"These souls are the protectors of the Cause of God on earth, who shall preserve its beauty from the obscuring dust of idle fancies and vain imaginings. In the path of their Lord they shall not fear for their lives; rather will they sacrifice their all in their eagerness to behold the face of their Well-Beloved when once He hath appeared in this Name, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Glorious, the Most Holy."
Comments:
• Baha’u’llah provides further explanations in this paragraph concerning those very special believers that He mentions in Paragraph 1.13.
• It’s very interesting to note how Baha’u’llah refers to them as “the protectors of the Cause of God on earth”! When it comes to protecting the Cause we typically think of the enemies of the Cause. But here Baha’u’llah provides us with a deeper insight: To “preserve” the “beauty” of the Cause of God “from the obscuring dust of idle fancies and vain imaginings.” How often have we thought of “idle fancies and vain imaginings” as things that we need to protect the Cause from?
• We should do some reflection on the subject of “idle fancies and vain imaginings” in light of the explanations provided in the Writings of the Faith. Otherwise we would be following our own “idle fancies and vain imaginings” in attempting to understand what they are.
• In the Kitab-i-Aqdas Baha’u’llah reminds us that the “Book of God” is "the unerring Balance established amongst men.” He further says that “In this most perfect Balance whatsoever the peoples and kindreds of the earth possess must be weighed ..” (Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 56) We are also told by the Universal House of Justice that the “interpretations of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Guardian are divinely-guided statements of what the Word of God means and as such these interpretations are binding on the friends.” (The Universal House of Justice, 1995 Jan 31, Questions on Scholarship). So, we need to progressively clarify our own individual and collective understandings of the “Reality” that Baha’u’llah has brought into our midst through His Writings (the Word of God) and use the interpreted guidance provided by the Master and the beloved Guardian along with the pronouncements of the Universal House of Justice to enhance our understanding of what is real and what is vain imaginations. This is a life-long process that will never end. All one can do is to constantly “strive to obtain a more adequate understanding of the significance of Bahá'u'lláh's stupendous Revelation..” (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh: Selected Letters", p. 100) and to “reflect the virtues of that knowledge in his daily life” (Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated Ridvan, 1984, to a National Spiritual Assembly).
