'The mind and spirit of man advance when he is tried by suffering. The more the ground is ploughed the better the seed will grow, the better the harvest will be. Just as the plough furrows the earth deeply, purifying it of weeds and thistles, so suffering and tribulation free man from the petty affairs of this worldly life until he arrives at a state of complete detachment. His attitude in this world will be that of divine happiness. Man is, so to speak, unripe: the heat of the fire of suffering will mature him. Look back to the times past and you will find that the greatest men have suffered most.' (Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 177)
Escape of Self
"The virtues and attributes pertaining unto God are all evident andmanifest, and have been mentioned and described in all the heavenlyBooks. Among them are trustworthiness, truthfulness, purity of heart while communing with God, forbearance, resignation to whatever the Almighty hath decreed, contentment with the things His Will hathprovided, patience, nay, thankfulness in the midst of tribulation, andcomplete reliance, in all circumstances, upon Him. These rank,according to the estimate of God, among the highest and most laudable of all acts. All other acts are, and will ever remain, secondary andsubordinate unto them...." (Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, 290-291)
"Just as the earth attracts everything to the centre of gravity, and every object thrown upward into space will come down, so also materialideas and worldly thoughts attract man to the centre of self. Anger,passion, ignorance, prejudice, greed, envy covetousness, jealousy and suspicion prevent man from ascending to the realms of holiness,imprisoning him in the claws of self and the cage of egotism. Thephysical man, unassisted by the divine power, trying to escape from oneof these invisible enemies, will unconsciously fall into the hands of another. No sooner does he attempt to soar upward than the density ofthe love of self, like the power of gravity, draws him to the center ofthe earth. The only power that is capable of delivering man from this captivity is the power of the breaths of the Holy Spirit." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selection of Baha'i Scriptures, p. 241)
Each day I have to remind myself I am human, "God" loves me regardless... For he made me and nothing "God" makes is imperfect. If he wanted me to be like him he would have made me that way from the start. I know that this life is a journey and I must pass through it learning and growing along the way, I am going to make mistakes or I cannot grow. I am grateful today, I am loved, and yesterday when I wanted to sleep all day and not clean the house, He loved me then too.
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