The Arts & "This human rational soul"

‘Abdu’l-Baha visited the U.S., which included a visit to Green Acre, in 1912. Whether in person or through His steady stream of letters, He gave encouragement to a wide array of people -- writers and other creative souls among them. In addition to the words of Baha'u'llah, this prayer and sampling of quotes** from ‘Abdu’l-Baha “cast the sleeve of holiness” over both art and artist. Our writer workshop focused on assisting writers to better understand creative process and to better equip themselves with practical tools for their creative journey, even while we acknowledge the fruits of our process as spiritual gift.

Luminous Realities Prayer (click on link) This prayer from ‘Abdu’l-Baha, which is the source of my blog name, honors the noble human soul and in broad brush strokes renders a picture of our creative purpose.

"All Art is a gift of the Holy Spirit."
[The Importance of the Arts . . . A Compilation, p.11]

“I rejoice to hear that thou takest pains with thine art, for in this wonderful new age, art is worship. The more thou strivest to perfect it, the closer wilt thou come to God.” [The Importance of the Arts . . ., p.6]

“This human rational soul is God’s creation;
it encompasses and excels other creatures;
as it is more noble and distinguished, it encompasses things.
The power of the rational soul can discover the realities of things,
comprehend the peculiarities of beings,
and penetrate the mysteries of existence.
All sciences, knowledge, arts, wonders, institutions, discoveries and enterprises
come from the exercised intelligence of the rational soul.”
[Some Answered Questions, p.217]

“The mind is the power of the human spirit.
Spirit is the lamp; mind is the light which shines from the lamp.
Spirit is the tree, and the mind is the fruit.
Mind is the perfection of the spirit and is its essential quality,
as the sun’s rays are the essential necessity of the sun.”
[ Some Answered Questions, p.208]

**See more of 'Abdu'l-Baha's writings here.