In the summer of 1955, a black child read this quote from an advertisement on a bus in Philadelphia: “The Earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” He couldn’t pronounce the name of the author and had never heard of the group that placed this ad. Fifteen years later and half a world away on the island of Guam, I learned to pronounce the name Bahá’u’lláh and met members of the Bahá’í faith for the first time.

Like many people, I believed in the existence of God, but didn’t know why humanity was created or what God wanted of me. When I began my investigation of the Bahá’í faith, the nation was fighting a hot war in Vietnam and a global cold war against communism, and there was racial violence all across the country. The writings of this faith taught me that God created mankind out of his love.

“O son of man! I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life” — Baha’u’llah. The writings tell me God wants humanity to build a society based upon unity, peace, equality and justice.

I also discovered two important Bahá’í teachings: God’s eternal covenant and progressive revelation.

The Bahá’í writings refer to the founders of worldwide religions as manifestations of God: mirror images of God in human form. The eternal covenant tells me God periodically sends these beings into the world to teach God’s will. Progressive revelation tells me each new manifestation acknowledges the previous manifestations and brings teachings to solve the problems of the age in which they appear.

My acceptance of Bahá’u’lláh as the manifestation of God for this age not only requires me to follow his teaching but also to acknowledge all previous manifestations. I now understand the followers of all religions are my spiritual brothers and sisters, and I must embrace them and respect their spiritual paths.

The problems that existed when I was young — wars, national rivalries and prejudice — still exist today. In fact, these problems have been around as long as tribes and nations have existed. However, the Bahá’í writings tell me these problems are really symptoms of the real problem — humanity and its religions are not yet united and therefore the will of God is not yet being done “on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Bahá’í writings say: “Religion should be the cause of love and agreement, a bond to unify all mankind, for it is a message of peace and goodwill to man from God.”

In 1950, the third Sunday in January was designated World Religion Day by the Bahá’ís of the United States to address the need for religious unity. This World Religion Day, please say a special prayer for peace in the world.

In the winter of 2010 an old man knows somewhere a child is having a spiritual awakening. I hope its spiritual journey is as rewarding as my own.

Bill Harris is a member of the Bahá’í faith in Eugene. This column is coordinated by Lane Interfaith Alliance to offer inspiration, share personal spiritual experiences and bring a deeper understanding of individual faith perspectives with the intention of blessing our community and the world. For information visit www.laneinterfaithalliance.org or call 344-0430.