u'llah
April 23rd, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Well said . . .
I also think that in North America, at least, our pursuit of materialism has led to a lot of adrenal exhaustion, which can only be healed by sleep and good nutrition. So perhaps it’s a balance between the spiritual and material world. Moderation in all things.
April 23rd, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Another reader wrote:
I have a question. Does God have feelings? I know God is not human. I know God is an unknowable essence. I know whatever we imagine God to be is just our imagination. I know the closest we can ever get to God is to get near His manifestations and specially His manifestation for this day which is Baha’u'llah. The reason I ask this question is because when I look at the condition of the world I wonder how can God be so patient? For more than 20 million years intelligent human form of life has lived on our planet earth and as Baha’u'llah says, “every fixed star has its own planets and each planet its own creatures the numbers of which cannot be counted.” So I am sure we are not the only intelligent life form in the universe. Now I hope on the other planets the intelligent life forms are in a higher state of spiritual consciousness but on planet earth at this time April 18, 2010, most of us human beings we still function from a very low level of spiritual consciousness, so I have been wondering for sometime, why God practices such patience with us. How can He do it? Is it because God has no feelings and it is easy with no feelings to just watch your children bring unhappiness, sadness, misery, helplessness and powerlessness upon themselves and the ones they love, or what? Because as human beings we feel great sadness when our loved ones or ourselves create a mess in our lives because we don’t understand the importance of obeying the laws and teachings of God. I see that even in our Baha’i communities we don’t teach how disobedience to the laws and teachings have the power to attract to us the negative consequences that make our souls depressed, unhappy, miserable and anxious and how our lives become unmanageable. I think without spiritual education we are lost. Why we don’t spend more time in our Baha’i study classes understanding and learning to practice spiritual laws. Why most of us neglect our souls on a daily basis? Why most of us don’t understand that depression is not due to chemical imbalance but due to our soul feeling depressed and unhappy about our choices and lifestyle? Why most of us don’t understand that our precious souls are not hungry for sex, material food, movies, shopping, sleep, video games and fun but it is hungry for service, which is helping each other and prayer, studying the Word of God, Meditation on the Word of God and spiritual growth and nearness to God. What is it going to take for us to wake up spiritually? A great and unforeseen calamity? I pray and hope that God will stop being so patient with all of us.
April 23rd, 2010 at 9:35 pm
I think God has to have feelings, since God created everything, including emotions, and we were created in His image and we have feelings.
Bahá’u'lláh often expressed feelings of anger when He said things like:
“Lay on them with the power of Thy wrath and might, O my God, and expose their shameful acts and their wickedness, that what¬ever is hid in their breasts may be revealed unto the people that dwell within Thy land, O Thou Who art the Inflictor of trials, the Fashioner of nations, and the Bestower of favours!” (Bahá’u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations, pp. 120-121).
“Abase Thou, O my Lord, Thine enemies, and lay hold on them with Thy power and might, and let them be stricken by the blast of Thy wrath. Make them taste, O my God, of Thine awful majesty and vengeance . . .” (Bahá’u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations, pp. 120-121).
“How long shalt Thou remain seated, O my God, on the throne of Thy forbearance and patience? Speak Thou Thy word of wrath, O Thou Whom no eyes can see! Well-beloved is Thy mercy unto the sincere among Thy servants, and well-beseeming Thy chastisement of the infidels among Thine enemies. Send down upon them, therefore, O my Lord, that which will unmistakably reveal unto them the fury of Thy wrath and the ascendancy of Thy power, and will enable them to recognize the weight of Thy might and the greatness of Thy strength”. (Bahá’u'lláh, Prayers and Mediations, pp. 140-141).
He expresses grief when He says:
“I swear by the Day Star that shineth above the horizon of eternity, I sorrow for thee in thy grief, and lament with thee in thy tribulation . . . I bear witness to the ser¬vices thou hast rendered Me, and testify to the various troubles thou hast sustained for My sake. All the atoms of the earth declare My love for thee”. (Bahá’u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u'lláh, pp. 309-310).
One reason God can be patient is that he uses us to fulfil His purposes as Shoghi Effendi tells us:
“. . . using both the mighty and lowly as pawns in His world-shaping game, for the fulfillment of His immediate purpose and the eventual establishment of His Kingdom on earth. (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 146).
We’re told that:
“We must not only be patient with others, infinitely patient, but also with our own poor selves, remembering that even the Prophets of God sometimes got tired and cried out in despair!” (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly, 2 December, 1980).
As Bahá’Ăs we understand that “soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead” (Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 7), so I think that God is able to be patient, because he knows this.
Sometimes people ask me why bad things happen, especially to children, and I love this quote:
“The Universal House of Justice tells us; With regard to the spiritual significance of the suffering of chil¬dren ‘who are afflicted at the hands of the oppressor’, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá not only states that for those souls ‘the afflictions that they bear in life become a cause for them of . . . an outpouring of divine mercy and bestowal’, He also explains that to be a recipient of God’s mercy is ‘preferable to a hundred thousand earthly comforts’, and He promised that ‘in the world to come a mighty recompense awaiteth such souls’. Much, indeed, might be said upon this theme, and upon how the af¬flictions that they bear in life become the cause for them of such an outpouring of Divine mercy and bestowal as is preferable to a hun¬dred thousand comforts and to a world of growth and development in this transitory abode . . .” (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, 2 December, 1985).
For two of my favorite stories that shed light on this issue, you might want to read my blog posting: “Why does Life Have to Hurt so Much?” at: http://bahailifecoach.com/why-does-life-have-to-hurt-so-much-a-bahai-perspective
I think the reason why we don’t “spend more time in our Baha’i study classes understanding and learning to practice spiritual laws”, is because our purpose in life is to know God and to worship Him. For many of us, we focus on the laws and learn to fear God, when what we need to do is learn the many ways He loves us and forgives us even the most grievous of sins.
I can see that you are worried about “Why most of us neglect our souls on a daily basis?” and it reminds me of a response Shoghi Effendi gave to someone:
“He was very sorry to hear that you have had so many tests in your Bahá’Ă life. There is no doubt that many of them are due to our own nature. In other words, if we are very sensitive, or if we are in some way brought up in a different environment from the Bahá’Ăs amongst whom we live, we naturally see things differently and may feel them more acutely; and the other side of it is that the imperfec¬tions of our fellow-Bahá’Ăs can be a great trial to us. He feels that, if you close your eyes to the failings of others, and fix your love and prayers upon Bahá’u'lláh, you will have the strength to weather this storm, and will be much better for it in the end, spiritually. Although you suffer, you will gain a maturity that will enable you to be of greater help to both your fellow Bahá’Ăs and your children”. (Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance, p. 604).
And here is what we have to do:
“This is the condition in which we must work in our service to mankind, turning a sin-covering eye to the faults of others, and striv¬ing in our own inmost selves to purify our lives in accordance with the divine teachings.” (From a letter written by the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, July 22, 1981).
While it’s true that depression may have a spiritual component, the House of Justice has said:
“these are complex medical matters and as stipulated in the Teachings, believers should seek the best medical advice which is available and follow it. Experience seems to suggest that the healing process can often be a lengthy and stressful one requiring the close guidance and help of trained professionals. Advice given by well-meaning believers to the effect that you should seek to transcend psychological problems does not qualify as competent advice on what is essentially a medical issue”. (From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, 23 October, 1994).
I’m glad that God is patient with us and take great comfort in these words:
“We have graciously accepted thy devotions, thy praise, thy teaching work and the services thou hast rendered for the sake of this mighty Announcement. We have also hearkened unto that which thy tongue hath uttered at the meetings and gatherings. Verily thy Lord heareth and observeth all things. We have attired thee with the vesture of My good-pleasure in My heavenly Kingdom . . . How numerous the cities wherein the voice of your lamentation hath been raised and the wailing of your anguish uplifted . . . Know ye of a certainty that He will render you victorious, will exalt you among the peoples of the world and will demonstrate your high rank before the gaze of all nations. Surely He will not suffer the reward of His favoured ones to be lost.” (Baha’u'llah, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 245).
‘Abdul-Bahá promises us:
“The darkness of this gloomy night shall pass away. Again the Sun of Reality will dawn from the horizon of the hearts. Have patience - wait, but do not sit idle; work while you are waiting; smile while you are wearied with monotony”. (’Abdu’l-Bahá, Star of the West, Vol. 9, No. 13, p. 141).
And the House of Justice tells us:
“These are the darkest hours before the break of day. Peace, as promised will come at night’s end. Press on to meet the dawn”. (Universal House of Justice, Ridván Message, April 1993).
May these quotes bring comfort to your heart!
For more quotes like them, please visit: http://bahailifecoach.com/Abuse-and-Violence-Reasons-and-Remedies