We live in a world out of balance. These are scary times, and life is not easy. In the relentless onslaught of disaster and doom, where can we find safety and shelter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Climate change consistently produces \u201cevents of a lifetime\u201d \u2013 fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, flood. Random acts of violence rise, while trust in law enforcement\u2019s ability to maintain order and justice declines. Political unrest surges and economic systems are threatened. The scale and constancy of global catastrophe and stress is relentless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve found my safety and shelter in the Baha\u2019i revelation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RELATED: What\u2019s the Main Goal of the World\u2019s Baha\u2019is?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Baha\u2019i teachings speak often and at length about the shelter they provide for humanity during this time of rapid global change. For me, Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s revelation provides both a place of personal protection and a process designed to bring about world stability \u2013 which will eventually calm the storms and bring the peace and justice humankind craves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The multi-layered and multi-faceted shelter this new revelation offers manifests itself on a deeply personal, spiritual level \u2013 but also reverberates throughout human society and ultimately bringing about global shelter for all. Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s<\/a> writings testify that the Baha\u2019i revelation provides real, relevant protection for this time. He wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Man must seek shelter in the mercy and protection of God, for he is constantly subject to a hundred thousand dangers. Save for the refuge and protection of the Most High, man is without shelter. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n For me, the personal comfort and security I experience as a Baha\u2019i is like walking under an arbor covered in vines and flowers. As I walk, I feel the beauty and safety the arbor provides. I feel certainty that I am going in the right direction. I see that this walk leads to a beautiful garden. Abdu\u2019l-Baha\u2019s <\/a>prayer<\/a> says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shelter under Thy protection, O Thou Spirit of purity, Thou Who art the All-Bountiful Provider, this enthralled, enkindled servant of Thine. Aid him in this world of being to remain steadfast and firm in Thy love and grant that this broken-winged bird attain a refuge and shelter in Thy divine nest that abideth upon the celestial tree.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n The daily spiritual sustenance the Baha\u2019i teachings impart gives me the ability to walk the storms of life with determined resolve and confidence, reassuring me that forces larger than myself are moving the world toward maturity. The Baha\u2019i perspective on world tumult, both compassionate and resigned, reminds us that the Cause of God in this day and age, which is nothing less than unifying the world, will not happen easily or swiftly. Mankind holds onto old habits and methods and resists embracing change. The Guardian of the Baha\u2019i Faith<\/a>, Shoghi Effendi<\/a>, put it <\/a>this way: \u201cThat the forces of a world catastrophe can alone precipitate such a new phase of human thought is, alas, becoming increasingly apparent.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The phrase \u201cworld catastrophe\u201d does not sound comforting unless it is put in perspective. Shoghi Effendi<\/a> explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Revelation of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah \u2026 should \u2026 be regarded as signalizing through its advent the coming of age of the entire human race. It should be viewed not merely as yet another spiritual revival in the ever-changing fortunes of mankind, not only as a further stage in a chain of progressive Revelations, nor even as the culmination of one of a series of recurrent prophetic cycles, but rather as marking the last and highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man\u2019s collective life on this planet. The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture \u2026 should \u2026 be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society, though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and develop.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Shelter, in this global perspective, consists in a reorganization of the institutions that govern life on Earth. The Baha\u2019i revelation replaces old ideas about nations and states competing, even warring with each other, with the new reality of the oneness of the planet. The revelation provides an effective and proven worldwide framework for participatory governance organized around the principle of justice, justice for all, everywhere, all the time. The democratically-elected governing body of the Baha\u2019i Faith<\/a>, located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, is called The Universal House of Justice<\/a>. In The Hidden Words, <\/em>Baha\u2019u\u2019llah<\/a> says<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n O Son of Spirit! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n