Family history research and unity

Just recently I've been trying to research my family history. It is a long process of finding various pieces of information about a relative and verifying that it is correct against other pieces of information about other relatives, which leads to discovery of more family members. And on it goes.

What has become a source of pleasure to me through this research is the feeling of unity I get with all the names I'm researching. Even when it turns out that the family I'm researching does not fit into my family tree I feel sure that when I go further and further back I will find them linked to our family in the end.

This thought of family unity had me thinking of world unity again, and seeing as the world is really one big family I don't think that is surprising. So I'd like to share some passages from the Writings of the Bahá'í Faith that teach about unity.

So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth

Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 1


The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.

Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 217


All men are servants of the One God. One God reigns over all the nations of the world and has pleasure in all His children. All men are of one family; the crown of humanity rests on the head of every human being.

'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 138


Consider the harm which comes to a family through discord and dissension. Consider, too, what favors and blessings descend upon that family when unity exists among its various members. Likewise reflect what would descend upon the great human family, - upon humanity in general - if unity were established.

Bahá'í Scriptures, p. 347


Consider: Unity is necessary to existence. Love is the very cause of life; on the other hand, separation brings death. In the world of material creation, for instance, all things owe their actual life to unity. The elements which compose wood, mineral, or stone, are held together by the law of attraction. If this law should cease for one moment to operate these elements would not hold together, they would fall apart, and the object would in that particular form cease to exist. The law of attraction has brought together certain elements in the form of this beautiful flower, but when that attraction is withdrawn from this centre the flower will decompose, and, as a flower, cease to exist.

So it is with the great body of humanity. The wonderful Law of Attraction, Harmony and Unity, holds together this marvellous Creation.

'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 138