Master at St. John the Divine IV

The Master at St. John the Divine, Part Four

by John Taylor; 2006 September 20

Before continuing from where we left off our discussion yesterday of the second discourse of the Master, given at St. John's in London, I feel moved to jump forward to the end. Here, as He often was to do later on, He finishes by revealing a prayer. He did not do this every time, and He had not chosen to do so at the first talk a week earlier. So -- think of it! -- this was the first revealed prayer of the Master ever that was revealed in a public place, at least in a Western public place. It may well have been the first publicly spoken revealed words -- I do not know, maybe since the Bab spoke at that kangaroo trial in Tabriz. (And even then, it is unlikely that the Bab was given a chance to reveal a prayer; instead, the meeting ended with the bastinado.) This is one of the few if not the only time I recall when the Master ends in the common Christian manner with "amen." Since our source is less than authoritative (the original editors and publishers of "Abdu'l-Baha in London were not Baha'is), the "amen" may have been added on somewhere down the line. Nonetheless this is an historic prayer that we would do well to be aware of and use in our devotional life.

"O GOD the Forgiver! O Heavenly Educator! This assembly is adorned with the mention of thy holy Name. Thy children turn their face towards thy Kingdom, hearts are made happy and souls are comforted.

"Merciful God! cause us to repent of our shortcomings! Accept us in thy heavenly Kingdom and give unto us an abode where there shall be no error. Give us peace; give us knowledge, and open unto us the gates of thy heaven.

"Thou art the Giver of all! Thou art the Forgiver! Thou art the Merciful! Amen."

This prayer demonstrates the genius of the Master, His ability to mark out a place of stable calm in a world of relativities and imponderables, and at the same time promote an attitude of humble search. One phrase strikes home: "give unto us an abode where there shall be no error." If you wish to sum up what makes a scientifically oriented atheist like me into a Baha'i, this is it: certainty. Having certitude in an infallible authority about what Karl Popper calls "non-science" has kept me a believer since the moment I first read the Master's words on this theme in a little compilation called "The Reality of Man." The Baha'i Faith offers comforting certainty about a broad range of grave issues that otherwise would remain permanent quandaries. And here He stood, the very personification of certainty, standing there in front of that congregation. The Kingdom of God offers perfection, infallibility, and the Master had a mysterious ability to hit the mark on where it is to be found.

Just before this prayer, the Master cites, seemingly out of a clear blue sky, a passage from "the great Apostle" Paul. (Contrast this with His loud declamation to a Christian, probably a Protestant, in Montreal, "Peter, not Paul!" The fact that Paul was not the successor of Jesus does not take away from his greatness in the Master's eyes.) Here is the translation given in Abdu'l-Baha in London, which is very close to the King James Version:

"We all, with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of God, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord."

My guess is that this quote from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians was the given reading for that Sunday by the church's minister, in this case Archdeacon Wilberforce in his evening service. It may have already been commented upon at length in the venerable deacon's sermon; in some churches the reading is posted on a black sign with moveable white letters in a prominent place, either outside of the church as a "teaser" to passersby, or right above the pulpit. If so, it would reasonable to assume by quoting it at the end that the Master's argument beforehand had led up to and was explicating something that was very fresh in the audience's mind. Unlike later talks, at this early stage in the Masters' journey the talk was evidently either prepared and translated ahead of time, or it was given extempore and a rapid translation was written down; later on, when He was giving several talks a day, this written stage became impracticable and the interpreter spoke intermittently. Here is the contemporary account of the event, which fortunately has survived.

"With a few warm words characteristic of his whole attitude Archdeacon Wilberforce introduced the revered Messenger from the East, who had crossed seas and countries on his Mission of Peace and Unity for which he had suffered forty years of captivity and persecution. The Archdeacon had the Bishop's chair placed for his Guest on the Chancel steps, and standing beside him read the translation of 'Abdu'l-Baha's address himself. The Congregation was profoundly moved, and following the Archdeacon's example knelt to receive the blessing of the Servant of God -- who stood with extended arms -- his wonderful voice rising and falling in the silence with the power of his invocation. As the Archdeacon said: "Truly the East and the West have met in this sacred place tonight." The hymn "O God our help in ages past" was sung by the entire assembly standing, as 'Abdu'l-Baha and the Archdeacon passed down the aisle to the vestry hand in hand." (`Abdu'l-Baha in London, 21)

Now, we are not so blessed as to receive a blessing direct from the hand of the Master but we are blessed in other ways. We have better access to the texts, both of the Bible and Baha'i scripture. Maybe a filmmaker one day will give an illuminated version of this talk and intersperse it with a choir singing that hymn sung on that occasion, "O God our help in ages past." My wife Marie is part of the Voices of Unity Baha'i choir, so maybe, God assisting, I will be that filmmaker and talk them into to participating. Okay, I am dreaming; that would take maybe a million tonnes more gumption than I have ever shown. So let me stick with what is possible, going over in detail the rather puzzling reading from Paul, which I will do next time. Here it is in the King James Translation:

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD." (2 Cor 3:17-18, KJV)