TALKS 'ABDU'L-BAHA DELIVERED IN WASHINGTON, D. C.

6 November 1912
Talk at Universalist Church
Thirteenth and L Streets, NW, Washington, D.C.

Notes by Joseph H. Hannen

Praise be to God! The standard of liberty is held aloft in this land. You
enjoy political liberty; you enjoy liberty of thought and speech,
religious liberty, racial and personal liberty. Surely this is worthy of
appreciation and thanksgiving. In this connection let me mention the
freedom, hospitality and universal welcome extended to me during my recent
travels throughout America. I wish also to reciprocate fully and
completely the warm greeting and friendly attitude of the reverend doctor,
pastor of this church, whose loving and quickened susceptibilities
especially command acknowledgment. Surely men who are leaders of thought
must conform to the example of his kindliness and goodwill. Liberalism is
essential in this day--justness and equity toward all nations and people.
Human attitudes must not be limited; for God is unlimited, and whosoever
is the servant of the threshold of God must, likewise, be free from
limitations. 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 His majesty, the eternal Lord, even as Christ has declared, "Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." 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 fellowmen, 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 fellowmen
because they belong to the same native land. This is also limited and
subject to change and disintegration as, for instance, when so