The following is a link as well as what Baha'u'llah revealed on the subject of confession for this day.
The Ninth Glad-Tidings When the sinner findeth himself wholly detached and freed from all save God, he should beg forgiveness and pardon from Him. Confession of sins and transgressions before human beings is not permissible, as it hath never been nor will ever be conducive to divine forgiveness. Moreover such confession before people results in one's humiliation and abasement, and God -- exalted be His glory -- wisheth not the humiliation of His servants. Verily He is the Compassionate, the Merciful. The sinner should, between himself and God, implore mercy from the Ocean of mercy, beg forgiveness from the Heaven of generosity and say:
O God, my God! I implore Thee by the blood of Thy true lovers who were so enraptured by Thy sweet utterance that they hastened unto the Pinnacle of Glory, the site of the most glorious martyrdom, and I beseech Thee by the mysteries which lie enshrined in Thy knowledge and by the pearls that are treasured in the ocean of Thy bounty to grant forgiveness unto me and unto my father and my mother. Of those who show forth mercy, Thou art in truth the Most Merciful. No God is there but Thee, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Bountiful.
O Lord! Thou seest this essence of sinfulness turning unto the ocean of Thy favour and this feeble one seeking the kingdom of Thy divine power and this poor creature inclining himself towards the day-star of Thy wealth. By Thy mercy and Thy grace, disappoint him not, O Lord, nor debar him from the revelations of Thy bounty in Thy days, nor cast him away from Thy door which Thou hast opened wide to all that dwell in Thy heaven and on Thine earth.
Alas! Alas! My sins have prevented me from approaching the Court of Thy holiness and my trespasses have caused me to stray far from the Tabernacle of Thy majesty. I have committed that which Thou didst forbid me to do and have put away what Thou didst order me to observe.
I pray Thee by Him Who is the sovereign Lord of Names to write down for me with the Pen of Thy bounty that which will enable me to draw nigh unto Thee and will purge me from my trespasses which have intervened between me and Thy forgiveness and Thy pardon.
Verily, Thou art the Potent, the Bountiful. No God is there but Thee, the Mighty, the Gracious.
Glad-Tiding? Now there is a complete 180. Who would have ever conceived coming before God with your sins could have any connection with “gladness”? Leave it to Baha’u’llah to stand perceptions on end. Maybe I don’t walk away dancing in the streets but the mere title seems to imply I could come away …walking a little lighter.??
ReplyDeleteIn class, there was discussion regarding one of The Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah:
O SON OF BEING! Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.
For whatever reason we all linked the result of going through this process with sin, and the forgiveness thereof. Conversely, this exercise could be a pleasant one provided we kept to “the bridge”. After some reflection, it is easy to see the wisdom it doing this daily. Being humble and asking for guidance from one who knows can be very beneficial. I am reminded of a road trip to Diamond Lake for a family reunion in my in-laws’ 40’ motor home. While it looked shorter on my GPS, the terrain was un-disclosed. I found myself on a narrow gravel road with a sheer cliff to one side, a screaming wife on the other, and a 35-degree climb ahead. About 5 hours later and a few dry riverbeds we came out the other end. We missed the barbeque dinner by about 3 hours. During the course of that 5 hours there were a couple opportunities to ask for “directions” but I passed each one up thinking, heck …it can’t get any worse! Wrong
Lesson being…ask often, the roads may look shorter but the terrain….nobody ever thinks about the terrain.
Of course being whom we are, sometimes the mystery of NOT knowing the terrain becomes too inviting and this is where the 9th Glad Tiding comes into play. He also created some very curious little creatures and seems to have given us a hitchhike back home.
While the first paragraph used to have the most impact on me, I now find it in the second, … grant forgiveness unto me and unto my father and my mother. Of those who show forth mercy, Thou art in truth the Most Merciful. So, even when you find yourself at your very lowest point apparently, from what I get, there is still enough light in our candle that we can ask forgiveness not just for ourselves but our parents. Once again,….our redeeming factor is always anchored in doing something for somebody else. That is our fuel. In addition, I see further support for surplus in God’s creation. I pray for two others and myself…and so it goes….
Then we have the math. Show mercy = get Most Mercy. Looks like a simple math problem with an easy solution, which it is; but just for extra credit, like playing one-on-one with your hands tied behind your back, the purest form of solving this math problem is doing it without even the thought of expecting anything in return. (I wish I could find the quote that supports this thought. It is one of those that will get your head spinning…thoughts to infinity.)
…purge me from my trespasses which have intervened between me and Thy forgiveness and Thy pardon.
So, I’m a bit stumped here?? Are the writings I am asking the Pen of Thy bounty to put down to “purge” me with the current breadth of Writings we have for our perusal or ones that are “to be written.”? Hmmm…