Last night we had one of our monthly gatherings in our own home.  This one was about how to keep on your own path to accomplish a goal with lots of action.   It was actually the 4th in a series taken from Baha’u’llah’s book,  The Four Valleys.

So to start the meeting we read the quote below and then discussed it.   It is a metaphor that happens to all of us with our own spiritual path and how the Creator reacts to it.

O SON OF DUST! All that is in heaven and earth I have ordained for thee, except the human heart, which I have made the habitation of My beauty and glory; yet thou didst give My home and dwelling to another than Me; and whenever the manifestation of My holiness sought His own abode, a stranger found He there, and, homeless, hastened unto the sanctuary of the Beloved. Notwithstanding I have concealed thy secret and desired not thy shame.

Here is a little of our understanding and then an exercise you can which we all did.     It is important first to take this in a metaphoric way because obviously God is not going to come into your physical heart.   The heart here can mean your love as a spiritual and positive energy.    So when your heart is filled with divine love with its many spiritual distinctions,  then everything you do in the world is positive and for you to do and enjoy.

But we all go through periods or struggles when we allow strangers into  our heart, which are those ego driven desires such as greed, lust, and envy which then make a mess out of the environment and human relationships that create great disparities.   It is worth examining who the stranger is that you let into your heart and what conditions make you more vulnerable.     When the stranger is gone, it makes room for love, which when given out is like a light to the world.

In the old religion preachers used to teach fire and brimstone if we  did not heed God’s messages,  but in this passage it is clear that the consequence of not making room for the spirit is that the spirit goes away.    All we are left with is our greed.   The spirit does not send lightning bolts at us.   Your greediness is its own consequence.     If we want the world to change for the better,  then there is only one choice for all of us and that is to make room in heart for more spiritual energy.       The stranger is not going to go away by one big event brought on by a vengeful Creator.

Our hearts need to be filled with extremely positive energy that replaces the stranger.  It seems to me that the process is an active and daily one.    There are many strangers and they are all trying to make their way in, but there is also positive energy like generosity, truthfulness,  compassion,  joy,  enthusiasm, courage,  reliability, and determination that are waiting to have room inside ourselves.   These are what make the world an amazing place.

So take some paper and drawing utensils and make an image of who the stranger is that comes into your self (your house).    Then also draw the spiritual representation of the energy that your heart wants to make room for.   Ask yourself how you let the stranger in.