above the general level
of his fellows, the cords tighten. His former companions tend to draw him
back, but with an equal force he draws them upwards. The higher he gets,
the more he feels the weight of the whole world pulling him back, and the
more dependent he is on the divine support, which reaches him through the
few who are still above him. Highest of all are the great Prophets and
Saviors, the Divine "Manifestations"--those perfect men Who were each, in
Their day, without peer or companion, and bore the burden of the whole
world, supported by God alone. "The burden of our sins was upon Him: was
true of each of Them. Each was the "Way, the Truth and the Life" to His
followers. Each was the channel of God's bounty to every heart that would
receive it. Each had His part to play in the great divine plan for the
upliftment of humanity.

Creation

Baha'u'llah teaches that the universe is without beginning in time. It is
a perpetual emanation from the Great First Cause. The Creator always had
His creation and always will have. Worlds and systems may come and go, but
the universe remains. All things that undergo composition, in time undergo
decomposition, but the component elements remain. The creation of a world,
a daisy or a human body is not "making something out of nothing"; it is
rather a bringing together of elements which before were scattered, a
making visible of something which before was hidden. By and by the
elements will again be scattered, the form will disappear, but nothing is
really lost or annihilated; ever new combinations and forms arise from the
ruins of the old. Baha'u'llah confirms the scientists who claim, not six
thousand, but millions and billions of years for the history of the
earth's creation. The evolution theory does not deny creative power. It
only tries to describe the method of its manifestation; and the wonderful
story of the material universe which the astronomer, the geologist, the
physicist and the biologist are gradually unfolding to our gaze is,
rightly appreciated, far more capable of evoking the deepest reverence and
worship than the crude and bald account of creation given in the Hebrew
Scriptures. The old account in the Book of Genesis had, however, the
advantage of indicating by a few bold strokes of symbolism the essential
spiritual meanings of the story, as a master painter may, by a few strokes
of the brush, convey expressions which the mere plodder with the most
la