Today’s slice from the loaves of religious harmony was gleaned from Gems of Divine Mysteries, a work that—as a young Bahá’í studying Arabic—I dearly hoped to read someday. My prayers were answered in 2002, when it was finally published in English.

The Christian and Jewish peoples have not grasped the intent of the words of God and the promises He hath made to them in His Book, and have therefore denied His Cause, turned aside from His Prophets, and rejected His proofs. … as they have refused to see with the eyes wherewith God hath endowed them, and desired things other than that which He in His mercy had desired for them, they have strayed far from the retreats of nearness, have been deprived of the living waters of reunion and the wellspring of His grace, and have lain as dead within the shrouds of their own selves.

Wow. I sure am glad I’m not one of those!