NASA photo of Earth
taken from Apollo
If any differences arise amongst you, behold Me standing before your face, and overlook the faults of one another for My name's sake and as a token of your love for My manifest and resplendent Cause.
- Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 315
The utterance of God is a lamp, whose light is these words: Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship. He Who is the Daystar of Truth beareth Me witness! So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth. The One true God, He Who knoweth all things, Himself testifieth to the truth of these words.
Exert yourselves that ye may attain this transcendent and most sublime station, the station that can insure the protection and security of all mankind. This goal excelleth every other goal, and this aspiration is the monarch of all aspirations.
- Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, by Bahá'u'lláh, p. 14
O friends! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny. Suffer not your labors to be wasted through the vain imaginations which certain hearts have devised. Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men, the letters inscribed upon His sacred scroll. With the utmost unity, and in a spirit of perfect fellowship, exert yourselves, that ye may be enabled to achieve that which beseemeth this Day of God. Verily I say, strife and dissension, and whatsoever the mind of man abhorreth are entirely unworthy of his station. Center your energies in the propagation of the Faith of God.
- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 196
We love to see you at all times consorting in amity and concord within the paradise of My good-pleasure, and to inhale from your acts the fragrance of friendliness and unity, of loving-kindness and fellowship. Thus counselleth you the All-Knowing, the Faithful. We shall always be with you; if We inhale the perfume of your fellowship, Our heart will assuredly rejoice, for naught else can satisfy Us.
- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, pp. 315-316
The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.
- Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 218
Cleave unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you. This, verily, is the most exalted Word which the Mother Book hath sent down and revealed unto you.
- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 217
Please God, ye will regard this blessed night as the night of unity, will knit your souls together, and resolve to adorn yourselves with the ornament of a goodly and praiseworthy character.
- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 316
It behoveth man to adhere tenaciously unto that which will promote fellowship, kindliness and unity.
- Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 89
Strive, O people of God, that haply the hearts of the divers kindreds of the earth may, through the waters of your forbearance and loving-kindness, be cleansed and sanctified from animosity and hatred, and be made worthy and befitting recipients of the splendors of the Sun of Truth.
- Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 26
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
- King James Bible, John 13:34,35
Fleeing from estrangement
As I understand it, learning to deal with others with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship, is the monarch of aspirations, a goal which excels every other. Nothing else can satisfy Baha'u'llah, but to inhale from our acts the fragrance of friendliness and unity, of loving-kindness and fellowship. That is how the hearts of the divers kindreds of the earth may be cleansed and sanctified from animosity and hatred, and be made worthy and befitting recipients of the splendors of the Sun of Truth. That is how Jesus said his disciples could be recognized.Baha'u'llah urges us to flee from dissension and strife, contention, estrangement and apathy, among the loved ones of God.
If I feel estranged from another believer, to where can I flee from the feeling of estrangement in my own heart? The way that I flee from it is to pray and make efforts to overcome it; to cleave unto that which draws us together and unites us; to adhere tenaciously unto that which will promote fellowship, kindliness and unity; to learn to show forbearance and benevolence and love to him; and to learn to deal with him with love, harmony, friendliness, fellowship, unity, and loving-kindness.
Here are some examples of how I have tried to flee from the estrangement I've felt towards some people.
Examples
