Setting profound goals in 2017
NEW year is a time of hope, an occasion for happiness, and should also be a time for spiritual renewal and for initiating a period of spiritual growth. It should be a time for reflection on how to transform ourselves as individuals, and our societies.
Such transformation should not only apply to our physical surroundings but also to our patterns of behaviour, and our ways of dealing with one another. Through spiritual transformation we can achieve lasting improvements in our lives and in our communities.
The Bahá’í Writings assert: “… we must strive to become more spiritual, more luminous, to follow the counsel of the Divine Teaching, to serve the cause of unity and true equality, to be merciful, to reflect the love of the Highest on all men, so that the light of the Spirit shall be apparent in all our deeds, to the end that all humanity shall be united, the stormy sea thereof calmed, and all rough waves disappear from off the surface of life’s ocean henceforth unruffled and peaceful”.
To be spiritual, in the Bahá’í view, is the process of the proper development of our innate spiritual capacities. These spiritual capacities are those of the eternal human soul. Considering that man’s life on earth is a preparation for the spiritual world to follow, the ongoing development of spiritual, capacities should be the primary goal in our lives.
Observing the laws and teachings of God is one of the most important steps in our path to spiritual growth. The Bahá’í Writings state: “… true faith is no mere acknowledgement of the unity of God, but rather the living of a life that will manifest all the perfections and virtues implied in such belief.”
“…. true spirituality is like unto a lake of clear water which reflects the divine. ... There is another kind which is like a mirage, seeming to be spiritual when it is not. That which is truly spiritual must light the path to God, and must result in deeds. We cannot believe the call to be spiritual when there is no result.”
“Every progress depends on two things, knowledge and practice. First acquire knowledge, and, when conviction is reached, put it into practice”.
Through acquisition of spiritual virtues, the individual and society can be transformed.
The universal spiritual principles which lie at the heart of religion – tolerance, compassion, love, justice, humility, sacrifice, trustworthiness, dedication to the well-being of others, and unity – are the foundations of progressive civilization.
A profound goal for the new year should be to confront and eliminate all forms of prejudice, as emphasized in the Bahá’í Scriptures: “Love ye all religions and all races with a love that is true and sincere and show that love through deeds and not through the tongue; for the latter hath no importance, as the majority of men are, in speech, well-wishers, while action is the best”.
For this to happen, there is need for a fundamental change. Change in our moral values, in the way we relate to one another, in our sense of responsibility towards the welfare and well-being of our community and of humanity. We need to advance materially and spiritually, together and simultaneously.
The Bahá’í Writings state: “In this new year new fruits must be forthcoming, for that is the provision and intention of spiritual reformation. … of what avail is the reformation of physical conditions unless they are concomitant with spiritual reformations? For the essential reality is the spirit; the foundation is the spirit; the life of man is due to the spirit; the happiness, the animus, the radiance, the glory of man – all are due to the spirit; and if in the spirit no reformation takes place, there will be no result to human existence”.
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AS we start 2017 with hope and expectation, let us turn to the Almighty Creator beseeching that through His bounties and bestowals He guides our efforts towards peace and a better future for all.
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