BOOK 2  Deepening Themes SECTION 4: Love and Unity
Baha'u'llah says: "Nothing whatever can, in this Day, inflict a greater harm upon this Cause than dissension and strife, contention, estrangement and apathy, among the loved ones of God. Flee them, through the power God and His sovereign aid, and strive ye to knit together the hearts of men, in His Name, the Unifier, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise." 'Abdu'1-Bahd says: "Be in perfect unity. Never become angry with one another. . . . Love the creatures for the sake of God and not for themselves. You will never become angry or impatient if you love them for the sake of God. Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being, and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves. But if you look toward God, you will love them and be kind to them, for the world of God is the world of perfection and complete mercy." 'Abdu'1-Baha says: "I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content. Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness." Baha'u'llah says: "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." 'Abdu'1-Baha says: "The imperfect eye beholds imperfections. The eye that covers faults looks toward the Creator of souls. He created them, trains and provides for them, endows them with capacity and life, sight and hearing; therefore, they are the signs of His grandeur. You must love and be kind to everybody, care for the poor, protect the weak, heal the sick, teach and educate the ignorant." Baha'u'llah says: "0 Companion of My Throne! Hear no evil, and see no evil, abase not thyself, neither sigh and weep. Speak no evil, that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great; and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement be not exposed. Live then the days of thy life, that are less than a fleeting moment, with thy mind stainless, thy heart unsullied, thy thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified, so that, free and content, thou mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair unto the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal kingdom forevermore." 'Abdu'1-Baha says: "Some of the creatures of existence can live solitary and alone. A tree, for instance, may live without the assistance and cooperation of other trees. Some animals are isolated and lead a separate existence away from their kind. But this is impossible for man. In his life and being, cooperation and association are essential. Through association and meeting we find happiness and development, individual and collective." 'Abdu'1-Baha says: "... they must, when coming together, turn their faces to the Kingdom on high and ask aid from the Realm of Glory. They must then proceed with the utmost devotion, courtesy, dignity, care and moderation to express their views. They must in every matter search out the truth and not insist upon their own opinion, for stubbornness and persistence in one's views will lead ultimately to discord and wrangling and the truth will remain hidden. The honored members must with all freedom express their own thoughts, and it is in no wise permissible for one to belittle the thought of another, nay, he must with moderation set forth the truth, and should differences of opinion arise a majority of voices must prevail, and all must obey and submit to the majority." Abdu'1-Baha says: "The supreme need of humanity is cooperation and reciprocity. The stronger the ties of fellowship and solidarity amongst men, the greater will be the power of constructiveness and accomplishment in all the planes of human activity."
1)	Complete the following sentences:
a.	Nothing whatever can, in this Day, inflict a greater harm upon this Cause than  ,,,and,among the loved ones of God.
b.	Make a list of things you can do to help prevent disunity in your community:
c.	How can we make sure that we always love people and arc kind to them?
d.	In the second quotation, 'Abdu'1-Baha tells us that: We must live in perfect  We must never become with We must love all people for the and not for themselves. We will never become or if we love people for the Humanity is not We will always become if we look toward If we look toward we will people and be to them.
e.	In the third quotation, 'Abdu'1-Bahd tells us that: We must each concentrate all the thoughts of our heart on and When a thought of war comes, we should oppose it by A thought of hatred can be destroyed by Thoughts of war bring destruction to Thoughts of love are
f.	What should you do when you see differences arising between yourself and others in the community?
g.	Describe the spiritual discipline that helps you contribute towards unity in your community.
h.	Decide whether the following actions are in agreement with the Teachings of Baha'u'llah
	Looking at the shortcomings of others	Yes No
	Overlooking the faults of others	Yes No
	Telling the Local Spiritual Assembly about another person's wrongdoing.	Yes No
	Commenting on the shortcomings of another person to a friend	Yes No
	Exaggerating or changing a story to make another person look bad.	Yes No
	Thinking of the faults of others	Yes No
i.	Why do we criticize some people when they make a mistake, but not others when they do the exact same thing?
j.	Is it possible to have unity in a situation where people are backbiting about one another? Why not?
k.	To purposefully tell a lie about someone is obviously wrong. But is if all right to make critical remarks about someone to others for something he or she has actually done?
l.	What effect does gossiping have on the spiritual progress of those who engage in it?
m.	What is the difference between gossiping, backbiting and criticizing?
n.	How can we eliminate these habits from our lives?
o.	What can we do when someone begins to speak to us of another person's faults?
p.	Should we remain silent when we are aware that a Baha'f is doing something wrong, for example, lying or stealing, even if we know that his actions are making other people suffer? If not, what should we do?
q.	What effects do gossiping and backbiting have on a Baha'f community?
r.	What would happen if we only spoke about people as though they were present?
s.	If we backbite in front of children, what effect will it have on them?
t.	Why do you think we have a tendency to backbite about one another?
u.	Love is not merely expressed in words. What else is needed?
v.	What is the most important key to successful community action?
w.	Mention some of the principal enemies of successful community action?
x.	Complete the following phrases with words from the quotation in this section on consultation: When coming together to consult, we must turn our faces to and must ask aid from We must then proceed with utmost,,, and to express our views. We must in every matter and not for . in one's views will lead ultimately to and the will remain We must with all freedom It is not permissible for us to belittle Should differences of opinion arise must prevail, and we must all and to the majority.
2)	Make a list of some of the Baha'i activities that the believers in a community must carry out in a spirit of cooperation:
3)	Make a list of some of your friends in the Baha'i community, and think of how you can help each in his or her services to the Cause.
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