Verily I say: Whatever befalleth in the path of God is the beloved of the soul and the desire of the heart. Deadly poison in His path is pure honey, and every tribulation a draught of crystal water.
-- Baha'u'llah
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So I think the key here is that if it is in the path of God.
Of course we can all claim that everything is suffered in the path of God.
You know, there are a whole host of quotes on your post in a small book called "7 Valleys and the 4 Valleys". Perhaps you are familiar with it?
Has any one you've met ever tested this by consuming deadly poison?
I think this quote is talking about developing a certain attitude towards tests in life... I mean, who knows what is incurred in the path of God, for we don't even know if we're always walking on the path of God... But if we deal with all tests as if they were honey, we'd probably remain much more equanimous through them...
For those folks who count on knowing whether they are on the path or off the path based on presence or absence of tribulation, this message is problematic. Since one could be on the path and suffering from the effects of deadly poison, or one could off the path and suffering heavy tribulation for ignoring the signs. There would be no way to tell just from this quote whether you are doing what you should or not.
I enjoy reading your site, I come here regularly. But recently, I am thinking of more practical matters. You know the comment that if prayers were sufficient, enough prayers have been said over 1000's of years to transform this earth into a paradise.
But,
that hasn't happened, yet.
So I am thinking of daily life struggles that many people are having, right now as I type these words.
The issue that is part of most Americans I know, both Bahai and nonBahai has to do with the issue of Health Care.
One of the issues that distorts what I hear, is that too many Bahai and nonBahai people are segregated into their own, birds of a feather communities. This was the challenge of the LA community where I lived, this was the challenge of my Christian community in the South where I grew up (but they didn't see it as a problem, it was an asset). Bahais embrace diversity, but we are living where we are living, and our friends, usually are like us, because that's where we are.
I am getting emails from friends in the US and Australia, both Bahai and non-Bahai. Both American and non-American. And the recent non-Bahai topic is the health care reforms. I have an aging parent in a hospice being cared for 24 hours, and I know the costs of that. I have talked to the staff there. So I have some experience with the issues.
Do you assume that almost all Bahais would line up with health care reform? What makes you think so? ;-) I freely admit to my limited sources. And since I am in a country that provides a rather full, cheap, relatively complete care, I feel more detached, except I am drawn in by the emotions of what I am reading this issue has stirred up in American society--it is reflected in the types of emails I receive. For example on the side opposed to the reforms, there are actual lies that are being used to describe the proposed changes as "becoming like the UK". There are incorrect facts being used to describe the UK health program. I am well aware of the weaknesses in the program I have here. BUT honestly it is better than what many people have to accept in the US. I wouldn't know about the lies about what is described as happening in the UK if I hadn't read it. I think the most interesting thing, which I would be interested in seeing discussed here is what does this proposed change in the medical system say about the nature of American society? This is where the spiritual issues connect with the daily life.
This is a good question - I definitely don't know the answer. I think its hard to say anything definitive, as there are so many spiritual principles that go into making such a complex decision. However I think this provides a great example of the kind of problem that would be addressed very differently in the future if and when a greater number of people lead more spiritual lives. Personally I think that we compartmentalize our problems today to an extent that is undesirable. So we say, "Oh, health-care is a problem, we have to solve it. We have X amount of money allotted to health, how can i use it to make the best health care system?" But the problem is not tht simple - because resource allocation spans all the different aspects of govt. policy. For example, what if the world demilitarized, and we could all cut our defense spending tremendously - I wager that most countries would have sufficient resources to take care of most of their education, health and poverty issues. As Baha'u'llah rightly said, all these are but symptoms of an underlying spiritual disease - and curing that disease by spiritualizing society will help us address all these issues.
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