Mom…how big is God’s finger?

I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was a typical day on a drive down a country road and I sat in the passenger seat of our family car looking out the window in wonder with questions cascading through my mind.  I don’t recall my exact age…probably 4, 5 or 6; the time when everything in life seems to be up for question.  A healthy questioning state I might add, one of wonder rather than conflict and contention.  I had lots of small trivial questions that afternoon like, “what are those big weights hanging on the power lines for?” However, these were all leading up to the BIG one.  “Mom…how big is God?” 

She replied, “Nobody knows how big God is, hunny.” 

Not satisfied with that answer I came back with a second, “well then…can you just tell me how big God’s finger is?”  (apparently we learn to extrapolate at a young age.  lol)

The answer to this question was not a whole lot better in my mind than the first as I recall so I put it on the shelf… for later.  Little did I know but later didn’t happen for about another 35 or so years.  I stumbled upon the answer while preparing devotions for the devotional part of Feast.  The Feast was the Feast of Izzat (Might) and the particular Writing was from the Writings of the Bab (the Gate).  My long awaited answer was in the third paragraph of the following excerpt.  To help clarify some of the terminology in the quote below I offer the following:

            Him whom God shall manifest = Baha’u’llah

            The Bayan = The Revelation of the Bab

            The Point = the Bab (the Gate)

IT behooveth you to await the Day of the appearance of Him Whom God shall manifest. Indeed My aim in planting the Tree of the Bayan hath been none other than to enable you to recognize Me. In truth I Myself am the first to bow down before God and to believe in Him. Therefore let  not your recognition become fruitless, inasmuch as the Bayan, notwithstanding the sublimity of its station, beareth fealty to Him Whom God shall make manifest, and it is He Who beseemeth most to be acclaimed as the Seat of divine Reality, though indeed He is I and I am He. However, when the Tree of the Bayan attaineth its highest development, We shall bend it low as a token of adoration towards its Lord Who will appear in the person of Him Whom God shall make manifest. Perchance ye may be privileged to glorify God as it befitteth His august Self.

Indeed ye have been called into being through the power of the Point of the Bayan while the Point Himself is resigned to the Will of Him Whom God shall make manifest, is exalted through His transcendent sublimity, is sustained by the evidences of His might, is glorified by the majesty of His oneness, is adorned by the beauty of His singleness, is empowered by His eternal dominion and is invested with authority through His everlasting sovereignty. How then could they, who are but the creation of the Point, be justified in saying 'why or wherefore'?

O congregation of the Bayan, and all who are therein! Recognize ye the limits imposed upon you, for such a One as the Point of the Bayan Himself hath believed in Him Whom God shall make manifest, before all things were created. Therein, verily, do I glory before all who are in the kingdom of heaven and earth. Suffer not yourselves to be shut out as by a veil from God after He hath revealed Himself. For all that hath been exalted in the Bayan is but as a ring upon My hand, and I Myself am, verily, but a ring upon the hand of Him Whom God shall make manifest -- glorified be His mention! He turneth it as He pleaseth, for whatsoever He pleaseth, and through whatsoever He pleaseth. He, verily, is the Help in Peril, the Most High.  

        (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 166)

If after reading this you have the reaction I did; as another one of those all-to-familiar moments you come to as you read the Writings of the Bab and Baha’u’llah, where you have to stand up, clasp your hands to your head while pulling on your hair and take a lap around the house as everything has just been turned upside down.   For me, it’s like that Christmas ball you shake to create an instant blizzard inside.  In my mind all that was in order had been shaken at its foundation.  I couldn’t believe it.  The Bab was revealing to me something of this world that I could use to extrapolate how big God is!  Instantly, as if midstream in a movie, my mind rewound my life’s DVD; images flashed spaced days apart…then jumped to weeks, months, and years until I was back in that seat…with the answer.  There were a number of links in my mind that instigated this reaction.  Possibly, the sharing of them might shake your Christmas ball?  Nothing to lose, as everything could settle as it was.

For the purpose of extrapolation I now had numbers and associations I could use in my formula.  In the above quote towards the end the Bab said…” For all that hath been exalted in the Bayan is but as a ring upon My hand.”  What is all?  How about 500,000 verses!  In the words of the Bab:

 THERE is no paradise, in the estimation of the believers in the Divine Unity, more exalted than to obey God's commandments, and there is no fire in the eyes of those who have known God and His signs, fiercer than to transgress His laws and to oppress another soul, even to the extent of a mustard seed. On the Day of Resurrection God will, in truth, judge all men, and we all verily plead for His grace. V, 19.  80 

GOD loveth those who are pure. Naught in the Bayan and in the sight of God is more loved than purity and immaculate cleanliness....

God desireth not to see, in the Dispensation of the Bayan, any soul deprived of joy and radiance. He indeed desireth that under all conditions, all may be adorned with such purity, both inwardly and outwardly, that no repugnance may be caused even to themselves, how much less unto others. V, 14.

LIKEWISE consider the manifestation of the Point of the Bayan. There are people who every night until morning busy themselves with the worship of God, and even at present when the Day-Star of Truth is nearing its zenith in the heaven of its Revelation, they have not yet left their prayer-rugs. If any one of them ever heard the wondrous verses of God recited unto him, he would exclaim: 'Why dost thou keep me back from offering my prayers?' O thou who are wrapt in veils! If thou makest mention of God, wherefore sufferest thou thyself to be shut out from Him Who hath kindled the light of worship in thy heart? If He had not previously revealed the injunction: 'Verily, make ye mention of God'[1], what would have prompted thee to offer devotion unto God, and whereunto wouldst thou turn in prayer?

[1 Qur'án 8:47; 33:41; 62:10 ]

Know thou of a certainty that whenever thou makest mention of Him Whom God shall make manifest, only then art thou making mention of God. In like manner shouldst thou hearken unto the verses of the Bayan and   acknowledge its truth, only then would the revealed verses of God profit thee. Otherwise what benefit canst thou derive therefrom? For wert thou to prostrate thyself in adoration from the beginning of life till the end and to spend thy days for the sake of God's remembrance, but disbelieve in the Exponent of His Revelation for the age, dost thou imagine that thy deeds would confer any benefit upon thee? On the other hand, if thou believest in Him and dost recognize Him with true understanding, and He saith: 'I have accepted thine entire life spent in My adoration', then assuredly hast thou been worshipping Him most ardently. Thy purpose in performing thy deeds is that God may graciously accept them; and divine acceptance can in no wise be achieved except through the acceptance of Him Who is the Exponent of His Revelation. For instance, if the Apostle of God -- may divine blessings rest upon Him -- accepted a certain deed, in truth God accepted it; otherwise it hath remained within the selfish desires of the person who wrought it, and did not reach the presence of God. Likewise, any act which is accepted by the Point of the Bayan is accepted by God, inasmuch as the contingent world hath no other access unto the presence of the Ancient of Days. Whatever is sent down cometh through the Exponent of His Revelation, and whatever ascendeth, ascendeth unto the Exponent of His Revelation. VIII, 19.

THERE is no doubt that the Almighty hath sent down these verses unto Him [the Bab], even as He sent down unto the Apostle of God. (Muhammad) Indeed no less than a hundred thousand verses similar to these have already been disseminated among the people, not to mention His Epistles, His Prayers or His learned and philosophical treatises. He revealeth no less than a thousand verses within the space of five hours. He reciteth verses at a speed consonant with the capacity of His amanuensis to set them down. Thus, it may well be considered that if from the inception of this Revelation until now He had been left unhindered, how vast then would have been the volume of writings disseminated from His pen.

If ye contend that these verses cannot, of themselves, be regarded as a proof, scan the pages of the Qur'án. If God hath established therein any evidence other than the revealed verses to demonstrate the validity of the prophethood of His Apostle -- may the blessings of God rest upon Him -- ye may then have your scruples about Him...

Concerning the sufficiency of the Book as a proof, God hath revealed: 'Is it not enough for them that We have sent down unto Thee the Book to be recited to them? In this verily is a mercy and a warning to those who believe.'1 When God hath testified that the Book is a sufficient testimony, as is affirmed in the text, how can one dispute this truth by saying that the Book in itself is not a conclusive proof?... II, [1].

[1 Qur'án 29:50 ]

        (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 79)

EVERYONE is eagerly awaiting His appearance, yet since their inner eyes are not directed towards Him sorrow must needs befall Him. In the case of the Apostle of God -- may the blessings of God rest upon Him -- before the revelation of the Qur'án everyone bore witness to His piety and noble virtues. Behold Him then after the revelation of the Qur'án. What outrageous insults were levelled against Him, as indeed the pen is ashamed to recount. Likewise behold the Point of the Bayan. His behaviour prior to the declaration of His mission is clearly evident unto those who knew Him. Now, following His manifestation, although He hath, up to the present, revealed no less than five  97  hundred thousand verses on different subjects, behold what calumnies are uttered, so unseemly that the pen is stricken with shame at the mention of them. But if all men were to observe the ordinances of God no sadness would befall that heavenly Tree. VI, 11.

        (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 96)

Imagine… another computation forward and the sum of all this (insert 500,000 verses) is “but as a ring upon My hand, and I Myself am, verily, but a ring upon the hand of Him Whom God shall make manifest.”  And further…” He turneth it as He pleaseth”  Just think how you subconsciously turn your ring in your finger…in passing, or contemplation.??  You are so far above and removed from your ring.   What an amazing way to convey the exaltation of God…in just two sentences!!

Below is yet another Writing from the Bab further supporting his statement,  “For all that hath been exalted in the Bayan is but as a ring upon My hand.”

THY letter hath been perused. Were the truth of this Revelation to be fully demonstrated with elaborate proofs, all the scrolls that exist in the heaven and on the earth would be insufficient to contain them.

However, the substance and essence of the subject is this, that there can be no doubt that from everlasting God hath been invested with the independent sovereignty of His exalted Being, and unto everlasting He will remain inaccessible in the transcendent majesty of His holy Essence. No creature hath ever recognized Him as befitteth His recognition, nor hath any created being ever praised Him as is worthy of His praise. He is exalted above every name, and is sanctified from every comparison. Through Him all things are made known, while too lofty is His reality to be known through anyone but Him. The process of His creation hath had no beginning and can have no end, otherwise it would necessitate the cessation of His celestial grace. God hath raised up Prophets and revealed Books as numerous as the creatures of the world, and will continue to do so to everlasting.

If thou art sailing upon the sea of God's Names, which are reflected in all things, know thou that He is exalted and sanctified from being known through His creatures, or being described by His servants. Everything thou beholdest hath been called into being through the operation of His Will. How can such a created thing, therefore, be indicative of His essential oneness? God's existence in itself testifieth to His Own oneness, while every created thing, by its very nature, beareth evidence that it hath been fashioned by God. Such is the proof of consummate wisdom in the estimation of those who sail the ocean of divine Truth.

If, however, thou art sailing upon the sea of creation, know thou that the First Remembrance, which is the Primal Will of God, may be likened unto the sun. God hath created Him through the potency of His might, and He hath, from the beginning that hath no beginning, caused Him to be manifested in every Dispensation through the compelling power of His behest, and God will, to the end that knoweth no end, continue to manifest Him according to the good-pleasure of His invincible Purpose.

And know thou that He indeed resembleth the sun. Were the risings of the sun to continue till the end that hath no end, yet there hath not been nor ever will be more than one sun; and were its settings to endure for evermore, still there hath not been nor ever will be more than one sun. It is this Primal Will which appeareth resplendent in every Prophet and speaketh forth in every revealed Book. It knoweth no beginning, inasmuch as the First deriveth its firstness from It; and knoweth no end, for the Last oweth its lastness unto It.

In the time of the First Manifestation the Primal Will appeared in Adam; in the day of Noah It became known in Noah; in the day of Abraham in Him; and so in the day of Moses; the day of Jesus; the day of Muhammad, the Apostle of God; the day of the 'Point of the Bayan'; the day of Him Whom God shall make manifest; and the day of the One Who will appear after Him Whom God shall make manifest. Hence the inner meaning of the words uttered by the Apostle of God, 'I am all the Prophets', inasmuch as what shineth resplendent in each one of Them hath been and will ever remain the one and the same sun.  

        (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 124)

Now we come to the last computation in how big God is.  With the preceding explanation by the Bab we have a pretty clear picture of the level of the Manifestations of God with respect to one another and how all the preceding Manifestations bow down in fealty before the one to follow.  This is beautifully expressed by the Bab in the Writings above as well as others in the Book, Selections from the Writings of the Bab.  Now we come to Baha’u’llah and here you would think that you reached the top of the mountain just high enough to grab a star out of the sky…surely at Gods door, but Baha’u’llah stops you and in so many words, tells you, He (God) is much…much higher!!  How?  By putting Himself much…much lower.  The full quote you may recognize from an earlier post

Were any of the all-embracing Manifestations of God to declare: "I am God," He, verily, speaketh the truth, and no doubt attacheth thereto. For it hath been repeatedly demonstrated that through their Revelation, their attributes and names, the Revelation of God, His names and His attributes, are made manifest in the world. Thus, He hath revealed: "Those shafts were God's, not Thine." And also He saith: "In truth, they who plighted fealty unto Thee, really plighted that fealty unto God." And were any of them to voice the utterance, "I am the Messenger of God," He, also, speaketh the truth, the indubitable truth. Even as He saith: "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but He is the Messenger of God." Viewed in this light, they are all but Messengers of that ideal King, that unchangeable Essence. And were they all to proclaim, "I am the Seal of the Prophets," they, verily, utter but the truth, beyond the faintest shadow of doubt. For they are all but one person, one soul, one spirit, one being, one revelation. They are all the manifestation of the "Beginning" and the "End," the "First" and the "Last," the "Seen" and the "Hidden" -- all of which pertain to Him Who is the Innermost Spirit of Spirits and Eternal Essence of Essences. And were they to say, "We are the Servants of God," this also is a manifest and indisputable fact. For they have been made manifest in the uttermost state of servitude, a servitude the like of which no man can possibly attain. Thus in moments in which these Essences of Being were deep immersed beneath the oceans of ancient and everlasting holiness, or when they soared to the loftiest summits of Divine mysteries, they claimed their utterances to be the Voice of Divinity, the Call of God Himself.

Were the eye of discernment to be opened, it would recognize that in this very state, they have considered themselves utterly effaced and non-existent in the face of Him Who is the All-Pervading, the Incorruptible. Methinks, they have regarded themselves as utter nothingness, and deemed their mention in that Court an act of blasphemy. For the slightest whispering of self within such a Court is an evidence of self-assertion and independent existence. In the eyes of them that have attained unto that Court, such a suggestion is itself a grievous transgression. How much more grievous would it be, were aught else to be mentioned in that Presence, were man's heart, his tongue, his mind, or his soul, to be busied with any one but the Well-Beloved, were his eyes to behold any countenance other than His beauty, were his ear to be inclined to any melody but His Voice, and were his feet to tread any way but His way....

By virtue of this station they have claimed for themselves the Voice of Divinity and the like, whilst by virtue of their station of Messengership, they have declared themselves the Messengers of God. In every instance they have voiced an utterance that would conform to the requirements of the occasion, and have ascribed all these declarations to Themselves, declarations ranging from the realm of Divine Revelation to the realm of creation, and from the domain of Divinity even unto the domain of earthly existence. Thus it is that whatsoever be their utterance, whether it pertain to the realm of Divinity, Lordship, Prophethood, Messengership, Guardianship, Apostleship, or Servitude, all is true, beyond the shadow of a doubt. Therefore these sayings which We have quoted in support of Our argument must be attentively considered, that the divergent utterances of the Manifestations of the Unseen and Day Springs of Holiness may cease to agitate the soul and perplex the mind.

          (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 54)

So there you have it!  How big God is.  The perfect size… BIGGER than you could ever imagine!  He can’t be contained on a shelf, or in a box, not even in your mind! We went around the block and came right back to where we started in the first quote,  “Recognize ye the limits imposed upon you.”    I once heard in a lecture and it made sense…”In order to understand something you have to be either equal to it or above”.  Therefore, it is impossible to know the “essence” of God otherwise, He would cease to be God.

This is all very good but how does it manifest itself in this world?  What does it look like when one bumps up against this “Word” and rub elbows?  As it just so happens there are wonderful accounts of this in a book called The Dawn-Breakers.  As the name implies it is an account of actual events that took place at the beginning of a New Day.  (New Revelation)  Going another step forward; actual events that occurred to those who were “up early” with pulsating expectation of what the rising of a new Sun would bring while others slept.  Here is a story about Siyyid Yahyay and his encounter with the Bab.  Chapter IX pg 170-179.  (Siyyid is a descendant of the Prophet Muhamad) The footnotes are important for details of the account.  (especially 3 and 5)

Footnote 3: Concerning him, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has written the following: “This remarkable man, this precious soul, had committed to memory no less than thirty thousand traditions, and was highly esteemed and admired by all classes of people. He had achieved universal renown in Persia, and his authority and erudition were widely and fully recognized.”

Footnote 5:  According to the “Kashfu’l-Ghitá” (p. 81), no less than two thousand verses were revealed on that occasion by the Báb. The bewildering rapidity of this revelation was no less remarkable in the eyes of Siyyid Yahyá than the matchless beauty and profound meaning of the verses in that commentary.

What I find unique about this story is how those who are truly “great” at what they do or who they have become are humble about their gift and easily acknowledge it in others.  No matter who you are… most likely there is one greater.  It is all both relative and progressive.  I used to think I was a pretty special basketball player until I rubbed shoulders with my new teammates in college.  After an array of thunderous dunks no more than 3 minutes into my first practice I immediately understood my place and held a number of them in awe.  This until 3 minutes into our first National playoff game and we came up against some players that made those on our team look like mere children.  NONE of us in our league went on to become NBA players.  Nobody could even make the first cut.  Still, there are the same levels in the NBA and at the time, all held Michael Jordan in awe.  This man, Siyyid Yahya was the Michael Jordan of that area.  When he came to understand the station of the Bab he could not even take the court.  Beautiful… 

I can only imagine what it must have been like for Siyyid Yahyay to have some 30,000 traditions at his disposal, which leads one to deduct the whole of the Quran was surely committed to memory as well, and in the end still be baffled by the Surih of Kawthar; so much so that a commentary on its contents was foremost on his mind.  Then, to have the Bab go on in the course of one afternoon up until the approach of sunset in the fashion noted in Footnote 5 above bringing certitude to his heart.  What a gift and confirmation when you are seemingly at the top of your game.  More importantly, he was humble enough to make room for it.

How did Siyyid’s Yahyay (Vahid) life change after that day and finally end?

Though hemmed in by hostile forces on every side, Vahid continued, from the window of the upper floor of his house, to animate the zeal of his supporters and to clarify whatever remained obscure in their minds. At the sight of a whole regiment, reinforced by an infuriated mob, preparing to attack them, they turned to Vahid in their distress and begged him to direct their steps. "This very sword that lies before me," was his answer, as he remained seated beside the window, "was given me by the Qá'im Himself. God knows, had I been authorized by Him to wage holy warfare against this people, I would, alone and unaided, have annihilated their forces. I am, however, commanded to refrain from such an act." "This very steed," he added, as his eyes fell upon the horse which his servant Hasan had saddled and brought to the front of his house, "the late Muhammad Shah gave me, that with it I might undertake the mission with which he entrusted me, of conducting an impartial investigation into the nature of the Faith proclaimed by the Siyyid-i-Bab. He asked me to report personally to him the results of my enquiry, inasmuch as I was the only one among the ecclesiastical leaders of Tihran in whom he could repose implicit confidence. I undertook that mission with the firm resolution of confuting the arguments of that siyyid, of inducing Him to abandon His ideas and to acknowledge my leadership, and of conducting Him with me to Tihran as a witness to the triumph I was to achieve. When I came into His presence, however, and heard His words, the opposite of that which I had imagined took place. In the course of my first audience with Him, I was utterly abashed and confounded; by the end of the second, I felt as helpless and ignorant as a child; the third found me as lowly as the dust beneath His feet. He had indeed ceased to be the contemptible siyyid I had previously imagined. To me, He was the manifestation of God Himself, the living embodiment of the Divine Spirit. Ever since that day, I have yearned to lay down my life for His sake. I rejoice that the day I have longed to witness is fast approaching."

      (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 468)

And finally at the close of his life…

That very night, Vahid bade his companions disperse and exercise the utmost vigilance to secure their safety. He advised his wife to remove, with her children and all their belongings, to the home of her father, and to leave behind whatever was his personal property. "This palatial residence," he informed her, "I have built with the sole intention that it should be eventually demolished in the path of the Cause, and the stately furnishings with which I have adorned it have been purchased in the hope that one day I shall be  able to sacrifice them for the sake of my Beloved. Then will friend and foe alike realize that he who owned this house was endowed with so great and priceless a heritage that an earthly mansion, however sumptuously adorned and magnificently equipped, had no worth in his eyes; that it had sunk, in his estimation, to the state of a heap of bones to which only the dogs of the earth could feel attracted. Would that such compelling evidence of the spirit of renunciation were able to open the eyes of this perverse people, and to stir in them the desire to follow in the steps of him who showed that spirit!"

      (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 473)

The last story I would like to share that once again gives reference to “how big is God?”, is that of Mullah Husayn and his encounter with the Bab.  Possibly your mind will fill in the levels of man leading up to the station of Mullah Husayn and take off again up the ladder of ascent through the Bab and on to, as the Bab refers, Him whom God shall make manifest (Baha’u’llah).  From my understanding since we are not capable of understanding the “essence” of God but instead, only His attributes, it seems the best way Baha’u’llah could convey this station to us was in the way He did in the quote above in Gleanings, speaking on behalf of all the previous Manifestations of God as well as Himself.

“Were the eye of discernment to be opened, it would recognize that in this very state, they have considered themselves utterly effaced and non-existent in the face of Him Who is the All-Pervading, the Incorruptible. Methinks, they have regarded themselves as utter nothingness, and deemed their mention in that Court an act of blasphemy.

The analogy that comes to my mind, keeping with the Michael Jordan theme, would be Michael on his knees, head bowed at the entrance to Chicago Stadium.  All those inside that “court” look up to him in awe and worship him and have made him their God while he, mindfully aware of the Source of his talent deems “mention in that Court an act of blasphemy”.

Next, to have a read of the account of Mullah Husayn and his encounter with the Bab from The Dawn-Breakers once again.  Chapter III  The Declaration of the Bab’s Mission pg 47-66  If your curiosity is peaked as to the contents of this conversation some can be found below.  To fathom the fact that the Bab began revealing the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá  as fast as His pen could write, without deliberation, baffles my mind.  Especially when perusing some of its contents and the commentary on His commentary on just 42 versus of a 300 page book below!  Yikes!!

For a quick synopsis of The Qayyúm al-Asmá'.  It is the first major work of Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad the Báb (1819-1850 CE) which he commenced at the time of his declaration to Mulla Husayn Bushrui, his first disciple or Letter of the Living. It is wholly in Arabic, extending for more than 300 pages and divided up into 111 surahs, because each surah except the first comments usually in rewritten form upon one of the 111 surahs in the Qur'an.  (from Panel Presentation)

·         Selections from the Writings of the Bab- EXCERPTS FROM THE QAYYÚMU’L-ASMÁ

·         Panel Presentation on "Qayyúmu'l-Asmá'"    By Muin Afnani and Stephen Lambden, and Habib Raizati

·        Excerpts from the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá from Selections from the Writings of the Báb

·         Here is a look at just 42 verses and commentary of what was revealed that night to Mullah Husayn.  Sura 93 (also called Chapter of the Bees, surat al- nahl), a commentary on the Sura of Joseph Tafsir surat Yusuf, also known as the Ahsan al-qisas, "The Best of Stories"), of the Bab's Qayyum al-asma'

Well now in conclusion…I have nothing further to say other than thanks to you guys I have finally harnessed all these thoughts rambling around in my head and put them to paper in what I hope is some semblance of order.  If this is not the case…I won’t be surprised because it is a bit like catching a rainbow.  It seems to be constantly moving and beyond being captured so to speak.  At least now I have a better hold on the Kitab-i-Iqan.  Baha’u’llah’s Book of Certitude.  Reading this to me is like chasing rainbows.  But what could one expect with the following summary by Shoghi Effendi:

Foremost among the priceless treasures cast forth from the billowing ocean of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation ranks the Kitáb-i-Íqán... A model of Persian prose, of a style at once original, chaste and vigorous, and remarkably lucid, both cogent in argument and matchless in its irresistible eloquence, this Book, setting forth in outline the Grand Redemptive Scheme of God, occupies a position unequalled by any work in the entire range of Bahá'í literature, except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá'u'lláh's Most Holy Book

Just try to do that in a couple hundred pages!  A subject that is not linear is impossible to describe in a 1,2 3,4 way.  How is that for an excuse for me jumping around while trying to even touch..”How big is God?”  Maybe I’ll go back and give my mom another shot?

Peace…