Turning from father to Father

This is the section immediately following the last entry. It begins with some stuff I wrote nearly a month ago. Then it moves into a commentary on a line from the second passage that I didn't even touch on in the first draft.



The second section of the Long Obligatory is a prayer of turning, not just for the turn, but a testimony of the turn itself. It is said standing with one’s hands raised in supplication.

It begins: O Thou the Desire of the world and the Beloved of the nations, Thou seest me turning toward Thee.... When one turns ones changes direction, one gains a new perspective. What was once behind is now in front. What was once in front is now behind. The simple gift of faith is to turn to Thy will, and as the prayer continues, to be rid of all attachment to anyone save Thee, and clinging to Thy cord, through whose movement the whole creation hath been stirred up. Here there is a clarity of decision-making, of action, of lifestyle. One is at peace with a life of service in the path of God.

The full text of this section is as follows

O Thou the Desire of the world and the Beloved of the nations! Thou seest me turning toward Thee, and rid of all attachment to anyone save Thee, and clinging to Thy cord, through whose movement the whole creation hath been stirred up. I am Thy servant, O my Lord, and the son of Thy servant. Behold me standing ready to do Thy will and Thy desire, and wishing naught else except Thy good pleasure. I implore Thee by the Ocean of Thy mercy and the Day-Star of Thy grace to do with Thy servant as Thou willest and pleasest. By Thy might which is far above all mention and praise! Whatsoever is revealed by Thee is the desire of my heart and the beloved of my soul. O God, my God! Look not upon my hopes and my doings, nay rather look upon Thy will that hath encompassed the heavens and the earth. By Thy Most Great Name, O Thou Lord of all nations! I have desired only what Thou didst desire, and love only what Thou dost love.


In the second sentence, the performer testifies that I am Thy servant, O my Lord, and the son of Thy servant. This line invokes two hierarchical relationships, master/servant and father/son, and employs them to understand the three way relationship between God, servant, and the servant’s father. In this passage of the prayer God is put in the place of the master. The performer is both servant and son. So the relationship between God and the performer is clear. But the relationships between God and father, and father and son are unclear. For, he is both father and servant, superior and subordinate. The janus-faced nature of the father introduces an uncertainty as to how his son should relate to him. Should he be related to as a father and thus as a superior, or as a fellow servant and thus as an equal before God.

The imagery employed here has a long history and is deeply tied up with the relationship between God’s authority, and worldly authorities e.g. patriarchal obligations to one’s father and by analogy to one’s king. One example of this is in the Gospels where God is referred to as the Father. By no coincidence whatsoever these books represent the most radical rejection of the authority of traditional family relations. For example, Jesus calls a man to follow him, but he replies that he needs to go bury his father first, the greatest duty a son has to his father. Instead Jesus shoots back at him, Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the Kingdom of God.[1] The relationship between father and son should in no way be read as limited to either males or family relations. Instead it should be seen as emblematic of any authority relationship between humans, especially any relationship that could potentially conflict with a person’s duties to God.

Any uncertainty that could exist in this prayer is immediately cleared up, for the next line of this section reads, Behold me standing ready to do Thy will and Thy desire and wishing naught else except Thy good pleasure. With this declaration, this naught else, the prayer affirms the integrity and cohesiveness of hierarchical relationship. The Master trumps the father. But this is only at the level of affirmation. The father may not go along with this arrangement and may vie for the allegiance of the son/servant/performer. In general, Bahá’u’lláh goes a long way to defuse this, by prescribing for His followers obedience to worldly authorities. But the tension is still there in asmuch as this teaching still assumes the ultimate authority of God. Furthermore, not all worldly authorities agree with Bahá’u’lláh’s message or want their subordinates following him. Thus, for Bahá’is to persist in their practice of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings and work to establish the unity of the human race is an act of resistance and struggle against those worldly authorities, even if they in no way are working to unseat particular people from power. When the performer testifies that I am Thy servant, O my Lord, and the son of Thy servant, he or she affirms the legitimacy of this struggle, and recognizes the need for hands of indomitable strength and arms of invincible might.
[1] Lk 10.59-60