Dawn-prayers on the Anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh

From a talk given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, quoted in The Promulgation of Universal Peace:

“During His lifetime He was intensely active. His energy was unlimited. Scarcely one night was passed in restful sleep. He bore these ordeals, suffered these calamities and difficulties in order that a manifestation of selflessness and service might become apparent in the world of humanity; that the Most Great Peace should become a reality; that human souls might appear as the angels of heaven; that heavenly miracles would be wrought among men; that human faith should be strengthened and perfected; that the precious, priceless bestowal of God—the human mind—might be developed to its fullest capacity in the temple of the body; and that man might become the reflection and likeness of God, even as it hath been revealed in the Bible, ‘Let us make man in our image.’

“Briefly, the Blessed Perfection bore all these ordeals and calamities in order that our hearts might become enkindled and radiant, our spirits be glorified, our faults become virtues, our ignorance be transformed into knowledge; in order that we might attain the real fruits of humanity and acquire heavenly graces; in order that, although pilgrims upon earth, we should travel the road of the heavenly Kingdom, and, although needy and poor, we might receive the treasures of eternal life. For this has He borne these difficulties and sorrows” (p. 28).

How easily I find myself forgetting that our nature is to be human, but our goal is to be heavenly. It reminds me of the analogy Howard Colby Ives gave in Portals to Freedom that the nature of iron is to be black, cold and stiff, but when exposed to fire, it glows, is warm and is fluid, and that our purpose, as human beings, is to sacrifice that which is lower for that which is higher. In such a reified, commodified society as the United States, it can be an uphill battle to remember this...