The world of existence is an emanation of the merciful attribute of God.
God has shone forth upon the phenomena of being through His effulgence of
mercy and He is clement and kind to all His creation. Therefore the world
of humanity must ever be the recipient of bounties from the eternal Lord;
even as His Holiness Christ has declared, “Be ye perfect even as your
Father which is in heaven.” For His bounties like the light and heat of
the sun in the material heavens descend alike upon all mankind.
Consequently man must learn the lesson of kindness and beneficence from
God Himself. Just as God is kind to all humanity, man also must be kind to
his fellow creatures. If his attitude is just and loving toward his fellow
men, toward all creation, then indeed is he worthy of being pronounced the
image and likeness of God.
Brotherhood or fraternity is of different kinds. It may be family
association, the intimate relationship of the household. This is limited
and subject to change and disruption. How often it happens that in a
family, love and agreement are changed into enmity and antagonism. Another
form of fraternity is manifest in patriotism. Man loves his fellow-men
because they belong to the same nativity. This is also limited and subject
to change and disintegration, as for instance when sons of the same
fatherland are opposed to each other in war, bloodshed and battle. Still
another brotherhood or fraternity is that which arises from racial unity,
the oneness of racial origin, producing ties of affinity and association.
This likewise has its limitation and liability to change, for often war
and deadly strife have been witnessed between people and nations of the
same racial lineage. There is a fourth kind of brotherhood, the attitude
of man toward humanity itself, the altruistic love of humankind and
recognition of the fundamental human bond. Although this is unlimited it
is nevertheless susceptible to change and destruction. Even from this
universal fraternal bond the looked-for result does not appear. What is
the looked-for result? Loving-kindness among all human creatures and a
firm, indestructible brotherhood which includes all the divine
possibilities and significances in humanity. Therefore it is evident that
fraternity, love and kindness based upon family, nativity, race or an
attitude of altruism are neither sufficient nor permanent since all of
them are limited, restricted and liable to change and disruption. For in
the family there is discord and alienation; among sons of the same
fatherland strife and internecine warfare are witnessed; between those of
a given race, hostility and hatred are frequent; and even among the
altruists varying aspects of opinion and lack of unselfish devotion give
little promise of permanent and indestructible unity among mankind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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