But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..
(Galatians
5:22)
The
last few posts have presented the first four of what I call the Ten Virtues of
Prosperity. These virtues are the
different denominations of the currency of the moral economy, as dollars and
cents are for the material economy. Exemplifying these virtues will be difficult
to say the least. I mean that we should
be clear about one thing: applying spiritual principles of thought and behavior
among people whose values are materialistic, whose conception of human nature
is ego-centered, and whose idea of human purpose is self-centered action, creates
upheaval, arouses suspicion, and invites negative reaction.
Ideally, of course, spiritual principle and practical action are inseparable, one
seamless flow of thought and behavior. But
we do not live in such an ideal condition, but one that is almost exactly the
opposite of it. Baha’u’llah wrote of the
effects of moral acts in an immoral society: “One righteous act is endowed with
a potency that can so elevate the dust as to cause it to pass beyond the heaven
of heavens. It can tear every bond asunder, and hath the power to restore the
force that hath spent itself and vanished.” (Gleanings: 286) I call your
attention especially to the “tear every bond asunder” threat wedged in between
the two firm promises of elevating the dust and restoring the force that hath
spent itself and vanished. Christ said
that new wine cannot be poured into old wineskins, for as the new wine ferments
it expands and the old skin having lost its elasticity bursts. This is what happens when the new wine of Revelation gets poured into our old wineskins of social and mental
reality. We are seeing increasing insanity and immorality, because our old thought patterns, values and assumptions about Reality have burst asunder. Virtue is the new wineskin.
The fifth virtue is generosity. As opposed to any Calvinist-type thinking
that accumulation of material riches is the proof of spiritual felicity,
‘Abdu’l-Bahá says: “Eternal happiness is contingent upon giving.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace: 131) There is no greater means to achieve general
prosperity than by generosity.
Bahá’u’lláh commands us to: “Be ye the trustees of God amongst His
creatures, and the emblems of His generosity amidst His people.” (Gleanings: 297) In another place He warns the rich, saying: “Tell the rich of the
midnight sighing of the poor, lest heedlessness lead them into the path of
destruction, and deprive them of the Tree of Wealth. To give and to be
generous are attributes of Mine; well is it with him that adorneth himself with
My virtues.” (The Hidden Words Persian
#49)
In His letter to the Central
Organization for a Durable Peace, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote: “Among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is
voluntary sharing of one’s property with others among mankind. This voluntary sharing is greater than
equality, and consists in this, that one should not prefer oneself to others,
but rather should sacrifice one’s life and property for others.” (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha:
302) To the great financier and philanthropist,
Andrew Carnegie, He wrote: “Man reacheth perfection through good deeds,
voluntarily performed, not through good deeds the doing of which was forced
upon him. And sharing is a personally chosen righteous act: that is, the rich
should extend assistance to the poor, they should expend their substance for
the poor, but of their own free will, and not because the poor have gained this
end by force. For the harvest of force is turmoil and the ruin of the social
order. On the other hand voluntary sharing,
the freely-chosen expending of one's substance, leadeth to society's comfort
and peace. It lighteth up the world; it
bestoweth honour upon humankind.” (Selections
from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha: 115)
And while in Paris He said: “The rich must give of their abundance, they
must soften their hearts and cultivate a compassionate intelligence, taking
thought for those sad ones who are suffering from lack of the very necessities
of life.” (Paris Talks: 153)
But just to tell someone “be
generous like Christ or Bahá’u’lláh” probably will not get him or her very
far. This is because whenever an
immature soul gives to another he may well fear that he is impoverishing
himself, for he thinks life is a competitive zero-sum game with only winners
and losers. But we are not in
competition with each other if we are cooperating with higher powers. For in that cooperative relation there is
plenty for all, and we need not fear running out of wealth, either personally
or collectively. The spiritualized soul
recognizes that the act of giving itself is wealth in a higher form. This is our true affluence—a word which means
flows freely. Personal prosperity is founded on
and expressed through generosity. It is not those who have too little that are
in poverty; it is those who wish for more than they need that are poor in
spirit.
The
sixth virtue is gratitude. Gratitude is
an active power drawing to us the good pleasure of God—the first attracting the
second. Gratitude works for prosperity
by establishing good human relations and relations with divinity. Grace is the root of gratitude, so we should
be grateful for our innate virtues and use them to contribute to prosperity. But gratitude must be sincere to be effective.
‘Abdul-Baha wrote: “There is a
cordial thanksgiving, too, which expresses itself in the deeds and actions of
man when his heart is filled with gratitude. For example, God has conferred
upon man the gift of guidance, and in thankfulness for this great gift certain
deeds must emanate from him. To express his gratitude for the favors of God man
must show forth praiseworthy actions. In response to these bestowals he must
render good deeds, be self-sacrificing, loving the servants of God, forfeiting
even life for them, showing kindness to all the creatures.” (Promulgation of Universal Peace: 236)
It takes little effort to imagine
what other kinds of deeds and “praiseworthy actions” would contribute to prosperity,
besides the one’s the Master lists: self-sacrificing, loving the servants of
God, showing kindness to all creatures.
The important point for this discussion is that we do these services for
others to show our gratitude to God: we give because we have already received
and thus have something to give.
Seventh is humility. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was often likened to an ocean,
not just because He seemed bigger than any situation, but also because His deep
humility made Him put Himself lower than everyone else and thus serve them. All waters flow to the ocean for it lies at the
lowest point, yet the ocean is also the fount of all life. So is service the fount of wealth in the
moral economy. Now a strange
kind of happy math would happen if all were humble and serving others instead of
being self-serving. That is, if everyone
is looking out for me, and not just me looking out for me, there is a lot more
security and wealth for me, so long as I am looking out for others. Hence, humility is not such total
self-effacement that one feels unworthy to do anything, or that one has nothing
to give. Humility is an attitude that
seeks out service; that always wishes to help.
It should be the chief quality of the leaders of humankind.
Steven
Covey, author of Principle-Centered
Leadership, writes: “You can’t have a oneness, a unity, without
humility….The great servant leaders have that humility, the hallmark of inner
religion.” (Principle-Centered Leadership:
92.) I will complete the ten virtues
in the next post.
A direct link to my book, Renewing the Sacred, is http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a. It is now also in Kindle.
A direct link to my book, Renewing the Sacred, is http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a. It is now also in Kindle.
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