A shadow mistaken for a friend.
We grasp at phantoms
in the cold night air,
believing ourselves to be right,
to be justified,
when we are but lost children.
A brilliant ray of truth
shines in our midst,
too close for us to see.
We crawl through the wreckage
of a crumbling city,
desperately seeking a drink of water
while a shoreless ocean surges
through our hearts.
If we could only see
the wondrous light that we are
this broken world
would soon be whole.
I wrote this today at a coffee shop here in New Delhi. I was reading about how so many of the world’s problems come about because we fail to truly investigate reality. If we could clearly see the truth, we would live in unity because truth is one and indivisible. Abdu’l-Baha said it better than I could:
Reality or truth is one, yet there are many religious beliefs, denominations, creeds and differing opinions in the world today. Why should these differences exist? Because they do not investigate and examine the fundamental unity, which is one and unchangeable. If they seek reality itself, they will agree and be united; for reality is indivisible and not multiple. It is evident, therefore, that there is nothing of greater importance to mankind than the investigation of truth.
~Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 62-63
In addition to coming together with a unified understanding of reality, we would also recognize the inherent light and nobility in ourselves. Once we are clearly able to see that within ourselves, it would only be logical to see that the same light exists within everyone else. There is a passage I particularly like from The Seven Valleys where Bahá’u'llá notes how the light of God is hidden within our hearts:
… the splendor of that light is in the hearts, yet it is hidden under the veilings of sense and the conditions of this earth, even as a candle within a lantern of iron, and only when the lantern is removed doth the light of the candle shine out.
In like manner, when thou strippest the wrappings of illusion from off thine heart, the lights of oneness will be made manifest.
~ Bahá’u'lláh, The Seven Valleys, p. 23
Of course, I can’t claim to have reached that state where I can always see that light and fully understand reality. That’s a lifelong endeavor. However, it is something that I aspire to.
