O Son of Spirit! Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created. (Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words, Arabic 22)
Recently I was studying the long obligatory prayer with a Bahá’í friend and we noted that in the preface to a paragraph near the end, Bahá’u’lláh asks us to “rise and say: “O God, my God! My back is bowed by the burden of my sins, and my heedlessness hath destroyed me.” It’s always seemed a strange posture to take when talking about my sins. Normally I would want to crumble, turn in with shame and refuse to look Him in the eye, but no. He won’t let me do that. He wants me to stand strong and tall before Him when admitting to my sins. He wants me to see my nobility before Him.
We’ve all been created noble. We’ve all been created with a lower and higher nature. We’ve all been created as sinners. We’ve all been created with free will. We’ve all been created weak. God knows that we are going to abase ourselves because of our weakness or stubbornness or ignorance. It’s all part of the Divine Plan. But it’s also part of His plan that we don’t define ourselves by all the ways we fall short in our quest for obedience. We rise, because we know we’ve been forgiven before we ever transgressed. We rise because of God’s love for us, whether we believe and accept it or not.
Knowing that God doesn’t judge me as harshly as I judge myself, I am grateful!
What jumped out for you as you read through today’s meditation? I’d love it if you would share so we can all expand our knowledge of the Writings!
If you liked this meditation, you might also like my book Overcoming Abuse and Violence
Dearest Susan, this is all what I needed to read at dawn today for my meditation . It’s amazing! What you have just said is a solace to my heart . God loves me more than I love myself . So encouraging . This is what gives me inner support and self confidence . I am so grateful dearest Susan to receive your insightful articles. Meditating with you helps me reach out to what is beautiful in myself .
Many people in presence of Baha’u’llah felt powerless, evanescent and ashamed. When we pray we are in His presence and He is teaching us how to feel selflessness. He is showing us how to remove the pit of self so we will be able to participate in His divine symphony as one of the instruments.
Imagine Abdu’l-Baha who said that he was “nothing” used to say the same obligatory prayer that we are saying-such is our privilege. In future kings and rulers will say these same words in obligatory prayers.
After all in His presence, there is neither a self nor an image.
Wonderful reminder, Vafa! Thank you for this perspective. It really resonates as truth.
I’m so glad, Nooshafarin! Yes, learning that God loves me no matter what has changed my life too. It also helps me love myself better. If God loves me, there’s no need to beat myself up! Thank you God!
I find myself feeling very depressed reading the Long Obligatory Prayer declaring that I am a wretched creature, an evanescent soul – it seems that I am not only abasing myself, but God is abasing me as well. How do you feel uplifted after reading this prayer? From a positive psychology perspective to constantly affirming my powerlessness, poverty. Yes, I read all the encouragement in the Writings particularly the Hidden Words but the depressing negativity of the prayers really puts me down.
Don, Your response helped me think more deeply about “negative” & “positive” thoughts and how they impact me. It’s well established that our thoughts and feelings are locked in a neurochemical feedback loop in our brains and negative thinking triggers the negative emotions.
For me there is a difference between my human thoughts & feelings and my FAITH which comes (I believe) from my soul which is spiritual. When I read the “negative” words in the prayers I try to think of them as learning to detach from my human condition (which is a bit impossible as long as I occupy my human form!) and attach to faith in God. But that’s how I approach it.
Good point, Judith. I too used to wonder why the Writings used negative language, since it seemed to conflict with what science is telling us. Then I remembered that God knows more than I do, and that the House of Justice reminded us that:
Sorry to hear you feel that way, Don. I’ve just completed studying the long obligatory prayer with a friend and came away with an entirely different take. I LOVE that God understands my weakness and frailty and demonstrates it in His language, and in the language we use when doing the postures. Note in the part of the prayer where He asks us to rise when we say:
Thank you for sharing Don. I also experienced that feeling at some stage in my life and decided to switch to the medium obligatory prayer. And this is how I explained it to myself: The sacred Writings are offered to us as a feast to nourish us. There are a variety of dishes laid out on the table, so we choose which prayer we want to read according to our need at that point in time, and according to what we want to say to our Creator at that point in time – (as long as we are still within the framework of the instructions given to us). I also like the perspective Judith provided: to try to read those parts while being detached from my lower nature – as if my soul is talking about this other animal nature which it (the soul) needs to tame. But as you said, Judith, the difficult part is to feel that detachment.
Yes, detachment is so important, Shirin. Lately I find myself asking myself almost daily: What do I need to let go of today? It’s so important to understand our dual natures and how to move from the lower to the higher. It’s really the crux of our spiritual development.