All is as planned.. and a true story and Weebles

I have blogged several times about being careful what you pray for.. one of the tenets of the Baha'i Faith is indeed the elimination of the extremes of wealth and poverty.

Over the past month mankind's own greed has created a situation around the entire globe where those with assets are now - depending upon who you listen to - 20 to 35% poorer. Also based on some assuredly convoluted logic 20 to 35% of the people are now according to constantly shifting demographics among the poor.

Talk about your basic birth pang of a New World Order - the contraction of the wealth of an entire planet by 25%.

The United States is about to cede its position as the dominant superpower on the planet as it does not have the money to do much except try to keep score and maintain order amidst this quagmire.

Things are so bad that the clock that tracks the National debt has run out of digits. That's right ! the debt has outgrown the clock.

As a person of Faith I should not be surprised.

Now for a quick story..

Years ago I was engaged in the sale of financial products. I received a phone call from a friend in the neighborhood saying his wife wanted to buy a growth fund and could I stop over the next night for dessert and a quick sale. This home was a mixed home - meaning that she was an avid Born Again Christian and he was a reserved, but practicing Catholic. So being a professional I did my suitability interview as follows:

I started: So Shirley (not her name)- you would like to buy a growth fund.
Shirley: yes - my friends at work have them and they are all making good money..
I continued: Shirley you are an active born again Christian - true?
Shirley - why Yes I am.
I then said: Is Jesus coming back sooner or later?
Shirley: - Why sooner of course - I truly believe that.
I continued: That's great. Are things going to get better or worse before the Lord returns?
Shirley said: Why worse of course, much worse - the Bible says so...
I concluded with: And you want to buy a growth fund - why???!!

Shirley bought a growth fund anyway...

But as a Baha'i surely I have been forewarned about the agonies to come:

Compare these splendid manifestations of the spirit animating this vibrant body of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh with the cries and agony, the follies and vanities, the bitterness and prejudices, the wickedness and divisions of an ailing and chaotic world. Witness the fear that torments its leaders and paralyzes the action of its blind and bewildered statesmen. How fierce the hatreds, how false the ambitions, how petty the pursuits, how deep-rooted the suspicions of its peoples! How disquieting the lawlessness, the corruption, the unbelief that are eating into the vitals of a tottering civilization!
WOB p.154

You would think that the Guardian was reading today's newspapers. Yep, all the above are seemingly true and this time the birth pang was loss of real dollar value...

The Guardian further explains:

“The time of the end,” “the latter years,” as foretold in the Scriptures, are at long last upon us. The Pen of Bahá’u’lláh, the voice of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have time and again, insistently and in terms unmistakable, warned an unheeding humanity of impending disaster. The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnant that must survive the rolling up of the old, discredited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and resolute. The American believers, standard-bearers of this world-wide community and torch-bearers of an as yet unborn civilization, have girt up their loins, unfurled their banners and stepped into the arena of service. Their Plan has been formulated. Their forces are mobilized. They are steadfastly marching towards their goal. The hosts of the Abhá Kingdom are rushing forth, as promised, to direct their steps and reinforce their power. Through their initial victories they have provided the impulse that must now surge and, with relentless force sweep over their sister-communities and eventually overpower the entire human race. The generality of mankind, blind and enslaved, is wholly unaware of the healing power with which this community has been endowed, nor can it as yet suspect the role which this same community is destined to play in its redemption.
Messages to America p.14 July 3, 1958

Now the emphasis was purely mine...

So while it has been true for years in a more imminent way at this particular point in history - I would say to any fellow Baha'i - it's show time. The Universal House of Justice since the issuing of the Peace Statement has steadfastly maintained that this community of the Greatest Name is the example the world will need to look at to solve its problems.

You will see both quotes share the word tottering. Every time I see that word used by the Guardian I think of Weebles!

As a Baha'i I feel that in this day I am called upon to be a Weeble, And if you remember your classic toy commercials Weebles Wobble but they do not fall down.

Actually more than being a Weeble we are called to stand up in this Day. But at the very least be a Weeble!