I am a firm believer that every soul that God places upon this earthly pilgrimage comes with Heavenly Guidance! It’s hard for me to imagine a loving God abandoning His highest form of creation. It must be instead that His highest creation tends more often to abandon Him–especially when happy, content or blessed–with perceived success. But when troubles descend, the first outcry is “O God!” even when there has been little if any prior communication between you. It’s as comedian Nipsy Russell once stated: “Help a man when he’s in trouble. Help him and never complain. Help him and he will remember you–when he gets in trouble again.”
We have all heard the familiar cleche’ “Only the strong survive.” However, as one matures through the stages and ages, the expression begins to take on more subtle meaning, sometimes questioning, “How does one acquire substantial strength to even survive?”
But strength comes in many forms and through different modes with Spiritual strength (through man’s Creator) most certainly championing them all– also from Whom come our Signs of Guidance–to all!
Physical, mental and spiritual strengths are all perfected through dedicated nurturing. For maximum strength such nurturing should begin with infancy through the parent(s)–or guardians who should never allow the infant to be “left to drift in a modern world laden with social, moral and physical dangers,” as referred to in the Baha’i Holy Writings. Physical strength is contingent upon good physical health, and proper nourishment and exercise. Junk food and inactivity can neither produce nor sustain a healthy physical mind and/or body. Neither can junk television, movies, tapes/videos, etc. produce healthy minds and morals. The physical, mental and especially the moral and spiritual training must begin with infancy for best results.
When we place, and subsequently encourage emphasis placed by others -upon physical beauty, personal possessions, junk foods and fads, we are setting the standards for a socially, politically spiritually, and subsequently deformed society. It requires a maximum of physical, mental, moral, spiritual and especially political and military restraint to ward off the innumerable threats to today’s delicate immune systems.
As we continue to emphasize the spiritual aspect of our Signs of Guidance, I am forever
reminded of one Native American’s response to an interviewer’s question of his definition of the difference between religion and spirituality that he both often referred to instantly with: “Religion is what you get when you’re scared to go to hell. Spirituality is what you get when you’ve been there!”
May we endeavor to instead, “Behold our clear (often repetitive) “Signs of Guidance!” that we may not have to repeatedly experience that difference to understand.
