Yeshua

I think that this is truly STUNNING:

Lights of Guidance, number 2042. From a letter, dated October 6, 1954. On behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual Baháʾí:

"Thus you might look upon your own difficulties in the path of service. They are the means of your spirit growing and developing. You will suddenly find that you have conquered many of the problems which upset you, and then you will wonder why they should have troubled you at all. An individual must centre his whole heart and mind on service to the Cause, in accordance with the high standards set by Baháʾuʾlláh. When this is done, the Hosts of the Supreme Concourse will come to the assistance of the individual, and every difficulty and trial will gradually be overcome"


"O ye beloved of ʿAbduʾl-Bahá and ye handmaids of the Merciful! It is early morning, and the reviving winds of the Abhá Paradise are blowing over all creation, but they can stir only the pure of heart, and only the pure sense can detect their fragrance. Only the perceiving eye beholdeth the rays of the sun; only the listening ear can hear the singing of the Concourse on high. Although the plentiful rains of spring, the bestowals of Heaven, pour down upon all things, they can only fructify good soil; they love not brackish ground, where no results of all the bounty can be shown."

- (Selections from the Writings of ʿAbduʾl-Bahá, page 22, ʿAbduʾl-Bahá)

Yeshua

"...The faithful are ever sustained by the presence of the Supreme Concourse. In the Supreme Concourse are Jesus, and Moses, and Elijah, and Baháʾuʾlláh, and other supreme Souls: there, also, are the martyrs..."

- ʿAbduʾl-Bahá in London, page 97


"...O maid-servant of God! By God, the Truth, the Spirit of Christ from the Supreme Concourse doth in every time and aspect announce to thee this great good news.

Be, therefore, a divine bird, proceed to thy native country, spread the wings of sanctity over those spots and sing and chant and celebrate the name of thy Lord, that thou mayest gladden the Supreme Concourse and make the seeking souls hasten unto thee as the moths hasten to the lamp, and thus illumine that distant country by the light of God.

Thank God that He hath illumined thine insight, led thee unto the Fire glowing in the Tree of Man, caused thee to utter His praise among the creatures and guided certain women to whom thou delivered the Word of God.

O maid-servant of God! Verily thy Lord lighteth the lamp of love in the heart of whomsoever He chooseth. This is indeed the great happiness. He confirmeth him in the service of His Supreme Vineyard.

I pray God to confirm the relatives in attaining to the Brilliant Light, to let the light of insight shine forth to the hearts and sights, to aid thy friends in being illumined by the light of El-Baha and [being] fed from the heavenly table, and to make thee empty, void from the thoughts of the life of this world and filled with the love of thy Lord, ready for His service, uttering His praise and demonstrating with proofs the appearance of the Kingdom of God..."

- Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha, page 308

aidan

"It is in giving that we receive"

Yeshua

Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world’s afflictions can in no wise alarm me.

~ Bahá’u’lláh


Nothing could be more true!!!

Fadl

That quote is so sweet someone ought to make a music video about it.


Oh, wait! Somebody did do that!

Yeshua

WOW! That was powerful, VERY powerful. I'm going to watch it again - it was such a moving video and the saying of Baha'u'llah...Its about the most comforting and empowering thing ever spoken!

WOW!WOW!WOW!!

I'm blown away! And its so short too - but so powerful.

WOW!

And the video! WOW!

...oh I need to lie down after all these "WOW!"'s....

Fadl

I don't even prefer that kind of music, but hearing that verse over and over...and they brought music video to such a high art in this song...and I agree, it is very strong and spiritual video and I can not help but be moved to tears when I watch it. The good kind of tears.

arthra

The Supreme Concourse is called upon by the friends.. and as above noted:

Hereupon another friend referred to the communing of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah; and 'Abdu'l-Bahá said: "The faithful are ever sustained by the presence of the Supreme Concourse. In the Supreme Concourse are Jesus, and Moses, and Elijah, and Bahá'u'lláh, and other supreme Souls: there, also, are the martyrs."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 97

So all the martyrs and Holy Manifestations of God and we could assume the Manifestations everywhere are there to assist us.

Whenever Baha'is may feel isolated or think that their efforts are not being successful we turn to the Concourse of High.

Yeshua

It is a wonderful concept! It must be a great source of comfort, just like the Communion of Saints in Christianity is!

aidan

armed with the power of His name and the love of the manifestations standing shoulder to shoulder,we are unstoppable!

arthra

The Supreme Concourse includes the martyrs and saints of all the past dispensations..

Fadl

It is so wonderful, Arthra, isn't it?

Yeshua, this concept must deeply resonate with you as a catholic, since Catholics seem to know this already in the sense that there is the idea of intercession of saints and communion with them. Is it not amazing that we share this?

On an other note, it is deeply satisfying to know that, not only does this concourse exist, but that it is the source for all the progress in the world of being and the source of inspiration for all the progress of the arts and sciences of this world.

That means, in my mind, that heaven is a much more dynamic, engaging, satisfying, and even thrilling place to be than any garden of virgins or any cloud filled with harpists than even the most vivid imagination could possibly conjure up. It is breath taking!

Yeshua

It is indeed AMAZING brother Fadl!

We don't even share this with most of our Protestant brethren! Many Protestant churches strongly reject all saintly intercession. The Calvinists and Zwinglians were particularly zealous in their rejection of saintly intercession.

So its an area where Catholics have more in common with Baha'is than with other Christians!

Incredible. And yes - it boggles the mind and is so very awe-inspiring!

In the Catholic Church the "Concourse on High" is sometimes called, "the Church Triumphant"!

Revelation 5:8 presents the saints in heaven as linked by prayer with their fellow Christians on earth. The communion of saints is the spiritual union of the members of the Catholic Church (including all people of goodwill, past and present, since we believe that all human beings are mystically joined too and are part of the Catholic Church, which means "Universal Assembly"), living and the dead, those on earth, in heaven, and, for those who believe in purgatory, those also who are in that state of purification.

They are all part of a single "mystical body", with Christ as the head, in which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of all.

Amazing!


Revelation 5:8.8:3-5

"...And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people...Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake..."

arthra

On a personal note whenever someone asks how many people attended an activity I've answered them and added "and of course the Supreme Concourse". Sometimes people get discouraged when only a few show up for something but we always need to remember who is there.

A splendor from the Supper of the Lord was cast upon the table that ye have spread and the spiritual food descended. It was on this account that the souls were rejoicing and happy and the spirits of those who were present were uplifted. The soul and heart of Abdul-Baha was present and manifest. What a happy night that was, and what a blessed feast! It became conducive to the happiness of the people of the Supreme Concourse, and the cause of joy and bliss to the inhabitants of the Kingdom of ABHA. I beg of God that He may assist and confirm you so that ye may bring about such feasts.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 533