Closer than our life's vein

God is nearer to us than our life’s vein, and we are always “but one step away from the glorious heights above, and the celestial Tree of Love.” I don’t think the Abhá Kingdom is a place we are debarred from until we are worthy, because we are never worthy. “Should God punish men for their perverse doings, He would not leave on earth a moving thing.”

The real paradise for human souls lies in recognition of the Manifestation of God. I mean, really, truly knowing who He is, and what He represents. If we knew this, we would cry for joy until expiring from this life. This is the Abhá Kingdom, and to reach it requires changing our vision, our perception, the very fabric of who we think we are.

This sort of sea change cannot come about through study or reflection; not even by action alone. It must be accompanied by sacrifice, pain, and constant testing. We are all iron ingots, being pounded into shining blades of steel. There is no moment’s rest, no greater joy than to be fashioned into our perfect state, hammer blow by hammer blow.

If this does not accord with our current definition of happiness, then our concept of happiness must be changed for something greater. A seed is quite happy far under the ground, but this is not fitting for a tree; the infant must endure being born if he is to live, no matter how happy a place the womb world might be.

Is this process hard, difficult, arduous? Of course it is. And the reward is equally wondrous, delightful, and amazing. If we only knew!