PART FOUR
I
ARTICLES AND REVIEWS
1.
SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE OPENING OF THE BAHÁ’Í CENTENARY EXHIBITION,
LONDON, MAY 20th 1944
BY SIR RONALD STORRS, K.C.M.G., L.L.D., L.C.C.
IT is a high honour for an Anglican Englishman to have been chosen to open the Centenary of a non-Christian—though far from anti-Christian—world Faith. I can claim but three qualifications. I am an M.A. of the same university as Edward Browne of Cambridge and a scholar of the same college, Pembroke. Edward Browne was not only the finest Persian scholar of the age but the best loved foreigner in Írán and throughout the Bahá’í world; secondly, I had the honour of ‘Abbás Effendi’s friendship from 1909 until his death; thirdly, I am the latest from that front—of Haifa, ‘Akká, Baghdád, Ṭihrán, Ispahan and Shíráz. Of this—if you will bear with me—later.
Many of my hearers are already believers, initiates, adepts; it is not my intention to give information to those that know, but for those interested rather than acquainted, I shall propound a very brief summary of the origin, development and principles of what is now known as the Bahá’í religion.
Why is 1944 the "Centenary” of this Faith? Because 100 years ago, all but two days, a young merchant of Shíráz, Sayyid ‘Alí-Muḥammad, not yet 25 years old, declared, to one follower, that he was the bearer of a new message to mankind. He described himself as the Báb—one of the many Arabic words adopted by the Persian language—meaning gate, or door, of this dispensation. His followers soon multiplied, but he spent most of his life in captivity, until in 1850 he was condemned, like Christ, Socrates and other religious innovators, to death. His execution was marked by a startling portent, which is thus recorded in a contemporary Persian "Traveller’s Narrative”:
“An iron nail was hammered into the middle of the staircase of the very cell wherein they were imprisoned, and two ropes were hung down. By one rope the Báb was suspended and by the other rope Áká Muḥammad ‘Alí, both being firmly bound in such wise that the head of that young man was on the Báb’s breast. The surrounding housetops billowed with teeming crowds. A regiment of soldiers ranged itself in three files. The first file fired; then the second file, and then the third file discharged volleys. From the fire of these volleys a mighty smoke was produced. When the smoke cleared away they saw that young man standing and the Báb seated by the side of his amanuensis Áká Sayyid Ḥusayn in the very cell from the staircase of which they had suspended them. The bullets had merely cut their thongs. To neither one of them had the slightest injury resulted.
“Aka Jan Beg of Khamsa, colonel of the bodyguard, advanced; and they again bound the Báb, together with that young man, to the same nail. The Báb uttered certain words which those few who knew Persian understood, while the rest heard but the sound of his voice. The colonel of the regiment appeared in person. Suddenly he gave orders to fire. At this volley the bullets produced such an effect that the breasts (of the victims) were riddled, and their limbs, but not their faces, which were but little marred.”
For more than a decade Bábists were persecuted, prosecuted, executed, until it seemed as if the Belief must perish, through the extermination of all believers. But in April, 1863, Bahá’u’lláh, a nobleman of Persia, who had fervently championed the Faith of the Báb, and who had undergone imprisonment and exile, declared at Baghdád that He was that same great Educator whose coming the Báb had foretold. From Baghdád he disappeared into a mountain retreat: for although “conversation enriches the understanding, solitude is the school of genius.” He was, as a schismatic, removed by the Ottoman authorities to Istanbul, to Edirneh (Adrianople) and finally to the penal barracks of the ancient and picturesque Palestine port of ‘Akká—known by its Phoenician builders as Accho, and by the Crusaders as St. Jean d’Acre, where he died in 1892. Bahá’u’lláh so developed and extended the original Bábist faith, that he was regarded as its second Founder; and believers took from him their present universal name of Bahá’ís. This is what Edward Browne wrote, after his visit to Bahá’u’lláh in 1890:
”I found myself in a large apartment, along the upper end of which ran a low divan. . . . A second or two elapsed ere, with a throb of wonder and awe, I became definitely conscious that the room was not untenanted. In the corner where the divan met the wall, sat a wondrous and venerable figure, crowned with a felt headdress of the kind called táj by dervishes (but of unusual height and make), round the base of which was wound a small white turban. The face of him on whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow; while the deep lines on the forehead and face implied an age which the jet-black hair and beard flowing down in indistinguishable luxuriance almost to the waist seemed to belie. No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.”
Bahá’u’lláh appointed his eldest son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—"Slave of the Glory” (born in Ṭihrán a few hours after the Báb’s original proclamation) as his successor. He preferred to be called by his second name, ‘Abbás Effendi; and is remembered by Bahá’ís as ”The Master.” ‘Abbás Effendi remained a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire until 1908 when the Young Turks changed the régime and set free all the political and religious prisoners of the Sulṭán. In the meantime the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh had reached the Western World. In Europe and America there were groups of devoted and zealous followers spreading the message. ‘Abbás Effendi after his release went to Egypt, and in 1911 visited Europe. He was in London in September. Next in April, 1912, he set out on a tour of the United States and went through that vast country from coast to coast. December of that year saw him again in London. The following year he was on the Continent. He thus brought Bahá’íism dramatically before the Western World. Soon after his return to the Holy Land, the world plunged into war. During the war years ‘Abbás Effendi strove hard to relieve distress and for this a Knighthood of the British Empire was conferred upon him by His Majesty’s Government. He passed away on November 28th, 1921, mourned by people of all races, religions and classes. On his death in 1921 he was succeeded by Shoghi Effendi, educated at Balliol College, Oxford, the present Guardian of the Faith, who resides at Haifa, the centre of world Bahá’íism.
What is "the Faith”? Very broadly, the application of Relativity to Religion. Divine Revelation is continuous and progressive, with the development of the human race; the thesis indeed of Christianity, relative to Judaism: ”religious truth is not absolute, but relative; that the Founders of all past religions, though different in the non-essential aspects of their teachings ‘abide in the same Tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, utter the same speech and proclaim the same Faith.’ ”
The Bahá’í year is divided into 19 months of 19 days, with four intercalary days for ordinary years and five for Leap Year. The first day of each month is observed as a feast, dedicated successively to spiritual, practical and social affairs.
There is no priesthood in Bahá’íism. Observance
depends entirely upon the degree
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of devotion of each individual believer. As
‘Abbás Effendi said: “Behold a candle, how
it illumines; it weeps its life away drop by
drop, in order to give its flame of light.”
But I have myself seen their great temple at
Wilmette, near Chicago. The architect was
a French Canadian: a happy symbolic union
of the mighty Latin and Anglo-Saxon civilizations.
The total number of world Bahá’ís is estimated at some two millions, of which about eight thousand are in the United States. In Persia itself there are nearly a million; no longer persecuted but not yet accepted or recognized with the four official religions: Islám, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, because Islám only recognizes the last three. There are some 800 Local Spiritual Assemblies scattered mainly over the Western world. All of these are enriched by such Bahá’í institutions as Summer Schools. Ladies and gentlemen will learn without surprise that in 1937 Germany suppressed all summer schools and the whole Bahá’í organization, and confiscated their archives.
May I add, before concluding, some personal details? My first connection with Bahá’íism dates from the beginning of this century, when it was my fortune and honour to become the Arabic pupil of Edward Browne.
My first glimpse of ‘Abbás Effendi was the summer of 1909, when I drove round the Bay of Acre in an Arab cab, visited him in the Barracks and marvelled at his serenity and cheerfulness after 42 years of exile and imprisonment. I kept in touch with him through my confidential Agent, Ḥusain Bey Ruhi, son of a Tabríz martyr, and the "Persian Mystic” of my book Orientations.
After the Young Turk revolution, ‘Abbás Effendi was released. He visited Egypt in 1913, when I had the honour of looking after him, and of presenting him to Lord Kitchener, who was deeply impressed by his personality—as who could fail to be? Then war cut him off from us and it might have gone hard with him in Haifa but for the indirect interposition of His Majesty’s Government.
When, in his famous victory drive to the North, Allenby captured Haifa, he detached me from Jerusalem to organize the British Administration there. On the evening of my arrival I visited my revered friend. “I found him sitting in spotless white. He placed at my disposal the training and talents of his community, and I appointed one or two to positions of trust, which they still continue to deserve.” Later, he visited me in Jerusalem, and was held in great esteem and respect by the High Commissioner, Lord Samuel. In Egypt he presented me with a beautiful specimen of writing by the celebrated Bahá’í calligraphist, Mishqin Qalam, and with his own Persian pen box; in Palestine with an exquisite little Bokhara rug from the tomb of the Báb; all three alas destroyed by fire in Cyprus. When, on November 29th, 1921, he was buried, 10,000 men, women and children, of many varying races and creeds, walked in the funeral procession up Mount Carmel, to lay his body in the exquisite cypress—avenued shrine.
Telegrams reached Haifa from all over the world. Mr. Winston Churchill, then Secretary of the State for the Colonies, desired the High Commissioner for Palestine to convey to the Bahá’í Community on behalf of His Majesty’s Government their sympathy and condolence on the death of Sir ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ‘Abbás K.B.E.; and Field Marshal Lord Allenby telegraphed likewise from Egypt.
With ‘Abbás Effendi the Apostolic and Heroic Age of Bahá’íism is considered to be ended.
I have not lost contact with the Bahá’í World, and I hope I never shall. I had recently the honour of receiving at the British Legation in Ṭihrán, a deputation Of the Bahá’í Community headed by Samimi, the respected Chief Munshi of the Legation, and Varga, President of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Persia. Later I was received by the Council at a tea—so sumptuous that the remembrance adds a sting to my British Ration Card. My diary of April 5th, 1943, at Shíráz tells me:
"After luncheon off to visit the House of the Báb, leaving the car for the narrow winding streets, and shown over by Fazlullah Benán and the curator. A small but perfect courtyard, with a little blue tiled 8 feet square tank, six large red ‘gold’ fish, a tiny
An endowment of the Bahá’í Faith in Egypt. Villa Safwán, in Port Foad, near Port Sa‘íd, recently given to the Faith by ‘Alí Effendi Sa’di’d-Dín.
Bahá’ís of Islám’s most Holy City, Mecca, in the Hijáz.
orange tree and runner carpets round the sides, and a narrow deep well. Above, his bed and his sitting rooms (for which our hosts took off their shoes), and on the second floor the room in which in 1844 he declared his mission, to a solitary disciple.”
What can I say more? Half a century ago the great Dr. Jowett of Balliol wrote: "This is the greatest light the world has seen since Christ, but it is too great and too close for the world to appreciate its full import.” Already over many parts of the globe there are Bahá’ís actively, honourably, peaceably employed.
May this auspicious Centenary prove propitious also for the early restoration of World Peace.
I have great pleasure in declaring open the Bahá’í Centenary Exhibition, and I give you the Bahá’í greeting—Alláh-u-Abhá.
2.
THE ASSURANCE OF WORLD PEACE
THE EVOLUTION OF PEACE
Horace Holley
THE first of what people of today would call a "peace society” was not founded until 1815; nevertheless the principle of peace, under different names and forms, has always been men’s first concern. Unity is the condition of human survival.
Thus it is possible to see the working out of the peace principle in these various manifestations of the capacity to survive:
a. The development of the stabilized family unit, bringing peace to the individual man and woman, and security to the child;
b. The formation of clans and tribes, eliminating inter-family disputes;
c. The rise of the historic peoples—the Chinese, the Jewish, Persian, etc., when peace was maintained in one area previously held by separate and competitive clans, tribes and city-states, often with religious sanction and meaning, as in the case of the Amphitrionic Council uniting Greek cities in 1497 B.C.;
d. The Roman Empire, the type of peace imposed by a central authority after conquest and forceful assimilation into one political system;
e. The Swiss Confederation, 1393 A.D., and the American Federal Government, 1787, signalizing the attainment of peace by a number of independent sovereignties through voluntary agreement.
Even a cursory survey of history reveals the fact that “peace” has worn many garbs and spoken many tongues, but whether weak or strong in one case, or local or widespread in another, or voluntary or involuntary in a third, or predominantly political or religious, it has involved at least that minimum degree of unity and cooperation required for the maintenance of human life under any and all conditions. No doubt a clearer insight into the realm of social value would reveal to us the fact that some of the most vital victories of peace were won in days before the word had attained general significance. Just as the political complexion of peace has been diverse, so has its religious meaning or connection.
a. Judaism sought peace among tribes through devotion to their common race and their common Prophet and Law-giver.
b. In one of its branches Christianity makes peace a matter of doctrinal uniformity under one ecclesiastical authority; in another branch it has produced the dissenting sects in some of which the individual has claimed peace for himself as a loyalty to Christ divorced from social responsibility; in others of which peace has been both a moral and a social ideal to be worked out through reforms of the political and economic institutions.
c. Islám, to a degree not generally realized
by western peoples, combined religious and
civil authority in a new type of society in
which different tribes and sects might find
peace under law. Islám did not convert by
the sword. The followers of Moses and of
Christ could retain their faiths provided they
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participated in the new and larger ethical
domain embraced in Islám. They were offered
terms of a treaty. When they broke
the treaty they were attacked if necessary
by the military power.
In Europe by the sixteenth century the uniformity of Christendom attained by extension of the Roman empire through the post-empire church body had been replaced by the diversity of the modern nations. The peace effort took on the form of internationalism, the union of the different equal sovereignties represented by secular kings.
During that period we note the following manifestations of peace:
a. Henry IV of France in 1603 put forth a “Great Design” of federal relationships among sovereign states with a representative international body for Europe.
b. In 1694 William Penn published his "Plan for Permanent Peace” in Europe.
c. The philosophy of federalism was expressed by Emmanuel Kant in 1795 in his work on “Perpetual Peace.”
In Beal’s “History of Peace,” an admirable text dealing with the subject up to about the year 1930, we find emphasis laid upon the fact that the French and American revolutions transformed the nature of the state, identifying it with the people instead of with the dynasty, and this transformation of society broadened the concept of peace from political agreement among a few leaders to that of effective human relations among masses of citizens.
With the termination of the Napoleonic wars begins the modern phase of the evolution of peace. This event marks, broadly speaking, the demarcation between the two social eras of agriculture-trade economy and manufacture-trade economy. The religious spirit likewise deepened and intensified, and combined with the spirit of internationalism in effort to prevent economic as well as military conflict.
During the nineteenth century the peace movements undertook measures for popular education, to arouse the masses to the pitch of crusade, and gradually formulated a program urged upon the national governments to carry out, embracing five points:
a. Arbitration of disputes
b. International court
c. Code of international law
d. International legislation
e. Disarmament
The force of public opinion and the weight of organized effort seemed to come to fruitage with the Czar’s call of the first Hague Conference in 1899. Opinion, idealism and reason could thenceforth express themselves through public policy and an enhanced degree of government responsibility. However, the two Hague Conferences produced the means for arbitrating minor disputes but could not impinge upon the sacred realms of national honor and national interest and hence were unable to produce any new social organism capable of maintaining international peace. Fifteen years after the first Hague Conference, 1914, the outer crash of civilization began, revealing its fundamental lack of spiritual integrity and moral force. Even the terrible fury and destructiveness of that first “world war” could not stay the fatal trend. The League of Nations created an unparalleled opportunity for consultation on international problems, conditions and trends, but the opportunity was employed as a means of postponing the fundamental decision and not as the means of making and carrying it out.
What emerges from study of the evolution of peace is that history reveals the existence of a true criterion for judging the sincerity of the peace effort put forth at any given time. If the peoples, groups or sovereignties concerned create a new and larger organism vested with sovereignty over all its constituent parts, the work done is peace. If, however, the participating units (whether nations, churches, business firms and labor unions) each insists upon retaining its own independent sovereignty, and together the units create no new and inclusive body, then the work done may be called wonderful but it is not peace. Treaties, agreements and charters have been made but to be broken, for they are the temporary adjustment of an organism that seeks its own preseryation above all things. The union of the nations in one order, a world order and a superstate —this is the ultimate goal of man’s evolution of peace.
The Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, or Headquarters, of the Bahá’ís of Quetta, Balúchistán.
THE NATIONS BUILD THE LESSER PEACE
George Orr Latimer
The concept of a federated world was unfolded by Bahá’u’lláh more than seventy-five years ago in a series of Epistles addressed to the kings and rulers of the world. At that time He pointed out that the sovereign remedy for the healing of the world’s ills was the union of all its nations and peoples in one universal Cause. In the Tablets to Queen Victoria the heads of government were admonished to disarm, save in a measure to protect and safeguard their territories; representative government was praised and collective force was to be imposed against any nation by all the others if such a nation took up arms against another. Napoleon III was advised that "the sword of wisdom is sharper than the sword of steel,” and Czar Alexander II of Russia was directed: "arise thou amongst men in the name of this all-compelling Cause and summon, then, the nations unto God.” These messages to the rulers appealed for the application of the highest principles governing human as well as international relations.
History records the fact that these appeals for the establishment of some form of a world State were rejected by the crowned heads and the resultant chaos produced two world wars within a period of twenty-five years. The world today has been given its second opportunity to establish peace by political action on the part of the sovereign nations. A number of plans have been proposed for world control within recent years, the latest of which is the United Nations World Organization Plan outlined at Dumbarton Oaks with its two divisions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, which will be considered at the present international peace congress at San Francisco.*
Any plan for world security based upon a continuation of military alliances resulting from the present world conflict is doomed to failure, for as Mr. Sumner Welles has pointed out in his recent book, The Time for Decision, history proves these alliances have lasted but a few years and nations will not be reconciled to being dominated indefinitely
————————
*The United Nations Conference, April 25 to June 26, 1945.
by a dictatorship of a few Great Powers. The building of a permanent world peace must be based upon recognition of the moral and spiritual rights of all peoples and nations; it is not sufficient just to establish the mechanics for stopping quarrels between nations.
In order to build the “Lesser Peace” the limited idea of sovereignty as expressed by the proponents of nationalism will have to undergo a revision. The eminent Chief Justice Jay defined sovereignty as the ”right to govern.” This right is not merely an arbitrary one, but arises out of the nature of any relationship to which it is applied. There can be local, national and international sovereign power at the same time. Nations may be unequal in power and influence and impotent in isolation, but they should be equal before the law. A nation does not give up its sovereign power when it enters a world organization. On this point the Senior Judge, United States Circuit Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, Honorable Orie L. Phillips amplifies this very important theme in the following statement: “It is an act of sovereignty, not a surrender thereof, to engage in war. It is an act of sovereignty, not a surrender thereof, to enter into an international arrangement to provide a substitute of peaceful processes for war, to create a world order based on law and justice as a substitute for world anarchy. It is a question of how we shall exercise, not a surrender of, our sovereignty if we face the facts and view the alternatives objectively.” ("The Proposed International Organization for Peace and Law,” January 1945.) The narrow principle of absolute national sovereignty is outmoded as the nations move forward to establish a world order, for the voice and will of the people must find expression at the council table, to insure their future peace and security. This view has been ably expressed by the Honorable Harold E. Stassen in a recent article on "The Cost of Lasting Peace” (Colliers, April 21, 1945) wherein he writes: “That we hold that true sovereignty rests in the people, and that there is and must be a law of humanity above and beyond the narrow rule of nationalistic absolute sovereignty. That man is in truth and in fact endowed, not by his nation, but by his Creator with certain inalienable rights.”
In the Bahá’í plan for a new World Order, the word “security” implies both a state of mind and a state of affairs. All previous attempts to lay a foundation for lasting peace have failed to recognize the underlying moral principle, a unity of conscience that blazes from the fire of a vital living faith. This security must be vouchsafed to all individuals, communities and nations alike. "The plans of religious leaders,” writes Professor Otto Tod Mallery, “to spiritualize the inner man are as essential to any plan as mortar is to bricks.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá emphasized this all important principle in a letter to a distinguished minister and classmate of the former President Woodrow Wilson, written at the time the delegates were gathered at the so-called peace chamber at Versailles in 1919, by stating: "Universal Peace Will not be brought about through human power and shall not shine in full splendor unless this weighty and important matter be realized through the Word of God.”
The Plan given to the rulers of the world
by Bahá’u’lláh calls for a world parliament
composed of elected representatives of the
people with an International Executive
strong enough to enforce the compact
entered into by the signatory nations. By
general agreement the nations will gradually
disarm, retaining only sufficient arms to
preserve internal order. However, these
governments will contribute a proportionate share
of their army and navy toward the formation
of an international police force. Each nation
will surrender its claims to make war,
as well as the right to impose certain taxes,
to this supreme commonwealth. The national
assemblies of each country will elect
the choicest men of its country who are
well informed concerning international law
and the relationships between governments,
men who are aware of the essential social
and economic needs of humanity. The number
of representatives are in proportion to
the population of each country. Their
election is to be confirmed by the congress or
parliament of each nation. The members of
the Supreme Tribunal will be chosen from
these delegates so that the will of the people
will be fully expressed at the council table
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and when a decision is arrived at, either
unanimously or by majority-rule, there will
be no longer any pretext for objection as
both the plaintiff and defendant are properly
represented by their duly accredited representatives.
On March 26th, 1945, as the representatives of the nations and peoples of the world were turning their attention to the coming Peace Conference at San Francisco, the National Bahá’í Assembly sent a telegram to the President of the United States quoting ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s statement on the destiny of the American democracy to establish the foundation of international agreement and expressing the prayerful hope of the American Bahá’ís that the creation of a new world order would appear at the forthcoming conference under his leadership. The following reply from the Department of State, dated April 17, 1945 has just been received:
“I acknowledge the receipt, by reference from the White House, of your telegram of March 26, 1945, on behalf of the American Bahá’ís, in which you express the ‘prayerful hope’ that the President ‘Will be spiritually guided and reinforced to lead the nations and peoples of the world in the inauguration of universal peace.’
“The Department of State shares with the American Bahá’ís the hope that universal peace may be inaugurated at the conclusion of this war. As you are doubtless aware, it is the policy of this Government to establish an international organization for peace and security. The attainment of this objective will require the sustained support of an active and informed public opinion, and for this reason, it is heartening to know of the active interest of the American Bahá’ís in the problems of peace and security.
“As of interest to you and your associates, I am enclosing some recently released material on the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals. I believe you will be especially interested in the speech by Mr. Henry S. Villard, entitled ‘The Positive Approach to an Enduring Peace.’
“You are assured that the views contained in your telegram have been carefully examined by the appropriate officers of the Department of State, and your courtesy in making them available is very much appreciated.
- “Sincerely yours,
- "For the Secretary of State;
- Francis H. Russel, Chief
- Division of Public Liaison”
- “Sincerely yours,
Mr. Herbert Hoover recently pointed out that the great principles of political rights of nations and men are absent in the proposals of the Dumbarton Oaks conference and he warns of the danger of setting up “a purely mechanistic body without spiritual inspiration or soul.” It is to be hoped that the delegates to the forthcoming United Nations Peace Congress will lay the foundation for a world order on a basis of the noblest principles that have yet animated the minds and hearts of mankind. The fate of the previous effort after the last world war should stand as a guide post for charting the path of the new order away from the shifting sands of national and personal ambitions. Shoghi Effendi has pictured the former failure in these poignant words: “The ideals that fired the imagination of America’s tragically unappreciated President, whose high endeavors, however much nullified by a visionless generation, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá through His own pen, acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace, though now lying in the dust, bitterly reproach a heedless generation for having so cruelly abandoned them.”
World peace and world organization are not impracticable. There is a great power latent in human endeavor which is guided by the power of the Word, but an indomitable determination and ceaseless vigilance and endeavor are required to achieve this goal. When the political foundations for the “Lesser Peace” are firmly established so that war, as a means of settling disputes, is disbarred forever, then humanity may look forward to the day of the “Most Great Peace,” promised by Bahá’u’lláh,—the ultimate achievement of the organic and spiritual unity of the entire human race.
THE MOST GREAT PEACE
Dorothy Baker
‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, "There is not one soul
whose conscience does not testify that in this
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day there is no more important matter in
the world than that of Universal Peace . . .
but unity of conscience is essential, so that
the foundation of this matter may become
secure, its establishment firm and its edifice
strong.
"Therefore His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh, fifty years ago, expounded this question of Universal Peace at a time when He was confined in the fortress of ‘Akká and was wronged and imprisoned. He wrote about this important matter of Universal Peace to all the sovereigns of the world, and established it among His friends in the Orient. The horizon of the East was in utter darkness, nations displayed the utmost hatred and enmity towards each other, religions thirsted for each other’s blood, and it was darkness upon darkness. At such a time His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh shone forth like the sun from the horizon of the East and illumined Persia with the lights of His teachings.”
Nor is His prophetic challenge lost. Across the bay from ‘Akká in the city of Haifa there lives today the great-grandson of Bahá’u’lláh Himself, first guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, whose World Order Letters have cast a brilliant searchlight on the path to peace. The community of Bahá’u’lláh has spread its wings over sixty countries and seventeen dependencies. Its unifying teachings are disseminated in over forty languages, and within its own ranks are to be found thirty races, all classes, and a vast diversity of gifts. Its influence in press and radio, forum and platform is gaining ground. The uncompromising unity of its own membership assures the world that men can live together despite differences of color, nationality or creedal inheritance, and this in itself is an assurance of the world’s peace.
Meanwhile the forces of unity, stirred by the pen of a mighty Prophet, have swept from prison to palace and gradually permeated the world. In His Tablets to the kings, Bahá’u’lláh seventy years ago enjoined upon them a vast, all embracing assembly, one universal language, and one common script, reduction of armaments and excessive expenditures, a representative form of government, a world tribunal, abolishment of racial, national, and religious prejudice, equality of men and women, and the adherence to one common Faith. World force for the common safety was likewise advised. “Should any one among you take up arms against another,” He said, “rise ye all against him.” Shoghi Effendi writes, "The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united . . . a world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation—such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving.”
A few were not careless of Bahá’u’lláh’s clarion call. The revered Queen Victoria of England received the Message with great sympathy, and her granddaughter, Queen Marie of Roumania has had the historic distinction of being the first of Royalty to embrace the Faith. She has written: "The Bahá’í teaching brings peace and understanding.” "It is like a wide embrace.” “To those in search of assurance, the words of the Father are as a fountain in the desert after long wandering.”
Many of the monarchs and religious leaders bluntly opposed the call; others were preoccupied. In vain the great Prisoner of ‘Akká pleaded with them to regard the things of the earth as transitory and worthless. “The generations that have gone before you,” He reminded them, “whither are they fled? And those round whom have circled the fairest and loveliest of the land, where now are they?” “Your lives pass away as the winds pass away, and the carpets of your glory are folded as the carpets of old were folded.”
His voice alone seemed to be the Voice crying in the wilderness with grave warnings. “The world is in travail, and its agitation
Members of the Bahá’í Community of ‘Ammán, Transjordan, 1946.
waxeth day by day . . . and when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake.”
Indeed, so dark are the warnings, descriptive of the heart-shattering suffering that must purge and purify an unregenerated and careless world, that without His promise of God’s ultimate design we might well find ourselves hopeless in the face of our own holocaust of madness. “Soon will the old order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.” “War shall cease between nations,” explains ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “and by the will of God, the Most Great Peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers.” “The Call of God, when raised, breathed a new life into the body of mankind, and infused a new spirit into the whole creation. It is for this reason that the world hath been moved to its depths, and the hearts and consciences of men been quickened.” “Ere the close of this century and of this age, it shall be made clear and evident how wondrous was that spring-tide, and how heavenly was that gift.”
Has religion a part to play in the “Most
Great Peace”? Bahá’u’lláh’s answer rings
around the world: "That which the Lord
hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and
mightiest instrument for the healing of all
the world is the union of all its peoples in
one universal Cause, one common Faith.
This can in no wise be achieved except
through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful
and inspired Physician. This verily is
the truth, and all else naught but error.”
Religion is the soul of world order. The old
world is divided into more than a thousand
“souls.” Sect upon sect has arisen, each striving
to reform religion. Christ said, "Every
kingdom divided against itself is brought to
desolation; and a house divided against itself
falleth.” It is evident that sectarian
religion cannot create a whole world soul.
”Who, contemplating the helplessness, the
fears and miseries of humanity in this day,
can any longer question the redemptive love
and guidance?” The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh
comes to us as an unfoldment of the
Plan of God for our time, “divine in origin
and all-embracing in scope.” We can only
recall with deepest gratitude the long years
of exile and suffering in the path of God
of One who turned from the world to write
the Tablets to the kings. We can only "shout
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for joy” with Carmel, the scene of His exile,
that historic mountain of the Jews where the
"Law of God” was to "come unto Zion” in
the “latter days.” Ours to thank God with
contrite hearts that a World Faith has been
born, suffered its martyrdoms, and lived to
encircle the earth with hope and wisdom.
And what can a World Faith do? It is the work of World Faith today to refire the dying spirit, to give birth to the consciousness of the oneness of mankind, and to provide the power and form of peace in brilliant, indestructible pattern. Of the first ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, "Material civilization is like the body. No matter how infinitely graceful, elegant, and beautiful it may be, it is dead. Divine civilization is like the spirit, and the body gets its life from the spirit, otherwise it becomes a corpse. It has thus been made clear that the world of mankind is in need of the breaths of the Holy Spirit.” The forces of irreligion, sweeping over the world today, often in militant, aggressive forms, give ample proof that “the vitality of men’s belief in God is dying out in every land; nothing short of His wholesome medicine can ever restore it. The corrosion of ungodliness is eating into the vitals of human society; what else but the Elixir of His potent Revelation can cleanse and revive it?” "Religion is the greatest of all means for the establishment of order in the world and for the peaceful contentment of all that dwell therein.” True religion is the Most Great Peace.
Of the birth of the consciousness of the oneness of man He said, “Naught but the celestial potency of the Word of God, which ruleth and transcendeth the realities of all things, is capable of harmonizing the divergent thoughts, sentiments, ideas, and convictions of the children of men.” The false gods of racialism and nationalism have so far perverted the masses that nothing short of a complete reversal of thought can save us from such aftermath of the war as may prove totally destructive. “Be as the fingers of one hand,” commanded Bahá’u’lláh, “and the members of one body.” Such an emphasis is the need of the hour.
The third necessity is a new and universal pattern. For Bahá’u’lláh, according to Shoghi Effendi, “has not only imbued mankind with a new and regenerating Spirit. He has not merely ununciated certain universal principles, or propounded a particular philosophy, however potent, sound and universal these may be. In addition to these, He, as well as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá after Him, have, unlike the Dispensations of the past, clearly and specifically laid down a set of laws, established definite institutions, and provided for the essentials of a Divine Economy. These are destined to be a pattern for future society, a supreme instrument for the establishment of the Most Great Peace, and the one agency for the unification of the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth.”
Everyone is today aware that unorganized aspiration cannot unite the world. Let us examine the pattern of Bahá’u’lláh with unprejudiced eyes. Every major Prophet of God releases an emphasis according to the crying needs of His time. For example, Moses taught righteousness as an emphasis; Jesus stressed personal mercy. Muḥammad taught submission to God because of the lawless condition of His people. Today the emphasis of God’s Law is unity. “In every dispensation the light of divine guidance has been focussed upon one central theme,” explains ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “In this wondrous Revelation, this glorious century, the foundation of the Faith of God and the distinguishing features of His Law is the consciousness of the Oneness of Mankind.” Unity is not just a principle today; unity is a Law! The command of God has gone forth, and with it the power to see it through. Out of our chaos a Voice has been heard, a Voice above the false gods of racialism, nationalism, and militant atheism, a Voice ringing with authority, a Voice that is the Law that alone can set in motion new and far-reaching social trends.
How often in the past the divinely revealed
Laws have set in motion social trends
destined to completely re-shape the affairs of
men. Who shall dare to limit the effect of
the ten commandments of Moses? Who can
deny the effect of the Laws of Jesus? Who
can fail to see the rise of the Arabic people
in the middle ages, following the proclamation
of Muḥammad’s Law? Every stability
we claim must acknowledge as its source the
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coming of divine Law to a people. A single
example is the working week. What a factor
in social well being is the Law of Moses for
a sabbath day of rest and worship. Or the
institution of marriage. Millions have obeyed,
though often ignorant of the Biblical source
of such a social obligation. Gigantic trends,
born of the Word of God, periodically sweep
forward an ever advancing civilization.
Government without law is anarchy. Even the lesser or political peace must have its charter. The Book of Laws of Bahá’u’lláh has been called the Charter of the Most Great Peace. “Blessed is the man,” wrote Bahá’u’lláh, "who will read it and ponder the verses.” "Ere long will its sovereign power, its pervasive influence, and the greatness of its might be manifested on earth.” In addition to the emphatic command to social unity, we find laws prescribing prayer and fasting, laws condemning intoxication and the use of opiates, prohibiting beggary, slavery, gambling, and such ritualistic observances as penance, monasticism, confession, and professional priesthood; providing for marriage and controlling divorce, governing taxation, inheritance, and treatment of criminals; commanding universal education, fellowship with all religions, and complete obedience to governments; exalting serviceable work to the plane of worship, and exhorting the people to cleanliness, honesty, chastity, hospitality, courtesy, forbearance, justice, and a clean and wholesome life. Such laws strike at the roots of our modern corrosions. Already their leaven is spreading.
Following upon the revelation of His laws, Bahá’u’lláh, mindful of the intense spirit of division rampant in the world, forged a unity capable of succeeding Him. Two institutions He gave to the world, by which His laws and teachings could be applied and preserved from corruption.
Foremost in importance, and closely linked to the heart of the Revealer Himself, is the institution of His own hereditary succession. It fell to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His eldest son, and the appointed Center of His Covenant, to gather together the bereaved handful of His followers after His passing. Without ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, these followers, persecuted by enemies within and without, grief-stricken and bewildered by the loss of their adored One, might well have lost, not only their own identity, but the chosen pattern for world unity so recently entrusted to them. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was everywhere. By pilgrimages of newly awakened souls of the western world to the sacred soil of ‘Akká, by written Tablets to all lands, and by means of an historic journey westward in 1911 and 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá lent His spiritually transforming presence to the friends of God, serving at once the closely knitted community of Bahá’ís themselves, and implanting the seeds of the education for peace that was to progressively flower in a League of Nations, and eventually a Federation of the World.
With the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1921, the need, far from growing less, became greater with the rising tide of sharp spiritual and social differences in the world at large. The guardianship of the Faith, implied in the Book of Laws, became a fact in the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who appointed as first guardian, his grandson, Shoghi Effendi. In this remarkable document each passing generation of Bahá’ís receives its assurance of leadership by a lineal descendant of Bahá’u’lláh. Each generation will enjoy, in its guardian, complete protection from schism. In him will be vested the right of interpretation of the Word, and to him is given the promise of the direct guidance of God. Thus the Ocean of Truth chooses its tributary in the Day of Unity. The voice of division is stilled; compromise and sectarian corruption are banned in an age that has torn into countless sects the essential truth of the ages.
If the succession is important in the preservation of the truth, legislation is no less needed for the application of the laws. The second pillar of the new society is an institution specifically set forth by Bahá’u’lláh for the government of His world community; namely the Universal House of Justice, to be selected by the people of all countries, having the Guardian as its permanent head, and to be vested with final authority in all matters. Such universal representation, freedom of selection, and strength of authority combine to create an organism in which stability is perfectly blended with freedom.
Completely representative government in
religion, for the people and by the people
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without professional clergy, and on a world-wide
scale, strikes a new note in religion.
Alfred Martin wrote significantly: “Who
shall say but that just as the little company
of the Mayflower, landing on Plymouth
rock, proved to be the small beginning of a
mighty nation, the ideal germ of a democracy
which is true to its principles, shall
yet overspread the habitable globe; so the
little company of Bahá’ís, exiled from their
Persian home may yet prove to be the small
beginning of the world-wide movement, the
ideal germ of democracy in religion, the
Universal Church of Mankind?” The elements of
its principles and its government
are the elements of the Most Great Peace.
It is not for us to say by what steps the world at large will adopt the laws and institutions of a new-born Revelation. Nor can we prophesy how long will be the period of the half light, encompassed as it is by the confusions and fears of a bitterly disillusioned humanity. But it is for the Community of God to offer three gifts without price or limitation: It will continue its education for peace. It will continue to conduct its ordered life on the practical basis of example, that all the world may witness a God-directed autonomy of fusion in race, class, creed, and nationality, without compromise or fear; for here lies an evident assurance of the world’s peace. It will maintain a pattern, divine in origin and all-embracing in scope, which if chosen by the world, could outlaw war, and maintain in its own essential unity the God-given rights of the individual and of society. At no time will such a pattern permit or condone opposition to any government. At all times its very being will continue to be the sign of fellowship and loving association with all religions. “The method it employs, the standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored. Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the Most Great Peace.”
And in conclusion, let us all take heart and see the hand of God in every matter. We have only to look about us to discern God’s bow of promise. In what other age has popular education swept the earth? When, previous to our present time, have men walked the ocean beds and plumbed the stratosphere? In what other age has science hurled together the very ends of the earth? In which previous dispensations has the light of God entered in a single century seventy-eight countries, on all five continents and some of the islands of the seas?
“The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, whose supreme mission is none other but the achievement of this organic and spiritual unity of the whole body of nations, should if we be faithful to its implications, be regarded as signalizing through its advent the coming of age of the entire human race.” We can no more divorce His mission from the social problems of our time than we can divorce religion from life or God from human affairs. If religion is life, religion then is economy, race relations, public safety, government, and moral living. Religion is civilization. At our very gate stands the first universal civilization, clothed in the Most Great Peace. The forces, powers and instruments by which we may forge a new world are in our hands. “So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.” "War shall cease between nations, and by the will of God, the Most Great Peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers.”
————————
These three talks on the general theme “The Assurance of World Peace" were given in Foundation Hall, Bahá’í House of Worship, Wilmette, Illinois, on April 29, 1945.
3.
THE CALL TO GOD: A MEDITATION
BY ARCHDEACON GEORGE TOWNSHEND
WHEN God came back into a world which had forgotten Him He sent as His herald His Best Beloved, the Báb, in whom the Spirit of Love was manifest with such radiance that His disciples knew him as "the Ravisher of Hearts.” Bahá’u’lláh Himself in that little volume, The Hidden Words, into which He has distilled the essence of all revelations teaches that before the foundation of the world God knew His love for man and therefore created him. He breathed within man "a breath of His own spirit”; "engraved on him His image,” and bestowed on him endless bounties. One of these gifts, Justice, is "the sign of thy loving kindness” since through its observance every man can win knowledge for himself.
The first demand which Justice makes on man is that he shall love his Creator. ”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. . . . Love me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest me not, my love can in no wise reach thee. . . . My claim on thee is great: it cannot be forgotten.” (H.W.A. 4, 5, 20.) Reunion with God is man’s heavenly home. The love of God is man’s Paradise. It is his stronghold, in (to) which, if he enter in, he shall be safe and secure—But if he turn away therefrom “he shall surely stray and perish.” (H.W.A. 9.)
Righteousness has two supports—both spiritual. One is the love of God—"Walk in My statutes for love of Me.” (H.W.A. 18.) The other is the fear of God, without the restraint of which and the knowledge of the certainty of retribution, the selfishness of man could not be held in control. “We have admonished our loved ones” writes Bahá’u’lláh, “to fear God: a fear which is the fountainhead of all goodly deeds and virtues. . . . The fear of God is the chief cause of the protection of mankind and the supreme instrument for its preservation. (Wolf. pp. 135 and 27.)”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá frequently adverted to the close relationship between faith and morality. For instance He wrote (Tablets, 549) “By Faith is meant first conscious knowledge and second the practice of good deeds. . Although a person of good deeds is acceptable at the threshold of the Almighty, yet it is first to know and then to do.” (Tablets, Page 549.) “The cause of eternal glory to man,” He writes, “is faith and certainty and then acting according to the behests of the Eternal God.” (Tablets 667.) God requires good deeds from one who loves Him. "Neglect not My commandments if thou lovest My beauty . . .” (H.W.A. 39.)
Through Faith and Righteousness, we are taught (and not without them) the world may be united. For the virtues are the means by which people are enabled to live together in peace and happiness. Generally speaking, whatever tends to harmony is right, and whatever promotes discord is wrong. Integrity, loyalty, fidelity, kindness, forbearance, mercy, generosity, trustworthiness, equity, hospitality, and the like, all trend to social concord, well-being and unity. If the scope and field of the virtues be not walled in by prejudices or bigotry, but expand without hindrance, then they will find their natural goal in uniting all the peoples of the globe. Faith will attract the help of the Holy Spirit without which the division forces of earth life cannot be mastered; and faith and the knowledge of God will alone be able to end that fierce struggle for existence which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá calls “the fountainhead of all calamities and the supreme affliction.”
For Faith is a “divine elixir” which
"transmutes the soul.” When a believer
turns in faith towards God a profound
change in his being is wrought through
which he becomes a "new creature.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
likens this change to the antenatal
process whereby spiritual forces surrounding
the body of an infant as it is formed before
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birth gradually permeate it according to the
degree of its receptivity. Similarly a believer’s
faith draws about him the everlasting
bounties of God which he by degrees appropriates
into his being according to the measure of
his capacity and of the spiritual
preparation he has made. (Tablets 157.)
Man’s natural condition is that of an animal:
until he is born again from this and detached
from the world of nature he remains essentially
an animal, ”and it is the teachings
of God which convert this animal into a
human soul.” (Letter to the Hague.)
The soul is an intermediary between the spiritual world and the material world. In its higher aspect it looks up toward the Kingdom of Glory, in its other aspect it looks downward toward the lower sphere where darkness and ignorance have their home. If spiritual light be poured down upon this lower phase of the soul and if the soul be able to receive it then the truth is made clear and falsehood is of short duration. But if such light does not come or is not accepted, then darkness gathers about the soul from all directions, it is cut off from the spiritual world and remains in the lowest depths. (Tablets p. 611.)
‘Abdu’l-Bahá used the picture of the Waxing of the Moon to illustrate the gradualness of this heavenward conversion and detachment from the world. The believer when first he turns to God and receives his light is like the crescent moon which is illumined on its sunward side but has the face it turns to earth still in shadow. When the moon is full, and, turning to the sun’s light the same face it turns to earth, is illumined throughout its whole circumference so that no shadow anywhere remains, it becomes a type of the spiritually mature soul. (Tablets 108.) The reality of this severance is shown by a remark attributed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá— ”The Holy Spirit moves my limbs.”
The results of spirituality, the full meaning of reunion with God, are not however made known to man fully till the Hereafter. “Sorrow not if in these days and on this earthly plane things contrary to your wishes have been ordained and manifested by God, for days of blissful joy, of heavenly delight are assuredly in store for you. Worlds holy and spiritually glorious will be unveiled to your eyes.” (Gl. 329.)
The purpose of earth life is to acquire the qualities that will be needed in those other worlds: as “the knowledge and the love of God; faith, sanctity, spirituality, eternal life.”
To a "pure, kind, radiant heart” is promised “a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.” Could man behold that immortal sovereignty, he would “strive to pass from this fleeting world.” (H.W.P. 41.)
But the journey to God is not easy to accomplish. God is a jealous God. "Ye shall be hindered from loving Me and souls shall be perturbed as they make mention of Me. For minds cannot grasp Me nor hearts contain Me.” Man must face a conflict in his own soul: “if thou lovest me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seekest my pleasure regard not thine own. . . . There is no peace for thee save by renouncing thyself and turning unto me.” (H.W.A. 7, 8.)
Only through the energy of his own volition may the hidden powers of his being be developed. Again and again man is called on “to make an effort.” He is reminded that the greater his endeavor to cleanse and refine the mirror of his heart the more faithful will be the reflection in it of the glory of the names and attributes of God, and that as a result of the exertion of his own spiritual faculties he will be able to “attain the courts of everlasting fellowship.” (G. 262.)
At the present time the way to God is particularly hard to find. For it is the Day of Judgment. Mankind has been “taken unawares,” as Christ foretold it would be. God can only be known through His Messenger; and now there is a New Era, a New Advent, a New Messenger. Old forms and names do not avail now. Souls are being tested by their readiness to acknowledge the New Manifestation of God—as the Mosaists were tested by the advent of Christ. Men are being divided by God: some are taken, others left. All behold the light; only the spiritual see its source. All men recognize a transition; only the spiritual understand its meaning.
But no soul, no Age is tested beyond its
powers. To those who seek to turn to God
inspiration adequate to every demand is
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given. Great as have been the bounties
poured forth from heaven in past Advents,
"those” of to-day are greater far. Both in
the Gospel and the Apocalypse the overwhelming
weight of this Second Coming and
the victory of the righteous over the infidel
have been foretold. A power above the ken
of men and angels, we are assured, now enforces
men’s obedience to the will of God.
The teachings on the spiritual life are such as beseem the age of man’s maturity, when every soul is required to investigate the truth for himself. They are given in plain terms, not in “proverbs.” They are authentic, being the written word of Bahá’u’lláh or ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. They are not of doubtful interpretation. They are voluminous and comprehensive, offering diverse approaches to knowledge and being adapted to diverse temperaments. Owing to the labor of various translators and predominantly to that of the Guardian, many of these teachings are accessible in English.
The earliest and perhaps (it is said) the greatest of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelations on the Search for God is a little mystical treatise: The Seven Valleys. The thought is subtle and profound; the idiom is oriental; but yet the book has a beauty, a charm and a rapture which have made it the dearest treasure of many a believer. It is the love-story of one who being separated from his beloved seeks far and long, eagerly, patiently, despite all hardships and through all vicissitudes for the one and only object of his desire; and at last attains his goal in a union which will know no separation or end—“When a true friend and lover meets the beloved one, the radiance of the beauty of the beloved creates a fire which burns away all veils, burns all he has and all he is, consumes his very being, so that nothing remains but the friend.”
The story is one of a journey. But though we read of "valleys,” “cities,” "heights,” “fields,” "gardens,” yet it is made clear the changes of scenery are inward changes of emotion, of sensibility and the like. The traveller passes from ignorance to knowledge, from illusion to discernment; love deepens, is cleansed, intensified, uplifted; wisdom yields to greater wisdom; joy trembles and is lost to make way for finer joy. The Seven Valleys are seven experiences or groups of experiences which all must pass through who would travel this way to the end.
The story is lyric rather than dramatic. Though it is (like Bunyan’s masterpiece) an allegory of a pilgrimage to a Celestial City, there are no lions, nor giants in the way here, no Doubting Castle, no Vanity Fair. The enemies of the traveller dwell within his heart. Evil is a negation, an imperfection. Nor is the journey lonely: the Beloved’s presence is felt from the beginning, the Messenger of Love is the pilgrim’s guide throughout: The moving impulse of the journey is not solely the traveller’s own; the voice of his Beloved calls ever in his heart "seek thou no shelter save in the Bower of the Well-Beloved,” and he is drawn onwards to the happy ending by a power not his own.
How far away these valleys from the earth we know to—day! How far these aims, this search from the pursuits and projects of men and peoples now. Yet we are given to understand that only by adopting The Hidden Words as the standard of right living and The Seven Valleys as a guide to human conduct will society be empowered to inaugurate the Most Great Peace.
The Obligatory Prayers are given to help a Believer in this search. They are not concerned with the objects so familiar at this time—as the expansion of the cause, the giving of the message, the unifying and pacification of the peoples. No. They are designed to be used daily by Bahá’ís of all degrees for generations and centuries to come. They are about that which Bahá’u’lláh wishes to be the essence and constant center of Bahá’í devotion and thought. Comprehensive and complex they may be: but their subject is one and simple. It is the knowledge and the love of God.
The Short Prayer states the whole matter in a word: “Thou has created me to know Thee and adore Thee.”
The Medium Prayer is more particular. It specifies in two verses the fact of the Manifestation. The first verse presents this in its transcendant aspect, proclaiming God’s Advent and His Sovereignty. The second acknowledges His omnipresence and unity, gives the substance of His Revelation and remembers the champions of the Faith.
The Long Prayer develops the theme still more fully and deeply. It seeks the vision of God’s Beauty, an approach to His presence, an eternity of progress in His knowledge. The main phases of the thought seem to be Self Surrender, Confirmation, Adoration and Thanksgiving, Penitence, and Trust in forgiveness and redemption through the special graces of this Dispensation. While this Long Prayer has one definite, elevated subject, believers have found that they can apply it, or major parts of it, to a special crisis or a special act in their own lives and can thus the better understand the Prayer and spiritualize their problems.
How marked and how significant, on the one side the correspondence and on the other the contrast that exist between this prayer of the New Age and the Lord’s Prayer which Christians have been repeating for nineteen centuries. Here is reflected the continuity of the work of Christ and Bahá’u’lláh and the Oneness of their common purpose. Here too (in an hour when many fear Christ has thrown away His teaching on an unworthy race) is a testimony to the ultimate success of His glorious ministry and sacrifice.
The first petitions of the Lord’s Prayer are for the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth.
The Obligatory Prayers imply and declare that the Kingdom has come: for instance ”the All-Possessing is come. Earth and heaven, glory and dominion are God’s . . .” and "He who hath been manifested is the Hidden Mystery . . . through whom the letters ‘B’ and ‘E’ have been joined and knit together . . . ” (that is, mankind’s true existence begins in the New Era).
The Lord’s Prayer remembers a prophecy and a promise; and centers men’s attention on a triumphant future on earth. The Obligatory Prayers contain no prophecy and aim at an inward spiritual attainment.
Christ’s Prayer is social in form. It is suited to spiritual children, being very simple and largely practical. In the words "as we forgive those who trespass against us” it adverts to the virtue of personal mercy to which Christ gave special prominence.
The Prayer of Bahá’u’lláh is personal and mystical, advanced in character and suited to a maturer race. It carries the idea of communion and unity far, invoking in the Long Prayer all the Prophets of the Ages, interceding for the past heroes of the Faith, and joining the worshipper’s testimony to this Era and its Prophet with the testimony of those in the highest heaven and of the Tongue of Grandeur itself as well as with that of all creation.
Besides these and similar prayers, the Guardian has given us in the volume Prayers and Meditations a number of other prayers of a different origin—prayers made by Bahá’u’lláh for His own use, acts of communion between the Prophet Himself and the Most High.
To these a special mystery attaches, as He Himself affirms (p. 282) and they are bequeathed to us by His particular grace. They offer us a new approach to the knowledge of God, and constitute perhaps the highest point we can attain in our mystical contemplation of the Prophet’s ministry.
Some of these pieces are ascriptions to the power, the exaltation and the munificence of God. Others deal with His creative and redemptive work. Others belong to dramatic moments in His struggle against the evil forces of His environment. The range of thought and emotion which we find in them far outreaches ordinary human experience. On the one hand it soars to unimagined heights of adoration and triumph and joy. On the other, it plumbs depths of such anguish as only the truest love could know. But whatever the subject or the occasion of these prayers they all are one continuing diverse song of self-surrender and praise and thanksgiving to God. From every page—now in phrase or in sentence or paragraph or sometimes in a whole long prayer of glowing and sustained emotion—pour forth tributes of adoration magnifying the eternal Beauty of Him whose love gives sustenance to the universe and who without least drop from the infinite ocean of his Mercy now redeems and beatifies mankind.
Love for God inspires every thought and
deed. "In Thy path and to attain Thy
pleasure, I have scorned rest, joy, delight. I
have wakened every morning to the light of
Thy praise and Thy remembrance and
reached every evening inhaling the fragrance
of Thy mercy. . . . The fire of Thy love that
[Page 663]
burneth continually within me hath so inflamed
me that whosoever among thy creatures approacheth
me and inclineth his inner
ear towards me cannot fail to hear its raging
within each of my veins.” (pp. 103, 270.)
“Nothing whatsoever can withhold me from
remembering thee though all the tribulations
of earth were to assault me from every direction.
All the limbs and members of my
body proclaim their readiness to be torn
asunder in Thy path and for the sake of Thy
pleasure, and they yearn to be scattered in
the dust before Thee. Oh, would that they
who serve Thee could taste what I have
tasted of the sweetness of Thy love.” (p.
152.) Upborne by this love He counts toil
in God’s cause to be "blissful repose,”
"anguish a fountain of gladness” (p. 136).
He testifies to the Majesty of the Station held by Him; to the profound and subtle changes in this created world, through which this New Age, the Age of God, was brought into being (p. 295); to the supremacy and triumph of the Revelation (p. 275) and to the eclipse of man’s wisdom and the collapse of his power and of his knowledge before the manifest glory and dominion of the Most High (p. 53). He gives a picture, unprecedented and unparalleled, of that spiritual illumined world which He is building, the world ordained by God of old which now is to be realized—a world so incomparable to ours that though we read the divine description of it our aspirations can form as yet no image of its unity, its felicity or its attainments. (Prayers 58, 184, etc.)
One and all, these prayers have for their immediate background and occasion the events of His life and ministry. Dates are not given, nor circumstances. But the prayers evidently cover many dynamic years of intense and extraordinarily varied personal activity—the period during which He regathered the stricken Bábís, reanimated their faith, laid broad and deep in men’s hearts the foundations of the Bahá’í Cause, and in spite of successive and accumulating difficulties, in spite of the oppression of priests and tyrants, the machinations of traitors and the lethargy of the public, in spite of sorrows, sufferings and frustrations beyond number, declared His Mission, proclaimed it to the Kings of the World and went down to His last long imprisonment in the city of ‘Akká.
The splendor of His power, His constancy, His spirituality shines out against the unremitting darkness of His earthly lot. For ever His human self complains and expostulates with Him under the weight of ceaseless affliction: “My blood at all times addresseth Me saying, ‘O Thou who art the Image of the Most Merciful! How long will it be ere Thou riddest me of the captivity of this world . . . ?’ To this I make reply: ‘Be thou patient. . . . The things thou desirest can last but an hour. As to me, I quaff continually in the path of God the cup of His decree and wish not that the ruling of His will should cease to operate. . . . Seek thou my wish and forsake thine own.’ ” (p. 11.) His abasement causes His friends to weaken and His enemies to rejoice. Yet He has Himself chosen this suffering (p. 278) and wishes life could be prolonged that He might suffer more for love of God. His afflictions increase His love and His redeeming power. (p. 146-7.) He gives no sign of personal resentment; quite the contrary (p. 307). But He prays for the vindication of the Faithful and the punishment of those who oppose God and His Truth. “Well beloved is Thy mercy unto the sincere amongst Thy servants, and well beseeming Thy chastisement of the infidels. . . . Abase Thou, O my Lord, Thine enemies and lay hold on them with Thy power and might, and let them be stricken with the blast of Thy wrath.” (pp. 121, 141.)
Here in this devotional record may be traced the spiritual creation and the first ideal beginnings of the New Age and its glories. Here is fought and won in the heart and soul of the Prophet that battle which established for us the Victory of God on earth. Here is invoked that wrath of an outraged Deity which now overwhelms mankind in its cleansing fires.
As one contemplates the awfulness of the
tragedy unfolded in these pages, as one
ponders over this intimate revelation of the
impassioned love, the wrongs, the sufferings
of Him by whose stripes we are healed and
Who for our redemption endured the abomination
of the world, the Call to God sounds
[Page 664]
with a new appeal, and one hears with a
new realization and a new resolve the
summons of the All-Victorious.
“Hear Me ye mortal birds! In the Rose Garden of Changeless splendor a Flower hath begun to bloom compared to which every other flower is but a thorn and before the brightness of whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise therefore and with the whole enthusiasm of your heart, of your will, and the consecrated efforts of your entire being strive to attain the Paradise of His presence and endeavor to enhale the fragrance of the incorruptible flower, to breathe the sweet savors of holiness and to attain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory. Whose followeth this counsel will break his chains in sunder, will taste the abandonment of enraptured love, will attain unto his heart’s desire and will surrender his soul into the hands of his Beloved. Bursting through his cage he will, even as the bird of the Spirit, wing his way to his holy and everlasting nest.
"Night hath succeeded day and day hath succeeded night, and the hours and moments of your lives have come and gone and yet none of you hath for one instant consented to detach himself from that which perisheth. Bestir yourselves, that the brief moments which are still yours may not be dissipated and lost. Even as the swiftness of lightning your days shall pass and your bodies shall be laid to rest beneath a canopy of dust. What can ye then achieve? How can you atone for your past failure?
“The everlasting candle shineth in its naked glory. Behold how it hath consumed every mortal veil. O ye moth-like lovers of his light! Brave every danger, and consecrate your souls to its consuming flame. O ye that thirst after him! Strip yourselves of every earthly affection, and hasten to embrace your Beloved. With a zest that none can equal make haste to attain unto Him. The Flower thus far hidden from the sight of men is unveiled to your eyes. In the open radiance of His glory it standeth before you. His voice summoneth all the holy and sanctified beings to come and be united with Him. Happy is he that turneth there unto; well it is with him that hath attained, and gazed on the light with so wondrous a countenance.” (Gleanings, p. 321.)
4.
RELIGIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF WORLD UNITY
BY DR. RAYMOND FRANK PIPER
MY THREE main topics are derived from one tremendous sentence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “It is, our duty in this radiant century to investigate the essentials of divine religion, seek the realities underlying the oneness of the world of humanity, and discover the source of fellowship and agreement which will unite mankind in the heavenly bond of love.” Topics:
I. The perilous opportunities of our time.
II. Trustworthy foundations of belief.
III. Urgent responsibilities that summon us.
I. THE PERILS OF OUR AGE.
We live in a momentous age. "Do ye know in what cycle ye are created?” asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “This period of time is the Promised Age, the time for growing, the century of Universal Peace. There is not one soul whose conscience does not testify that in this day there is no more important matter in the world than that of Universal Peace. Every just one bears witness to this.” “The Most Great Peace,” solid with concord and abundant living, is everyman’s yearning; it is the sublime goal of civilization emphasized by the Bahá’í Faith. The objective is clear, but perils and opportunities unparalleled in history face us.
Consider seven perils of our dangerous age:
Peril 1: The chasm between knowledge and practice. Modern man has easy access to
Dr. Raymond Frank Piper, guest speaker at the Centenary Banquet, May 25, 1944. Dr. Piper’s address was entitled “Religious Foundations of World Unity.”
immense treasures of truth; formally he accepts scientific method, freedom, religious liberty, and other ideals, but he translates a pitiful fraction of his knowledge into action. This peril demands unity of words and deeds, an essential integrity and sincerity of mind.
Peril 2: The lag of spiritual understanding behind mechanical communication. Amazing scientific instruments, such as radio, printing press, motion picture, and airplane, have erased boundary lines between nations and made the whole earth one physical environment; but high barriers of prejudice, ignorance, indifference, and misunderstanding continue to bound and bind such important mental spheres as language, religion, and national affairs. Can we now match supranational machines with supranational patterns of cooperation? Can we create the mental tools of international understanding and cooperation which will remove the barriers which separate and confuse us? This peril demands the unity of a universal auxiliary language and of world-wide human sympathy.
Peril 3: The survival of parochial institutions
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in a cosmopolitan era. Contemporary
man is half modern, half archaic; parts of
him remain nineteenth-century, medieval,
and primitive. He enjoys the universal fruits
of agriculture, medicine, technology, and
music without thinking of national labels;
yet in his economic, educational, military,
religious, and national organizations he is
commonly parochial. Frank Kingdon declares,
“Here is the basic tension of our
times. In actual experience we are world
citizens but the institutions by which we live
are provincial. We are like children growing
up in a home that speaks a language foreign
to that of the surrounding community.”
This peril demands new patterns of worldwide cooperation.
Peril 4: The conflict between prophet and multitude. We recognize the tragic paradox that the multitudes crucify their greatest benefactors, and that communism itself needs commanding leaders. We know that Plato feared democracy because it gave power to uninstructed, unrestrained crowds and decided vital issues by quantity of votes rather than by weight of reasons. We have a right to fear the barbarians in our midst who want the benefits of civilization without paying the necessary cost of discipline. How reconcile the powerful momentary desires of the masses with the considered plans of prophetic statesmen? This peril demands symphonic societies in which prophet and people strive with new earnestness to serve one another, in which majority and minority hold each other in mutual respect.
Peril 5: The conflict between East and West. Chasms of ignorance and of pride shut us from the spiritual treasures of the Orient and create many false and needless conflicts. Can we now build bridges of understanding whereby East and West may supplement each other and create a richer synthetic civilization? This peril calls for an immense extension of sympathetic understanding between the peoples of Occident and Orient.
Peril 6: The transition from destructive competition to constructive federation among nations. Mankind has gradually enlarged social organizations from family, tribe, and state, to great nations; the next sociological and logical step is a family of nations. Can we now pass in an orderly, peaceful fashion into the parliament of man, the united nations of the world? This peril demands political and social acumen and unity of unprecedented grandeur.
Peril 7: The uncertainties concerning spiritual authorities. The average American does not know in whom to put his trust; yet he does not seek far because he regards himself as wise enough. The demand for common sense is small because everyone thinks he already has an ample supply. In fact, however, multitudes of men are putting their trust in illusory or dangerous gods: technology, the collective state, an esoteric cult, a self-appointed leader, or their own uncritical judgments. Can we find somewhere a prophet whose voice will command the confidence of men through its reasonable and righteous power? This peril demands a new understanding and unity of religious goals and an unshakeable trust in a Supreme Power outside ourselves.
These seven perils present a partial picture of the conflicts which afflict our age. At the same time every one of them is a challenge to us to advance to a higher level of civilization.
These problems are painfully acute to thoughtful Americans because, while we are yet children in world affairs, history has thrust us into the center of the world’s stage. Time Magazine for May 22, 1944, page 21, reports some startling Gallup statistics: "27,000,000 U. S. adults do not know that the Japs have taken the Philippines. 54,000,000 have never heard of the Atlantic Charter. More than half of the adult population does not know that the U. S. never belonged to the League of Nations.” Although we are untrained in universal outlook, we are necessary for a successful new world order.
In three hundred years we Americans have acquired a prosperity that other nations emulate; they at least think we are successful. They do not know all our shortcomings. In his book, They Shall Not Sleep (as reported in Omnibook, May, 1944, page 40), Leland Stowe declares, "As I moved from one country or war zone to another nothing impressed me more than the frightening contradiction inherent in America’s position in the twentieth—century’s revolution.
“Hundreds of millions of the world’s peoples look to the United States as the symbol of freedom and their greatest hope. But the American people are tragically unprepared, both mentally and spiritually, for leadership in a new universe which we can neither prohibit nor escape. Only a few of these rising, stirring, struggling legions of men and women realize that a large proportion of Americans are not at all certain about our own definition of freedom or about what democracy really implies in an age of machines and mass production.”
Now while we confront dreadful problems a benevolent Providence has come to our aid. We read in the Hindu Bhagavad-Gita (4:7—8) how Lord Krishna revealed that the Divine Being becomes incarnate in the world in any epoch in which lawlessness uprises in order that he may destroy evil doers and establish righteousness. Did not the Divine Mind anticipate the perils of our day when, one hundred years ago, He commissioned the Bahá’í prophets to bring us a universal gospel of unity which is remarkably adapted to meet our most urgent problems? For every kind of conflict which assails us this gospel provides as a remedy a definite pattern of unified action.
The Bahá’í Faith has had a century in which to establish itself around the globe and to erect its greatest House of Worship near the heart of America, within two hundred twenty-five miles of our center of population. The Bahá’í teachings are providentially loaded with precisely the goods which we Americans direly need in this catastrophic era.
For our amazing intolerances they offer an inclusive tolerance the excellence of which is self-evident to them and to others who know it. The world-wide perspective and the universal principles which we need permeate their scriptures. They condemn every religion which breeds strife among men and exalt the common ideals in all the religions and high prophets of God. Their prophet leaders possess the kind of picturesque and attractive personalities which Americans prize. They have long set their wills to attain those world institutions which we are just now finding indispensable for peace. The Bahá’í teachings can contribute immensely, I believe to that training for world citizenship which we sorely need. The amazing fitness of these teachings to our needs and their peculiar timeliness are two facts which attest their divine origin.
Now, a careful analysis of our major problems proves that their solution must be spiritual, that is, through the creative, redeeming power of men possessed of goodwill, cooperativeness, reverence, and other ethical qualities. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá declared, “The kingdom of peace, salvation, uprightness, and reconciliation is founded in the invisible world, and it will by degrees become manifest through the power of the Word of God!” Lewis Mumford closed his book, Story of Utopias, thus: “Other civilizations have proved inimical to the good life and have failed and passed away; and there is nothing but our own will-to-utopia to prevent us from following them. If this dissipation of Western civilization is to cease, the first step in reconstruction is to make over our inner world, and to give our knowledge and our projections a new foundation.”
In the Syracuse newspaper, the Post-Standard, of May 17, 1944, the leading editorial began with these words in black-faced type: “The American people are looking for strong spiritual leadership. They want it not only in their churches, but as well in the country’s leadership, in public office, in industry and business, in professional life and every other activity in which they engage.”
Today no intelligent citizen or religionist can escape the solemn obligation to know with clearness and certainty what are the safe spiritual foundations for the new age. Let us now fix firmly in mind seven concepts which are integral to the pattern of peace: three principles of belief and four of action. These seven principles are familiar but fateful. I have not invented them. I merely point them out with admiration and humility. They shine forth from many bibles and philosophies, but they gleam with extraordinary brilliance from the pages of Bahá’í scriptures. The Bahá’í prophets speak with the triple authority of Divine commission, ethical rightness, and rational coherence.
Hear the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: "The
prophets of God have founded the laws of
divine civilization. They have been the root
[Page 668]
of all knowledge. They have established the
principles of human brotherhood. {This}
spiritual brotherhood unites nations, removes
the cause of warfare, transforms mankind
into one great family, and insures Universal
Peace. Therefore, we must investigate the
foundation reality of this heavenly fraternity.
We must forsake all imitations and
promote the reality of the divine teachings.”
II. TRUSTWORTHY FOUNDATIONS OF BELIEF.
Philosophy is the serious business of determining the nature of reality and of defining the reliable ends of life. As a philosopher I am enthusiastic about Bahá’í teachings because they abound in profound philosophic insight and because with philosophical sweep they focus attention upon the great problems. They meet well the ultimate criterion of truth: a coherent and inclusive whole of ideas concerning reality.
Bahá’u’lláh ascribed a beautiful name to the body of essential truth; namely, “the City of Certitude.” He said, “That City is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation.” He warns against mistaking common stones for the wondrous jewels of divine knowledge. Surely we desire our plans for peace to rest upon the surest discoverable foundations. Let us now look at three enduring monuments in the City of Certitude: the reality of God, the greatness of man, and the scope of the Kingdom.
A. The Reality of God.
The one final ground of confidence and hope for the individual and for civilization is God. Declared Bahá’u’lláh, “God’s commandments are the greatest fortress for the protection of the world and for the preservation of mankind.” A Chinese proverb asks, "If you offend Heaven, to whom can you pray?” Note four attributes of God:
(1) God is the mysterious Supreme Being Who sustains all things. Listen to the majestic words of Bahá’u’lláh: “All things are dependent upon His Will, and the worth of all acts is conditioned upon His acceptance and pleasure.” “He is, in truth, the Fountain of all life, and the Quickener of the entire creation, and the Object of the adoration of all worlds, and the Best—Beloved of every understanding heart, and the Desire of all them that are nigh unto Him."
The Bahá’í books emphasize two proofs for God’s existence: the perfection of the human mind and the order of nature. We read: “To connect and harmonize these diverse and infinite realities an all-unifying Power is necessary, that every part of existent being may in perfect order discharge its own function.” “Not a single atom in the entire universe can be found which doth not declare the evidence of His might.” The poet, A. E. Johnson, affirms, "God is that but for whom all disintegrates.”
(2) It follows next that God is through His signs present everywhere. We read: "The divine breath animates and pervades all things.” “God standeth within all things and watcheth over all things.” “The mirror of His knowledge reflecteth, with complete distinctness, precision, and fidelity, the doings of all men.” “Wonder not, if my Best-Beloved be closer to me than mine own self; wonder at this, that I, despite such nearness, should still be so far from Him.”
(3) God is good: God is loving and merciful, all-bountiful, the Most Generous, the Help in Peril, infinite in grace.
(4) Finally, God is the eternal Truth, the everlasting protector.
Several significant corollaries follow from this conception of God. Conscious cooperation with the will of God is the best balance wheel of personal life. One of Bahá’u’lláh’s Words of Wisdom is, “The source of all good is trust in God, submission unto His command, and contentment in His holy will and pleasure.”
Further, if reality flows from one Cosmic Mind, then our philosophic view of the universe must form a unified system, and also the historic religions should have much in common. These are two important Bahá’í teachings. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asserts, “The foundation of all the religions of God is one.” "The fundamentals, the foundations, of all {religions} are fellowship, unity, and love.” Thus it is evident that devotion to one God is a practical basis for cooperation among religionists.
Bahá’í leaders stress the existence of harmony
among the teachings of the high
[Page 669]
prophets and religions of the world. This
fact of common values constitutes an urgent
summons to religionists everywhere to silence
their differences, to cooperate in battle
against dangerous common enemies, and to
gain the strength of union in seeking the
goals they agree upon: the practice of
goodwill, universal peace, devotion to a Supreme
Being, and others. Wasteful strife among
religions contradicts their essential purpose
and obstructs the coming of peace. The
Bahá’í teaching that the central aim of
religion is to establish unity among mankind
needs world-wide acclaim. The next step
should be the active functioning of a
federation of religions in support of enduring
peace. The Bahá’ís contemplate "a World
Religion, destined to attain in the fullness of
time, the status of a world-embracing
Commonwealth, which would be at once the
instrument and the guardian of the Most
Great Peace.” Also, “that which the Lord
hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and
mightiest instrument for the healing of all
the world is the union of all its peoples in
one universal Cause, one common Faith.”
B. The Greatness of Man.
The second foundation truth in the City of Certitude is the greatness and dignity of man. God has endowed man with intelligent freedom, and peace cannot thrive in any society which makes man a slave to any machine, human overlord, or totalitarian state. The self is the bearer of all values; therefore, since there would be no human values without the self, there is nothing for which it can be exchanged. The destruction of human beings in war is the most abominable of all crimes, while the command to value life, to respect and honor one’s neighbor is a supreme duty, second only to the love of God.
Listen to some of the Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh: "O Son of Man! I loved thy creation; hence, I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may fill thy soul with the spirit of life. O Son of Being! within thee have I placed the essence of My light. I created thee rich and revealed to thee My beauty. Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent. O Son of Spirit! Noble have I created thee; rise then unto that for which thou was created.” Elsewhere he declares, “Upon the reality of man God hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.”
C. The Commonwealth of Love.
The third principle in the City of Truth is the commonwealth of love, the Kingdom of God, the Most Great Peace. Bahá’í writings abound in such exquisite words concerning love that I am constrained to quote freely. Let us distinguish three aspects of the commonwealth.
(1) The basis of the commonwealth of love is the biological unity of the race. We read that “The incomparable Creator hath created all men from one same substance.” "Humanity is one in kind; it is one race, one progeny. All are fruits of one branch, waves of the same sea. In every respect all stand upon the same footing—all have the same requirements.” Hence, all men are potentially brothers because they are made alike by one Father.
(2) The cement of the commonwealth is love. “The religion of God is absolute love and unity.” "Thou canst best praise God if thou lovest His loved ones.” “The foundation of the Kingdom of God is laid upon justice, fairness, mercy, sympathy, and kindness to every soul.” “All the creatures are equal in this one family of God save whosoever is more kind, more compassionate—he is nearer to God.” "In the world of humanity the greatest king and sovereign is love.”
(3) The goal of the commonwealth of love is world-wide harmony and peace among men. “The divine purpose is that men should live in unity, concord, and agreement, and should love one another.” “When love is realized and the ideal spiritual bonds unite the hearts of man, the happiness and tranquillity of mankind will be immeasurably increased.” “The scope of Universal Peace must be such that all the communities and religions may find their highest wish realized in it.”
I have now set forth three foundation
principles of universal peace: the sovereignty
[Page 670]
of God, the dignity of man, and the kingdom
of love.
III. FOUR URGENT RESPONSIBILITIES.
The three foundation ideas generate four compelling duties for every individual who truly desires universal peace and abundant life. These responsibilities are not confined to Bahá’ís, although the very clearness and definiteness of the Bahá’í revelation places a greater responsibility upon those who know it than upon others. While the major ideas are common to the great faiths, yet the Bahá’í Faith is distinctive in the particular techniques of unity which it proposes for realizing the kingdom. My article on “Ways to Wholeness” (World Order, Dec., 1943; Jan., 1944) specified a dozen kinds of fruitful ethical unities which remain empty abstractions until individual persons actualize, organize, embody them in action. The harmonious integration of all strands of these concrete unities will produce the Most Great Peace.
The attainment of universal peace requires the cultivation of a whole company of spiritual arts. The arts of making war have reached exceeding fineness; the subtle arts of making peace need now to be cultivated with the same resolute and exacting intelligence. The silencing of the implements of war will be no guarantee of enduring peace; that peace will be the joint product of multitudes of individuals who know how effectively to execute the arts of peace. For each kind of peril, for every type of unity, special techniques must be devised and practiced. The fashioning of a good life or a good society is no less a difficult art than winning a battle or building a battleship, an industry, a symphony, or a temple.
The emphatic point is that we dare not take lightly the problems of peace-making; they are serious, perilous problems which challenge our most creative and consecrated intelligence. Successful arts of peace will alone produce that genuine freedom for which we long: the mastery of all conditions, physical and mental, which are necessary for realizing our legitimate wishes in the world.
Responsibility 1: is to practice the presence of the Spirit of God: to glorify Him, seek to know His will, to draw upon His inexhaustible power, and witness to his greatness. The writings of Bahá’u’lláh are rich in exhortations like these: ”The first and foremost duty prescribed unto men, next to the recognition of Him Who is the eternal truth, is the duty of steadfastness in God’s Cause. Cleave thou unto it, and be of them whose minds are firmly fixed and grounded in God. No act, however meritorious, did or can ever compare unto it. It is the king of all acts.” “Place not thy reliance on thy treasures. Put thy whole confidence in the grace of God, thy Lord. Let Him be Thy trust and thy helper in whatever thou doest.”
What art is involved here? The art of worship, of creative prayer. The essence of worship is the commitment of one’s life to God and the endeavor to enlarge and adjust one’s purposes to the divine will. The fruit of effective worship is clearer purpose and stronger good will.
Further, as soon as your faith is strong and joyful, you will want to make it attractive to others by the art of skillful communication. Declares Bahá’u’lláh, ”Our mission is to seize and possess the hearts of men.” Again he says, "The essence of religion is to testify unto that which the Lord hath revealed, and follow that which He hath ordained in His mighty Book.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá urges, “O friend! Be set aglow with the fire of the love of God, so that the hearts of the people will become enlightened by the light of thy love.”
Daily rule number 1: Every day my trust in God grows stronger, and every day I tell someone of God’s greatness.
Responsibility 2: the unwavering practice of love to one’s neighbor. The dignity of man deserves respect. The kingdom is composed of persons who love. Love increases knowledge, encourages goodness, and conquers evil doers. Therefore, "Blessed are they who are kind and serve with love.” "The religion of God is to create love and unity.” To increase the amount and the quality of good will in the world is a basic duty.
Hear the superb words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
“Enkindle with all your might in every
meeting the light of the love of God; gladden
and cheer every heart with the utmost
loving-kindness; show forth your love to the
[Page 671]
stranger just as you show it forth to your
relations.” As more and more men dwell
together in one loving family, universal peace
draws nearer.
What art is involved here? The art of reconciling human differences on a higher and richer level. Let us apply to personal relations a basic rule in the appreciation of beauty: to find rhythm in every artistic work but also to find variety and originality. To expect artistic works or human beings to fit our modes of desiring is tyranny. We can learn how to enjoy, utilize, harmonize varieties of personality. The kingdom is like a great work of art; it is a unity in variety.
How does the man of good will treat an angry antagonist? He sympathizes with him, quietly loves him, and thus subdues his emotions. How deal with a controversial person? If two souls quarrel about a question, both are wrong, for both lack that condition of good will which is a precondition of creative discussion.
Daily rule number 2: Every day I seek to appreciate someone different from me, and everyday I do some loving kindness to my neighbor.
Responsibility 3: to become an expert in one art of peace-making, in one kingdom institution. The question for each of us is: What particular job can I do according to my ability in the immediate future to hasten the coming of the Most Great Peace?
Daily rule number 3: Every day I clarify my mission in the world, and every day I strengthen my chosen kingdom institution; or, if you prefer: Every day I define my duty as a world citizen, and every day I perfect my chosen art of peace-making.
It is your duty tonight to think clearly of what is to be your contribution to the Most Great Peace. It is your duty tomorrow to define that duty more clearly. It is your duty every day to refine your technique in the kind of peace-making in which you choose to be a specialist. And only you, with God’s help, can finally discover your unique mission. Bahá’u’lláh said, “The faith of no man can be conditioned by anyone except himself.” But every individual should regard himself as that crucial grain of sand which may turn the balance in favor of the reign of peace.
Behind the three duties already defined lies duty number four: an inclusive responsibility, the practice of creative faith. Creative faith means that dynamic synthesis of clear vision, trust in reality, and aggressive adventure by which a person produces new conditions which are favorable to the coming of the kingdom. Such faith creates conditions which confirm our hopes; therefore, it is indispensable for the growth of the kingdom. If faith in a fact will help to create the fact, then it is our duty to believe.
What facts ground our faith? These: Reality is orderly, reliable. It is weighted in favor of the good man because it is God’s world. Life is not static but progressive, long-reaching, eternal. The world is “infinitely unfinished.” Happiness is not an end attainment, but a daily process of realizing particular goods. Perfection is not a static effect, but the direction of personal expansion. These are the grounds.
Here are the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá concerning faith: faith with knowledge is one of the “wings of ascent.” ”Faith is the means of the ascent of the human soul to the lofty station of divine perfections.” Faith is like the potential of the seed which you plant; you plant it with trust in an orderly world, and, with proper sunshine and rain, it becomes a magnificent tree.
I treasure the word of my teacher, W. E. Hocking: “Destiny in practice means the direction of your next step.” If your next step, and the next, moves towards greater love, then your well-being is certain and your destiny secure; if in the opposite direction, you are living in peril for yourself and you are obstructing the Most Great Peace.
Daily rule number 4: Every day I stretch my faith toward the coming of the kingdom of love, and every day I will do a concrete deed to hasten its realization on earth.
All the facts of history warn us: this is
a time to live dangerously, to live assiduously,
to live creatively. Every day is precious and
perilous; and the days of opportunity are
passing swiftly. Contemporary minds are
more plastic than ever and more receptive to
words backed by reality and love. Let us
meet the incomparable challenge by more
creative faith, by more intelligent devotion
to God’s cause, by finer arts of peace. The
[Page 672]
combination of Bahá’í Faith with American
ingenuity and energy should make a winning
team for the establishing of enduring peace
in the world upon solid foundations.
I want to conclude with some superb words from the sacred writings, first of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “Today is the day for steadfastness and constancy. Blessed are they that stand firm and immovable as the rock, and brave the storm and stress of this tempestuous hour.” “O peoples of the world! Arise and bestir yourselves, that My Cause may triumph, and My Word be heard by all mankind.” "Ye are now in a great station and noble rank, and ye shall find yourselves in evident success and prosperity, the like of which the eye of existence never saw in former ages.”
And finally from Bahá’u’lláh: “God grant that the light of unity may envelop the whole earth, and that the seal, ‘the Kingdom is God’s’ may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples.” ”Set your faces toward unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you.”
————————
Address delivered at the Bahá’í Centenary Banquet, Hotel Stevens, Chicago, Ill., May 25, 1944.
5.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS TODAY
BY PROF. STANWOOD COBB
INTRODUCTION
The program of the Bahá’í Movement for world peace and world brotherhood, as proclaimed by its founder, Bahá’u’lláh, a hundred years ago, is interesting to compare with the vital needs of the world today. It will be seen upon such a comparison how completely and prophetically the world pattern of Bahá’u’lláh meets the exigencies of the present age. Many of His principles for a world civilization were unestablished and even unheard of at the time the program was given out. Events have moved continuously in the direction of the Bahá’í program, so radical at the time of its pronouncement, but now appreciated by all intelligent people as vitally necessary to the world of today.
At present the Bahá’í program is more than an idea—it is an actual movement of potency with organized followers in 78 countries of the world and a temple on the shores of Lake Michigan near Chicago, the major edifice in the line of church architecture completed in this country since the depression, and acclaimed by many architects as the most beautiful building of modern times. This movement for world peace, suppressed in Germany during the Nazi regime, and in Russia during the anti-religious period of Sovietism, is being restored in both these countries, has spread throughout every state of this country, and is organized in every country of Central and South America and most of Europe. In Egypt, Persia, ‘Iráq and India it is widespread. It has succeeded in uniting to an unusual degree members of every major race and religion in the world.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS TODAY
1. The World Needs Peace.
A hundred years ago peace was not felt as a desperate need of the world. Today it is so felt. The destructions, both militaristic and economic, caused by the first World War, and the terrific devastation, suffering and chaos caused by the second World War, have succeeded in completely disillusioning humanity as to the worthwhileness of war. The atomic bomb was the last needed argument to prove that war is insanity.
There must be peace. This truth Bahá’u’lláh declared almost a century ago, sending messages to all the rulers of the world exhorting them in the name of God to cease war and to establish universal peace. Little attention was paid at that time to this cry in the wilderness, for war was then a respectable enterprise. It was a means of building up
Pioneer family of Egyptian Bahá’ís with Believers of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Mr. Sabry Elias (center rear row) and his wife and two children are a source of wonder and interest to strangers as he is of a Christian family and she of a Muḥammadan one, intermarriage between the two religions being almost unheard of.
empires; of adding wealth and prestige to nations. Arguments for peace sounded upon deaf ears.
Now the peace program of the Bahá’í’s receives respectful attention from all audiences and individuals. The first need of the world is peace, declared Bahá’u’lláh. The vast majority of humanity now realize the truth of this statement.
2. The World Needs a Form of Super-Government.
There is only one way to eliminate war on this planet as an expression of rivalry between nations, and that is a pattern of international government, of world federation, which would supplant the jingoistic nationalism prevalent up to date. Wilson, with prophetic vision, realized this in the first World War, and consecrated his remaining years to the establishment of such a federation. His failure was due not to lack of vision, but to the recalcitrance of nations not yet ready to renounce the extremes of nationalism. As a result, the League of Nations, although it was the expression of a splendid and necessary ideal, proved futile to accomplish its primary purpose of preventing war.
It may be interesting at this point to note that Woodrow Wilson was acquainted with the writings of Bahá’u’lláh on world peace and world brotherhood, and studied them in the privacy of his chamber, it is presumed intimately.
The world pattern proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh envisages a world federation as competently endowed to manage the affairs of the various nations of the world as the United States was endowed by its Constitution with the management of its thirteen colonies. This world federation, as pronounced by Bahá’u’lláh, would consist of a world legislature which would be empowered to regulate such international affairs as world trade, the exploitation of the world’s natural resources, and the establishment of a universal weights and measures and monetary system. In this world legislature each country would be represented in accordance with its population. This world legislature would be supplemented by a world court which would have power to adjudicate all quarrels between nations, and its decisions would be enforced by an international police organization if and when necessary. Conversely, as the power of an international police force was built up, national disarmamentation would gradually take place until an international situation came about approximating the situation in the forty-eight states of this country. Armamentation would be for preservation of internal order only and not for warfare between countries.
This world federation, as set forth by
Bahá’u’lláh over seventy-five years ago, contained
several factors absolutely essential to
a planetary super-government, but in advance still
of the thinking and practice of
nationalism, as it exists even in this period
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of ardent desire for world peace. For instance,
the method of representation in accordance with
populations would give China,
a country supremely weak in a militaristic
way, a tremendous quota in the world legislature.
It would give backward countries,
low in literacy and culture, a representation
equal to or surpassing that of some countries
high in civilization. The world is not ready
yet to put such a pattern into practice. It
may be a hundred years before it will be.
But it is quite evident that this is the only
fair and equitable procedure in the conducting
of a super—government.
A second factor, absolutely necessary to world government, but in advance of humanity’s readiness today to put such government into practice, is the establishment of a world court which would have absolute power to adjudicate all friction between nations. This involves a renunciation of nationalism such as the world, with all its talk of peace, is not yet ready to put into practice. A century may elapse before such a court can be established, but it must be and will be so established for the simple reason that an efficient world government can not exist without it.
A third factor far beyond the preparation of the world today is that of national disarmament. Instead of such disarmamentation, we see the great nations of the world energetically conceiving and preparing new and more terrible instruments of warfare. As the author writes these lines, squadrons of bigger and better bombers are buzzing overhead in formation practice, and a jet plane is zooming at a speed that spells menace to the world.
Yet the disarmament of the various nations comprising a world super-government is absolutely essential to any efficiency of power of such a government. Such renunciation of the means of warfare is employed in all effective federation, as evidenced in the history of Switzerland and the United States. The component parts of such a federation, it is evident, can not possess greater military power than the federation as a whole. The federal army, to which is delegated the duty of maintaining order within the country and between the respective states, can not be weaker than the military power of any given state.
The rise of nationalism itself was predicated upon the disarmamentation of the feudal lords who, previous to the growth of nationalism, possessed greater military power often than the King himself. Henry II of France and Edward IV of England had the vision to see that the power of the warrior barons must be destroyed if the kinghood was to have any actual power, and as a result of their efficiency in overpowering their feudal lords, these countries became the first in history to establish nationalism.
So today a world organization can be very little effective until it possesses a greater military power than any of its component parts. This can come about only by the establishment of an effective international police force and the disestablishment of militarism within each nation.
The abandonment of militarism, expressed in disarmament by each nation of the world, must be simultaneous. It would not be wise or safe for any one nation to practice disarmament until all were ready sincerely to put this measure into effect. The world will not be ready for such a step until there has been established a strong mutual faith between all nations, such as now exists between the United States and Canada. War is practically foresworn as between these two countries. No fortifications protect their mutual borders and the mutual psychology and spiritual attitudes prevailing in these two countries is such as to render war between them unthinkable. To a lesser degree the same situation holds as between the United States and Great Britain. This is because of strong linguistic, racial and cultural unities. When all the peoples of the world approximate such unity, war anywhere will be unthinkable.
It will take a long period of time, and perhaps some trying ordeals of humanity, before the world is prepared to put such a radical program into effect, but such a program is obviously essential to world organization. This pattern, as set forth by Bahá’u’lláh, must and will eventually control the planet.
3. The World Needs a New Consciousness of the Essential Oneness of Humanity.
Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed, as the spiritual focus of his movement, the development of a new consciousness on the part of humanity which would rise above and shpersede the nationalistic consciousness. In this small planet, humanity is really one; and as all scientists have come to realize, there is but one species of humans upon the globe. The needs of these humans—regardless of the color of their skin, their language or their habitat—is in reality one and the same.
Until a consciousness of these needs which Bahá’u’lláh preached can be established in human hearts, the ideals of world federation will fly upon weak wings. That which gives strength and power to present day nationalism is the psychology of unity which the principles of nationalism have indoctrinated in its peoples. Without such unity there is no coherent nationalism—as for instance is evidenced in the inchoate, unmilitary lumbering empire of China, which has not yet developed any sense of national unity or national efficiency.
A world united by any pattern not built upon a psychological unity would not be a stable world. On the other hand, when the desire for world unity is widespread, when the consciousness of other’s needs is universally developed, when the desire for world brotherhood is prevalent in all peoples of the world,—then and not until then the right world pattern can be found, established, and executed with success.
4. The World Needs a Universal Auxiliary Language.
Bahá’u’lláh declared a universal auxiliary language to be a supreme need of the world state, its purpose being not only to facilitate trade, travel and world culture, but to establish the psychology of oneness. He stated in his epistles to the various rulers of the world that they should call a council and select a language to serve for such auxiliary interchange,—either an existing language or an artificial one; require it in all the schools of the world; and in a generation establish it as a going concern. This Bahá’u’lláh declared to be a spiritual obligation of mankind and he laid great emphasis upon it. Since this declaration of Bahá’u’lláh, a Polish educator, Zamenhof, conceived the vision, independent of any connection with Bahá’u’lláh, of an artificial language to serve in the capacity of an auxiliary world language, and toiling in his spare time for years he created Esperanto, now the leading contestant of some six rivals for the artificial world language, including Ido, Nuvo Latino, New English, etc.
The advantage of an artificial language is that it is neutral. It does not violate the pride and self-esteem of nations devoted to the culture and spread of their own language. It escapes the implications of nationalistic imperialism, which the claim of any existing language to be the medium might arouse in other nations. The disadvantage of having an artificial language is its lack of economy, in that when studied it opens up no world of literature or learning to its students. Many years must elapse before the world’s literature would be translated and available in such a language.
The advantage of an existing language is, apart from the jealousy of other linguists, quite apparent. Let us take, for example, the English language, the native language now of a great proportion of the world’s population and territory; the cultural secondary language of countries representing almost half the world’s population; and more important still, a language in which exists either in original works or in translations a body of cultural and scientific literature which, I venture to state, is greater than all the combined literatures of all the other combined languages of the world.* Therefore the advantage of English as a world auxiliary language is that immediately a student of a foreign country acquired English, he would have available this immense literature existing in the English-speaking world. The disadvantage
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*Statistics are not available upon this point, but scholars to whom the writer has propounded this claim have admitted that it is probably true. The reason that there exists in the English language such an immense body of cultural and scientific literature is because the immense wealth of the Anglo-Saxon world, including Great Britain and the United States, and its cultural activities for centuries, have caused the translation of all valuable works of the world into its language so that in its combined libraries exists a wealth of world thought incomparably greater than that existing in any other language of the world.
of English is mainly in its spelling and in the natural jealousy of other linguistic nationals. As for grammar, English has the simplest grammar of any nation in the world. Its only fault is its spelling, which, were English to be chosen as the auxiliary language, must necessarily be reduced to uniformity approximating, for example, the admirable phonetic uniformity of Spanish.
It is to be noted that such an auxiliary language would not at first displace the native languages—it would be secondary to them. It would greatly facilitate world travel, world trade and world thought. It is extremely essential to radio communications over the planet and to the development of the talking movie. It is apparent, upon consideration, that this universal secondary language would tend eventually to become the primary language. In other words, the time would come when the present individual languages would sink to a secondary level, as a classical storehouse of national culture.
5. The World Needs the Establishment of a Common Universal System of Education Leading to the Rise of a World Civilization.
Bahá’u’lláh declared that education should be universal and of a world-wide type. In all the schools of the world the ideals of human brotherhood and world peace should be taught. We have learned from the last war how a system of education based on converse ideas leads to hatred, war and destruction. We deem education so important toward world peace that we are superintending the educational methods and ideas of the conquered countries so that war delirium may not again arise throughout an entire population. If education is so important from the negative point of view, it is even more important from the positive and constructive point of view. The most important obligation of the educator, from the Bahá’í point of view, is to inculcate in children from the earliest age the spiritual ideals of world peace and world brotherhood, of serviceableness to all people, of responsibility of the individual as a world citizen to aid in the needs of all of the world as a whole in addition to the service he renders his own country.
A universal system of education for the planet implies the spread of technology with all its amazing developments in all fields of human enterprise—industrial, agricultural, and sanitary. So long as immense backward areas of the world remain retarded they serve as an enormous temptation to imperialism on the part of the more advanced technological nations. The world’s resources are too important, too precious, and too limited in quantity to be allowed to remain undeveloped because some areas in which they exist are inhabited by people incapable of exploiting them. It is highly important to the establishment of a stable world society that all members of it become equally advanced in technological ability. So important is this that Bahá’u’lláh enjoins it as a spiritual obligation on the part of Orientals to acquire the advanced civilization of the Occident. Such a spiritual motivation as Bahá’u’lláh declares for progress is needed to stimulate the mystic soul of the East. In the name of God they will make willing effort to progress in the arts and sciences. This is already evidenced in the strong and wholehearted efforts the Bahá’í communities of Persia and other countries of the Orient are making to progress in education and in technology.
Such a world civilization does not necessitate uniformity in culture. We may define civilization as the extent of man’s progressive conquest of nature and utilization of her resources for greater comfort and pleasure of living; whereas culture may be defined as man’s esthetic appreciation and adaptation of his environment. Technology requires more or less uniformity of method. There is at any prevailing period one best way. This height of achievement established in one part of the world will tend rapidly to be copied and approximated in all parts of the world. But in the realm of culture, human taste and imagination rules. There can be many forms and expressions of beauty. A world civilization does not imply the destruction of cultures, various and charming, of each separate component nation and peoples.
6. The World Needs a Reform in Morals and a Spiritual Renaissance.
The morals of the various peoples of the
world have been degenerating rapidly in the
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last fifty years, with great acceleration after
World War One and still more noticeably
during and after World War Two. The
major factor in this degeneration is the falling
away of religious motivation for conduct.
Bahá’u’lláh stated that the ills in the world
today are due to the waning of religion. All
over the world ancient religious customs and
restraints have greatly weakened, leaving
human behavior largely to the motivation of
convénance—a French word which has no
equivalent in English, meaning “that which
is convenient or wise from a practical point
of view.” This is plainly not sufficient
motivation for moral conduct. The temptations
of sensuality are too great to be safeguarded
by the rules of convénance. Nothing less
than the power of religious impulse can
safely motivate human conduct.
Without going into details concerning the prevalence and accelerated growth of sexual laxity, of alcoholic excess, of commercial greed and dishonesty throughout this country and throughout the world, it is evident that unless there is a change in the direction of movement toward deterioration, the world will not be worth saving from another war. For if the retrogression in morals continues at the same pace as during the last twenty-five years, we shall soon have a world as decadent as that of Ancient Rome.
Bahá’u’lláh made strong demands upon his followers for lofty ethical conduct, nobility of character, the practice of spiritual restraints, the exercise of daily prayer as a means of spiritual and moral strength, the development of a consciousness of God and love for Him, the expression of this Divine Love in attitudes and actions toward one’s fellow men.
There is no other way, as far as the writer can observe, in which human morals can be lifted up, the terrifying pace of retrogression checked, and the world saved from moral collapse. A few religious groups exist on the planet whose religious indoctrination and religious zeal is still strong enough to cause moral conduct. Among these spiritual societies, the Bahá’ís stand supreme in the loftiness of their conduct and the morality of their youth.
7. The World Needs to Achieve a Reconciliation Between Science and Religion.
Bahá’u’lláh said that science and religion were the two wings upon which humanity flies. If either is weak, there will be disaster. He praised science greatly and its power to elevate the living conditions and the happiness of mankind. And he said that science and religion must come into accord. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá remarked that if religion teaches things that are plainly not in accord with truth as science has demonstrated it, such religious teaching is not truth.
If we reflect a little it becomes evident that there can not be two truths about the universe. There can not be one universe which is materialistic, and another entirely different universe which is spiritual.
Science has had its heydey. Because of its remarkable powers of analysis of nature, its precision in estimating the movements of heavenly bodies, its power of synthesis, its discovery and creation of new sources of power, it has acquired an enormous authority in the minds of all educated men and women. At present this authority far outweighs, among the intelligentsia, the authority of religion. This is because religion still holds to traditions which, in the light of modern science, are ridiculous.
There can be no reconciliation between science and religion until religion abandons these fals’e doctrines and forms; and science, on the other hand, becomes willing to recede from its position of dogmatism and unjustifiable positivism. Such welcome tendencies are today visible, fortunately, in the fields both of religion and of science. But until a complete rapprochement occurs there can be no stability or wholesomeness in human psychology. We all fail in mental health. We all have split-psyches so long as one side of our being supremely admires the teachings, power and achievements of science, while another side of our being turns with longing and aspiration toward spiritual goals which science has derided. When the intelligent, educated and thinking people of the world acquire unity in psychology regarding the material world which they daily contact and the spiritual world which they ought daily to contact, life will be more wholesome and more joyous on this planet.
8. The World Needs Religious Unity.
The division of humanity into several great world religions, each apparently incapable of absorbing the others, and into innumerable sects within each one of the great world religions, is not conducive to spiritual wholesomeness. This is one of the reasons for the skepticism of scientists regarding religion. If a skeptic is urged to become a religionist, he may with good logic retort—“Which one of the world religions; and within that one, which one of its numerous sects, should I accept as truth? Not all can be false. Not any one can have all truth.” As a result of such a situation, the intellectuals of the present day become eclectics, gleaning for themselves whatever spiritual philosophy they have, but refraining from yielding themselves to any religion with claims of authority.
The Bahá’í Movement declares the authenticity of all the great world religions, but considers that their vital and primary truth has been overgrown and encrusted with traditions and dogmas throughout the ages. There is only one God, there is only one spiritual truth. When all the peoples of the world unite in that truth and in allegiance to the one God, there will be found in such a unity of spiritual concept and practice an enormous motivation for unity of civilization, unity of world government and stability, in all the affairs of men.
9. The World Needs Faith.
We need more faith in God, more faith in man and more faith in God’s plan for a human society that reflects the Divine pattern for humanity enunciated by Christ— “The Kingdom of God on Earth.” Bahá’u’lláh has restored that vividness of faith which inspired the lives of the early followers of Christ—the faith that a better world is in the making and that God’s will for humanity will never rest short of the establishment of a peaceful, united and happy civilization on this planet. To this faith and to this consummation the Bahá’ís the world over give their devoted allegiance. They are, as one statesman in Washington recently said, the only optimists left in the world because they live and carry on with the absolute conviction that world peace will be achieved and that a new world pattern will emerge from the carnage and chaos of the past.
The Bahá’ís look forward confidently to a period beginning before the end of the present century in which a workable basis for peace will have been arrived at and the energies of the world will be devoted to the progress of humanity. They envisage the subsequent and more complete development of an ideal world society characterized by the principles already described,—world federation, a universal language, the equitable development and distribution of the world’s resources, and the dedication of science to human progress and prosperity.
The Bahá’ís foresee a world in which all prejudice—racial, national and religious—will have died away; in which a vital spiritual brotherhood will unite the hearts of all peoples the world over. To this great goal they dedicate their lives and devote their activities. As David Cushman Coyle, economist and writer, recently said to the author, "The Bahá’í plan is the salvation of the world, if it can be spread fast enough.”
The darkest hour is just before the dawn. The more that secular means for world unity fail, the more will humanity be inclined towards spiritual means. We shall not be too much perturbed by the present confusion and disunity prevailing over the planet, if we hold fast to the ideal pattern. Right will ultimately prevail, because God is on its side.
No one can with assurance work for world peace today, unless he is sustained by a vivid faith that such peace is possible and ultimately practicable. Short of faith in Divine guidance and Divine assistance, there is little to sustain the idealist today. The material aspects of the world are bad, and there is nothing to indicate that they may not grow worse.
As our forefathers, in working out the
Constitution and in forging a unity of the
thirteen colonies into a great nation, were
sustained not only by great vision but also
by faith in Divine guidance and assistance,
so today the whole world needs assurance
that God’s will is working even in public
events and that He will not leave this planet
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in a condition short of attainment of His
ultimate purpose, even though disaster become
an instrument of such purpose.
The Bahá’ís are sustained by the belief, based on the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, that even planetary disaster will not be an end in itself but rather an instrument for the forging out of a new world pattern and for the establishment of a new age of brotherhood and peace upon the earth.
6.
CALIFORNIA—HOST TO THE NATIONS
BY MARZIEH GAIL
IT RAINED a little that first afternoon and the air was full of omens. For weeks, San Francisco had been getting ready; signs read, "Let’s clean up—company coming”; hotels put up scaffolding and had their outer walls steamed; flags of many nations lined the streets, that of the United States everywhere at half mast for the late President, Persia’s Lion and Sun at home with the rest.
Hundreds of people had concerned themselves with the Conference. They had organized fleets of cars and buses, piloted by young women, for delegates and personnel; they had marshalled telephone operators knowing foreign languages, and stenographers, and information experts; at the Opera House they had collected Campfire Girls and Boy Scouts and nurses and chefs and waitresses. Avenues were roped off, and patrolled by security police in white steel helmets. Public address systems were set up. Pink and lavender rhododendrons were massed in the park opposite the St. Francis Hotel. School children got out their autograph albums and lurked in the crowded lobbies like hunters in a duck blind; for weeks their school work was to focus on the Conference. Handsome metal lapel buttons appeared—pale blue for the Conference officials, crimson for the press—bearing gold lettering and an outline of the planet, wreathed in laurel. Not only the authorities, but all San Francisco was host: saleswomen; society matrons; postmen; bootblacks; mothers holding up their babies to see the delegates go up the Opera House steps.
Perhaps it was the first fulfillment of what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said of the Californians long ago: "I hope that advocates of peace may daily increase among them until the whole population shall stand for that beneficent outcome. . . . May the first flag of international peace be upraised in this State.”
And every night during the nine weeks of the Conference, the big cross on Mt. Davidson was illuminated, the beams rippling out under starlight and through the salt fog from the Pacific.
* * *
The Opera House throbbed, that day, with enormous energy and exhilaration, heightened by the intermittent lightning of flash bulbs in the semi-darkness, and the whirring of newsreel cameras. Delegates filed in through lanes of guards in the crowded foyer. Hundreds of observers, the lucky ones who had managed to procure tickets, jammed the balconies. In the beginning, the State Department had selected forty-two organizations to be represented at the Conference by consultants; the Department then granted admission to representatives of a number of other national organizations and publications, among them the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada and the "Bahá’í World.” As for the press, its list of representatives at one time totaled 2,300. The public admissions office was soon to close down, snowed under 60,000 requests for tickets.
It was one of the most complex audiences ever come together under one roof. Negro writers, school girls, millionaires, women marines, college presidents, movie actors, wounded servicemen; and then the delegates themselves, men from all over the globe, leaders in their respective countries: vice-presidents, prime ministers, ministers of foreign
Panoramic view of the property dedicated as the ”Hamilton Bahá’í Center,” on October 19, 1944, by Mrs. Emma M. Rice, Hamilton, Massachusetts.
affairs, ambassadors. And everyone there in the Opera House expectant, tense, waiting —not for a concert to begin, nor an opera—but for peace to begin.
Music from somewhere wove through it, melancholy, not loud because of the recent death; then they were playing. “The world is waiting for the sunrise.” The lights went up, from the wings seventeen men and women of the United States armed forces marched on stage to form a guard of honor, America’s Secretary of State entered with other officials, there was a tense pause, he banged the gavel four times, and perhaps it was destiny knocking.
A crowded minute of meditation, and then, by radio, the voice of the President of the United States, bringing America’s message to the United Nations. The voice was typically American; it symbolized America’s contribution to international life; it was not martial, or authoritarian, or operatic; it was neighborly. The audience leaned forward as if the President were there. Bulbs kept on flashing, cameras whirring, as he spoke. "In your hands rests our future,” the voice was saying. "Justice remains the greatest power on earth. To that tremendous power alone will we submit . . . with Divine guidance, friendly cooperation and hard work we shall find an answer. . . . We beseech Almighty God to guide us in building a permanent monument to those who gave their lives that this moment might come.”
* * *
And so it began, with high hopes and a high sense of mission. Belgium said: "Millions of men and women have their eyes fixed on us. This is an opportunity which perhaps will never return. It is our duty not to deceive all those who hope.” And Peru: "As progress is a continuous struggle we must exert ourselves so that progress may unfold within a friendly pattern.” And the Philippines: “Let us make this floor the last battlefield. . . . We are here to determine whether the human race is going to exist. . . . Technicalities can be ironed out—of more lasting importance is the spiritual structure.” And Nicaragua: "The supreme effort is an effort of the spirit.”
The days and weeks went by. The Conference weathered crisis upon crisis, and often the man in the street wondered whether it would not disintegrate with nothing accomplished. Meanwhile the twelve committees of experts labored day and night; slowly the work went forward, and as a Liberian official commented, it was as if the delegates were moved by a power higher than themselves.
Often the public sessions were long and slow and dull; there was almost a factory quality in the Opera House those days as section after section of the Charter was assembled. The audience drifted in and, discouraged by the long talks in foreign languages or by technical discussions that were equally foreign, drifted out. It was hot and the air smelled of burning paint from the hot Klieg lights and the cameramen and technicians wore their shirtsleeves.
The Conference procedure, however, was
an art form. An expert on this phase of the
work was present at all times; he carried a
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paper-covered book entitled “A Guide to the
Practice of International Conferences,” and
reportedly had difficulties because of the lack
of precedents. To Bahá’ís, the dignity and
courtesy of the participants were memorable,
and helped explain the emphasis placed
by Bahá’u’lláh on courtesy in all our dealings.
Certainly large-scale group activity of a
complex nature cannot proceed without the
discipline of supreme courtesy. In manner,
tone, expression, the delegates were usually
exemplary; even in disagreement they were
moderate, and there was a liberal use of courtesy
titles—"Mr. Chairman, Sir, the honorable delegate,
my esteemed colleague . . .”
And they were working under new and unnatural
conditions; for instance the Chinese
had to coin fifty new words during the Conference,
the Arabs had trouble translating
"national sovereignty” and the French
"peace-loving nations,” the Steering Committee
spent two hours debating whether to
title the first chapters “Purposes and Principles”
or "Principles and Purposes.”
As the Charter formed there were many references to the United States Constitution and the fact was emphasized that within four years of its adoption, ten vital amendments were made. The delegates began to feel that at least in the Charter they had an effective beginning and that their work would be "progressively modified.”
Of the American hemisphere, Peru said: "In the Spanish language a great Argentinian said, ‘America for Humanity.’ ” And among many references to justice, Canada: "Justice is the common concern of mankind.” And a reference to force, by Mexico: "Force must be an exclusive instrument of the community of nations.” Mexico also said that this is "a time when destiny calls us to the fullness of international life.” And of human nature, Syria: "We don’t expect to change human nature—all we need do is draw out of it the best that is in it.” And of the Covenant of the League, often referred to, South Africa: “It was a great and noble effort, much in advance of anything that had been done or even attempted before . . . in its day it registered a great and real advance. . . . Alas, the Covenant was only a milestone; this new Charter may also prove to be only a milestone. . . . The framers of the last peace lived in a political world, they thought a political solution would suffice. . . .” And of women, Brazil: "This is the first time in international affairs that women have had a full and entire collaboration.” China said: “The work here is only setting up the machinery. How it can work depends on governments and peoples, not merely on this very dignified and sacred Charter.” And Ecuador: “In years to come the world will not ask how long we were in San Francisco, but with what wisdom and imagination we built there for the future.”
Toward the end there was an upsurge of enthusiasm and Panama said: ”This Organization is going to be the government of the world!” And the Netherlands, cautious: "This new system legalizes the mastery of might. . We hope; we trust that the future will justify our hopes.” And New Zealand, commenting on the fact that at this time, it was a choice between this organization or no organization at all: "I am sure in every impulse of my heart that the better course was followed; for the world could never understand the intricacies of voting principles, but only that once again mankind had come together, and failed. Debate was free; it ran the gamut. . . .” El Salvador said: “We came here to build something—whether a palace or a hut; a structure —however humble a structure. We are all going to give it our support in spite of the fact that it goes very short of the expectations of many of us.”
There was an affirmation from India that should not go unnoted: "Ultimately the essential purpose will be gained . . . some are suggesting that reference to Providence should not be introduced into the Charter. How can any of us for a moment consider that it is not the Hand of Providence that has brought us together? I am one of those who believe that it is Providence that is shaping our ends. . . . Providence is behind all delegates and all conferences. His will is above the wills of all powers, great or small.”
They ratified the San Francisco Charter at
the ninth plenary session after nine long
weeks of struggle. The mood that evening
was informal and relieved. The House was
jammed again, and there was still the high
sense of mission of the first day, although
[Page 682]
hope and fear had given way now to realization.
The big powers had laid a basis for
cooperation among themselves, and had assumed
a primary responsibility for keeping
the peace; regional arrangements had been
geared to the global organization; there was
the General Assembly, a center for the mobilization
of world opinion; the Economic
and Social Council had received important
fact-finding and consultative functions; one
purpose of the organization was to be the
promotion of human rights "without distinction
as to race, sex, language, or religion.” The
Trusteeship Council for Dependent Territories
was bound to recognize
the paramount interests of the governed;
there was the International Court of Law
continuing the international organ for justice
set up under the League of Nations;
best of all, perhaps, there was the Preamble,
worded, as the Philippines representative said,
"so that we may hope to find an answer in
the hearts of humanity.”
When they were about to vote, the Chairman emphasized the historic value of the act by saying; "In view of the world importance of this vote, it would be appropriate to depart from the usual method of raising one hand—if you felt with me I would ask the leaders of the delegations to rise and remain standing during the vote on an issue likely to be as important an issue as any of us in our life are ever likely to vote about.” People in the galleries leaped to their feet, to look down at the delegates in the orchestra, but subsided again at the cries of "Sit down!” from their fellows. There was silence, filled with flash bulbs and the spinning of the cameras and then, at the vortex of enormous applause, every one of the fifty delegation heads had risen.
Hour after hour the next day, they signed the United Nations Charter. What the world saw was the blue drapes, the circle of flags on their white standards, the two great books open on the table, the correct young men wordlessly assisting the delegates and staffs. But all this was only an oasis, like a movie set, in the midst of chaos—men in shirtsleeves swarming up and down scaffolding, rows of half-empty Coca-Cola bottles on the newsreel men’s platform, news photographers and members of the press lounging here and there, a voice coming over a loud speaker, and permeating everything, the hot paint smell from the Klieg lights. One following another, the delegations came in; the chairman and others signed, the pen flashing gold in the bright sunshine of the spotlight; flanked by his staff, the Chairman smiled, spoke a few words for the newsreels, led the way out. At last the quiet voice over the public address system announced: "Guatemala will be the next and final nation to sign.” When the third Guatemalan representative had affixed his signature, vigorously pumping the pen up and down, the Charter was accomplished.
The San Francisco Conference was of significance to Bahá’ís in that, among other things, it emphasized the role of the United States in international peace, a function so often ascribed to her by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and that it proved, once again, that statesmen cannot change the human heart; for the lifegiving spirit that so many of the delegates invoked is not in man’s gift. History will assign the Conference its proper place; all we can say is this, that in the spring of 1945, over a billion members of the human race met through their delegates in San Francisco, and signed their names to a document, perhaps immortal, which began:
“We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights . . . and to promote social progress. . . . And for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors, and to unite our strength . . . and to insure . . . that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples . . . do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.”
* * *
What the men and women of San Francisco needed most, was something beyond themselves. They needed a universal Power to refer to, beyond the powers that be; a single Point that each could turn to. It will
Interior view of the lecture and meeting room of the "Hamilton Bahá’í Center” dedicated to the service of the Faith on October 19, 1944, by the owner, Mrs. Emma M. Rice of Hamilton, Massachusetts.
take more than good will to bring world peace. As some of the delegates said, only the spirit can achieve it. That spirit is in our Faith. Perhaps we do not explain it very well, but it is fashioned of the tears of the Master and the chains of Bahá’u’lláh; of the bullets in the heart of the Báb; of the light from the candles burning in the wounds of Hájí Sulaymán Khán as he walked to his death; of the smoke from the bonfire they made with the limbs of Quddús.
* * *
Golden Gate Park stretches westward along the Pacific, not many blocks from where the Conference met. There is a little lake here where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sometimes liked to walk. A path winds round it, slipping through sunlight and shade; it is back from the road, sheltered by slopes of pale hydrangeas. The path comes to a marble, pillared structure, like a small temple, set in dark trees; this was once the doorway of a San Francisco mansion, and later brought as a relic of the fire, to the edge of this lake. It is very quiet here, under the laurels and eucalyptus; wild rabbits feed in the clover, the lake streams away in the wind from the ocean, the sun drifts down, gold and dreamlike. It is quiet and the presence of the Master seems very close, perhaps because He walked and prayed here during His brief moments of rest, and His beauty was mirrored here. The memory of the words He spoke in San Francisco is very loud in the stillness:
“The age has dawned when human fellowship will become a reality.
"The century has come when all religions shall be unified.
"The dispensation is at hand when all nations shall enjoy the blessings of International Peace. . . .
“The cycle has arrived when racial prejudice will be abandoned. . . .
“The epoch has begun wherein all nativities will be conjoined in one great human family.
“For all mankind shall dwell in peace and security beneath the shelter of the . . . one living God.”
7.
HIS JAPANESE WITNESSES
BY HELEN BISHOP
THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD
FOLLOWERS of Bahá’u’lláh tell audaciously in meetings large and small that a magnificent culture will be shared by all nations in this cycle. We tell how this new order of life and manners was called into being when the Holy Spirit became manifest and vocal in the Coming of Bahá’u’lláh almost a hundred years ago.
As we point out, ever since the Holy Prophet entitled the Báb (i.e., the Gate) summoned God’s witnesses to the New Dispensation, mankind has been worked upon by suffering and change to accept the newly revealed World Faith as ready soil does the seed.
In plain talk, the Bahá’ís realize that nationalism is dead. But, we are finding out, funnily enough, that public opinion and specialists have not yet admitted there was anything so final as a burial. Among the unconvinced are a formidable number of cynics, who hold that a planetary civilization would be nice but impossible. Words from mortals cannot convince them that man will become decent. The type I cope with have no real convictions and never become tense: unexcitedly, without forfeiting a mite of charm, they declare the Bahá’ís to be unrealistic or starry-eyed or equally awful things the proudly practical can bring out of their vocabularies whenever they try to fence in the free.
Perhaps the only thing they are sure of is this grand libidinous age they are seeing destroy itself. But I say there are too many moderns suffering from vacancy of soul. Cynics put themselves spiritually on the dole —yes, the sociable ones as well as the aloof—inasmuch as they are leaving it to others to attain vision enough combined with courage and strength to carry the whole load towards the future.
Can anyone doubt the survival value of a high morale? Whomsoever does not doubt it, owes it to all other men to rise with the unified collective will and get on with the job of the necessary world government. For world reconciliation and government have been divinely intended for this century. More’s the pity if men were created to work towards victory and yet fail to know Him by Whom it comes! Already it has been said, "The horse gallopeth but the Rider is invisible.”
More blessed are the witnesses! They are souls that willed to rise above the obvious, fix their attention for God and accept the gift of faith in the new Revelation. God the All-mighty has sent Bahá’u’lláh to stand in His stead and start a civilization with a universal Holy Book.
THE TRANSFORMING POWER
Each one of the Verses of this newest Book secrets a wonder-working power. Therein lies a transforming influence which can create in the devotee a new category of thought serving a universal purpose. It has been attested that a single Verse has mended a broken life or made a timid soul speak out bravely.
This Revelation can raise us all from death to life; and, if you can believe it (or even if you can’t) the process of compulsory world redemption is going on right now. Not every woman can decipher a pattern and visualize a frock before it is cut nor every man see a house built by taking in the plan of it. A country friend flatters us if he draws for our direction a map of highways and crossroads leading to his home.
To grasp the action before it is done—ah, this demands the Unclouded Vision of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He has interpreted, by appointment from the Revelator Bahá’u’lláh, the divine Plan for World Commonwealth sent down from Heaven. In a threefold pattern of divine inspiration the science of world government has its Source.
Those who will turn to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Teachings with unmixed minds and ready hearts will discover therein the fulfillment of their own true selves. And that is because the modern’s will for world citizenship and service itself has been generated by the Will and Word of God for the entire human race. Service is the shortcut to self-realization or redemption in this compelling hour.
The Word is the bearer of the Spirit that redeems from separateness and unites with the whole. By The Word is intended the speaking of God embodied as the Prophet. The creative Word will accomplish what mortals cannot do just by talking. We claim that a worldwide acceptance of Bahá’u’lláh would work a spiritual change from within outwards whilst His divine plan for one World Community is now at work from without inwards. And that all lesser planning will break down because either the inner or the outer change is wanting.
Already some former cynics have been transformed while giving their attention to the Bahá’í Teachings. They heard, read, prayed, yielded and came into the living organism of the World Community. They acknowledge the appointed Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, in his station of guidance and spiritual leadership. And now they are so changed—so thoroughly "born again”—that it is as hard for them to recapitulate the life they followed as worldlings as it would be for any of us to relate his prenatal experience. And, perhaps, even less interesting.
THE TABLETS TO JAPAN
Through the gate of remembrance comes the image of Doctor George Augur, the nineteenth “Herald of the Covenant.” He opened Japan for the Cause. His ministrations healed bodies and prepared souls to receive ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Letters. This immortal pioneer adopted the Japanese psyche: that is to say, he spoke the language, lived in a Japanese house, wore the formal kimono, and chose the serene canon of taste which consists in putting away all treasures saving but one point of contemplation—such as a rose, a vase, book or bibelot.
Have you not seen an orange booklet of the nineteen Tablets to Japan? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed the first of the series in 1916. The last is one giving recognition "to the new friends of Korea” and is dated early in the month of His departure from earth. So these Letters seem to be a last munificent gesture —as it were, the rounding out of His earthly mission.
When first they came to my hand it was nineteen years ago, on our wedding trip, spent among the varied peoples in Hawaii. Although Bahá’í life puts no strain upon one to accept the fellowship of differentiated peoples inasmuch as friendship comes easily from out the paramount sense of the essential oneness of mankind, for me, and even while bowing to their talents, the Japanese had remained an enigma. The Spanish half of me whispered that the self-contained presence with which they faced the world must be persona or what is defined psychologically as the collective masque. Their poised and somewhat detached mien, preciseness and quaint mysteriousness was baffling. For whenever one can see the light and shadow of a human personality—that is to say, “the nine good points and the one bad”—then one knows where one stands in relatedness. “How are they, really?” I wanted to know. "And what is the individuality restrained by the aesthetics of their every day life?”
No ready answer was given in my quandary by the Japanese as we sipped tea and talked. Even though our chit—chat went on and on, I felt more than a little bit gauche before their smooth and ceremonious behavior. The easy way out would have been to think no more about it. And that is also the way to forfeit a share in the mutually communicative experience the civilized are always groping for here below.
There are times when one’s questions are never answered and yet they cease to be germane because they have been transcended. Human relations can be lifted to a plane higher than psychology. And that happened under the yoke which Heaven put between us with the aforementioned Tablets.
For ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did understand the
Japanese. He knew them—as He knew all children
of the Most High God. One sees a
child not as he is, but knows the child is
as he will be. And that is how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
foresaw the destiny of a people and paid for
[Page 686]
us all a tribute to the spirituality of the
Japanese.
It was to a young girl in Tokyo that He wrote three of the series. He addressed her, “O thou beloved daughter!” and declared that in their kinship of hearts the East and the West embraced.
Furthermore, He wrote:
"The enlightened people of Japan are tired and disgusted with the superannuated and putrified blind imitations. They are assured that these blind imitations are pure superstitions without any truth. . . .”
“The people of Japan are like unto a soil that has been deprived of rain for centuries and generations and has had no share of the outpouring of rain and even of dew. . . .”
"Such a soil as this has great capacity. One seed produces a hundredfold.”
But my husband’s bond with the Japanese had begun the way of positive knowledge. That is not from hearsay or through the exponents of limited causes, who fancy they ought to prove themselves as sovereign personalities. They tend to regard other breeds of men as inferior in order to introduce themselves as champions of a sectarian religion or an exclusive commerce and civilization. (Oh, I once heard a shining black preacher lament because too many Christians behave as if all life is fixed into categories of race, creed and property, and what is more, as if it had crystallized at a moment advantageous to themselves!) But I am almost forgetting to tell that my husband’s first orientation was taken on the basis of human interdependence and began while he was tied to the back of the laundress in the style of family life in Hawaii.
Of the Japanese nationalistic code as exhibited in war and diplomacy he had nothing to say then or now. (And I also am leaving to specialists a diagnosis of the disease of national self-interest that can lead any nation to put the worst foot forward.) It was the traditional virtues that he remembered: the old—fashioned Japanese demonstrated their singlemindedness and hard work, demanded frugality of themselves and yet were generous to others. They had reverence for learning and showed some precocity in reaching for it. And, always, in everything courtesy.
Bahá’u’lláh has named courtesy or reverence as “the lord of all virtues” and "a sign” that exists in those of spiritual rank: "But this virtue is assigned to a few; for all are not endowed with this station.” So with this Verse—explained my husband—the predilection of his youth became something else, indeed, one of “the relationships that nothing can shake.” The new dimension of significance is created by the Word.
Through time, space and the unknown I reach for the hand of that first Japanese on native soil to bear witness for Bahá’u’lláh. He was a lad at school in Toyko in 1915 when he sent this testimony of faith to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, writing in Japanese on a scroll:
“Although I am a base and poor youth in this world, I have been awakened and bathed in the ocean of Thy mercy and am so happy that I pity the king and the prince who are wandering about in the dream of temporal variance. Accept, O Master, my deep thankfulness from the bottom of the heart. I am very sorry though, when I think of our fellow men who take no thought of real happiness and do not rely upon the warm hand of Thy love. O my Lord, water me forever from the fountain of Thy mercy; I will never refuse Thy command whatsoever it may be. Forgive my sins and allow me to awaken my fellow men.”
Can anyone send me from the annals of the petitioners a more moving appeal? It stirred the heart of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and He wrote in reply:
"The Most Great Guidance is a crown the brilliant gems of which will shine upon all the future ages and cycles. If it is placed on the head of a servant, he will become the object of the envy of Kings, for this is an imperishable crown and an everlasting sovereignty. God says in the great Qur’án, He particularizes with His Mercy whomsoever He desireth.”
In the same Letter ‘Abdu’l-Bahá charges the student to be mindful of the Gospel precept, "Freely ye have received, freely give.” To practice it he should give to others the Bahá’í Message, for which he has paid nothing and for which no payment shall be made to him.
Preciousness is the characteristic of another Japanese witness. This lad was wanting in eyesight—but not in insight—and he began with this salutation:
“O my ‘Abdu’l-Bahá whose image so calm and peaceful I dreamed of and it cannot be effaced from my heart. . . .
“I confess to Thee that my heart sometimes withers like a flower in the day of summer, and loses its whole strength, nevertheless, my beloved Lord, give to me power that I can throw away every kind of prejudice and ignorance from my heart. Make my heart as pure and fresh as green grass from the spring pastures and let my soul grow more and more by Thy shower of Mercy!”
And to this ‘Abdu’l-Bahá replied:
"Japan will become illumined. . . . Do ye strive as hard as possible in order to be attracted to the Beauty of the Beloved of the World, and through the fire of His love inflame that Kingdom.”
The Japanese minister to Spain, Viscount Arawaka, together with the Viscountess received ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at the Hotel d’Jena in Paris in 1911. The interview is recorded in Lady Blomfield’s memoirs entitled “The Chosen Highway.” To the diplomatist ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave the elements of a rounded and progressive economy and concluded with the following warning:
“Scientific discoveries have increased material civilization. There is in existence a stupendous force, as yet, happily, undiscovered by man. Let us supplicate God, the Beloved, that this force be not discovered by science until spiritual civilization shall dominate the human mind. In the hands of men of lower material nature, this power would be able to destroy the whole earth.”
Later, addressing nine persons, eight of whom were young men studying in Tokyo, He wrote the Letter published in the Tablets to Japan:
“In Japan the divine proclamation will be heard as a formidable explosion, so that those who are ready will become uplifted and illumined by the Light of the Sun of Truth.”
AMOR VINCIT OMNIA
Modern souls are like jigsaw puzzles. Some of them are complex and others are devious. It looks as if there had been tossed into the jumble of their fragmentary selves a lot of chi-chi, which doesn’t even belong to them on their own, but is the trademark of their set. If the extraneous bits are discarded and the missing parts are found, they can be integrated.
When a human personality can get straightened out it attains simplicity. Nor is any price too great to pay to be rid of extraneous traits and the attendant confusion. The death of prejudices and fanaticism falls as grace and deliverance, for the self that survives the reshaping now has depth, warmth and fragrance. Although the latter may be too subtle for analysis, still it proves itself by an inimitable spiritual attraction.
There are souls which needed only a touch of the Master’s hand to integrate their being. When one of them is thus rounded out, his individual pattern curves into the larger pattern that encircles the East and the West.
Meanwhile, each one of us is spending himself for that which he loves. In the measure that the artist is capable of loving beauty he will pursue it and express himself creatively; the scientist, loving truth and order, will discover it; and the servants of the Almighty, loving Him, will not cease to gravitate towards His Manifestation.
On the great prairies of Canada we recently met a Japanese Bahá’í. In the middle of his life and for God alone he had asked for repatriation. It was the legal way opened for him to return to his native land and take part in its resuscitation.
To meet our question as to how he had become a Bahá’í, he told that he had shared the sequestration of aliens in Canada during the war. Afterwards, while passing through Regina, another Japanese informed him that he, the latter, had identified himself with the World Faith and Community. Whereupon, the traveller replied that he did not consider religion useful in the contemporary problem, adding, “I am an atheist with Buddhistic ethics.” (After all, he had preserved something from the Message of the Great Enlightener!)
Here the Regina friend suggested that they
should speak no more about it lest their
conversation become strained. Instead, he
pledged the traveller, upon his return to
[Page 688]
Winnipeg, to call upon the Chairman of the
Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly and ascertain from
him the Claim to be investigated.
Precisely this the traveller did. Upon his own statement, he acted without enthusiasm, solely from courtesy, lest he make a breach of confidence with his friend.
However, in the first interview, by the inexorability of logic, he perceived the validity of the spiritual and humanitarian principles of the promised World Order. And, quite after that, he accepted their Revelator as an Ambassador from Heaven and God as the Unknowable One Who had sent Him.
In this new stature he has sailed for Japan. From Vancouver Pierhead he sent to his mother Community of Winnipeg this farewell:
“Dear Bahá’í friends: Here I am at the Pacific Coast awaiting to leave for Japan. The boat that will take us across is in front of me. I deeply breathe the fragrance of sea air and look at the beautiful seagulls leisurely flying high and low over our heads and the harbor as if they were seeing us off with a friendly Bon Voyage.
“Though I may be gone six thousand miles away from you, my heart will always cover the distance with the speed of light. I appreciate so much your acquaintance. Sweet memories of my dear Bahá’í friends shall long be cherished.
“O Canada! the second home of my life—I bid thee farewell from the bottom of my heart. In this seemingly sentimental moment my mind is miraculously calm—I know not why! Dear Bahá’í friends, the vast expanse of the ocean is before me and my life likewise is facing the vastness of an uncertain future. God alone knows my fate. But I am going to accept whatever He chooses for me and endeavor to fulfill my wish and responsibility. I am leaving Canada with a light heart and sincerely wishing you all a good health and all the happiness. May God bless you and the Bahá’í Cause.”
As the repatriates were held under the rules of war, the Vancouver friends were not permitted to go on board. However, the authorities did allow a letter to reach him. And he received in sacred friendship that letter telling him the local Bahá’ís would look upon the ship from afar—even as the pilgrims once gazed upon the walls of the prison that kept from them the Blessed Beauty, Bahá’u’lláh.
This Cause is vast and at times mysterious. Recurrently its seasoned workers are levelled in humility by the realization that their own pet schemes for it are not acceptable in the Higher Plan. For this Cause grows by the organic processes of its own being and can raise up from out of the dust atoms that are useful to it.
For the transforming power is ever at work. It lies within the offices of the Holy Spirit to make captives of us all—not all at once, but just a few in the beginning and these distributed among the nations. Resistance and ambivalence notwithstanding, the love of God is going to dominate mankind.
A boundless joy comes with understanding that God has not abdicated, but is conscious of us and communicating His Will today. The love of God is a historical force and is verified by our ancestral testimony down the ages, but it ought to be something far more potent than that. Even as the Bahá’ís affirm, God did speak through Muḥammad, and through Christ, and before that through Moses—assuredly—then and more immediately, God is revealed through Bahá’u’lláh. The World Saviour is Bahá’u’lláh because He is the Mediator of the Holy Spirit bearing enough redemptive power to recreate the entire human race. The efficacy of divine love depends upon our being God-conscious in our own Day.
ONE WORLD AND ROUNDED
When the navigators proved the earth is round they didn’t make it so. It already was, you know, and yet that fact of existence has a creditability of less than five hundred years.
When the Holy One, less than one hundred years ago, revealed the world of humanity as a oneness and roundness, He didn’t make it so. The Creator intended it to become so from the beginning, nonetheless, this fact of being has scarcely any creditability at all. But this Will become a universal corpus of thought linked with the acceptance of God as the Creator of all His peoples.
Then the oneness of mankind shall be incontestable because the disappearance of all prejudices based on race, nation or class will leave only the singleness of the human creation. And the roundness because there will be no minorities problem anywhere after all have been accepted as contributors within the ascending curve of a world culture.
Then the oneness of religion will prevail inasmuch as the various sacred Scriptures revealed throughout the past no longer will be expounded as the flat and narrow truth, but, rather, as valid aspects of One Truth. And the roundness because that one Truth of universal religion is whole and, therefore, encircling all its parts.
When the light of the one World Faith begins to move through the compartments of living that moderns now separate into art, science, industry and government, it will unify these separatenesses and perfect them into the harmonies of one planetary culture. The oneness, wholeness and roundness of that culture shall be reflected in the shape of all things to come.
And when the gawky angles of the world man is outgrowing shall have been integrated, molded and rounded into gracefulness and power, then we shall know humanity’s adolescence is ended and its maturity is fulfilled.
Again do I hear a friendly cynic asking, “Does anybody really know that?” Go, if you must, go and ask the earth if it has not been larded with bodies all made of one and the same substance? Or hear from the ranks of men and women submerged within the nations telling that sorrow and death anywhere leads to sorrow and death everywhere. Ask the Japanese nation if the princes in their "embroidered robes” did not come down from their high places and make a lamentation for "the great city situated at the entry of the sea?” And find out if some of their dead did not so much cease breathing as themselves were dissolved into the very breath of the wind invisible over Nagasaki.
For there are some who know because they paid an exceedingly high price to find it out. And there are the Bahá’ís who know because they are taught by One Whose only Teacher is God.
And you—whoever you are—you know it. To all of us there is left but one mature question. And this is it: why do we not act as if we knew it? From this hour forward, by His grace, we shall.
8.
THE MEETING OF THE AMERICAS
BY PHILIP LEONARD GREEN
THE honor of speaking in this beautiful House of Worship during the centenary of the Bahá’í Faith which it so fittingly symbolizes and upon a subject so close to the hearts of its leaders, is fraught with great spiritual significance.
My first contact with the ideals promoted by this world-wide community of devoted men and women came almost two decades ago through the late Mary Hanford Ford, who presented me with a booklet entitled The World of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Expecting to find in it little more than an interesting explanation of Oriental mysticism, I was overcome with surprise to read not only the exposition of a philosophy which exalted international cooperation to the status of a religion but which even made specific prophecies with regard to inter-American developments, which have since become largely transformed into reality. These were all the more significant when we realize by whom and in what times they were given to the world. They came from the lips of a Persian mystic who could have had no special interest in singling out the Pan—American movement for preferential mention. He made them in 1912, during a period when relations between the American republics were rapidly degenerating. The interview
Mr. Philip Leonard Green, guest speaker of the program “The Meeting of the Americas,” May 24, 1944. The subject of his address was "Historical Backgrounds of American Unity.”
during which these prophecies were promulgated was reported in these words: “So he said there would be in the end a United States of the World, as compact as the present United States of America.” When asked if this change would appear suddenly, he said, no, that it would arise first in the western continent. The bond between North and South America would be greatly strengthened, he declared, and later, the entire two continents, including Mexico and Canada, would grow so harmonious that they would act upon all important questions like one country.
These words could almost be mistaken for
those of an enthusiastic Pan—Americanist.
Sincere workers in the cause of inter-American
concord can find in them that spiritual
strength which they need at every turn on
the long road to genuine amity which we in
the Americas still have to travel. They lift
the mission of the true inter-Americanist far
above the shifting sands of arrangements
built solely on material convenience. They
bring a sense of worthwhileness and assurance
even when the forces of cynicism, hardheartedness
and ineffectuality tend to engulf
us. They point out in crystal-clear terms to
[Page 691]
Americans of the South, Center and North,
the cosmic mission which has been reserved
for them if they can but grasp its meaning
and meet its requirements.
The first and foremost among these conditions—one which is far from fulfillment at this time—is a genuine intellectual and spiritual understanding even among that portion of the American nations capable of such understanding. The magnitude of attaining such a goal is enough to discourage most of those who contemplate this task. Yet the pursuit of the Pan-American ideal antedates the establishment of the first free American republic. At the Battle of Savannah, eight hundred volunteer troops from Haiti fought alongside the English colonists. Again, it Was President Pétion of Haiti who supplied the great Liberator of northern South America, with valuable assistance in the struggle for Venezuelan freedom. Bolivar referred to Pe'tion as “the author of our liberties.”
Another example of inter-American cooperation was given by that other great figure of Latin American history, the Argentine General, José de San Martin, who was instrumental in freeing both Chile and Peru. Various forefathers of the Latin American republics had broad visions of inter-American unity in the earliest days of their national life. Among these were the distinguished Honduran intellectual, José Cecilio del Valle and the Argentine Bernardo Monteagudo. The former published a plan which he called “Federation of all the states of America” in his paper Amigo de la Patria at Guatemala City as early as 1822. The latter was the author of another comprehensive blueprint for inter-American union, which is said to have had a profound effect on the thinking of Simon Bolivar. These were but a few in the galaxy of early Latin American protagonists of the Pan-American cause.
In our own country, they had their counterparts in such distinguished figures as Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams and, of course, the great Henry Clay, whose name is perhaps more widely known in Latin America than in his own land. For ten long years, Henry Clay fought almost single-handedly on behalf of recognition for the newly arising Spanish American nations. He was one of the first leaders in our country to call attention to the cultural attainments of Latin Americans. First, in the common struggles for their political independence and then in the common dangers of their early national existence, the young republics of America found bonds of brotherhood which strengthened them in days of stress.
The Monroe Doctrine, a warning to non-American nations against further encroachments on the American Hemisphere, became upon its declaration a rallying point for inter-American unity, a far cry from the symbol of imperialism into which it was later converted by a long list of errors. The Doctrine in its original form received a most cordial welcome from many Latin American political leaders. It was only in later years, when it became confused with other ideas which followed in its wake, that Latin Americans began to suspect the United States of sinister motives. That this suspicion had ample basis is a long train of unhappy events, no impartial student of inter-American affairs would now deny. The acquisition of one-half of Mexico’s territory by the United States, the exploits of the filibuster William Walker in Central America, the Panama Canal incident, the tendency of our leading statesmen during a certain era to speak glibly of our “manifest destiny” and the unfair exploitation of Latin American peoples by certain of our fellow—citizens to whom profits meant more than the good name of their own country, were just a few of the causes that operated against the promotion of inter-American friendship over many years. Under these conditions, can we be surprised that Latin Americans increasingly referred to the United States as the "Octopus of the North” rather than in terms of admiration such as they had used in the time of Henry Clay?
You may naturally ask how much of this
feeling of distrust remains at the present
time. I wish I could tell you that it has
been completely eliminated. Unfortunately,
such is not the case and we might as well
know it and face it. Professional Good
Neighborism may in part save the day in
wartime, when self-preservation leaves no
other course open but cooperation; but huge
[Page 692]
expenditures of money in themselves will
never achieve the kind of friendship which
we must have in the Americas if we are to
assume a unique mission. President Avila
Camacho of Mexico recently expressed the
concern of most Latin American leaders
when he said "The Good Neighbor Policy
will lose all of its historical meaning if we
look at it only as an instrument of Pan-American
conciliation in the moment of danger.”
There is no happy prospect for the endurance and growth of a movement that is built on negative motivations. Upon the close of the present war, a sharp decline in Pan-American effort is bound to set in unless we refuse now to lose our perspective under the unusual stresses of war and unless we determine to hold fast to the tenets of unadulterated, Bolivarian Pan-Americanism. For this ideal has nothing whatsoever to do with the type of synthetic friendship which is superinduced temporarily by spending fantastic sums of money. The type of Pan-American friendship which Bolivar and all the other great Pan-American leaders envisioned cannot be bought that way. The exchange of material things may have a large part in it but in the last analysis, it cannot be attained except through the operation of spiritual forces.
Bolivar first sensed this, when, as an exile on the island of Jamaica in the year 1815, he sent out his famous letter, frequently referred to as the Prophetic Letter, in which he expressed the hope that one day Panama might be for the New World what Corinth had been for the Old. Eleven years passed before his vision of a congress of the Americas began to take shape with the small but famous gathering at Panama. To practical-minded people, the Bolivarian Congress of 1826 was beyond doubt a failure. Yet the seeds of subsequent inter-American cooperation were sown there. They were nurtured at a number of international Latin-American gatherings that followed, though at one time the very existence of the inter-American ideal was threatened.
Finally, the Pan-American movement was given substantial impetus when Secretary of State James B. Blaine of the United States brought together the delegates of the American republics in 1899, at what was to be the first in a long series of international conferences, the eighth of which was held at Lima, Peru, in 1938. Some of these were characterized by acrimonious debates on sundry issues; others were the springboards for many a constructive effort.
At the very first of these gatherings, the American republics organized an international office which later became known as the Pan-American Union—the first practical approach to a working society of nations in the history of the world. Started as a unit for the compilation and publication of economic data only, the Pan-American Union of today is an institution that serves such widely differing interests as agriculture, labor, music and travel. Aside from the Pan-American Union, a number of specialized organizations have been set up by the American republics at their various general and technical conferences. Among these are the American Institute for the Protection of Childhood, the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory, the Inter-American Commission of Women, the Inter-American Radio Office, the Inter-American Trade-Marks Bureau, the Pan-American Highway Confederation, the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History, the Pan-American Railway Committee and the Pan-American Sanitary Bureau. Recently, the Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences was organized. Since about two-thirds of the people of the Americas derive their living from agriculture in one form or another, it is quite evident that an organization which is intended to serve as a channel for mutual helpfulness in solving common problems can contribute in no small measure to the type of rapprochement that has a sound basis.
Supplementing these organizations is a rather intricate network of treaties and commissions for the conciliation and arbitration of disputes that may arise in the Americas. Though it must be admitted that they have not always succeeded in avoiding conflict, no one will deny that the record of the Americas in this regard can still be considered as exemplary.
Governmental machinery alone, however, will not guarantee the ultimate triumph of
The San Francisco Opera House, where the plenary sessions of the United Nations Conference on International Organization were held during the nine weeks period from April 25th to June 26th, 1945.
the inter-American cause. Official effort must be ably supplemented by enlightened cooperation on the part of the people. To this end, it is highly important that the tools for marshalling and dispensing the information so necessary to such understanding, be forged and kept in good working order. In this connection, it is to the credit of the schools, colleges, universities, libraries, museums and professional organizations of the American republics that they have taken up the cause of inter-American understanding with so much interest and zeal. Business associations, labor organizations, teachers’ associations, student leagues, learned societies, women’s associations, political and religious bodies, the press and the radio have also seen a new vision of usefulness in recent years through bringing the message of inter-American friendship to their constituencies.
Students of Latin American affairs whose interest goes back beyond the heyday of war-begotten enthusiasm for things Latin American, cannot forget that until about seven years ago, the spiritual descendants of Henry Clay in the United States could be counted in three figures if indeed three figures were needed. Now, in the general confusion of values aggravated by war, these devoted trail blazers frequently find the basic significance of their long-time dedication to the inter-American ideal obscured by newcomers, many of whom three or four years ago would have had difficulty in locating Latin America on the map, assuming that they had even been interested.
Under such conditions, it takes a peculiar
brand of courage to keep one’s faith. The
spiritual nourishment which such groups as
yours can make available is of supreme importance
[Page 694]
in this connection. It can bring
to the true guardians of the inter-American
cause the inescapable truth that they must
not consider their movement as a casual,
detached effort in the realm of human
association only, but rather, as part of a vast plan
having far greater significance than any
individual or group of individuals. The goal
of inter-American amity is one that has ever
required untold sacrifices of those who chose
to pursue it honorably. There is nothing in
past experience to warrant the assumption
that it will be attained by people who are
indifferent to the higher disciplines it
demands. Fortunately, in every American
nation there is already a small group of effective
people thoroughly convinced of the path
which the Americas must follow in the
challenging days ahead and ready to act in
accordance with their beliefs at the appointed
time. It is only because of this that we can
dare to assert our supreme confidence in a
future day, when, under God, the Americas
will stand truly united, both for their own
welfare and in unselfish service to all mankind.
9.
SOCIAL BASIS OF WORLD UNITY
BY ELSIE AUSTIN
TODAY, people who seek to stress the spiritual basis of peace and justice among men, or who dare to accent the necessity for the regeneration of human hearts and characters as the first step to needed social change, are usually rebuffed by those who immediately cry out, “Oh, you must be practical and realistic.”
This is because so many folk think that the only practical approach to human problems is one which deals immediately with outward evidences of what is desirable. They do not see human needs beyond the specific projects devised for education and security. Outwardly these matters do represent the things which separate the “Haves” from the "Have Nots” in human society, and if you look at them in this light, they may seem to be the sole issues which have all along produced restlessness, division and strife among men.
However, any social program which is to operate for true world betterment must of necessity go beyond outward evidences, if it is to be really practical. The best plans for social cooperation and peace are always limited by the kind of human beings who must use and apply them. There is no more realistic force in the world today than the Bahá’í Faith. In its teachings and its social program there are profoundly realistic approaches to the fundamental social changes which must be the basis of any real and lasting unity for mankind.
The Bahá’í Faith is first of all a Faith which harmonizes the inward incentives and outward procedures to unity. Outward procedures give the means for unity and inward incentives give the heart for unity. There is great difference between folk who have the means for unity and the folk who have the heart for unity.
Legislation and the interplay of conflicting social interests may furnish a kind of means for unity, and even a certain state of outward compliance. However, legislation and the pressures of expediency have never been able to get at the inward fears, jealousies, greeds and animosities of men. And it is these which furnish the vicious inner motives which can browbeat the intelligence of men and make mockery of outward social compliance. Nearly every day we see tragic instances of failure where social change depends upon means alone. Instances where people nullify and obstruct legislation, where they sabotage social effort or fail to produce and support the kind of courageous policies and action needed for the patterns and standards consistent with just and enlightened ideals. The means for unity is there, but legislation is killed or evaded; communities
Annual National Bahá’í Election, 1945—1946. National Spiritual Assembly members turn over sealed ballots of delegates, received by mail, to the Committee of tellers.
(The convention was unable to convene owing to the United States government’s regulations limiting such gatherings during 1945.)
lose their moral integrity in compromise with policies of hatred and division, and people excuse themselves from honest upright action by saying, "Law is not the way to do this.” “The time is not ripe” or "This is the right policy, but we must work up to it gradually.” Now, all such people are really saying is, "I have not the heart to do this thing” or "The people whose opinion I fear have not the heart for forthright action about this, and I do not know how to reach them.”
The religion of Bahá’u’lláh, founder of The Bahá’í Faith, begins with that essential spiritual regeneration of the human being which creates a heart for brotherhood and impels action for the unity of mankind. Bahá’u’lláh has made it very plain that the test of Faith is its social force. Principle and social planning are useless until they are rendered dynamic by the stamina and will of men to enforce and apply spiritual ethics to human affairs.
The second great realism of the Bahá’í faith is that it provides new patterns for the application of spiritual principle to the social problems of humanity.
When Bahá’u’lláh first proclaimed some eighty years ago, "This is the hour of the coming together of all the races and nations and classes. This is the hour of unity among the sons of men,” the prophecy was a far fetched ideal to the world of jealous politics and cultural isolation which received it. But the unity of mankind today is no mere social ideal. Human strife has made it a social necessity.
It is not surprising then to see that human
unity is an increasingly popular subject for
liberal thought and action. Nor is it
surprising that programs to foster unity are
being launched on every hand. Yet so many
[Page 696]
of the bona fide efforts for unity are being
fatally compromised because they must be
launched through the established social
patterns which preserve old disunities.
Do people learn brotherhood and the spiritual
attitudes and social cooperation which
brotherhood involves by lectures or hesitant
compromising ventures, which leave untouched
and unchanged the separate education, separate
worship, separate security, separate social
planning which shape every phase of
their community living—embittering separations
made in terms of differences of race,
creed, culture and nationality? Any social
pattern which elaborately preserves and
accents these outward differences and their
resultant inward animosities must of necessity
crucify the objective of social unity.
The Bahá’í Teachings not only destroy without equivocation the fallacies which have nourished social strife and disunity, but they provide new patterns of social living and development through which men learn brotherhood by performance.
And what realistic way is there, you may ask, to deal with the ancient bitter diversities of race, religion and culture? What can be done with the changing pressures of unstable economics and the conflicting education of the world’s peoples?
The Bahá’í Faith provides for the diversities of religion, that long needed center of reconciliation, which can produce harmonious understanding of its varying prophets and systems. Bahá’u’lláh has shown us in the Bahá’í Revelation that the great revealed religions of the world are like lamps which carry the pure light of Divine Truth providing social teaching and discipline for humanity. But as that lamp is borne by human hands, there are periods when conflicting interpretations of the Divine Word, dogmas and superstitions, alienate and divide men. Periods when the temptations of material power pervert religion into an instrument for the exploitation and suppression of human development. It is because of this that new lamps have always come and will always come. Each of the great lamps tests the social force of the others. In this men should find source for progress, not reason for strife. God in His mercy has provided in the Divine Faiths a continuous and successive renewal of Universal Spiritual Truth.
The Bahá’í learns the relation and ordered unfoldment of Truth in all Divine Religions. Thus Spiritual Faith is lifted above the period differences of its various names and systems. Is it unrealistic that in a world so in need of spiritual regeneration, Jews, Christians, Moslems and Believers of all Divine Faiths should be given that which will relate their spiritual purposes and development and thus enable them to travel harmoniously a wide free path to greater social demonstration and understanding of the Truth? Is this not a more effective way to create the heart for unity than the elaborate separations and the jealous fencing off of Religious paths? Today men so preserve and concentrate upon their symbolic differences that the common goal is lost in confusion and animosity.
There are really no diversities of race to those who truly accept the fact that all mankind is God’s creation. Yet the outward differences of color, physiognomy and culture have annoyed and divided us. When members of the human family meet each other who have striking differences in appearance and manners, they resort very naturally to reactions of fear, distaste and derision, which grow out of the human complex for conformity and the fear of strangeness. Unity of mankind is not only a basic principle in the Bahá’í Faith, but it is also the basis of a new social pattern in terms of which Bahá’ís worship, work, educate themselves and contribute their capacities to civilization. Living in a Bahá’í community is a matter of learning differences, appreciating them and achieving with them great loyalties to human welfare, which are above the narrow confinements of race, creed and class, color and temperament. The most practical knowledge in the world is the knowledge that the world can never become what so many people like to believe; a world in which we make other people look, act, and understand in terms of that with which we are familiar. That kind of world is neither possible nor desirable. What we really want is a world of harmonized differences, where a man can make his contribution with other men for the good of all mankind. This is
Mrs. Amédée Gibson’s Bahá’í Braille room in her home at Malibu Beach, California.
the, world of the Bahá’í Community, a community covering seventy-eight national backgrounds and thirty-one racial origins and Heaven knows how many temperaments and cultural backgrounds in this first one hundred years. A growing Community which operates with every possible human difference to take into consideration, yet its members through practicing and perfecting their practice of the Bahá’í Teachings, have achieved a unity of objectives through which entirely new social patterns, standards and virtues are being evolved.
People do not like to mention religion and economics in the same breath. The problem is that of the economically disinherited who in bitter restless upsurge change periodically the pressures and controls of this world’s unstable economics. It is practical to talk of trade policies, of commerce regulations and spheres of influence, now. However, the world must soon face the fact that economic instability and the bitter struggle and suffering which go on because of it, have a question of human motives, human development, behind them. Motives behind the failure to use opportunity, or the use of it to selfishly acquire and control wealth, goods, and services, constitute the real factors causing the unhealthy inequalities, the exploitation and suppression in human society. Bahá’u’lláh stressed the need of a spiritual basis as the first step in the development of stable world economies. The extremes of poverty and vast wealth are not only matters of material opportunity and education, they are also matters of greed and slothfulness in human characters.
Material education and spiritual enlightenment must be applied to bring the kind of economic adjustments which will make possible responsible efforts for all people and insure a just distribution of wealth, goods and services for all people.
Until then, we are all, regardless of our skins, creeds and countries, caught economically between the evil extremes which are produced by the Jeeter Lesters and those masters of selfish financial genius, who, like a cancerous growth, feed upon and weaken the earth’s human and material resources.
Nothing but the wholesome regeneration of human hearts and establishment of new social objectives for the efforts and acquisitions of men, will in the final analysis remedy these ills.
The great realisms of the Bahá’í Faith lie in its new spiritual teachings and in the new social patterns which they provide for needed development of mankind; a development which will turn men from the beliefs and superstitions which are destructive to human solidarity and create in them the heart to initiate and perfect new standards, new morals and new undertakings for a great new era of civilization.
These achievements are possible when man is afforded that perfect combination of Human and Spiritual Unity. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the great expounder of the Bahá’í Teachings, has described it in these words:
“Human Unity or solidarity may be likened to the body, whereas unity from the breaths of the Holy Spirit is the spirit animating the body. This is a perfect unity. It creates such a condition in mankind that each one will make sacrifices for the other and the utmost desire will be to forfeit life and all that pertains to it in behalf of another’s good. It is the unity which through the influence of the Divine Spirit is permeating the Bahá’ís, so that each offers his life for the other and strives with all sincerity to attain His good pleasure. This is the unity that caused twenty thousand people in Írán to give their lives in love and devotion to it. It made the Báb the target of a thousand arrows and caused Bahá’u’lláh to suffer exile and imprisonment for forty years. This unity is the very spirit of the body of the world.”
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From Centenary Program, May 19-25, 1944.
10.
PROGRESS IN LATIN AMERICA
BY EDNA M. TRUE
NO ONE can view the different phases of the truly remarkable expansion of the Bahá’í Faith, during the hundred-and-two years since it was revealed in 1844, without becoming aware of a recurring and unfailing rhythm which underlies the course of its development. Crisis after crisis has been literally hurled upon its adherents, followed by triumph after triumph. Periods of steady, constant growth have been interspersed with dramatic events in which the mighty force propelling this Cause of God has manifested new and greater powers, greatly accelerating its development and sweeping it forward to new stages in its unfoldment.
To such vitally important and definite milestones in the growth of the Bahá’í Faith undoubtedly belongs the Centennial Celebration held in Wilmette, Illinois, May 19th to May 24th, 1944, the full significance of which has become increasingly evident during the two years that have elapsed since this historic occasion. In spite of the manifold and seemingly insurmountable difficulties and regulations or travel in war-time, representatives from twelve1 of the Latin American Republics were miraculously enabled to participate in the epoch-making first “All America” Convention, which was held during this Centenary, and in the July Conference which followed. In Foundation Hall of the Bahá’í Universal House of Worship,
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1Dr. Fernando Nova, Brazil; Sr. Esteban Canales Leyton, Chile; Srta. Josephina Rodriguez, Colombia; Sr. Raoul Contreras, Costa Rica; Sr. Eugenio Gines, Cuba; Dr. Edelberto Torres, Guatemala; Mr. William Mitchell, Jamaica; Sr. Carlos Vergara, Mexico; Srta. Blanca V. Mejia, Nicaragua; Mr. Alfred Osborne, Panama; Dr. Manuel Berges, Dominican Republic; Sr. Eduardo Gonzales Lopez, Ecuador.
At the consultation in July the Latin American representatives were as follows:
Sr. Salvador Tormo, Argentina; Srta. Angela Ochoa Velasquez, Honduras; Sr. Roque Centurion Miranda, Paraguay; Sra. Isabel Tirado de Barreda, Peru; Srta. Clara Luz Montalvo, El Salvador.
they had participated freely, in complete unity and harmony with the other delegates from the North American States and Provinces of Canada, in the important deliberations and discussions of the Convention, and had themselves taken a distinguished part in a practical and convincing demonstration of true equality without any distinction whatsoever of race, color, creed or class. With their horizons suddenly extended far beyond their own local and sectional interests, they found themselves concerned with the welfare and progress of the Bahá’í Community as a whole, and beyond the range of hemispheric solidarity, they caught a glimpse of the progressive unfoldment of the Divine Plan which in its final stage will be world-embracing, bringing peace, security, and spiritual well-being to all mankind. It was highly significant, too, that it was not only with North American Bahá’ís, but with representatives of the other Latin American Republics, that they had shared in the highest type of democracy, based on the principles of their common Faith, and had witnessed convincing proof of the power of Bahá’u’lláh to dispel all national rivalries and hatreds and to unite His followers into one universal Administrative Order.
Thus was a deeper bond of fellowship and understanding created between the countries of the Western Hemisphere, and a milestone of immeasurable importance reached, in the evolution of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. The delegates assembled from all of the Americas, North, Central and South, turned homeward with fresh inspiration, renewed dedication, and firm resolve to carry ever forward the development and establishment of the Divine Plan, the pattern and certain unfoldment of which were now so clearly discernible. To the members of their respective communities, they carried with them a new conception and realization of the greatness and universality of the Bahá’í Faith, a clearer vision of its unfolding processes and of the hope and assurance it held for the whole world.
Through the participation of the Latin American representatives in the Centennial Celebration and All America Convention, the Bahá’í Faith throughout Latin America had received a fresh and dynamic impulse, and turned a definite corner in its hemispheric development. In consequence, the scope of the Inter-America work promised to be so greatly increased that it became evident to the National Spiritual Assembly that the Committee charged with the responsibility of directing it should now be centered in its membership and activities in the Temple Area, where it could function in the closest relationship with the National Spiritual Assembly and with the offices of the National Treasurer and the Publishing Committee. It was the highest testimony possible to the monumental achievements of the members of the retiring Inter-America Committee2 and to their devoted services, rendered often under very difficult conditions, that the work to which they had given so untiringly of their strength and efforts, now demanded the immediate contact with the highest administrative center in the Western Hemisphere. It was with deepest appreciation and full recognition of the devotion and achievements of those who had been serving so valiantly, that the National Spiritual Assembly appointed a new Inter-America Committee3, to begin functioning in October, 1944.
In a cable message sent July 17th to the National Spiritual Assembly in Wilmette, the Guardian said: “Rejoice success vitally needed timely conference Latin American representatives. Greatly welcome decisions reached plans formulated. First year second Bahá’í century should witness (1) Establishment Spiritual Assembly every remaining republic and be signalized by (2) Steady increase pioneers both Latin (and) North America; (3) Further multiplication groups; (4) Wider dissemination Bahá’í literature both Spanish (and) Portuguese; (5) Closer relationships consolidating communities; (6) More effective contact these communities with masses population all races (and) classes.”
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2Octavio Illescas, Chairman; Nellie French, Secretary; Christine Lofstedt, Dr. Clyde Longyear, Marion Longyear, Mrs. Gwen Staudigl, Mrs. Loulie Mathews, Mrs. Harriet Wolcott, Charles Wolcott.
3Dorothy Baker, Chairman; Mary Barton, Amelia Collins, Edna True, Secretary; Edwin Mattoon, Gwenne Sholtis, Philip G. Sprague.
Thus were clearly defined the immediate goals to be attained in the Inter-America teaching field and the roads along which these objectives should be pursued. Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela, still lacking Spiritual Assemblies, were to be the "goal countries” of 1944—1945. A steady increase of Pioneers was imperative, to assist in the twofold process of consolidating the existing communities and in the establishment of Spiritual Assemblies in the seven remaining republics. Effective and immediate means had to be devised to assist the Latin American Committees, appointed as a result of the joint actions taken in the "All America Convention,” in initiating their vital and all-important tasks of translating, publishing, and disseminating the Bahá’í literature.
Dr. Malcolm M. King, Whose former devoted efforts as Pioneer had resulted in the development of a Spiritual Assembly in Kingston, Jamaica, now graciously accepted the difficult post in Nicaragua, and departed for Managua on November 11th. From Miami, on the 29th of the same month, Elisabeth Cheney, already experienced through former pioneering in Paraguay, set forth for Venezuela, for a period of intensive teaching in Caracas, before proceeding South on other missions for the Inter-America Committee, including a prolonged stay in Montevideo, to assist with the establishment of a Spiritual Assembly in Uruguay, another of the "goal countries.”
In Bolivia, Flora Hottes, continuing in her devoted and valiant service, was being assisted in her efforts toward the development of the desired Spiritual Assembly in La Paz, by the experienced and invaluable help of Virginia Orbison. Later in the Fall (November) Miss Orbison was transferred to Ecuador to dedicate herself to the task of developing the group in Guayaquil, then numbering six, into a Bahá’í Community. Almost on the day4 of her arrival in Ecuador, John Stearns, the first Pioneer to this republic, who had served so devotedly and for so long in that land, passed to the Abhá Kingdom, in the midst of devoted friends in Lima, Peru. It was significant, indeed, that the successful
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4November 7th. 1945.
accomplishment of the task assigned to the newest pioneer to Ecuador was achieved by her building on the foundation already laid by the valiant first teacher in this country, and through the invaluable assistance of a member of a Latin American community. Haig Kevorkian, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, who had volunteered his services to the Inter-America Committee, arrived in Guayaquil in early April, in time to reinforce the intensive teaching efforts of Miss Orbison, and to help in the formation of the historic first Spiritual Assembly in Ecuador.
Two other Latin American Believers played vitally important parts in the establishment of new Spiritual Assemblies in 1944—45: Ofelia Montalvo, a native of El Salvador, after completing a course of study in the United States, offered herself as Pioneer to the Dominican Republic; and Esteban Canales, a member of the Santiago, Chile, Community, serving as Pioneer to Punta Arenas, contributed richly to the teaching campaign which had been so effectively initiated there by Mrs. Marcia Steward and continued by Artemus Lamb, both Pioneers from North America. In its turn, this Bahá’í Community, formed in the Southernmost tip of South America, was to give its assistance to extension teaching in a third Chilean city, Valparaiso, an undertaking which was carried on and developed under the auspices of the Assemblies of both Santiago and Punta Arenas.
En route to her new post in Venezuela in early March, 1945, Louise Baker, who had at one time served as Pioneer in Colombia, stopped over in Trujillo, Dominican Republic to assist Ofelia Montalvo; and here again a "goal” Assembly resulted from the harmonious and collective efforts of a Latin and a North American Pioneer. When the desired objective in Trujillo was assured, Miss Baker continued on her way to her final destination, Caracas, furnishing the group there with the fresh inspiration and timely help needed to bring to fruition, in the formation of the first Spiritual Assembly, the devoted and assiduous labors of the former Pioneer to Venezuela.
The heroic and devoted labors of the Pioneers during these important months, reinforced by the ready help, full co-operation,
and intensive direction of the Inter-America Committee under the N. S. A., and above all, the loving appreciation and continued encouragement and inspiration of the Guardian, reaped a rich harvest, for in the elections of April, 1945, the desired “first” Assemblies were established in Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Nicaragua alone lacked the attainment of this specific objective set forth in the Guardian’s cable of July 17th, 1944, but even in this country the Cause had gained a great victory and won an essential prerequisite to the successful foundation later of a Bahá’í Community. With utmost tact and graciousness, Dr. King had gained access to Government officials, and after presenting the principal tenets of the Bahá’í Faith, had succeeded in securing permission to promulgate the Teachings with full liberty and freedom.
The Election Reports of 1945 brought further cause for thanksgiving and rejoicing in their announcements of additional new Assemblies in both Colombia and Chile. Through systematic and well-developed correspondence, in which the Bahá’í Teachings were clearly presented and progressively unfolded, Gerrard Sluter, a member of the Bogota Community, had brought enough interested people to an understanding and acceptance of the Faith to elect a Spiritual Assembly in both Mogotes and Contratacion, thus augmenting the number of Communities in Colombia to three. In Punta Arenas, Chile, the concentrated efforts of the Pioneers under the auspices of the Santiago Assembly had resulted in the development of the group there into a community with its own Assembly. To the National Spiritual Assembly, in a message dated April 21, 1945, the Guardian expressed the very evident special joy and comfort which the firm establishment of the Cause in Magallanes (Punta Arenas), that far-flung corner of Chile, had brought him. “My heavily-ladened heart,” he wrote, “is relieved by latest signal evidence of the indomitable spirit of the members of divinely chosen American Bahá’í community now unfurling the banner of the Faith and establishing the structural basis of its administrative order in the world’s southernmost city. I hail the staunchness and fidelity distinguishing the winners of such superb victories. I acclaim them true brothers and sisters worthy of the name ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. I urge the Inter-America Committee to devote special attention and undertake prompt measures designed to increase the number of believers, establish local administrative headquarters, and multiply the subsidiary agencies indispensable to the maintenance of a flourishing community in the southern extremity of western hemisphere. Praying ever increasing successes.”
In a later communication, the Guardian likened the two communities of Punta Arenas and of Anchorage, Alaska, to “the extremities of the Bahá’í Arms stretched out and waiting to embrace the whole world in the order of peace and love.” With hearts deeply touched, the Spiritual Assembly of Anchorage immediately dispatched a loving and special greeting to the friends in the far-off land with which they had been so beautifully associated by the Guardian, accompanying their message with the fitting gift of a lovely picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,—an incident, perhaps, but infinitely significant in its impressive demonstration of the love and unity generated by the operation of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and of the power of that Faith to dissolve separation and distance, creating in their stead a true oneness of spirit.
On April 30th (1945), the Inter-America Committee received the following heartening cable from the Guardian: "Heartfelt congratulations superb achievement Inter-America Committee opening year second Bahá’í century. Advise concentrate attention (1) Formation assembly one remaining republic, Nicaragua; (2) Consolidation newly fledged Assemblies; (3) Multiplication groups throughout Latin America; (4) Re-enforcement outpost Magallanes; (5) Intensified efforts dissemination literature paramount tasks present year. Praying fervently removal obstacles despatch Pioneers fulfillment hopes necessary prelude launching second stage Divine Plan.”—Signed, Shoghi Effendi.
Once again in this message, the Guardian had clearly delineated for the incoming Inter-America Committee5, appointed in the
————————
5Dorothy Baker, Chairman; Mary Barton; Amelia Collins; Loulie Mathews; Edna True, Secretary; Edwin Mattoon; Philip G. Sprague; Pari Zia-Walrath.
following July, the objectives to be attained during 1945-1946. Because of the special emphasis which had been placed, in the year just completed, on the establishment of the seven Spiritual Assemblies still lacking, the Inter-America Committee had been compelled to concentrate its attention and direct the work of its Pioneers to the achievement of these specific goals. With the desired Assemblies now formed in all but one of the Latin American Republics, the Committee was able to focus its efforts on the strengthening of Communities which had been formerly established, but which were undergoing the trying problems so often encountered by young Assemblies in the process of strengthening their foundation and of developing their administrative functions. To assist in just such an instance, Flora Hottes, who for nearly three years had been serving as Pioneer in La Paz, Bolivia, answered the Inter-America Committee’s request to visit Montevideo, Uruguay. Here she replaced Elisabeth Cheney, who had been working with this valiant group of Bahá’ís in Montevideo, bringing them the loving understanding and wise counsel they so sorely needed, but who was now due to continue to her original destination, Asuncion, Paraguay.
It was particularly to the Republics of Central America and the Islands of the West Indies, including Puerto Rico, which, with the Canal Zone, had recently been added to the Inter-America Field of Teaching, that the Inter-America Committee, in the Fall of 1945, endeavored to send the much-needed teaching assistance. Early in June, Elena Marsella, a member of the Boston Community, left Miami for the Dominican Republic to assist Ofelia Montalvo, later releasing Miss Montalvo for Pioneer service in San Salvador. Also in June,6 Gwenne Sholtis departed from New Orleans to serve as the new Pioneer for Bolivia, breaking her journey in Nicaragua, where Dr. King was carrying forward his valuable work, and stopping over for brief visits in Panama, Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Lima, Peru, on her way to La Paz. In August, Jean Silver returned to her post in Havana, Cuba, and was soon followed by Josephine Kruka, who had been
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6June 9th, 1945.
spending the summer in the United States. Later in the spring of 1946, the Community in Havana was greatly strengthened, and the growth of the Faith in Cuba definitely accelerated by the visits of Mr. and Mrs. Sala, Mr. Charles Mason Remey, Mr. and Mrs. Baker, and other friends from the United States.
In Mexico, which held the high distinction of being the first Bahá’í Community established in Latin America, the Spiritual Assembly was bravely facing internal and external problems, which seem destined to be presented to young, new Assemblies, later proving to be but steppingstones to greater growth and fuller powers of resourcefulness. To give the assistance and wise consultation needed here, Dorothy Baker left for Mexico City in September, 1945, remaining there for several weeks, counselling the friends, encouraging and helping them to meet, with complete faith and assurance, the difficulties and tests which they were facing. In these efforts, Mrs. Baker had been invaluably assisted by Mrs. Gayle Woolson, who had accompanied her to Mexico City, stopping there for awhile, before proceeding on the journey she had been requested by the Inter-America Committee to make, down through the Central American Republics. Later, just prior to her return to the United States, Mrs. Baker was joined by Mr. Octavio Illescas, a native Peruvian and now a member of the Los Angeles Bahá’í Community. Mr. Illescas remained several weeks with the Believers in Mexico City, further encouraging and strengthening them with his loving sympathy, wisdom, and clear understanding of the Bahá’í Faith.
In the meantime, Mrs. Gayle Woolson had
continued her travels southward, making
brief visits in Guatemala and Honduras
before carrying on several weeks of intensive
teaching in Managua, Nicaragua, in the
group which had been formed there by Dr.
Malcolm King. In late October, she was
joined here by Elisabeth Cheney, and as a
result of the concentrated efforts of these two
experienced Pioneers, this group of eight
Believers was increased to sixteen, and
the establishment of a Spiritual Assembly in the
last remaining Latin American Republic was
assured for the April election. From
Nicaragua, Mrs. Woolson proceeded to San Jose,
[Page 703]
Costa Rica, where she had previously assisted
in the formation of the historic first
Spiritual Assembly in that country. During
her two-years’ absence in the United States,
this young community had sorely missed the
wise and loving assistance of Mrs. Woolson,
and its members were again in great need of
guidance and teaching help. In December,
Evelyn Larson of Chicago was dispatched to
San Jose, to remain here indefinitely as
Pioneer to Costa Rica. The San Jose Community
were further blessed by a short visit from
Elisabeth Cheney, en route to Panama; and
later, in February, 1946, by the second stay
there of Gayle Woolson.
On the Eastern coast of the Western Hemisphere, the Bahá’í activities had been greatly stimulated during the Fall of 1945 and early months of 1946. Dr. Malcolm King, who had been in the United States since his return there from Nicaragua in August, left Miami in early December, to serve as Pioneer to Haiti. Welcome visits from Mr. and Mrs. Rafi Mottahedeh, and later from Mr. Raphael Pompelly and daughter, early in 1945, had brought new inspiration to the friends in Port-au-Prince, but the death (on November fourth) of Gerald McBean, long the mainstay of the Community, had been a great loss to the Believers in Haiti.
Farther south, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the progress of the Faith was markedly accelerated by a series of events which were to give a new impetus to the growth of the Cause in this, the largest of the Latin American Republics, and to bring to fruition the devoted and selfless labors of former Pioneers here. Leonora Holsapple Armstrong, who had served the Faith in Brazil so assiduously and for so many years, had moved to Rio de Janeiro, from Recife, early in 1945. Here, she and Mrs. Carol Wood had been promoting the Bahá’í Faith until Mrs. Wood’s departure, in the spring, for a visit to the United States. On November 9th, Virginia Orbison, returning to the Latin America field of teaching, after spending the summer in the United States, arrived in this beautiful capital city, and was almost immediately followed by the Itinerant Teachers,—first, Charles Mason Remey, and a short time later, Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala. Through the conferences, interviews, and public meetings which ensued, new avenues of publicity were opened up, fresh contacts developed, and a far-reaching and encouraging interest in the Faith shown throughout Rio de Janeiro. In the meantime, Gertrude Eisenberg, former Pioneer in Paraguay, had been transferred from Asuncion to Sao Paulo, and had been amazed at the ready interest in the Bahá’í Teachings manifested in this important city of Brazil. The momentum of the teaching work in Brazil was further accelerated by the arrival in January, 1946, of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Bode, who had given up their home in California to settle indefinitely in Rio and to promote the Bahá’í Faith there. In March, these valiant Pioneers were joined by Shirley Warde, a member of the San Francisco Community, en route to her new post in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Striving to utilize to their fullest the many wonderful channels that were suddenly and miraculously opened up to them, this inspired group, early teachers and new Pioneers alike, directed their collective efforts towards the formation of the first Spiritual Assembly in Rio de Janeiro. In the achievement of this goal, North American Pioneers had once again been effectively assisted by the dedicated services of a Latin American Bahá’í. Dr. Tomas Sanchez Egea, a former member of the group in Montevideo, had been transferred in business from Uruguay to Rio and had contributed unstintingly both of his time and efforts to the promotion of the Bahá’í Faith in Brazil. The following cable message received by the Inter-America Committee on April 21st, brought the certain news that their tireless and zealous labors had not been in vain: “Twelve Rio de Janeiro members send loving greetings.” (Signed) ”First Spiritual Assembly.”
Although a Spiritual Assembly had been
formed in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in the
election of 1945, the Bahá’í Faith in Quito, the
capital city of this Republic, had not
progressed since John Stearns, the first Pioneer
here, left the country for Lima, Peru. With
the hope of developing the group of four
Believers still remaining, into a Bahá’í
Community, Hascle Cornbleth, who had
experienced his first pioneering in
a brief stay in Mexico City during
April, 1945, left Los
[Page 704]
Angeles in the spring of 1946 to settle and
teach in Quito.
Simultaneously with this consistent and intensive endeavor towards the foundation of the goal Assemblies, special efforts had been concentrated, during the fall and winter of 1944-45, on another of the immediate objectives stressed by the Guardian,—namely, on “a wider dissemination of Bahá’í Literature in both Spanish and Portuguese.” Also in consultation with the Latin American delegates to the Centenary and July Conference in 1944, the National Spiritual Assembly had appointed a committee7 centering in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the express function of translating Bahá’í books into Spanish, of reviewing translations supplied from other centers, and of recommending the order in which books were to be sent to the press, referring their recommendations, however, for final approval, to the National Spiritual Assembly. A similar committees8, centering in Rio, was appointed at the same time, charged with the responsibility of translating and publishing Bahá’í Literature in Portuguese.
Also in consultation with the representatives from Latin America, the National Spiritual Assembly had appointed the proper Committees9 in Panama, and had assigned to them the responsibility of carrying on the two activities of distributing Bahá’í Literature through a center, secondary to that set up in Buenos Aires; and of producing a monthly “Bulletin” in Spanish, to carry pertinent Bahá’í "News Items,” "Teaching Plans,” notices of new Publications and other Bahá’í material for Latin America.
The initiation of these vitally important projects presented a gigantic task for those immediately responsible for them, and in Buenos Aires particularly, the prosecution of the work demanded a heroic measure of ceaseless and selfless devotion, and the sacrifice
————————
7Emilio Barros, Chairman; Lillian McRae; Salvador Tormo.
8 Leonora Armstrong, Chairman; Mrs. Roy Worley, Dr. Fernando Nova, Mrs. Roscoe Wood.
9Alfred Osborne, Chairman; Louise Caswell, Cora Oliver, Julie Regal.
Special Bulletin Committee: Alfred Osborne, Editor; Prof. Edelberto Torres, Assistant Editor.
Portuguese Bulletin Committee: Dr. Fernando Nova, Chairman; Mrs. Leonora Armstrong, Mrs. Roy Worley.
of leisure time and rest. After the customary long hours of business, the members of the Reviewing, Publishing and Distributing Committee devoted evening after evening to the arduous labor of translating and reviewing and finally to the publishing and distribution of its first editions.
Realizing the immensity of this task, the Inter-America Committee had especially commissioned Elisabeth Cheney, Who arrived in Buenos Aires in January, 1945, to concentrate on assisting the heavily-laden Committee members with the many details connected with the printing of translations already approved. With this timely and efficient assistance, they soon had ready for distribution, in addition to the already published "New Era,” supplies of “Dispensation,” "Bahá’í Prayers” and a free literature pamphlet, “El Alba de una Nueva Era.” Carrying out the enlarged plan for the dissemination of their publications, shipments were made to the newly-appointed Committee in Panama, to be sent in turn by this body to the particular area assigned to them. To give special impetus to a wider dissemination of the new publications, "Gift Allotments” including a small supply of each, were sent to every Latin American Center, to be sold by them, and the proceeds used to start local revolving funds for future purchases of these books. Thus each Community began its participation in the larger and all-important function of stimulating the growth of the Bahá’í Faith throughout Latin America by a constantly increasing dissemination of its literature.
The first issue of the Spanish Bulletin,
assigned specifically to the Committee in
Panama, appeared in March, 1945, and gave
promise of being yet another effective medium
of stimulating the growing co-operation
and collective efforts of the different Latin
American Bahá’í Communities. Circular
Letters, sent out at frequent intervals by the
Inter-America Committee, bearing on such
important matters as "Guardianship,”
“Feasts,” “Fasting,” “Teaching Methods,”
“Bahá’í Procedure,” “Voting,” “Duties and
Responsibilities of a Spiritual Assembly,”
contributed further to the Guardian’s stated
“objective” of "creating closer relationship
[Page 705]
between, and consolidating” these
newly-fledged Communities.
This growing sense of fellowship and unity between the Believers of the different republics was definitely accelerated and developed through the frequent visits from Pioneers en route to new posts, bringing with them stimulating news of the Cause elsewhere, and of the friends in other lands. To even a greater degree, Itinerant Teachers, in their longer stays, deepened and strengthened these bonds of understanding and unity, developing in the smaller, more isolated, groups a sense of being an integral and essential part of a Faith, world-wide in scope. The Inter-America Committee was greatly aided and assisted both in this aspect of its work and in its endeavors to bring the Cause more effectively to the attention of the "masses,” by the extensive travels through Latin America of Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala, of Montreal, Canada; and of Charles Mason Remey, a member of the Washington, D. C., Bahá’í Community.
On October 20th, 1945, Emeric and Rosemary Sala set out on their journey, which was to take them by plane, first to Mexico City, then through Central America to Panama; thence via Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, to Buenos Aires; and then up the East Coast through Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba, back to Miami and home. In the nineteen Latin-American Republics included in their comprehensive itinerary, Mr. Sala gave seventy-nine Bahá’í talks, ten over the radio, to audiences ranging from fifteen to two hundred and twenty. All possible channels of publicity were utilized to their fullest, resulting in at least forty-seven free newspaper articles, covering from one to five columns, seventeen of which were accompanied by pictures of the speaker. Two leading newspapers in Panama and San Salvador, for instance, featured the Bahá’í Faith and its principles of World Federation on their front pages. Of equal importance to the publicity and prestige they were able to gain for the Faith, throughout their journey, were the inspiration and courage these Bahá’ís from older and more established Communities brought to the new Believers in Latin America, and the loving understanding and fellowship they expressed in their conferences about local problems. That the joy and inspiration gained from these associations were shared mutually, is attested to by the following excerpts from letters received by the Inter-America Committee from Mr. and Mrs. Sala:
Our journey is over and belongs to the world of our reminiscences. We have a wider vision and greater zest for service because of the bounty of this contact with our dear Latin American friends.” . . . "Like a symphonic motif, sometimes in a higher or lower key, sometimes clear, then faint, in each Bahá’í Community we recalled these words of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘And the love of God like unto an artery, shall beat through the heart of five continents.’ According to our capacity, we brought the love of North America through South America. To feel that love coursing through two continents was as much as I could bear! We saw in the six years since our last visit that a whole continent has come alive and is now breathing to the rhythm of those words of Bahá’u’lláh. Bahá’ís of the North have been honored beyond kings to be the instruments for such a deed.”
Speaking of one of the newly-pledged communities, Mrs. Sala wrote: “As I look back on the happy days spent here, I think that this wonderful Community must have been a dream out of the Dawn-Breakers! Their dedicated spirit, their devotion of mind and heart and love for one another, melts my heart to think of them. It was only three days, but it was a timeless experience, a foretaste of this earth when it becomes conscious of being a world of God.”
On November 13th, 1945, Charles Mason
Remey left Miami on the extended journey
which he had graciously consented to undertake
in the interest of the Inter-America
teaching work and for the sole purpose of
visiting every Bahá’í group or Community
in South America, even in such remote centers
as Asuncion, Paraguay, and Punta Arenas,
Chile, twelve hundred miles south by
auto, beyond the limits of the Argentinian
railroad. First, the Dominican Republic and
Venezuela, then both Bahia and Rio de Janeiro
in Brazil were visited by Mr. Remey, as
he winged his way Southward by Pan American
[Page 706]
World Airways; then Uruguay and
Paraguay followed, en route to Buenos Aires,
before his long dip down to Magallanes.
Turning Northward from Punta Arenas,
this indefatigable traveler next visited the
Bahá’ís of Valparaiso and Santiago de Chile,
and thence pursued his way up the West
Coast of South America to Bolivia, Peru,
Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama, finally
crossing the Caribbean to Jamaica and Cuba
on his way back to the United States. In
public addresses to interested audiences of
varying sizes, Mr. Remey, as the Salas had
done, brought the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh
to the “masses,” and through the wonderful
publicity accorded to him,—press, as well
as radio,—he proclaimed their regenerative
and hopeful message, far beyond the confines
of his "visible” audiences, adding both to the
prestige and wider knowledge of the Cause
throughout South America. In other and
more informal gatherings everywhere, Mr.
Remey shared with the young new Bahá’ís
his rich experiences, garnered from long years
of association with, and service to, the Bahá’í
Faith, covering the early difficult days of its
establishment in North America, and including
Mr. Remey’s visits with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
and the Guardian, in ‘Akká and Haifa,
Palestine, and his world travels in the interests
of the Cause. With loving and sympathetic
understanding of their problems and tasks,
he brought them fresh courage and inspiration
by demonstrating so convincingly the
vitality and power of the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh, which despite supreme tests and trials
had grown and developed so miraculously
from small beginnings, all over the world.
That he, too, had gained immeasurably from
his contacts with the Latin American friends
is clearly evidenced in the following excerpt
from a letter written by him from Chile to
the Inter-America Committee:
"It is really a heart-stirring experience to be here in this distant-from-the-world outpost of the Cause.” . . . “The deeper I get into this Bahá’í work in Latin America, the more profound is my respect and admiration of the service of the Pioneer teachers. Until coming to South America, I did not know that we in North America were producing such Bahá’í material as I find in these outposts of the Cause.”
For free distribution, in connection with the Public Meetings arranged everywhere for these Itinerant Teachers, special pamphlets were published on the history, principles and tenets of the Bahá’í Faith, as well as on such pertinent and timely subjects as peace and world order. The Spiritual Assembly of Mexico City contributed to the common effort by translating and printing in Spanish Shoghi Effendi’s pamphlet, “Pattern for a Future Society,” which they generously shared With several of the nearby republics. The Panama City Community quickly brought out a condensation in Spanish of the "Bahá’í Peace Program,” (printed originally for the San Francisco Conference)10 and distributed this to the other Bahá’í Centers in its Area. Though small in numbers, the group in Rio de Janeiro translated and printed in Portuguese a similar condensation of this “Peace Program,” and later compiled and published an excellent booklet of general information on the Bahá’í Teachings. In La Paz, Bolivia, the Pioneer, Gwenne Sholtis, working in collaboration with Arturo de Cuellar, one of the devoted and ardent members of this newly fledged Community, produced a very effective pamphlet on the principles and general history of the Faith, while the Reviewing and Publishing Committee in Buenos Aires printed large editions of the ”Bahá’í Peace Plan” and “El Alba de una Nueva Era” for these particular distributions.
Thus, because of the exceptional publicity, both radio and press, and the wide distribution of Bahá’í literature which resulted from their Public Meetings and through their intimate conferences with the Bahá’ís themselves, these traveling teachers, even in their brief visits to the various countries, at once brought a fresh impetus to the growth of the Faith throughout Latin America and aided very materially in the process of drawing together and consolidating these recently-formed but most promising Bahá’í Communities.
Like an echo of the historic 1944 Bahá’í Centennial Celebration, similarly significant in the creative force it released and in the wide-spread repercussions it caused, the First Latin American Bahá’í Teaching Conference,
————————
10April 25th to June 26th, 1945.
held in Panama City from January 20th to 25th, 1946, will ever stand out as one of those portentous and definite milestones in the unfoldment of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan. It marked a new stage in the expansion of the Cause and in the growing strength and harmony of its already established units.
The idea of this Conference was conceived in the summer of 1945 and enthusiastically stimulated, especially by Mrs. Loulie Mathews, whose contribution to the Inter-America teaching work, since its very beginning, has been unique. Although it was sponsored by the International School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and by the Inter-America Committee, the working out of all its details and the carrying out of its final plans were achieved with unusual efficiency by a special Committee, appointed by, and in consultation with, the local Spiritual Assembly of Panama City. To their devoted and wholehearted consecration to their task and to the invaluable assistance so generously accorded them by visiting Bahá’ís, the ultimate gratifying success of this epoch-making occasion was in a very large measure due.
The National Spiritual Assembly and Inter-America Committee were represented officially at the Panama Conference by Mrs. Amelia Collins, a member of both of these bodies. At one of the sessions of the Conference, Mrs. Collins spoke especially on Bahá’í Administration, stressing its vital importance and clarifying many of its functions and institutions. Native Believers from ten of the Latin American Centers, and eight of the North American Pioneers gathered in Panama City, and in a marvelous spirit of brotherhood and unity each contributed his or her part to the well-rounded program of this Conference. Mornings were devoted to informal sessions during which an intensive study was conducted of the Guardian’s latest book, ”God Passes By,” of administration and of teaching methods.
In the evenings public lectures were arranged with talks on some of the basic Teachings of the Faith, such as “Unity of Religion,” “Progressive Revelation,” "Oneness of Mankind,” and “Divine Art of Living.” The largest and most impressive public session was held Friday evening, January 25th, in the main auditorium of the Inter-American University which had been graciously placed at the disposal of the Conference Committee. Participating with two Bahá’í Speakers, Dr. Octavio Mendez Pereira, Rector of the University and Delegate from Panama to the San Francisco Conference for the establishment of U. N. O., gave one of the principal addresses. Under the all-over theme of "Peace,” Dr. Mendez Pereira spoke on ”The Problem of Peace in the Light of the San Francisco Conference” and brought out the need for a pact both more universal and more spiritual than that embodied in the U. N. O. Charter. Miss Elisabeth Cheney followed, delineating for her audience the "Lesser Peace,” spoken of by Bahá’u’lláh, which is in the process of evolving, and which will ultimately be based on a new concept of citizenship, requiring “for the man of tomorrow and the child of today” education from a new standpoint, new teaching that will enable him to live in peace and harmony with his fellow-beings. “True and lasting Peace,” Miss Cheney affirmed, "can only be achieved in this way of educating the world according to the universal, divinely-just principles of Bahá'u’lláh.” As a glorious climax and fitting close to this important public meeting and to the Conference itself, Mrs. Gayle Woolson, in her address on “The Most Great Peace,” unfolded the vision of that time when the "Lesser Peace,” achieved mostly through the statesmen and rulers of the world, will be followed by the Golden Age of Bahá’u’lláh, when universal, supreme peace will be firmly established for all mankind and will be maintained through the functioning of a World State in which nations, races, creeds and classes will be closely and permanently united. Mrs. Woolson pointed out that this presupposes the spiritual regeneration of all humanity, because only the higher power of the Spirit can bring about such a state of unity and understanding. ”The express, the primal Mission of Bahá’u’lláh,” she emphasized, “is to unify all human beings in true oneness and to inaugurate a new and sublime era of spirituality, peace, brotherhood, and justice.”
Once again, as during the Bahá’í Centennial
of 1944, representatives from all the
Americas had participated with full equality
and freedom in consultation on important
[Page 708]
Bahá’í matters, in the deeper study of the
tenets of the Faith, and in discussions of the
most effective ways of promoting its growth
and establishing its Administrative Order.
Impressed anew with the vitality and
greatness of the Cause, they were revitalized
and recharged for the part they are to play in
the unfoldment of the Divine Plan, aware,
as never before, of their collective
responsibilities. Though members of small
and newly-formed Bahá’í Communities, they drew
strength and inspiration through this loving
association and true fellowship with other
Believers, and knew themselves to be integral
parts of the ever-expanding Bahá’í World
Community. Once more, in a measure
unapproached since the Centenary, was the
bond of unity between the followers of
Bahá’u’lláh throughout the Hemisphere
reinforced and a new impulse given to the
Cause as a whole, creating in all those present
fresh determination to join their forces to
co-ordinate their activities and efforts, and
with radiant spirits to rededicate themselves
to the advancement of the Bahá’í Faith, in
all of its aspects, throughout their native
lands. With hearts gladdened and their resolve
strengthened by a new sense of oneness,
fortified with a deeper understanding of their
Faith, and with a clearer vision of its
importance and high destiny, the participants
in the Panama Teaching Conference scattered,
and returning to their homelands,
communicated to their respective communities
the fresh and dynamic spiritual force
which had been generated at Panama.
To a degree far exceeding the hopes and expectations of those instrumental in its planning, this unprecedented event aided, and contributed to, the growth of the Faith in Latin America, giving a fresh impulse to the coinciding processes of the consolidation and of the expansion of the Cause. In the months immediately following it became increasingly evident that a firmer bond of understanding and fellowship had welded together the component parts of the Western Hemisphere, into a unified whole.
In 1944, as the first Bahá’í Century drew to its close, Spiritual Assemblies in sixteen of the Latin American Republics, including Puerto Rico (which was not then under the Inter-America work) has been established. Now, two years later, in the elections11 just reported, twenty-six Spiritual Assemblies are listed, one for each of the Latin American Republics, two in Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica; and three in faraway Chile. The Bahá’í Cause, throughout the Western World has passed into a new stage, the scope of its activities has been definitely enlarged and the basis of its Administrative Structure both consolidated and expended. During these two eventful years, not only has the momentum of the Cause been markedly accelerated, but the development of the Faith in these awakening Republics has taken a more specific direction, promising new and even greater achievements through the unified and collective efforts of Bahá’í Communities stretching in an unbroken chain throughout Latin America.
In a world suffering from post—war weariness and demoralization, and which, as far as faith and order are concerned, is but a vacuum, the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh sweeps on in its irresistible and destined course. To a humanity, spiritually as well as physically exhausted, it is demonstrating with ever-increasing vigor and strength its power to supplant destruction with construction, disintegration with integration, and to build a new world order in which lasting and universal peace is assured. Now clearly foreshadowed to the discerning, is the attainment of those "mighty victories” which the Guardian, in his cable of July 17th, 1944, had stressed as “the essential preliminaries to the emergence of the independent National Spiritual Assemblies and as the indispensable prelude to the launching, in other continents . . . of the second stage of the momentous world plan, so intimately associated by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, with the future destinies of the illustrious American Bahá’í Community.”
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11April 21st, 1946.
11.
GETTING READY FOR THE PEACE
BY DR. H. A. OVERSTREET
Address delivered on the program of the Bahá’í’ Centenary, Wilmette, Illinois, May 19-25, 1944.
IT IS fitting in this house of worship that we should talk of peace, for peace is its foundation. It is fitting that we should talk of universal peace, for universality is the heart and soul of its design.
We are still a world at war. When peace comes, will we be ready, all over the world, to say: “There shall be no more war.”
I speak here tonight as an American; but I hope I speak, too, as a citizen of the world. I hope I speak in the spirit of your own beloved Master when he said: “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”
In a number of months—a year perhaps —(we hope it will not be longer)—the war will be over. We shall be delirious with joy because no guns will any longer be murdering human beings; because the weak will not need to hide; the strong will no longer have to offer themselves as a brave sacrifice for freedom. The war will be over and peace will be begun. Will it be a beautiful, exciting peace? Will it be a peace of upbuilding? A singing, creative peace—all mankind putting their minds and wills together to make a world fit for the spirit of man?
We hope it will be. But with our hope is mingled a great fear. We may miss the adventure ahead of us. We may be so tired, so sick of all the cruelty and destruction, of all the uncertainty and disruption of life that we shall want to relax, to get back to the beloved routines of family life and of chosen work. We shall want to join our friends and let the world “go hang.” That was the way it was last time. It may be that way again. If it is, we shall miss another of the great chances—perhaps the greatest chance —given us by the ages.
To be forewarned, however, is to be forearmed. We of the older generation in America are not happy at the way we behaved last time. Perhaps the best we can now do will be to keep on reminding ourselves and reminding the younger generation how we fell away from the task. It may warn us not to do it again.
Also, we of the older generation are not happy at the way we allowed the great cause of world union to become the football of the pettiest and meanest politics. This time we must put petty and mean politics aside. The deepest hopes of mankind will be at stake; and we must not again sell those hopes for a miserable mess of political pottage. Also, we are not happy as we remember the shifting indecisiveness of the last peace—how we shuttled back and forth between a severity that was too severe and a generosity that was too generous. Nor are we happy at the mistakes we made about our enemy, the Germans, thrusting upon them a democracy for which they were quite unprepared, and remaining utterly oblivious to their determined will for another war.
I think the chief function of us older ones will be to insist that this time we get our minds prepared for the job. Peace will not come as a happy surprise, like a bird’s song in springtime. It will have to be worked for, sweated for, perhaps fought for. Not everyone will want the same kind of peace. Some will want the kind that will be merely an irritant for another war. Some will want the kind that will fail to rectify the iniquities that have made wars in the past and will make them in the future. Some will want a peace that is kind to the enemy; some will want a harsh and inhuman peace. Some will merely want what is good for their special kind of business. Some will want a peace that will make us the most powerful nation in the world. A peace that is to be wise and just must spring from minds that have learned to be wise and just.
Dr. Harry Allen Overstreet, guest speaker on the program ”The Centenary of the Bahá’í Faith,” May 22, 1944. The title of his address was "Getting Ready for World Peace.”
We shall have to be sunclear about a number of things.
In the first place, we must be convinced, this time, beyond the glimmer of a doubt, that hereafter nations can no longer go it alone. We ought now to know that a world of completely independent nations is a world of potential lawlessness. It is a world in which any strong, ill-motivated nation can descend with violence upon its neighbor nations. It is a world in which only force can be protection; a world, therefore, in which small, peace-loving nations can have no security of existence. It is a world in which the strong nations must be forever preoccupied with making themselves stronger.
There is no need to repeat the arguments. If, after all the arguments we have heard and all the tragic experience we have had in two world wars, we are still not convinced of the need for a world united against aggression, then God help the world. It will go to its destruction, because of the incurable stupidity of its people.
But to organize a world united against
aggression will not be enough. If the United
[Page 711]
Nations, with their world police, perpetuate
the same old racial exploitations and economic
imperialisms that have been the
sources of wars in the past, then they will
perpetuate wars among us. We must be
prepared, therefore, to work not only for
internationalism but for that type of
internationalism which is economically
and socially democratic. This means that we must
keep an alert eye on all the new efforts to
monopolize or cartelize economic resources,
as well as all efforts to perpetuate forms of
imperialistic domination. . . .
It is necessary for us to realize, therefore, that we have a delicate and difficult job ahead of us. After the war is over, German education, both in the schools and outside the schools, must not be allowed to remain the morally perverting thing the German leaders have made it to be. . . .
Who will do the changing? All our democratic scruples cry out against imposing reforms from the outside. Americans will never want to impose their educational system upon Germany; nor will the English want to impose theirs; nor the Russians. It may be that we shall have to find a solution through some kind of world body of educators—a body of men and women who, passionate for the peace of the world, will suggest modifications of the old militaristic and authoritative forms of German education. Such a body, if it is wise, will find those Germans of democratic mind and experience (there will be many of them abroad and some in underground Germany) who will be best able to help Germany create new forms of education compatible with what is best in the German spirit.
We shall have to be sunclear about this. Nothing short of a fundamental reorientation of the German mind and character will make the Germans safe for the world.
We shall want to be clear about a third point. This is not just a war between ourselves and Germany, nor between ourselves and all the Axis powers. There is a tendency always to see a war in territorial terms: the enemy over there, we over here. This war is different. The enemy is everywhere—all over the world—even among ourselves. They may sit by our side at a public dinner; may live in the next apartment; may be making speeches in Congress. Every occupied country now realizes that the enemy were in their midst long before the Nazis came: Quislings in Norway; Lavals in France; Dutch Nazis in Holland; Belgian Nazis in Belgium. Spain has its Falangists; Argentine its native Fascists. We in America have our American Fascists.
The lines of this war extend all over the world. The fight is between two kinds of people. This is the fundamental thing to remember. The fight is between people, on the one hand, who want power for themselves, special rights for themselves; people who believe that in race, or financial strength, or cleverness, they are worthier than the rest, and that their special worthiness gives them the right to take what they please; to be ruthless if need be; to be downright cruel if cruelty will get them what they want—it is a fight between such ruthless, power-seeking people and people who want all human beings to have equal rights to life and freedom and the pursuit of their happiness.
The fight is between a democratic order of life and a fascistic order of life. Fascism, in all its forms, is the arrogant assertion of special privilege. Democracy is the denial of special privilege. It is the affirmation that all men are born equal in their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of their happiness. Fascism sets man against man; divides rather than unites. Fascism, therefore, is and always has been the breeder of war. Democracy encourages man to cooperate with fellow man; it unites rather than divides. Democracy, therefore is and always will be the prerequisite of peace.
Long ago one of the great masters of life
formulated for us the law of civilized behavior:
“Do unto others as you would have
others do unto you.” In other words, give
every human being the same chances for life
that you would yourself like to have. On
the other hand, all through the centuries, the
misunderstanders and misusers of life have
formulated the counter rule: Do unto others
whatever kind of doing will get you what
you want. “It is the eternal struggle,” said
Lincoln, “between two principles. The one
is the common right of humanity and the
other divine right of kings. It is the same
[Page 712]
spirit that says, ‘You toil and earn bread and
I’ll eat it.’ No matter in what shape it
comes . . . it is the same tyrannical principle.”
Ours, therefore, is the world old fight for human decency. We have to be clear about this. We are fighting to get rid of all forms of oppression, wherever or whatever they may be. We, in America, are fighting for what we call our American dream.
Two forms of inequality today begin to appear to us as particularly odious: one, the inequality of rights as between Negro and White in America; two, the inequality of respect as between Occidental and Oriental. All fair-minded Americans know that our treatment of the Negroes is inconsistent with our democratic pretensions. Unfortunately, there are many Americans who, in this matter, are not yet fairminded.
Second, there is the inequality of respect as between Occident and Orient. We, of the occidental world, and particularly we of America, have never yet been fully enough aware of our occidental provincialism: we have simply taken it for granted that we of the West are the preferred brand of human beings. We assumed that we had the best political forms and the best industrial forms; so what more needed to be said. For generations, we have regarded the Orient as negligible, to be treated with more or less of contempt.
This, too, must go. The feeling we have had that we are the Master Hemisphere is not very far removed from the idea of the Master Race.
If there is to be world peace, there must be world respect. We shall have to think of all cultures—eastern or western—as having equal right to grow in their essential ways. For the arrogance and intolerance of our traditional Cultural Monism, we must substitute the generosity and respect of Cultural Pluralism.
I shall not speak except in passing about the ugly blot of anti-Semitism. With shame be it said, there are Americans who willingly and deliberately spread that ugliness among us. It shows how unfinished as yet is the job of democracy. It shows how necessary is the strengthening of a spiritual sense of what democracy is about.
It is probably true that many Americans have never dreamed the American dream. They have simply accepted this land as the place of their opportunity. But the American dream is more than that. It is a dream that includes others—includes them not as persons to be tricked and persecuted, but as persons to whom we say: “Come along; we’ve got a land to build . . . a land of freedom . . . a land where things will be better for our children than they were for us. We don’t care whether you’re rich or poor, Methodist or Presbyterian, Jew or Gentile, whether you speak with an accent or in Boston English, come along.” Something like that is the American dream—and antiSemitism just doesn’t fit into it. So out it must go—from our own land as well as from the rest of the world.
This, then, is the third point we must be clear about. We must know Fascism in all its forms; and deliberately, courageously, following in the spirit of all the liberals of the past, we must eradicate it from our midst.
In one of his last letters, Benjamin Franklin wrote: "God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say, ‘This is my country.’ ”
But there is a warning we must give ourselves: Rome was not built in a day: world cooperation and world peace will not be achieved at a stroke.
Those of us who have chosen our favorite blueprint of a world union, may have to learn a certain patience. Already the opposing forces are drawn up in battle array. There are those who are all out for a world organization; and there are those who, at the drop of a hat, are ready to fight all plans that imperil the sovereignty of their nation or the magisterial omnicompetence of their empire.
Before so vast an undertaking as union of the world can be achieved, men must be given time to grow accustomed to so novel an idea. This we failed to do after the last war. The League of Nations was thrust upon a people whose habits of mind were nationalistic. The shock was too great.
Scene of Bahá’í Summer School. “Bolton Place,” Yerrinbool, New South Wales, Australia, showing the Hyde Dunn Memorial Hall, left, and Bolton House, right.
It may be that world association will have to come quietly, step by step, without any too great invasion of our traditional nationalistic loyalties. As a matter of fact, it is already coming that way. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration is the first modest organ of world government generated by this war. Even it was opposed; but not successfully, because the reason for its existence was too obvious to be denied. There is a job that will have to be done and it can be done only by the combined strength and wisdom of the United Nations. People will have to be fed; cities rebuilt. A united humanity must bring relief to the victims of this most terrible of all wars.
Here, then, is the first of our world undertakings. There will be many more. The monetary systems of the devastated countries must be restored and reorganized. This will call for a United Nations Monetary Administration. Manufacturing must be resumed; business rebuilt; access to raw materials established. This will call for a United Nations Economic Administration. Schools must be rebuilt; education restored; the profound problem of what to do about German (and later, Japanese) education must be solved. For that we shall require a United Nations Educational Commission.
As one problem after another is tackled; as one united nations commission after another is organized and settles to its work, we shall begin to get used to the idea that we live in a world where world-wide problems must be handled on a world-wide basis. Without our knowing it, we shall slip into the habit of thinking in world terms. And before we know it, we will have passed out of the tradition of nationalistic thinking and be functioning in terms of world interdependence.
Finally, we will need to strengthen
ourselves with a basic confidence. We
in America have not suffered much from the impact
of war. Our cities have not been bombed.
We have witnessed here nothing of the war’s
horror and devastation. It sometimes seems
as if we hardly know that a war is on. Those
who have lost loved ones perhaps feel differently.
[Page 714]
But the bulk of Americans seem
hardly aware of the profound crisis through
which our nation and our world are passing.
Hence to many of us there would appear to
be small hope that Americans will be
passionate about making the kind of peace that
needs to be made.
We need to take heart out of what is happening in the war countries. Those people are not apathetic. Among them there is such a surge of democratic passion as the world has never yet experienced. In underground France they wait for the day when free France will assert her right to a new democratic way of life. In Jugoslavia, they fight and they wait. In Poland they wait. In Belgium. In Holland. In Denmark. In Norway. In Czechoslovakia. In Greece. In China. Democracy was never as passionate a desire among people in all the world before. These people are not apathetic. These people will surge forth when the last gun is fired, and woe betide any government, in exile or at home, that tries to deny them their democratic freedom.
We must build ourselves a new image of war’s end. The old image is that of a swarming of political stuffed shirts around a peace table; of endless, futile, pontifical talk; of papers drawn up and papers torn up; of agreements reached that are no agreements; of a peace that will make no peace. This is the image that the last war’s end left on our minds.
Perhaps we can begin to build a new image; the image of a new chance for all of us . . . literally for all of us. We haven’t done half of what we might do with our world. We have left it poor and divided and fear-ridden when we might have made it rich and united and courageously generous. We have had all the materials; all the technical brains. What we have lacked has been a motive, an impulse, a will, a sense of great values. What we needed was to want a more decent world so desperately that we would plunge passionately into creating it.
Perhaps we shall never have that will; but if, by any chance we were to have it, we would become the most excited people in the world. There would be something ahead of us . . . something tremendous to do . . . a world to create.
When the war ends, we shall have a chance never before given in all the history of the world. This war has done more to reveal the basic cleavages of life than any war ever fought. It has done more to shake men, everywhere, out of complacency, out of a sense that God’s in His Heaven and all’s right with the world. Never in all history has the soul of man been so deeply stirred. Never has the world been so ripe to take up the challenge of a new world to create.
A few months now—God grant that they may be few—and the great excitement of peace will be upon us; the excitement of an end that is to be a beginning; the excitement of going back to where we were, but also of moving forward to where we want to be.
12.
NEUE ARBEIT
BY DR. H. GROSSMANN
- Die Zeit, die du am Weg gesessen,
- Gehofit, gewartet und geschwiegen—
- Die Ewigkeit hats nicht vergessen,
- Ist ihre Stunde aufgestiegen.
ZUM ersten Mal seit dem Verbot des
Bahá’í—Glaubens durch den Reichsführer SS
und Chef der Deutschen Polizei vom Mai
1937 können die Bahá’í—Nachrichten wieder
den Weg zu den Freunden nehmen. Dazwischen
liegen fast neun Jahre der Unterdrückung
und Verfolgung. Viel ist ihnen
zum Opfer gefallen: der administrative
Aufbau und die Arbeit der Gemeinden wurden
zerschlagen, die Glaubensfreiheit der
Einzelnen genommen, ja an manchen
Plätzen sogar
mit grösster Strenge jegliche persönliche Fühlung
[Page 715]
unter den Bahá’í unterbunden, fast die
gesamte Bahá’í-Literatur in Deutschland ist
vernichtet, reiches, wertvollstes
wissenschaftliches Archivmaterial beschlagnahmt und
nur zum unbedeutendsten Teil durch Hingabe
an die Heidelberger Universitätsbibliothek
gerettet. Dennoch hat das alles nicht
vermocht, den lebendigen Strom der
Verbundenheit zu unterbinden und das Bewusstsein
unzerstörbarer Gemeinschaft zu tilgen,
durch Verhöre, Gefängnisse und Sondergerichte
aber ist bei den betroffenen Freunden
die Zähigkeit und Festigkeit des Bekenntnisses
nur noch fester geworden.
Bis ins Frühjahr 1937 hinein hatten die Bahá’í in Deutschland und Österreich Bahá’u’lláh’s Gedanken der allumfassenden Einheit vertreten, noch auf der so glänzend verlaufenen Esslinger Sommerwoche 1936—wie so manches Mal in den Jahren seit dem Umschwung von 1933 in Gegenwart der Gestapo —von den Bahá’í-Prinzipien eines Völkerbundes und Weltschiedsgerichts und der notwendigen Überwindung aller rassischen, nationalen, sozialen und religösen Vorurteile sprechen können, ja selbst unter der Gestapo hatte hier und dort die eindringliche Klarheit dieser Gedanken und die Haltung der Freunde Achtung und Interesse hervorgerufen, sodass Beamte später bei der Übermittelung des Verbotes ihr Bedauern darüber zum Ausdruck brachten und einer von ihnen es angesichts der Worte ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s von der wahren Lebensführung aussprach, dass doch recht viele Menschen Bahá’í sein möchten.
Der Bahá’í-Glaube hat es mit den Herzen und nicht mit der Politik Zu tun. Er legt den geistigen Grund zu einer religiösen Erneuerung der Menschheit und ihrer Ordnung und verbietet den Gläubigen, sich in die Angelegenheiten des Staates zu mischen, aber er kennt im Wesen keine Kompromisse. Auch die damals verbliebenen jüdischen Bahá’í wurden noch im Ghetto bis zum letzten Tag von den Freunden betreut und sind im ungebrochenen Glauben an den nicht fernen Sieg einer alle Menschen mit gleichen Rechten umgebenden allerbarmenden Einheit dem nur allzugewissen Tod entgegen gefahren. "Wir wünschen nur das Wohl der Welt und das Glück der Völker,” sagt Bahá’u’lláh, ”dennoch hält man uns für Anstifter von Streit und Aufruhr, die Gefangenschaft und Verbannung verdienen. Wir wünschen, dass alle Völker in einem Glauben vereint und alle Menschen Brüder werden, dass das Band der Liebe und Einigkeit zwischen den Menschenkindern gestärkt werde, dass Religionsverschiedenheit aufhöre und die zwischen den Rassen gemachten Unterschiede verschwinden. Was ist Schlimmes daran? Und doch wird es dahin kommen, werden diese fruchtlosen Kämpfe, diese zerstörenden Kriege aufhören und der ‘Grösste Friede’ erscheinen. Habt ihr dies nicht in Europa auch nötig und ist es nicht das, was Christus verheissen?” Gelegentlich einer deutschen Buchveröffentlichung im Jahre 1932, die auf den Prinzipien Bahá’u’lláh’s aufbaute, schrieb der "Völkische Beobachter,” dass kein Nationalsozialist an diesen Gedanken vorbei gehen könnte, aber fünf Jahre später war der Bahá’í—Glaube durch die nationalsozialistische Staatsautorität untersagt, und im Kriege wurde den deutschen Bahá’í als einziger Gruppe neben Sozialisten und Freimaurern die Offizierslaufbahn verschlossen. Seltsam angesichts der kleinen Zahl, die sie unter den Millionen kämpfender Deutscher darstellten und seltsamer noch gegenüber der Tatsache, dass selbst bei den gesteigerten Verfolgungen in der Endphase des Regimes und vor den Gerichten in keinem Fall gewagt worden ist, die Anklage der Staatsfeindlichkeit zu erheben. Ahnte man und fürchtete man vielleicht die Kraft, die hinter der Wahrheit Bahá’u’lláh’s steht?
Im Mai 1937 hatte die Nationaltagung der Bahá’í in Deutschland und Österreich in Heidelberg einen leuchtenden Abschluss gefunden. Sie hatte bewiesen, dass besonders die letzten ihr voraufgegangenen Jahre von den deutschen Bahá’í mit bewusstem Ernst und in intensiver Arbeit genutzt worden waren, um die Gläubigen zu einer unlösbaren inneren Gemeinschaft zusammenzuschliessen. So konnte die Sache Bahá’u’lláh’s getrost der ungewissen Zukunft entgegenschauen. Schon hatten hier und dort Wetterzeichen die nahenden Stürme verkündet, und unmittelbar nach der Nationaltagung begann mit dem Verbot für die nunmehr als Einzelne auf sich selbst gestellten Gläubigen die Zeit der inneren Bewährung. Und seltsam: während ihnen der Mund verschlossen und die Hand gelähmt war, mitten im tobenden Hass
und Völkermorden des welterschütterndsten aller Kriege, erwuchs im Volk aus der Not heraus ein Verlangen, das die Herzen unzähliger Menschen bereit machte, stärker, brennender, als es unsere Worte jemals vermocht hätten. Da in der politischen Sphäre ausserhalb Deutschlands die unerbittliche Notwendigkeit des Zusammenschlusses der Nationen zur Rettung und Sicherung eines dauernden Friedens um neue, festere Form rang, löste auch in Deutschland Ernüchterung und Verzweiflung so manches verhäirtete Vorurteil und gab so den Weg frei zu gesünderem inneren Wiederaufbau. Kaum je zuvor waren die Gedanken und der Glaube Bahá’u’lláh’s hier einem solchen Verlangen und solcher Bereitheit begegnet. Es ist die überbrückende, allumfassende Einheit, nach der die Herzen im Strudel der Auflösung greifen: Religion der Einheit, der Aussöhnung und des aufbauenden Gestaltens, nicht blinder Glaube, sondern Gewissheit, aus dem Ursprung des Seins herauskommend, gespeist von der vereinenden Liebe schöpferisch verbundenen Daseinsinnes und getragen von den Flügeln wissenschaftlichen und religiösen Erkennens, geistige Grundlage einer neuen, höheren Ordnung, auf der die Gesellschaft von Morgen im Begriff steht, das feste Gebäude unzerstörbarer Solidarität und sozialer Gerechtigkeit aufzurichten. Denn ist es nicht so, wie es einmal Viscount Herbert Samuel, der frühere Hohe Kommissar von Palästina und grosse Wertschätzer ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s ausgedrückt hat, dass "andere Religionen und Konfessionen erwägen müssen, wie sie zum Gedanken der Weltgemeinschaft beizutragen vermögen, der Bahá’í-Glaube aber fast ausschliesslich zu dem einen Zweck besteht, zur Gemeinschaft und Einheit der Menschheit zu helfen?”
Es ist eine veränderte Welt, die wir
deutschen Bahá’í nach jahrelanger
erzwungener Abgeschlossenheit mit der
wiedergewonnenen Freiheit erblicken,
die wir in unseren Vorträgen, in den
vielen Zuschriften
und von Mensch zu Mensch tagtäglich
erleben: Sie will nicht mehr erst mühsam
überzeugt werden, sie ist bereits überzeugt
noch ehe sie den Ruf recht gehört hat. Sie
hat Eile, aus der Not der Verzweiflung
heraus und ist bereit, den Weg zu gehen,
wenn wir nur helfen. So ist die Zeit der
inneren Bewährung nach neun langen Jahren
unversehens zu einer Zeit der äusseren
Bewährung geworden. Wir haben kein Recht
mehr auf uns selbst und auf beschauliche
Stille. In den Prüfungen der Verfolgung
haben wir gelernt, uns von beidem zu lösen.
Jetzt gilt es, in dieser Gelöstheit dem Ganzen
zu dienen, zu arbeiten und immer mehr noch
zu arbeiten, mit unerhörtem Bemühen und
selbstloser Hingabe über uns selber
hinauszuwachsen, um all derer Willen, die auf das
lebendige Brot des Glaubens Bahá’u’lláh’s
warten, für die geistige Gestaltung einer
Welt, die erlöst sein möchte. Wenig mehr
als ein Jahrzehnt nur trennt uns von dem
Zeitpunkt, den ‘Abdu’l-Bahá nach der
Verheissung Daniels für den Anfang jener
Erfüllung angibt: “Der Weltfriede wird fest
geschlossen, eine Welthilfssprache eingeführt
werden. Missverständnisse werden verschwinden,
der Bahá’í-Glaube allenthalben
verkündet und die Einheit der Menschheit
errichtet werden.” Ein Jahrzehnt ist kurz,
wenn auch fast zu lang angesichts der
unsäglichen Leiden einer zerrissenen
Menschheit, und nur äusserste Anstrengungen
werden vermögen, die gewaltigen Probleme vor
dem "zu spit” zur Lösung zu führen.
“Warum,” rief ‘Abdu’l-Bahá im November
1912 einer Versammlung in Paris zu, “haben
die Menschen so harte Herzen? Wail sie
Gott noch nicht kennen! Wüssten sie von
Gott, sie könnten nicht so geradezu gegen
seine Gesetze handeln; wären sie geistig
gesinnt, sie wären zu einer solchen Haltung
nicht fähig. Hätte die Menschheit nur an
die Gesetze und die Welt der Propheten
Gottes geglaubt, sie verstanden und ihnen
nachgeeifert, es würde kein Krieg mehr das
Antlitz der Erde verdüstern. Hätte sie nur
die Grundbegriffe des Rechts, wäre ein
solcher Zustand unmöglich. Darum sage ich
euch: betet, betet und wendet euer Angesicht
Gott zu, dass Er diesen Missleiteten in
Seinem unendlichen Mitleid und Erbarmen
beistehe und helfe. Betet, dass Er ihnen
geistiges Verständnis gewähre und sie
Duldsamkeit und Barmherzigkeit lehre, dass
ihr Gemüt erschlossen und mit der Gabe des
Geistes erfüllt werden möge. Dann werden
Friede und Liebe Hand in Hand durch die
Lande ziehen und diese armen unglückseligen
[Page 717]
Menschen zur Ruhe finden. Lasst uns nächtlich
und täglich darnach streben, dass wir
helfen, bessere Verhältnisse herbeizuführen.
Mein Herz ist dutch diese Furchbarkeiten
gebrochen und schreit laut—möge dieser
Schrei auch andere Herzen erreichen! Dann
werden die Blinden sehen, die Toten sich
erheben und Gerechtigkeit kommen und auf
Erden regieren. Ich rufe euch alle: betet mit
Herzen und Selle, dass dies geschehe.”
Es ist nicht Anklage, wenn hier von Vergangenem geschrieben wurde, sowenig es Aufgabe des Einzelnen ist, darüber zu richten. Es sollte nicht mehr als ein kurzes Zurückschauen sein, das im Dank für die Überwindung und aus dem Erkennen der Weisheit, die letzten Endes in allen Prüfungen liegt, Kraft für die Zukunft findet. Denn die Zukunft allein darf unser Ziel sein. Wir zeigen dem Glauben über einen gesicherten Weg das Bild einer erneuerten Welt mit erneuerten Herzen. Vor uns ist das Licht und hinter uns versinkt das Dunkel im Gestern.
13.
RECENT STIRRING YEARS IN CHILE
BY MARCIA STEWARD
THE historic occasion of the one hundredth Anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb saw Chile’s Spiritual Assembly at Santiago, represented at the Convention by its Delegate and Secretary, Esteban Canales . . . saw myself living in Punta Arenas, the world’s most southern city, whither I had gone eight months before at the Guardian’s own request. The great second World War was reaching its most critical turning point, and the unseen battle for the soul of Punta Arenas was in its most hectic phase.
To realize that from such an insignificant beginning has since developed Chile’s present Bahá’í administrative status, namely, three Spiritual Assemblies, each with its own independent administrative center, is to have borne witness to the invincible creative forces of Bahá’u’lláh as marshalled and directed by the Guardian.
I was once profoundly touched by a particularly poignant appeal for pioneers on the part of the Guardian. In it he lamented his personal inability to do what he was pleading of the North American believers. I believe that he has done it in a very real and holy sense. For the establishment of the Institutions of Bahá’u’lláh in Chile, is, in essence, the labor of love of the Guardian. Every Chilean believer recognizes this, and I myself most of all for we asked for, and plentifully received, his love, his affectionate, unerring guidance, his praiseful solicitude, the force of his sacred prayers.
The historic dialectic at work in the evolution of the New Order in the world today was never more clearly observable in its action than in the development and consolidation of the Cause in Chile. As Shoghi Effendi so forcefully and lucidly pointed out in God Passes By, every challenge leads to a greater victory, and this in turn produces yet another and greater challenge, to which the force of the Cause rises with even greater power, to transmute into even greater victory.
Within the Cause, this dialectic is orderly, evident, and purposeful. In the outer world, the same dialectic is impotent and conducive to chaos, for it has no common, constant, and creative purpose. It thus is a dialectic of disintegration.
The condition of challenge which sent our Delegate to the Centennial Convention; the subsequent victory which contributed to the consolidation of the Spiritual Assembly in Santiago; the subsequent challenge which sent this delegate, Chile’s first native pioneer, to replace me in Punta Arenas; the victory there, namely the historic formation of Chile’s second Spiritual Assembly through the heroic and dedicated efforts of Esteban Canales and Artemus Lamb, leading to the intimate cooperation of the two Assemblies
Interior views of the Hyde Dunn Memorial Hall, Bolton Place, Yerrinbool, New South Wales, Australia, where Bahá’í Summer School is held.
at the challenge to the Faith in Valparaiso, with that latest and greatest victory, the formation of Chile’s third Spiritual Assembly in that city; these successive and orderly crises, if you will, demonstrate the modus operandi of, and the inherent power within, the mighty Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. What other historic force operating in the world today can demonstrate such vitality and purposiveness . . . can turn to its purpose every seeming set-back, or convert defeat into total victory? The very intensity of the Divine Dialectic Process would shatter its instruments if it were not Divine.
The most salient feature of the past two years in relation to the work in Chile, is perhaps, the development of Extension Teaching, which curiously enough contributed more than any other factor to the consolidation of the fledgling Assemblies using it.
This type of teaching had been initiated as early as the summer of 1941, as one of the first methods employed to consolidate the original group, formed in April of that year. This baby group sent Tony Fillon, Dr. Roberto Siebenshein, now deceased, and myself, to Valparaiso at various times, for short teaching visits. It also authorized other members to teach in Collipulli, and in Temuco, where there was at one time a group of five former Santiago Bahá’ís. But it was only after the election of Chile’s first Spiritual Assembly at Santiago that this method of teaching was fully developed. A Teaching Committee was then immediately appointed and all of the subsequent work in Chile has been, at least ostensibly, under the direction of the Mother Assembly, until the newer Assemblies had been formed.
Since this Mother Assembly was always notoriously in the process of consolidation itself, it is the more notable that the results of its teaching work have been so outstanding. One might well ask, why?
The answer lies partly in the practice of throwing responsibility upon the Assembly, since it is obvious that only through experience will an Assembly mature . . . and of, as a corollary, likewise giving full credit for success and accomplishment to that collective body; and, partly in the spiritual temperament of the believers charged with the task of establishing new Assemblies.
The Santiago Assembly has always had the function of a fountain . . . continually to give out that it might receive. It has constantly sent forth its best pioneer material. But it also possessed another sort of material, believers with the "staying power” and the spiritual gumption to serve as an anchor for the little teaching ships that put out; even though the anchor itself was continually at the mercy of heavy seas. In a sense this first Chilean Assembly never had a real chance to consolidate, since it was in a constant state of flux and internal dissension.
Nevertheless, to it must redound the undeniable credit of mothering two Assemblies, if we wish to faithfully interpret the facts in the spirit of the Administrative Order.
When we look back at those tumultuous, hectic, anguish-laden conditions within the Santiago Community which obtained in those early days, and see how in the process of extension, of expansion, that community consolidated, sloughing off its parasitical growths as its spiritual lungs expanded . . . it becomes a lesson in a new procedure, a new method, of solving internal difficulties.
Although the Beloved Guardian sent me to Punta Arenas to establish a Bahá’í group there, I went under strictly administrative procedure, i.e., under the titular auspices of the Santiago Assembly. I kept my relationship to the Santiago Assembly paramount in my consciousness, maintaining a spiritual bond with it on the one hand, and on the other teaching the Faith in Magallanes in relation to an already established Chilean Bahá’í Institution. . . .
Later, when our delegate to the Centennial, Esteban Canales, replaced me as pioneer there, it was only after due consultation with, and the approval of, the Spiritual Assembly, of which he was a member. His reports came to that Assembly, of which I was the chairman. And Artemus Lamb, in the selfsame spirit of cooperation, obedience and loyalty to the Administrative Order, however immature its Local Institution was at the time, had himself officially transferred to the Santiago Community, and then went out to work shoulder to shoulder with Esteban, under the auspices of Santiago in Punta Arenas.
When the Punta Arenas Assembly had been brought into being by the unstinting self-sacrifices of these two intrepid pioneers, both Assemblies next simultaneously turned their attention, with the Guardian’s approval, to Valparaiso. Santiago, being the nearer of the two, sent three members of its own Assembly on weekly teaching trips, and it was precisely when the attitude of complete cooperation with that Assembly began to weaken, that the trouble which subsequently developed in Valparaiso began to cast its shadow.
I am dwelling on this theme with complete candour to show that the success of the teaching work in Chile has been due to complete cooperation with the institutions of the Divine Plan there, and that, conversely, whenever trouble, or set-backs occurred, the cause lay in the lack of cooperation with the Spiritual Assembly. I feel that there is a lesson for the future in this for all of us who are called upon to devise ways and means to fling far and wide over the earth these Divine Institutions, and make them function. It may superficially seem bad judgment to place heavy responsibility upon an immature Assembly, or to demand absolute obedience to it, while its frailties are manifest to all. But the power of the Spirit flows from this source, and if we, even well-meaningly, disregard it, it seems that the growth and expansion of the Cause ceases.
I feel one should not deduce from this the principle that in the Bahá’í Community the stronger servants are put at disadvantage, but that if they obey impersonally the institution that is the perfect archtype, and keystone of the New Civilization, then they, the strong ones, by this sacrificial act of spiritual discipline, reinforce in reverse the individuals composing the Assembly, and themselves receive the benefit in the subsequent outflow of a new vigor from the institution. The merely temporary restraint on action which obedience entails, or the direction of action which may seem ill-advised at the time, should be accepted in the interest of the growth of the Administrative Body. For we seek two simultaneous, and interdependent things . . . to make the Faith known, and to multiply the Assemblies . . . but also to make of the Administration a mature, responsible medium for the success of the former. The spiritual “attitude” which makes restraint possible is in itself a maturing process, and a much needed personal discipline. Thus, fortunately for the experiment, all the local teachers or pioneers sent out by Santiago, regardless of any certain privileged status which they might reasonably have assumed, were capable of this healthy spiritual attitude. And it is to this, after due and joyous acknowledgment of the Guardian’s own inestimable contribution, that the successful founding of the Bahá’í Administrative Order in Chile is due.
Is it not indeed this very attitude which made possible his own contribution? Love for the Guardian . . . the necessary foundation for the love for, and obedience to, the Administrative Order, which it is one of his prime functions as Guardian to establish, is the mainspring from which surges the spiritual attitude mentioned above.
Esteban with his great capacity, Artemus who so joyously and unquestioningly placed himself under the direction of an immature Assembly, are two who, because of experience and quality of service, might have disregarded or depreciated the guidance of the Assembly . . . but who, on the contrary, in the fulness of their devotion to the Guardian and the Administrative Order, placed themselves humbly and eagerly under the aegis of an Assembly which was having sufficient difficulties in maintaining itself, let alone participate in the establishment of others!
As an integral part of this same attitude, we can also point out Chile’s action in sending a national delegate to the first Latin American Bahá’í Congress at Panama this past January. This action was an attempt by the majority of the Chilean Believers, through the initiative of the Santiago Assembly, to build a larger consciousness through attitude . . . to please the Guardian by doing something larger, within the spirit of the Administration, than he had yet requested from us.
That this action brought about a major crisis within the Chilean Bahá’í Community is proof of the soundness of its major premise, for the very crisis produced a consolidation of the weakest point, precisely where
A Cappella Choir at Louhelen Bahá’í School, Davison, Michigan, U. S. A.
the only objection to the plan had been raised, and put an end, once and for all, to the minority issue, which had been plaguing our Santiago Assembly since its inception.
I can write of this all coolly and objectively now that it is “in focus,” but to experience these evolutionary crises is to "know” the creative process which is building the Divine Order . . . with its tremendous strain upon the souls of all involved. That the casualties resulting from its violence are so relatively few in Chile, is largely due to the vigor of the Chilean believer. As we say in North America, he can "take it.” Once thoroughly aroused to the Truth of, and to the deepest implications of, the Faith, the Chilean is like a North American in his impetuosity and untiring efforts. Until he is, however, so aroused, he can think of more ways to obstruct and make trouble than ten North Americans!
This latter propensity produced, as I have already intimated, our major internal administrative problem . . . that greatest problem confronting all organizations seeking integral unity . . . namely the issue of the minority opinion, and its corollary, constant agitation.
Conceivably the most important contribution
to functioning, permanent unity which
Bahá’u’lláh has bequeathed to us in His
Divine Plan, is His way of resolving this
problem. And only could even this method
be feasible through a Plan whose mainspring
is the power of God Himself . . . for what
other power is capable of transforming human
nature so as to enable man to dominate
the egoistic tendency of insisting on retaining
the right to his own opinion, and to
maintain it through agitation, in spite of
a contrary majority vote? This tendency
strikes at the very heart of all plans fo
[Page 722]
world unity. Only in the Plan of Bahá’u’lláh
do we find at once the solution, and the
power to bring it about, of this acute problem.
The complete and generous cooperation of the former minority on an Assembly with the decision voted by the majority is the sina qua non of real unity, and only the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, as we have said above, can, or does, demand it. But even here, since human nature does not change overnight, the minority problem continues to present difficulties. Until the believers composing the Assemblies are matured in the Teachings, freed of egotism through the love of God, and completely conscious of their duties and obligations toward the Communities, the problem will continually present itself. For only an entirely confirmed heart and a spirit imbued with a sense of obedience; in short, only a mature Bahá’í, can so overcome his conviction of the rightness of his own opinion as to enable him to cooperate entirely with the majority in carrying out a decision which he was, and still is, convinced is an erroneous one. Even as the Guardian himself has recently explained, "The Cause is perfect, but its instruments, (ourselves) are as yet imperfect.” When we become better instruments the Cause will show forth its true power and perfection.
Hence, our teaching efforts developed around the idea that to interest persons capable of maturing quickly in the Faith, the Teachings should be presented in a mature manner. We all tried to present them as a “whole.” We did not stress any particular aspect, but tried to give a complete, whole picture of the Great Plan of God for This Day . . . a new Vision, which incorporates the whole social, religious, economic, spiritual and moral man, in a Divine Plan for his happiness and development. This method made it possible to attract all kinds of people, since it did not limit, even for a moment, the scope of their own imagination. The Chilean is particularly capable of this kind of teaching.
The Faith therefore, is known in Chile for exactly what it is. There is no confusion as to its identity. It is free of persons, who having a half view of it, retain old loyalties which vitiate its strength.
To deflect as much as possible the inevitable tendency to personalize everything in a young Community, independent Centers were established as soon as possible. These last two years have seen the three Chilean Spiritual Assemblies move into their own Centers.
All these three Spiritual Assemblies have their respective committees, such as Program and Center Committee; Teaching; Publicity and Radio; Youth; Feast; and between them they have appointed what amounts to “National” Committees of Teaching, Radio, and Legal Counsel . . . the principal work of the Legal Committee being that of studying, in relation to the laws of the country, a petition for Personeria Juridica, or Incorporation Papers, from the State.
But one curious aspect of the Faith in Chile is that it appears each Community has a different teaching function in relation to its own area. Since in the foregoing Santiago has been amply treated, we will be brief in treating of its function and field.
In Santiago the work is principally in the intellectual, artistic and educational circles. It would be difficult to find a person belonging to these categories who does not know of the Cause. The presentation of the Faith at the University in May of 1941 reached over four hundred of these people.
A complete set of Bahá’í Books in the Spanish language has been placed in the National Library in Santiago; and the Director of this Library wrote our Spiritual Assembly the most courteous and appreciative letter of thanks and official acceptance. Santiago also placed a similar set of books in the Municipal Library of Punta Arenas, which gift was similarly acknowledged by the Mayor himself.
The first radio work in Chile was also
commenced in Santiago in 1941, consisting
of an Introduction to the Program featuring
selections from the Guardian’s Writings
regarding our aims and purposes, followed
by Questions and Answers . . . the questions
sent in by the listening audience. Later, on
the same program selections from Bahá’u’lláh,
and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were read. This
program, which we owed to the generosity
of a non-Bahá’í friend, was discontinued
[Page 723]
after several months due to the fact that the
Spiritual Assembly at that time was not
sufficiently consolidated to permit of
its being carried on.
We had early secured the generous support of newspapers and several magazines, which had carried articles and interviews, and which always extended their columns to us when we needed space for visiting Bahá’ís, or cared to contribute articles about the Faith. All of the foregoing reached that certian portion of the public aforementioned.
We have, incidentally, just heard that to Santiago, fittingly enough, has now fallen the great privilege and responsibility of editing the Latin-American Bulletin, which was commenced, and edited to date, at Panama; and a letter teaching me today confirms the great generosity of one of our newer Santiago Believers, a member of the Spiritual Assembly. Mrs. Fabienne Guillon has officially presented to the Faith a piece of property at Loncoche, Chile, consisting of ninety thousand square meters. This is part of a larger property belonging to Mrs. Guillon, and the whole is one of the most beautiful, scenic properties in southern Chile.
This marvelous gift may eventually serve as the site for Chile’s first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, but meanwhile will be improved, to serve as a Bahá’í Summer School.
The Community of Punta Arenas apparently has the teaching mission of reaching the masses. Through its amazing radio success, Punta Arenas has indeed set such a noteworthy example to her sister communities that her story warrants here a special, detailed mention. For it is a saga of bold and courageous action, of lustrous Faith, of unity of effort, and above all, of a unique sense of coordination.
In January of 1945 the first radio work for our beloved Cause commenced in that isolated land. The very first step which Artemus and Esteban took was confirmed! In contacting the various radio stations, they met the Director of Radio Polar, Mr. Hugo Arteagabetia. This interview with him proved the bell that rang up the curtain on our Bahá’í drama of radio in Punta Arenas. Hugo became fascinated at once with the possibilities inherent in such a program as our two pioneers outlined, and offered not only the facilities of Radio Polar, but also all the cooperation of his artistic, sensitive nature.
Then a name list was drawn up of all the persons whom the three of us had interested in the Cause during the past eighteen months. It was an extensive list! When the radio time had been established, beautifully worded invitations were then sent out, asking these people to listen in on the projected program. One of the most characteristic things about these invitations was that they bore the following words, ”under the auspices of the Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly of Santiago.”
Next the cooperation of the press was sought, and through the unforgettable kindness of the editor and publisher of El Magallanes, Mr. Andrade, publicity was arranged, with follow-up articles and comments. From this procedure grew the publishing of pamphlets, which the presses of this same friendly newspaper printed.
The above is an indication of the way in which every effort was coordinated, in the Punta Arenas work, and which brought about the lively interest of a large public. Later, when we were to launch a series of public lectures, we were able to draw on this same fund of goodwill and interest. Surely this is a remarkable piece of work, and since I had personally nothing whatsoever to do with it, I can allow my admiration and praise full rein! It is so evident that every step was guided and confirmed by divine assistance, and sustained from on High!
Thus it came about that by February twentieth of 1945 the Bahá’í radio program, "The City of Certitude,” went on the air. It was conceived as a series of nine informal round-table discussions pertaining to world problems, applying as the solution, the twelve basic Bahá’í principles. The Faith itself was not mentioned directly until the eighth audition.
The participants in this program were,
with the exception of Esteban Canales, all
non-Bahá’ís. Since they made Bahá’í History,
I am going to name them, for the
recompense which Bahá’u’lláh had destined
for them was confirmation in His Faith! The
following are the names of those, "brothers
and sisters who are unfurling the Banner of
[Page 724]
the Faith in Magallanes,” and who are among
those whom the Guardian himself saw fit to
designate as “servants worthy of the Name
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá”: Hugo Arteagabetia and
his gifted wife, Lili; Esteban Canales; Rosi
Vodanovic; my own faithful friend and devoted
servant of Bahá’u’lláh, Raul Villagran;
and Maria Hernandez. To this list must be
added the name of Artemus Lamb (how shall
I describe him?) who, while he did not take
actual part in the program, was the instigator
and patron of it.
Since all these friends have great talent, this program was notable for the exquisite beauty of its presentation, its artistic quality, worthy insofar as human effort can be worthy, of the sublimity of its purpose and the inestimable treasure of its content. The music selected as the Bahá’í “Theme Song” . . . the melodious and trained voices, the “timing,” and the infinite tact with which the Teachings were presented, taken together made of this program something to be eagerly listened to by the culture hungry people of a far and isolated land.
The eighth and ninth audition presented the identity of the Faith, and terminated shortly before the deadline for the formation of the yearned-for Spiritual Assembly. There were still no enrolled Bahá’ís! But Bahá’í Youth Day was celebrated about this time, coordinated with our Santiago Youth Celebration, at the Hotel Cosmos . . . twenty people attended. Then, Naw-Rúz was celebrated by an international festival inaugurating the Salon of Radio Polar. The entire program was arranged by the Bahá’ís and their friends. Esteban read a short talk on the Faith; Rosi read extracts from the Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and recited a poem; Hugo gave comic dialogue and acted as Master of Ceremonies. It proved a joyous occasion, with eighty guests attending. The entire program was broadcast!
Still no Bahá’ís! The Guardian had cabled Artemus in February, “Fervently praying early formation Assembly.” On April 5th a letter came, “You may rest assured that his prayers will certainly sustain you both in your efforts to establish an Assembly there in April of this year.”
On April 16th, at a small party celebrating Esteban’s birthday, the bounty of God became manifest. Eight persons declared their desire to become members of the Faith. The first to sign was Raul Villagran, who had spared no effort to help me in my long and lonely vigil in Punta Arenas and who had accompanied me, with spiritual fragrance, in several Nineteen Day Feasts. The second person was also a personal friend, Lina Smithson, now residing in Iquiqui, Chile; the rest were, Rosi Vodanovic, Hugo Arteagabetia, Julio Cesar Villagran, Mrs. Antonia VodanoVic, Mrs. Wilhelmina Williams, and Olaf Arentsen.
On April twentieth the first Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly of Punta Arenas, Chile, was elected . . . all the above participating, including Esteban and Artemus. Chile thus had reached her second Local Spiritual Assembly. Her Capital was now spiritually united with her far, southern extremity.
To me, as I write, the poignancy of remembering the clear, radiant faith in the Guardian’s prayers, which runs through this period like a mystic accompaniment, brings tears to my eyes.
In July the second series of the “City of Certitude,” went on the air, over the same radio . . . but this time under the auspices of the Spiritual Assembly of Punta Arenas! This series consisted of nine informal conversations between three Bahá’ís covering the field of daily problems. These were discussed from the Bahá’í standpoint, and definite Bahá’í Teachings clearly applied. The consensus of opinion was that this second series attracted more listeners than the first. (The first had attracted and confirmed the persons Bahá’u’lláh had destined to form the Spiritual Assembly.)
In October the program, "Jewels from
Bahá’í Literature,” was broadcast over radio,
“La Voz del Sur.” This program was especially
beautiful. Magallanes is an ideal field
for teaching by radio. The peculiar life of
the place; its remoteness, its lack of cultural
facilities; the hunger of a people living in
a purely materialistic environment for the
things of the spirit; the fierce, relentless
weather with its high winds, storms, rain,
snow and intense cold; making home the
center of activity; the vast, farflung and lonely
“Estancias”; the sad, mysterious pall of a
violent past which hangs over the entire
[Page 725]
region; all these things, plus a hundred
others, make it as different from Northern
Chile as night from day, and contribute to
form an ideal field for radio. All that was
needed was what Esteban and Artemus, and
indeed, all the friends, had in abundance:
courage, love for the Faith and “a burning
desire to tell it to others,” an enthusiasm and
a conviction par excellence. Truly, I feel
that never has such a spirit been more
gloriously vindicated than there in
that sad, remote land.
In January of 1946, again over Radio Polar, a class in English was contributed jointly by this Station and the Bahá’í Spiritual Assembly. From June 15th to September 5th of 1945, other special programs had been presented by the Spiritual Assembly. These were dramatic presentations of the Faith, with a musical background; Bahá’í prophecies and writings, and a special program to commemorate the celebrated Conference of San Francisco, and the termination of the War in Europe.
All of this great variety of radio programs were conceived, written, acted and presented by the Bahá’ís themselves. In addition to the radio work, the Spiritual Assembly of Punta Arenas published the first, and so far only, pamphlets on the Faith in Chile. These were devoted to seven different subjects: The Bahá’ís Seek World Unity; The Dawn of a New Civilization; The Base for a New Civilization; Strikes; War or Peace; and, The Reality of Man and The Laboratory of a New Civilization . . . the last two being mimeographed copies of the first two public talks given under the auspices of the Assembly in the Municipal Library in Punta Arenas. All these pamphlets were printed and widely distributed in Magallanes, and generously forwarded in large quantities to both Santiago and Valparaiso.
When I returned to Magallanes from the work in Valparaiso, in October of 1945, Radio Polar was broadcasting still another Bahá’í program. This was the first time I heard with my own ears the Word of God come over the ether in Punta Arenas. The program was, “A Bahá’í Comments on the News.” Hugo Arteagabetia, then a member of that Assembly, was the Commentator, and he himself wrote these “comments.”
How shall I describe the deep thrill which stirred my soul as I listened to this truly inspired program, and fully realized that, in this strange land where I had spent fifteen such lonely and seemingly fruitless months . . . where my only terrestrial companion was my Guardian . . . where without his invisible, unfailing support, my very soul would have fainted away . . . the New Revelation was literally “in the very air”?
There are some things far too deep for words . . . things which only spirit can communicate to spirit. I shall only say here that my one conscious thought was, “Oh, if only Shoghi Effendi could be listening to this!”
I had the further joy of listening to still another Bahá’í program! Every Wednesday Rosi Vodanovic would read for fifteen minutes from the Sacred Writings . . . and the Love of God went over the air and into the hearts through her!
My happiness in meeting these glorious new brothers and sisters simply knew no bounds. I had once written that those who would rise up to accept the Faith there, would need be stalwart souls indeed! And so I found them! Brave, clean, windswept spirits!
At this particular time, the possibility which the Guardian had foreseen, and of which he had warned the believers in his reply to their first communication to him . . . namely, the threat to the Assembly status through unavoidable changes of residence, became a reality. It constituted the first real crisis the Assembly had had to face. Punta Arenas has a top layer of floating population . . . northern Chileans who spend a few years, or months there. (Such are the rigors of the climate that business concerns, and the Government itself, do not allow their employees to remain too long there!) This circumstance is both a help and a hindrance to the Bahá’í work. It is a help since those who hear of the Faith there take it north with them. It is a drawback because it is a constant threat to the Assembly status as long as the Community is not sufficiently large to compensate for such a loss of members.
I had felt that perhaps one of the reasons
which the Guardian had had for putting
[Page 726]
such stress upon the importance of the
Magallanes work was that he had foreseen the
eventuality of the Bahá’í Community of
Punta Arenas serving as a source of spiritual
transfusion for the weary Community of
Santiago. For, due to the blessed, in this case,
isolation of Magallanes, the work there,
from start to finish, had been completely free
from the type of interference suffered in the
Capital. It developed along its natural course
in an atmosphere that was, spiritually
speaking, completely pure, and the believers who
brought the Assembly into being were imbued
with such a sense of unity between
them, of sacrifice and detachment, that the
Assembly was a truly Bahá’í Body. Whereas
in the Capital, the Faith had had to contend
with such multiple and serious difficulties
arising out of sources completely outside of
its control, that it had lost some of its
spiritual buoyancy and pristine vigor. Thus, the
arrival of several of these strong, vigorous,
windswept souls from the south certainly
brought to it a new dynamism.
Now, in October of 1945, Punta Arenas was about to lose five of its Assembly members to the North. After consultation with the Assembly, we planned a public campaign for new members; a series of three widely publicized lectures. Two of these we arranged to hold in the Municipal Library, through the kindness of the Mayor of Punta Arenas; and with the third we planned to inaugurate the Center which we did not have!
While arranging the lectures, and the publicity, we found the Center, and through this providential "crisis,” the first official, independent Bahá’í Center of Punta Arenas was inaugurated!
The sensation I had, when standing, facing a large and sympathetic audience, in our very own Bahá’í Center . . . in a city which I had left a year before with absolutely nothing accomplished on the outer plane . . . addressing this miraculous audience . . . under the auspices of the Spiritual Assembly of Punta Arenas . . . was one of complete and undiluted awe! What I had left, apparently a desert, I had returned to find a rose garden! My only conscious thought was of the Guardian. A cherished desire of his had been realized . . . the Guardian’s Presence pervaded the region, and the Moon of the Covenant rose high . . . full and luminous above the horizon of that Godblessed land.
When the time to say farewell came, the Assembly status had been secured. The Valparaiso work was calling me back . . . Esteban was returning to Santiago . . . Rosi and her mother were likewise bound for the Capital. Lina Smithson was leaving to settle in Iquiqui. The original Punta Arenas Assembly was sending forth some of its fairest flowers to grace the communities of the North. Hugo Arteagabctia was leaving to join his family in Valparaiso, where his wife had become a member of the original group there. Before all of us sailed away, Artemus, Esteban and myself, finding ourselves together for the first time, had our pictures taken. We were not to be together again, all three of us, until the eve of my departure for Central America . . . but in spirit, we are always one.
Returning to Valparaiso, we continued the work toward the formation of a third Assembly there. The group had been officially formed the previous July 14th, with its duly elected officers. The first Valparaiso Bahá’í was Rosina Viñuela, who learned of the Faith on a trip to Punta Arenas. The other members were: Lili Arteagabetia; Rosita Caro; Millicent Bravo, one of the first Santiago Bahá’ís; Oscar Frank; Carlos and Julia Bulling Petersen, with their four beautiful children; Mrs. Elvira Oddó, and Mr. Gottfried Brander. To this group now came Hugo Arteagabetia, and later Esteban Canales. One can see that not only does Valparaiso represent the spiritual unity of endeavor between Santiago and Punta Arenas, but physically, in its very membership, those two communities are represented.
Valparaiso reached Assembly status in the elections of April 20th, 1946. It proved a very difficult field, the most difficult one, and it was brought to Assembly status that year through the unstinting, heroic efforts of Esteban Canales.
Valparaiso’s mission is a very special one. The formation of this Assembly is something of a miracle brought about by the Guardian. It is also a mystery. It entailed certain preliminary skirmishes which have no place in
Recreation grounds at Louhelen Bahá’í School, Davison, Michigan, U. S. A.
this paper, but which resulted in total victory for the Faith . . . so that the Guardian could include in his magnificent cable to this first Valparaiso Assembly, the significant words, ”Historic triumph.”
What a thrilling few days followed that election! The cable offices in Chile certainly had a field day! (They are already so familiar with the Cause and the Bahá’ís that when a cable arrives for a certain Bahá’í the office checks with any Bahá’í and asks where such and such a person is working for the Faith at the moment.) Cables flew from Punta Arenas, Valparaiso and Santiago to Haifa . . . and from Haifa came the blessed replies; they flew from Punta Arenas to Santiago to Valparaiso and return, making a lovely circuit of loving unity expressed in congratulations, and bearing the news of the results of each Community’s election. They flew to Wilmette, during the National Convention then in session.
Yes, that was a very special moment in the history of the Faith in Chile. The blessed Cause of God threw off once and for all the shackles that had bound it, and stepped forth triumphant, purified, whole.
And then, for me, came the Guardian’s cable, approving my service in Central America, and asking me for this account of the last two full, violent, but glorious years.
I was ready to leave. An era had ended
in Chile . . . an era whose outer close is
symbolized this day by the sad news that Chile’s
valiant but curiously unappreciated President,
his Excellency Don Juan Antonio Rios,
is dead. His passing is a matter of particular
regret to the Chilean Bahá’í Community.
For to him, as President of the Nation, the
Spiritual Assembly of Santiago, in the name
of the Chilean Bahá’í Community, had
presented the Tablet which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had
sent to a Chilean woman through Martha
Root in 1920. We know it as the "Tablet
[Page 728]
to Chile.” Our Assembly had this Tablet
beautifully translated into the Spanish
language. Then to Mr. Joaquin Macias, artist
and friend, was entrusted the work of giving
it a worthy setting.
Mr. Macias, in order to faithfully execute this trust proceeded to study the Faith, particularly the "Dawn Breakers,” and old Persian tapestries as well! The result of his loving and painstaking efforts was a true and gorgeous work of art. Then the Assembly appointed a committee, which was granted an interview with President Rios. At this interview Eugenia Herrera presented the Tablet to him with an accompanying explanation. His attitude of comprehension, courtesy and respect . . . as he listened to this Chilean Bahá’í’s words, and then reverently picked up the Tablet, did him credit. Now Juan Antonio Rios is dead . . . to the world. But the Bahá’ís are certain that he has also received life. We pray that God may receive his soul and that his spirit, comprehending the full import of the Tablet he received, may work from the unseen realm, together with us of Chile, for her future glory in the Cause of God.
Dead, but surely living also, is our great and highly-regarded friend, Don Domingo Melfi, Director of the newspaper La Nacion. His assistance to us cannot be estimated, and his great qualities of justice, generosity, and open-mindedness will continue to warrant the gratitude of every Bahá’í in Chile, whether of the past, or of the future.
My beloved friend, and editor, Charles Paddock is also dead. He who so generously gave us our first start in the news world, without which our path in Chile would have been a very different, and infinitely more difficult, one. Yes, an era had ended . . . so many deaths . . so intimately connected with the Faith. Have I too, died? In a sense I think so . . . for in leaving my beloved Chile, I left a large part of myself.
But before leaving I had shared the immense joy of Mason Remey’s visit. Mason, on his historic trip throughout South America, visiting all the Bahá’í Assemblies and groups, brought, if his presence in Chile is any criterion, which I am sure it is, a very special and much needed bounty. His close association with the Master made him the bearer of a spirit which I do not exaggerate when I say consisted of spiritual healing. At least, that is the only way I can describe the effect of his presence upon us in Chile. We sensed that subtle, undefinable but potent assurance which those who knew ‘Abdu’l-Bahá possess . . . perhaps it comes from a deep tranquillity whose spring lies in another, luminous world. Surely those to whom fell the priceless privilege of knowing, in His earthly form, the Mystery of God, could not have left His Presence unchanged. For they knew Heaven on earth . . . and this is the gift they bear us, and this is what Mason brought us. I remember his face when I asked, "why did you decide to make this long, taxing journey?” He replied, "I thought it might please the Guardian.” May I here, for history, acknowledge Chile’s debt to this faithful servant of the Guardian, and say that he will live forever in the hearts of the Bahá’ís Of Punta Arenas, Santiago and Valparaiso.
Now, as I sit here, in a room, in San José, Costa Rica, I realize that I have remembered all that I had forgotten. And all the faces come once more before me . . . the faces of those devoted companions who now carry the blessed burden of an infinitely precious mission. That an immense labor is needed to co-ordinate, maintain and expand the victories gained is evident. But I dare to hope that the unfailing support and illumination of Bahá’u’lláh will sustain and reinforce them.
Something now stirs within me, the sheer happiness of knowing and remembering how the Spirit moved and worked, using us all in its unpredictable and unerring way, for Its Divine Purpose, producing in me now an exultation of soul to have been privileged to have watched its manifold wonders . . . wonders that rained down like showers of light when the way was darkest . . . rained down like the Guardian’s sacred prayers for us all, revitalizing all dying, faltering things!
14.
BAHÁ’Í ORDER AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
BY PROF. K. T. SHAH
IT IS generally agreed that much of the present social discontent is due to the enormous difference in the means of ensuring worldly happiness, as between those who have and those who have not. Those who have exploit the poverty of those who have not; and those who have not retaliate by the only means in their power: hatred of those who enslave and exploit them; discontent with the entire social order which tolerates and encourages such injustice; and passive resistance in the shape of malingering to secure for themselves the greatest return for the least effort. Class war is thus rampant in every industrialized country, even when outwardly the people are at peace under an orderly government.
This phenomenon is not confined to individuals only. Nations, or rival powers, fight among themselves, and bring death and destruction to countless men and material, to attain or maintain their own power to dominate and exploit those weaker than themselves. Class hatred culminates in frequent strikes and lockouts; while international rivalries manifest themselves in wars which have thus become the order of the day.
Mere Palliatives. The remedies devised to meet this unending disease prove hardly more than mere palliatives, since the root of the disease is untouched. This root lies in the initial injustice of the individualist society. It may not be a divine commandment that to him who hath shall be given, and from him who hath not shall be taken away the mite he possesses; but it seems to have become the religion of civilized (?) mankind all over the globe. Industrialization, admirably, designed to end the deficit, operates under the social system with the only motive power in personal gain as a curse for the worker. Every social reform—like the liberation of the serfs in Tzarist Russia, or the emancipation of the slaves in America, results in a deeper enslavement and heavier exploitation. For the liberator never provided against the ingenuity of the profit-seeker, who twists the hard earned personal freedom of the serf of the Negro to turn him into a wage-slave of the worst kind.
Only Remedy. The remedy for this state of things, however, lies not in the tinkering, which has recently been attempted, like doles for the unemployed. Nor will the method of the strike and the lockout solve the tangle; but will only add to the feeling of hatred and distrust on either side. Work will be impeded, production inevitably curtailed, and the means of ensuring the material wellbeing of the people reduced. Scientists have calculated—and Prophets, like Bahá’u’lláh, have proclaimed, that: “were all the work, whether of brain or hand, of a nature profitable to mankind, the supplies of everything necessary for a healthy, comfortable and noble life would amply suffice for all.” But all do not work; nor is all work equally productive. The possessing classes have created a monopoly of the means of production, which they permit to be utilized on condition that they themselves need not labor, but be fed and clothed and sheltered in superabundance as parasites and incubi.
But the trouble is just there. Neither scientist nor prophets are heeded in the insensate, incessant search for personal profit and endless accumulation of worldly wealth. Until men learn to think not only,—nor even primarily, of themselves; until they realize that in the good of all lies the good of each, there can be no effective and abiding solution of this most prominent evil of our days; Says the Prophet Bahá’u’lláh:
"Oh ye sons of intelligence! The thin eyelid prevents the eye from seeing the world and what is contained therein. Then think of the result when the curtain of greed covers the sight of the heart!”
This Prophet was born in the backward land of Persia 125 years ago, when industrialization was even a name in that land of darkness, ignorance and superstition. But
The Honorable Robert W. Kenny, Attorney General of the State of California, addressed an audience of Bahá’ís and their friends, as part of the program of the Bahá’í Summer School at Geyserville, July, 1945. The meeting was held in the auditorium of the school.
He was gifted with a divine vision; and in the midst of persecution and exile. He saw the evil genius hovering on the horizon; and uttered His prophetic warnings against it. He has, at the same time, held out hopes of a better order. For “Soon,” He says, “will the present order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.” That New Order, assuring and providing the comfort and happiness and peace of all mankind, is founded on the rock of justice between man and man. The demands of social justice have hitherto been obscured or denied because of the all-pervading cloud of selfishness and greed.
Down with Inequalities. The deepest root of this injustice lies in the inequalities of the means of material happiness available to every human being. "Poverty shall disappear,” says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son and successor of the Prophet. The existing inequalities he unreservedly condemns. And though he does not think absolute equality, in point of material wealth, either practicable or desirable, he has no doubt that:
"It is important to limit riches, as it is also of importance to limit poverty.” . . . "The rich must give of their abundance; they must soften their hearts, and cultivate a compassionate intelligence, taking thought for those sad ones who are suffering from the lack of the very necessaries of life.”
This may sound as no more than what
every religious teacher has inculcated from
Buddha and Confucious to Bahá’u’lláh. But
where Bahá’u’lláh scores over His predecessors
and contemporaries, is in His more workmanlike
attitude towards the problem as a
whole. The long range remedy, He knows,
must lie in better education of the masses,
and deeper understanding of the working
of Divine Providence in all such matters.
With that knowledge only can come that
sense of sympathy and identity of interest
[Page 731]
as well as ideal or objective between all
mankind, without which all endeavors to remedy
the wrong of ages must prove vain and fruitless.
Bahá’u’lláh lays the immediate foundation of the
New Order on voluntary sharing
and co-partnership as between the employers
and the employed. Says ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in a
letter to The Central Organization for a
Durable Peace (1919):
“Among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is Voluntary Sharing of one’s property with others among mankind. . . . One should not prefer oneself to others, but rather should sacrifice one’s life and property for others. But this should not be introduced by coercion so that it becomes a law which man is compelled to follow. Nay, rather man should voluntarily and of his own choice sacrifice his property and life for others, and spend willingly for the poor, just as is done in Persia among the Bahá’ís.”
Slavery Forbidden. As a corollary to this injunction to share is the command that all should work. Every one, capable and qualified, should engage in some useful and productive work. There must be no drones in the social hive nor able-bodied parasites, men or women, Bahá’u’lláh does not deny the right to riches, justly acquired and rightly used. The rich must learn to be trustees of their wealth, acquired from the labors of their fellows; and must devote it to the service and the happiness of the people. Every service rendered and work done, should be adequately remunerated, so that there be neither slums nor starvation. In the book of Aqdas Bahá’u’lláh has definitely forbidden slavery; and His son and successor, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, has explained that to include not only chattel slavery but wage-slavery as well. Lecturing in the United States, he observed in 1912:
“Between 1860 and 1863 you did a wonderful thing; you abolished chattel slavery, but today you must do a much more wonderful thing; you must abolish industrial slavery.”
Employees as Partners. He explained the Divine Law in such matters, to be that employees should not be paid merely by wages. Nay, rather they should be partners in every work. . . . The owners of properties, mines and factories, should share their incomes with their employees, and give a certain percentage of their profits to their workingmen.
The new society of Bahá’í design would, thus, be founded on a sort of mutual cooperation, inherent in the nature of man, and replace the present incessant competition by co-partnership. Men must join in a common endeavor for the benefit of all, under the aegis of a single World Sovereign State guided by an International House of Justice, which shall follow the injunctions of the Prophet, and so lead mankind to that perfection of worldly ease and happiness which is but vainly sought under the present unsocial dispensation.
15.
LITTLE DID I DREAM
BY JOHN CARL EICHENAUER III
SHOULD a man, all alone, arise in the name of Bahá, and put on the armor of His love, him will the Almighty cause to be victorious, though the forces of earth and heaven be arrayed against him.”—Bahá’u’lláh.
Did you ever look ahead and say, "Where will I be serving Bahá’u’lláh one year from today?” “What exciting events are in store for me?” Little did I dream on October 6, 1944, as we sailed from New York City, that one year later I would be in the heart of Germany, participating at once in the establishment of the Lesser Peace by service in the occupation forces of the United Nations, and in the foundation of the Most Great Peace by assisting the reorganization of Bahá’í activities in Germany and Austria, for eight long years prohibited by a corrupt and nationalistic regime.
This year has been the most eventful in my life. There are a number of important
Group of Chinese aviators, and other guests, attending one of the programs of the Bahá’í International School, July, 1945, Temerity Ranch, Colorado, U. S. A.
dates: October 20, 1944, the date of my
arrival in Europe, aboard the U. S. S. George
Washington, the same ship upon which our
great President Wilson travelled to the Peace
Conference in 1919; January 6, 1945, when
Lt. Fred Mortensen, of Chicago, and I met
in Saarbourg, France, my first meeting with
a Bahá’í since leaving America; February
17, 1945, when I first contacted the Bahá’ís
of Paris, France; June 15, 1945, the first day
of a marvelous five-day trip through southern
Germany and Austria, which culminated
in another visit with Lt. Mortensen in Salzburg,
Austria; June 20, 1945, when Calvin
Lee Wilder, a most esteemed fellow studier,
embraced the Bahá’í Faith in spite of my
poor example; July 15, 1945, when American
soldiers were first allowed to talk to Germans
in public places which enabled me to contact
the German Bahá’ís in Esslingen and Stuttgart;
August 10, 1945, the date of receipt
of my first communication (dated June 16,
1945) from the Guardian since arrival in
Europe. What could have been more assuring
than the closing words of that letter,
“Assuring you of my special prayers for
your success, protection and the realization
of every hope you cherish for the promotion
of our beloved Faith, and the consolidation
and progress of its God-given institutions”?
August 14, 1945, when the Bahá’í
Community of Stuttgart was granted official,
written permission by American Military
Government to resume religious activities;
of course, the dates marking the cessation of
hostilities in the East and the West are
immemorable; August 26, 1945, when the
Bahá’í Communities of Esslingen and Stuttgart
gathered at the Bahá’í Summer School
overlooking Esslingen for a photograph and
discussion of means of spreading the Faith;
September 27, 1945, when I was reunited
[Page 733]
with my dear Bahá’í brother, Sgt. Bruce
Davison of Miami, Florida, and first met the
Bahá’ís in Frankfurt and Darmstadt; and
October 20, 1945, observance of the 126th
Anniversary of the Birthday of the Báb with
my Bahá’í buddy, Cal, and the Bahá’ís of
Stuttgart. Almost every day was highlighted
by the receipt of a letter from some farflung
outpost of the Faith; Hobart, Tasmania; Ancon,
Panama Canal Zone; Baghdád, ‘Iráq;
Montreal, Canada; Sydney,
Australia; London, England; Tegucigalpa,
Honduras, as well as many from Bahá’í
Centers in the United States and Canada,
including my beloved spiritual family in
Phoenix, Arizona. Unbelievably reinvigorating
is even the most cursory note of Bahá’í
progress in other lands. Some sent money,
some sent literature, and others sent food;
ever-present was the indissoluble bond of
"Ya Bahá’u’l-Abhá.”
As we entered the beautiful harbor of Marseilles, France, a feeling of the mission with which I was to be entrusted descended upon me. Calvin Wilder, then a seeker, and I had observed the holy Anniversary of the Báb’s Birth, seated on a hatch at sea amid the wind and spray. On many occasions I prayed for guidance in the coming months. Not having any addresses, it was not possible for me to contact the Bahá’ís in Marseilles, but I did leave a Bahá’í pamphlet with a Theosophist lady, and repeated the Greatest Name in Notre Dame Cathedral. The church offers a marvelous view of the harbor and city, and awed by the sight, I supplicated that the spirit of the people would be quickened in the service of their Lord. Further religious activities among civilians were limited by military duties in the 100th Infantry Division.
“God will assist all those who arise to serve Him.”—Bahá’u’lláh.
The Century Division went on the line about November 1, 1944, and continued in action until April 24, 1945. It went into action around Rambervillers, France, participated in the Saar triangle move, crossed the Rhine at Mannheim, took Heil-Bronn, Germany, in some of the hardest fighting of the war, captured the southern part of Stuttgart, and on VE Day we found ourselves in the area of Geislingen. For over two months I was stationed in Eislingen, a village just outside Göppingen. We moved to Bad Cannstatt, a suburb of Stuttgart, on July 7, 1945.
My small part in military operations as a litter bearer, clerk and laboratory technician in the division clearing station was quite inconspicuous. Our clearing station received casualties from the entire division, evacuating some and maintaining convalescent wards for minor illnesses and injuries. Being located a number of miles from the front, we had only one close call, a strafing by plane near Diemaringen, France.
Many were the opportunities to speak of the Bahá’í Faith, directly and indirectly, to many soldiers, a few civilians, and a number of liberated Allied prisoners of war, including natives of India. Most contacts were casual and informal, though I believe a good percentage of lasting impressions were made.
While on a tour of guard duty near Raweiler, France, I noticed on a parked truck the unit designation of a Bahá’í I had been writing to. A few hours later I found Fred Mortensen of Chicago, in Saarebourg, France. We exchanged experiences for several hours, and he told me of his first contact with the Paris Bahá’í on Liberation Day, August 22, 1944.
Overjoyed and thankful I felt one afternoon
in mid-February, when upon returning
from a mission as correspondent for the
Century Sentinel, our weekly division
newspaper, I was given a three-day pass to
Paris. At the time we were in Diemaringen,
France, and it was an all-day trip by truck
to Paris. Arriving in the famous but somewhat
chastened capital on Saturday afternoon,
February 16, I soon contacted Miss
Edith Sanderson, through the Red Cross.
Surprisingly enough, she lived at the same
address (12 Rue de l’Annonciation) and had
the same telephone number (Aut 7913) as
before the war. We spent the following
afternoon together in her apartment exchanging
experiences and recalling mutual
Bahá’í friends, May Maxwell in particular.
First in order was the presentation of Bahá’í
credentials issued to me by the National
Spiritual Assembly of the United States and
Canada. Fortunately I had copies of
God Passes By and Bahá’í Centenary to leave
[Page 734]
with her for the group, and also a number of
Bahá’í bulletins and pamphlets. She was
eager for news of the progress of the Cause
in America. She looked to be in fairly good
health. From her I learned I was the fourth
Bahá’í to visit the Paris friends since the
Liberation. The first was Lt. Fred Mortensen
of Chicago, on Liberation Day. The
other two were David Hofman of London,
England, and John Ashton of Evanston, Illinois.
From Miss Sanderson’s home I walked
a few blocks to Mr. Kennedy’s apartment at
6 Rue Leon Bonnat, and was met by a very
dear Persian believer, Mr. Parvíz Khorsand.
His great sincerity and purity of motive
impressed me immediately. He was very
happy to learn of youth activities in America
and to see pictures of the Convention. He
is a graduate chemical engineer and was
working for Supreme Headquarters Allied
Expeditionary Forces at the time. Mr. Kennedy
came about eight o’clock and we spent
a joyous three hours talking of the Cause.
I was especially interested in his experiences
in Turkestan and his visit to the first Bahá’í
Temple in ‘Ishqábád. Of course, it is always
a pleasure to meet those who knew ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Mr. Kennedy has not been well, but
Parvíz seems to be in good health. The next
afternoon I met Mrs. Scott, another American
believer. In the evening Parvíz and I
attended one of the “Follies” which brought
up a discussion of the Bahá’í moral code as
explained in The Advent of Divine Justice.
After the show we walked and talked until
the early hours, discussing current events,
the movement of the left, women, and the
application of the principles of the Cause
to world situations, parting at the Arc de
Triomphe. In these few hours Parvíz and I
developed a deep friendship.
“As ye have faith, so shall your powers and blessings be.”—‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Of great joy and personal confirmation of Faith was the embracing of the Faith by a fellow company member, Technician Fifth Grade Calvin Lee Wilder, a writer and booklover from Boston, who has been studying the Cause for over a year. The first Bahá’í pamphlet I showed him did not interest him, but we seemed to be thrown together frequently and our discussiohs nearly always touched some phase of the Teachings, particularly the relation of literature to religion. He celebrated Naw-Rúz (Bahá’í New Year’s Day) with me in Bitche, France, and several times he joined me in the observance of 19-Day Feasts. He is a sincere fellow, slight of build and soft-spoken, but determined in speech and action, and especially devoted to racial amity work. He feels that meeting the Paris friends was the turning point in his search for Truth. He was deeply impressed with their warmth and friendliness. Most surprising, though an exceptional example of the independent investigation of truth, is his acceptance of the Faith without making the acquaintance of any other American Bahá’í. His first Bahá’í contact was a German family we found in Esslingen, Julius and Helene Kurz and their children, Neckarstrasse 3B. Though we spoke only a few words of German, “Alláh-u-Abhá,” "‘Abdu’l-Bahá” and the mention of a few mutual friends brought us close together spiritually. We parted with prayers in English and German. Calvin made his declaration of Faith on June 20, 1945, at Esslingen, Germany, and on August 14, 1945, he signed the Bahá’í membership card at a prayer meeting we held in my room at 10 Daimlerstrasse, Bad Cannstatt. Since then he has been very active in the Esslingen Bahá’í Community.
Since July 15, 1945, American soldiers have been allowed to talk to Germans in public places, and since October 1, 1945, we are allowed to visit German homes. I have met Bahá’ís a few blocks from my quarters in Bad Cannstatt; many from Stuttgart, a couple miles away; many from Esslingen, about seven miles distant; from Göppingen; and from Geislingen.
It was possible to observe the Anniversary of the Declaration of the Báb with about 20 Bahá’ís in the Kostlin home, in Esslingen. Those present were Emma Muller, Friedrike Kupperbusch, Hildegard Muller, Ruth Espenlaub, Emma Loffler, Marie Dittis, Luise Rommel, Fridl Schneider, Johanna Raster, Rosa Schafer, Wilhelm Lenz, Klara Bender, Hugo Bender, Elisabeth Muller, Peter Rommel, Adolf Spieth, Johann Schafer, Hermann Rommel, Hildegard Uesch, Marta Weiss, Anna Kostlin, and Helene Kurz. That first occasion I had to speak to a group of
Believers attending the 1945 Summer Sessions of the Bahá’í International School, Temerity Ranch, Colorado, U. S. A.
German Bahá’ís was quite touching. Imagining how difficult it must have been to suspend all Bahá’í activities when a specific order was issued by the Nazi regime on June 10, 1937, and to bear the shadowing of the Gestapo and the persecution of certain members because of their religious beliefs, I could read in their faces their great relief to resume Bahá’í community life. In glowing terms and with faces reminiscent of heavenly joys once experienced, the believers asked about the American Bahá’ís who travelled in Germany before the war, some as early as 1907, Charles Mason Remey, Miss Alma S. Knobloch, Roy Wilhelm, Mark Tobey, Lorol Schopflocher, George Latimer, Amelia Collins, Charles and Helen Bishop, Fred Kluss, Sylvia Matteson, Ruhanguiz and Jeanne Bolles, and with special admiration, Rúḥíyyih Khánumm. How inspiring to see in their guest books the names of the many believers who visited this beautiful region. The friends were very anxious for news of the health of the Guardian and of the progress of the Cause in America, which I was very happy to convey.
Each of the Bahá’ís is outstanding in some
way, but I must make special mention of
Fraulein Anna Kostlin and Fraulein Marta
Weiss. Anna Kostlin is an elderly gray-haired
lady with sparklingly sincere eyes and
a heart-warming smile, a very devoted handmaiden
of Bahá’u’lláh. She reminds me of
Martha Root, though I never knew her. Her
home is the heart of Bahá’í activity
in Esslingen. She has saved some Bahá’í literature
in English and German, including the
Star of the West. I gave her God Passes By
and other Bahá’í publications. Tiny, cheerful
Marta Weiss is a strong, active force in
the Bahá’í youth group. She and Fraulein
Hildegard Muller have visited the Neckargemund
[Page 736]
Bahá’ís. Their regular weekly meetings
are held on Tuesday evenings, and
Thursday evenings are devoted to youth
activities. They ask for literature in English
which they will translate into German. A
typewritten youth bulletin is already being
circulated. Some Bahá’í literature has been
received from North America and from England.
The Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Báb found me with about thirty Bahá’ís in Stuttgart: Robert Shultheiss, Werner Schubert, Hede Schubert, Dister Schubert, Samuel Hafner, Henrich Walker, Marie Walker, Bernhard Hesselmeier, Hedwig Hesselmeier, Charlotte Hesselmeier, Friedrich Schweizer, Anne Marie Schweizer, Pauline Bothner, Frida Leidinger, Lina Rothfuss, Anneliese Maerz, Frau Mehl, Adelheid Koller, Herma Muhlschlegel, Ursula Muhlschlegel, Otto Geldreich, Agnes Danner, Berta Hopfner, Birgitt Megerle, Hilde Eberwein, Emma Haas, Paul Gollmer, Werner Gollmer, Lilo Gollmer, and Marta Gollmer. The program began with the singing of a hymn. Then Frau Leidinger read words of Bahá’u’lláh and "Abdu’l-Bahá. I repeated the Báb’s prayer "Remover of Difficulties” and then conveyed greetings of the American believers. A number of questions were asked about the progress of the Cause in other lands. The meeting was closed with "Der Grosste Name” hymn,
- “Aus frohem Herzen dringt das Wort
- Des grossten Namens ewig fort,
- Und Machtig tont’s von jedem Ort,
- Alláh-u-Abhá!
- “Das helle Licht das Er gebracht
- Das Fuhrt uns weiter in der Nacht,
- Das Dunkel weicht dutch seine Macht,
- Alláh-u-Abhá!
- "Alláh-u-Abhá tont es nun
- Der Hymnus steigt zu Gottes Thron,
- Und freudig tont es ohne Ruh’n:
- Alláh-u-Abhá!”
A picture was then taken. A heavenly spirit pervaded each meeting. Their hospitality was wonderful and all I had to offer was a small amount of chocolate I had saved from my rations. It was quite a delicacy for them. Many items such as soap and sugar have been very scarce and are considered luxuries. Ordinary staples are quite scarce, but nevertheless, when one visits a Bahá’í home, he is offered whatever they have, even though it is the last morsel of food in the house.
In Stuttgart, Bahá’í activities center around the Gollmer home. The building in which their apartment is located was spared whereas those adjacent to it are in rubble. Herr Gollmer was the National Treasurer, and it was a great joy to meet him and his dear family. To see the Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Bahá’u’lláh and many other precious books and archives in German and English that he has saved, having hidden most of them in the cellar to avoid confiscation by the Gestapo, deepened my admiration for him. He and his wife, Marta; son, Werner; and daughters Agnes and Lilo, and granddaughter, Brigite, look to be in good health. On behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany and Austria, Herr Gollmer extended me a letter of introduction in visiting other Bahá’í communities.
Calvin and I observed the Feast of Words With 34 believers in Stuttgart. It was Cal’s first Feast Day with a Bahá’í community and my first, since leaving America, other than those observed with Cal or observed alone. But for the language I felt as though I were attending a Feast Day in America. It was also in the Gollmer home. From a provision which was saved by Frau Gollmer for a celebration of peace, tea and cake were served. First a hymn was sung. After readings from the Sacred Writings, Cal and I were asked to say a few words and then I asked all present who knew the Master to give their impressions of his wondrous person. A prayer closed the meeting. Most memorable is their reverent greeting "Grüss Gott” and affectionate farewell, “Aufwiedersehen, Alláh-u-Abhá.”
My knowledge of German consists of a
few words, which is a handicap, but I am
studying as military duties allow and hope
to carry on a fair conversation by the time
I leave. Fortunately, several believers speak
English quite well. Dr. Muhlschlegel has
already translated
The Promised Day Is Come and God Passes By
is being translated.
[Page 737]
Several weekly study classes are held
by the Stuttgart Bahá’ís, and include youth
meetings and public speaking classes.
As early as June 1, 1945, I gave a list of Bahá’í names and addresses to the battalion intelligence officer, Capt. Willard F. Seaton, along with quotations from God Passes By about the legal status of the Cause in America and the suppressive measures taken against the Cause in Germany in 1937, when it was outwardly dissolved by a specific order from Himmler. My hope was that after investigation by Counter-Intelligence and Military Government, Bahá’ís could be of assistance in restoring order and in reorienting the German people.
On Monday morning, August 13, 1945, Chaplain James Watson, then our battalion chaplain and I spoke with Capt. Carvel Busey, Religious Education Officer of a Stuttgart Military Government about written authorization for Bahá’í meetings in Stuttgart, even though freedom of religion was automatically established by proclamation of General Eisenhower. I presented to him the Bahá’í credentials I carried while in Latin America and had at hand for his reference Bahá’í World, Vol. V (from Fraulein Anna Kostlin’s library), Faith for Freedom in English, and The World Religion and Bahá’í Principles in German. Capt. Busey was very considerate in answering our questions and suggested that the Chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly, Herr Paul Gollmer, and I come to his office for further consultation. He had knowledge of the Teachings through his aunt, a Bahá’í of Urbana, Illinois. He spoke of Lt. Col. Keller of the Military Government in Munich, whose wife is a Memphis Bahá’í. It was quite fortunate to have one so understanding to speak with. I gave him a list of the Bahá’ís of Stuttgart and the names and addresses of believers in eleven other cities in Germany and Austria. Our first meeting lasted for thirty minutes.
On Tuesday morning, August 14, 1945, Chaplain Watson lent me his jeep for the second interview. Tec 5 Bob Siemens, the chaplain’s assistant, and I stopped by for Dr. Adelheid Koller at the Children’s Hospital, and for Herr Paul Gollmer at the insurance office where he works. We arrived at the Military Government Office and were received a few minutes later. Capt. Busey was again very considerate. After a few questions, he directed his secretary to type the following letter:
"This is to certify that the Stuttgart Bahá’í religious community has been authorized by this Headquarters to reorganize and to hold religious meetings within the City.
“Mr. Paul Gollmer, 127 Neckarstrasse, is the Chairman of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Stuttgart and is responsible for the internal discipline of this group and for its non—political character.” Herr Gollmer showed him the political questionnaire he had previously filled out and was given about twelve blank forms for other members. He also showed Capt. Busey copies of National Assembly correspondence with Himmler concerning suspension of Bahá’í activities. We learned that announcements of meetings can be made without authorization. Capt. Busey said that each Local Assembly could apply for authorization, and that later on the National Assembly could apply for authorization at USFET in Frankfurt. Eventually the American National Assembly can present the case of all the Bahá’ís in Germany and Austria before the Four Power Control Commission in Berlin. As we left, Capt. Busey told me to come to him whenever I needed help.
“He will send His hosts from Heaven to help you, and nothing shall be impossible to you, if you have faith.”—Bahá’u’lláh.
On August 29, 1945, Frau Doctor Adelbeid Koller, Herr Paul Gollmer and I went to the office of the 6871st District Information Services Control Command which controls all publications and radio broadcasting in this area. I talked with the Chief of the Radio Section, Mr. William Burke Miller. I presented my Bahá’í and Army credentials and the letter we secured from Military Government, and asked him about the policy governing radio programs. He said religious programs were given freedom as long as politics were not mixed in and there was no mention of the Germans being persecuted. He said that radio time for religious programs were allotted on a percentage plan and told us we might submit a program. Several have been prepared for consideration.
A few minutes later we talked with Mr. Jean P. Best of the Intelligence Section of the same Command about permission for publication of a Bahá’í pamphlet. He said the Catholic and Protestant Churches had publishing houses of their own and that they publish literature and submit a copy of each publication to his office for approval before general distribution. He said the Bahá’ís could do the same. The proofs of the pamphlet Die Bahá’í Religion, a general introduction to the Faith, have already been corrected, and we are having 5,000 printed, in keeping with the authorization of Mr. Felix Reichmann, Publications Control Officer of the 6871st DISCC.
If you could have been there Sunday afternoon, August 26, 1945, you would have felt yourselves carried into the realms of another world. The Bahá’ís of Stuttgart and Esslingen gathered at “Bahá’í Heim,” the Summer School site, nestled in among the trees on a hill overlooking Esslingen and the verdant Neckar valley. My being privileged to attend this wonderful gathering starts in the 100th Division Laboratory.
My co-worker in the lab, Tec 5 Nelson H. Brown, who thinks some of the Bahá’í principles are good, gave me the afternoon off duty. Frau Frida Bender and her daughter, Fraulein Helga Bender, and I left Bad Cannstatt about 11:30 from Wilhelmsplaatz bound for Oberturkheim. Knowing you’ll soon be visiting this school, I will mention that you take car No. 13 and transfer to No. 25. At the end of Line 25, you begin a delightful walk up the orchard and garden-covered hill which ushers you into Paradise Lane with the Summer School at the end. Hugo and Klara Bender were awaiting us and served a delicious lunch for us and a group of about fifteen other Bahá’í friends. The atmosphere was so uplifting that I forgot I was eating. That our Division hovered around this area had something to do with divine intervention it seemed, not because of myself, but in order that some Bahá’í could convey to these friends the greetings from the Bahá’í world without, from which they have been deprived for about eight years—long, spiritually hungry, terror filled years. We were seated in the lecture hall for lunch. A picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and quotations from his Writings hung from the walls. From there I went to an adjoining room to play the organ. How my heart warmed as the Bahá’í children gathered around. It seems almost unbelievable that out of all this destruction and disorder and chaos, that a cornerstone of the foundation of the World Civilization of Bahá’u’lláh has emerged well-anchored, that the fire and zeal of the believers has remained undimmed, and that their plans for the spreading of the Faith in the coming months will make the Bahá’í world sit up and take notice.
As the afternoon wore on Bahá’ís came in droves from Stuttgart and Esslingen, of all ages, classes and temperaments, drawn by that irresistible Power of the Cause, that indescribable happiness that pervades every Bahá’í meeting. How pleasant to wander from one little discussion group to another. Here is Dr. Koller, of the Stuttgart Local Assembly, a most active Bahá’í; there stand Friedrich and Anna Marie Schweizer, two pillars of the Cause in past years; there is Paul Gollmer, the National Treasurer and Chairman of the Stuttgart Local Assembly, who risked so much to preserve Bahá’í archives; his daughters, Agnes and Lilo (who lost her husband in the war) are nearby; not far away is Herr Richter of Leipzig who was on the Russian front, found his way to Denmark, was finally discharged near Frankfurt, and is now going from one town to the next looking for his wife and child. I was impressed with the complete equality of the believers: this gentleman is still wearing the tattered remains of his German Army camouflage uniform, and there is a business man dressed as you find anywhere in America. I was particularly drawn to the youth.
If the American believers could only be
transported into this environment and realize
the hardship and privation that these exemplary
souls have undergone and are still
undergoing to a lesser degree, they would
rise up as a powerful, spiritual radio and
television transmitting station to proclaim
with undaunted fervor the Message of the
Lord of Hosts. Have we ever been seated in
our homes reading our Bahá’í books and had
fear clutch at our hearts because we thought
the shuffle of feet outside our apartment was
some Gestapo Agent coming to check up on
[Page 739]
our activities. Did we ever have to hide our
pictures of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá because we didn’t
want them confiscated or desecrated?
Some seventy believers were gathered in the garden for the photograph. Several views were taken of the entire group and of the youth and children separately. Then we went in the lecture hall. Hugo read a prayer, and Paul Gollmer read a Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from Sonne der Wahrheit (Sun of Truth). Then Paul discussed the importance of divorcing ourselves completely from antiquated ecclesiastical organizations. He asked me to say a few words before the closing prayer. Very few are the times which have equalled the happiness I felt during that marvelous meeting.
On a three day pass, September 26-28, I was privileged to visit Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Heidelberg and Neckargemund. In Darmstadt, the birthplace of my paternal grandparents, I found Frau Marie Schenk, one of the accused in the public trial of Bahá’ís in Darmstadt in May 1944. In Frankfurt I quickly made my way to the room of Sgt. Bruce Davison. We talked at great length of past experiences in the Army and plans for assisting the believers in the re-establishment of the Cause in Germany. The first evening we spent visiting a seeker, the second evening we spent in great happiness observing the Feast of Will at the Muller home, 41 Waidmannstrasse, Sachenhausen, Frankfurt. It was here for the first time that I met two outspoken and outstanding champions of the Faith, Dr. Hermann Grossmann and Fraülein Edith Horn. Our consultation centered around plans for a public meeting in Frankfurt. On October 19, 1945, 250 people attended the public meeting at 121 Gutleut Strasse. Introduced by Sergeant Davison, Dr. Grossmann spoke eloquently on “What Religious Unity Can Bring to Mankind.” It was most enjoyable to speak with Dr. Grossmann, an Argentine, in Spanish, about the progress of the Cause in Latin America. He was one of the group who started publication of the first German newspaper in Heidelberg, since the occupation of American troops. He has three books about the Cause in preparation, and has plans for the founding of a Bahá’í Institute in Neckargemund, for the training of Bahá’í teachers at the future Bahá’í University in Esslingen. Of special inspiration was the wisdom and insight of Fraülein Edith Horn, revealed as she related the history of the Cause in Germany these last eight years. Others present at the Feast were Herr and Frau Muller and Fraüleins Diesterweg and Kowalski. On October 20, for the first time, a Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Frankfurt. There are now thirteen believers in the city.
Time allowed only an hour for a delightful visit with Anna, Elsa Marie and Bahíyyih Grossmann and Lina Benke in Neckargemund. Bahíyyih, whom I had met previously in Bad Cannstatt, has been active in spreading the Message among youth in her neighborhood. They have all been outstanding defenders of the Cause during these perilous years.
At the present time we know of Bahá’ís in thirteen cities in Germany and Austria. To quote Dr. Grossmann, “An eventful chapter of the development of the Faith in this country has come to a close. At the end of this record still stand the names of those who lost their lives on the battlefields, or by other war events, amongst them some of our most promising Bahá’í youth. These are, as far as for the moment it can be recorded, their names: Jorg Brauns of Karlsruhe, Wilhelm Gollmer of Stuttgart, Hansjorg Kohler of Stuttgart-Unterturkheim, Fritz Macco of Heidelberg and Alfred Schweizer of Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. The fate of other young friends is still unknown. By other war events died Mrs. Else Gricke and her two little daughters, Margot and Rita, all from Leipzig. The fate of four Jewish believers of Frankfurt, i.e., Miss Sophie Rothschild from Weinheim and the three Werthheimer sisters is still unknown. They were deported, as far as can be remembered, in November 1941, and it is to be supposed that they are no longer alive. Up to the last moment before their deportation, friends of Frankfurt, Darmstadt and Neckargemund took care of them while in the Ghetto, at the risk of their lives, and Edith Horn was present at Miss Rothschild’s in the very moment when Sophie and her neighbors were called for deportation.
"May the sacrifices of their lives and the
fact that none of the living believers—as far
[Page 740]
as the writers of this record are informed—flinched
nor budged for a single moment in
the profession of their faith, become the
foundation stone of a new era of development
of the Cause in Germany and lead, in
connection with the brilliant achievements
of the believers all over the world, at the top
those of our American friends, to the final
establishment of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh,
Whose Faith we all love more than
our lives. Alláh-u-Abhá!”
The following is an account of the Anniversary celebration of the Báb’s Birthday, written by one of the members of the Bahá’í Youth Group of Stuttgart, Fraülein Helga Bender:
”Abends kamen wir bei Gollmers zu einer wunderschönen feierstunde zusammen. Schön beim Eintritt in das Zimmer würden wir von einer weihevollen Stimmung erfasst. Auf dem Tisch lag die seidene Decke mit den heiligen Zeichen Eingestickt. Darauf ein Zweig roter Rosen und Herbstblumen. Neun Kerzen verbreiteten ihr ruhiges Licht über diesen Tischschmuck. Aus dem Bild ‘Abdu’l-Bahás schauten uns seine gutigen Augen an. Blumen waren in dem ganzen Zimmer verteilt.
"Die Feier begann mit dem Lied ‘Der Grösste Name.’ Frau Leidinger sprach das Gebet und las über das Leben Bábs. Jedermann war ergriffen als or von diesem reinen Leben des ersten Verkunders der Bahá’í-Offenbarung horte. Es war, als sei der Geist Bábs leibhaftig unter uns. Wir alle fühlten die grosse Aufgabe die wir Bahá’ís haben und jedes nahm sich sicherlich vor, das Leben Bábs sich zum Vorbild zu hehmen. Mit dem Lied 'Grosser Gott wir loben dich’ und dem Gebet war diese Feier zu Ende.
"Anschliessend verteilte Herr Gollmer einige Sussigkeisen die uns die Bahá’í Freunde in Amerika sandten. Frau Dr. Koller schrieb einen Grüss und Dank an die Freunde und alle Anwesenden unterschrieben.
“Zum Schluss sprach Herr Gollmer nach kurz über die Pffichten und Aufgaben, die wir Bahá’í in dieser Zeit haben. Dass wir nicht nur mit Worten zu den anderen reden sollen, sondern mit Taten als gutes Beispiel voranzugehen. Es ist eine schwere Aufgabe, doch wenn wir Gott bitten er möge uns die Kraft schenken wird es uns gelingen.”
In conclusion I must again express my extreme happiness for being privileged to contact our Bahá’í brothers and sisters in Europe. My only sorrow is the parting with my Bahá’í buddy, Cal, due to redeployment; and yet, I am happy for his family. As the war brought us together for a wonderful mission in Europe, so the peace is separating us for an even more supreme task of doing our part to inspire public acclaim for the Cause that can alone weld the shattered arms of humanity into one common brotherhood.
“Put thy whole confidence in the grace of God, thy Lord. Let Him be thy trust in whatever thou doest, and be of them that have submitted themselves to His Will. Let Him be thy helper and enrich thyself with His treasures, for with Him are the treasuries of the heavens and of the earth. He bestoweth them upon whom He will, and from whom He will He withholdeth them. There is none other God but Him the All-possessing, the All-praised.”—Bahá’u’lláh.
16.
HACIA UNA RELIGION UNIVERSAL: EL BAHÁ’ÍSMO
BY VICENTE DONOSO TORRES
Ex—Vice—Presidente del Consejo Nacional de Educacion de Bolivia
A RAIZ de mi visita a los Estados Unidos, en los meses de mayo a julio de 1943,conocí la nueva religión Bahá’í en Wilmette, donde el fervor de sus adeptos ha levantado un templo maravilloso destinado a la glorificación del Supremo Hacedor de la Vida, del Mundo y del Universo.
Dicha religión, fundada en Persia, en 1844,
[Page 741]
con la predicción por el Báb (Mírzá ‘Alí
Muḥammad) de la venida de Bahá’u’lláh, el
nuevo mensajero divino que vivió entre los
años 1817 y 1892, no es sino, en realidad, la
renovación de las doctrinas predicadas por
los Profetas anteriores como Buda, Zoroastro,
Moisés, Jesús y Mahoma. Cada uno de ellos
profetizó lo que debía suceder en su época y
enseñó el camino a seguir. Así Cristo es el
Heraldo del Amor y de la Paz, y Bahá’u’lláh
es el interprete de los medios efectivos para
llegar a esa Paz mediante la Unidad del
Genero Humano, realizando:
1. La unidad del pensamiento
2. La unidad de la libertad
3. La unidad politica
4. La unidad de las naciones
5. La unidad de las razas
6. La unidad de la lengua
7. La unidad de los sexos
8. La unidad de la religión
9. La unidad entre la religión y la ciencia
De estos principios, los más importantes son, a mi parecer, los referentes a la unidad religiosa y a la unidad de la religión y de la ciencia.
La unidad del género no podrá consiguirse sino cuando desaparezca en las diversas religiones el prejuicio que tienen de poseer la verdad única y de considerar erradas las demás. Estas ideas unilaterales han creado la intolerancia y, por ende, han ocasionado las guerras de religión, manteniendo hasta ahora separadas a los hombres.
Cualesquiera que sean los nombres que se den a Dios, Éste no puede ser más que uno solo, porque es una sola la Fuerza que mantiene y dirige la armonía del Universo dentro de la variedad infinita de sus formas. Las religiones son los caminos de unión entre Dios y la humanidad, vienen de la misma Cima y van a la misma Llanura. Entonces, no hay porqué se vean con recelo unas religiones con otras. Lo que deben hacer es unirse por sus puntos de contacto par no empañar el brillo de la única Luz que alumbra el mundo, del único Sol que sale de aquella Cima.
La armonía entre la religión y la ciencia, es otra condición indispensable para la unidad del género humano. Mientras se crea que la ciencia—producto de la razón—es la única poseedora de la Verdad, la humanidad marchará siempre tambeleante, sin el apoyo del sentimiento, porque la Verdad no es patrimonio únicamente de la inteligencia sino también del sentimiento, de esa fuerza interna, poderosa y misteriosa que nos enseña a creer, a amar y perdonar y que se llama la Fé.
Bien dice la religión Bahá’í que no podemos volar hacia Dios con una sola ala. La religión y la ciencia son las dos alas imprescindibles para llegar a la Suprema Verdad.
En un articulo que escribí sobre el Templo de Wilmette, ya dije que la educación debe conducir a los niños hacia esa Suprema Verdad, dejando que sus mentes y sus almas penetren en todas las maravillas del Universo.
17.
THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH AND THE SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE
BY MARION HOLLEY
I.
THE first century of the Bahá’í Faith has witnessed a process of surpassing interest to the followers of Bahá’u’lláh. Ever since His enunciation, 1863-1868, of World Order as the destiny of humanity in this age, society has been plunged into a crucible testing the universal principles which must underlie and support it. With ceaseless and dynamic force these principles have emerged, despite the tragic resistances of war, civil chaos, and internal strife, to claim with ever-mounting insistence their rôle as pillars of the coming world civilization.
Foremost among the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith is the necessity and, indeed, the inevitability of universal peace. "The powers
Canadian Bahá’í Summer Teaching Conference, August 19-24, 1945, held at Banff, Alberta.
of earth,” wrote ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Tablet to the Central Organization for a Durable Peace, the Hague, “cannot withstand the privileges and bestowals which God has ordained for this great and glorious century. Peace is a need and exigency of the time.”
Not always, during the past hundred years, has this truth carried the impact that it does today. Its conception as a practical possibility came to birth in the travail of the first World War; found tentative shape in the objectives and institutions of the Covenant of the League of Nations; was tried, ignored, and betrayed through twenty years of checkered history; and culminated at last in a convulsion of unprecedented scope. Yet, while the road travelled by humanity in these years seemed ever more remote from the concept of peace, growing in the hearts of men were a conviction and passion which are the true foundations of action. As World War II mounted to its climax, leaders and ordinary men alike began to gird themselves for the greater struggle to come—the vast consuming effort for enduring peace.
It was in February, 1945, that the world
first heard of the convening of the United
Nations Conference in San Francisco, scheduled
to open on April 25th. To the Bahá’ís
of North America, mindful of the prophetic
utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá while travelling
through their countries, here was a thrilling
fulfillment. Words spoken in Sacramento,
California, on October 26, 1912, came vividly
to mind: "The greatest need in the
world today is International Peace. The time
is ripe. It is time for the abolition of warfare,
the unification of nations and governments. . . . Inasmuch
as the Californians
seem peace-loving and possessed of great
worthiness and capacity, I hope that advocates
of peace may daily increase among them
until the whole population shall stand for
[Page 743]
that beneficent outcome. . . . Then may altruistic
aims and thoughts radiate from this
center toward all other regions of the earth
and may the glory of this accomplishment
forever halo the history of this country.
May the first flag of International Peace be upraised in this State.”
And again ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said:
“May this American democracy be the first
nation to establish the
foundation of international agreement. May
it be the first nation to proclaim the
universality of mankind. May it be the first to
upraise the standard of the ‘Most Great
Peace’ . . .”
Cbnscious of this historic hour and of the import of such a Conference in the world’s destinies, the Bahá’ís of Northern California were impelled to undertake united action to proclaim the program of their Faith for universal peace. In joint consultation, the Local Spiritual Assemblies of the Bay Area—Berkeley, Burlingame, Oakland, and San Francisco —drew up concrete recommendations for a teaching campaign more ambitious than any ever undertaken in the area. These plans were presented to the National Spiritual Assembly, and provided the basis for their action in appointing a national Committee on Bahá’í Peace Plan, “to promote the Bahá’í Teachings in connection with the Allied Nations Conference.”
The specific objectives assigned to this Committee embraced (1) radio broadcasts, (2) arrangement of a large public meeting, (3) the preparation of a special pamphlet presenting Bahá’u’lláh’s plan for peace, (4) publicity, (5) displays showing the Bahá’í Temple and literature, and (6) cooperation with local activities of the Bay Area Assemblies.
The National Spiritual Assembly itself sent to the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, prior to his death, a message of support in his historic efforts. It is surely significant that, exactly thirty years earlier, on April 25, 1915, the first International Bahá’í Congress, meeting in San Francisco under official auspices of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, had sent a similar message to President Wilson.1
————————
1For copy of telegram to President Roosevelt, see Bahá’í News, No. 174, page 13. The text of the telegram to President Wilson was as follows:
“To THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, WOODROW WILSON:
“We, the members of the International Bahá’í Congress, assembled in San Francisco, express to you our respects for and confidence in you and your steadfast efforts to preserve neutrality and purpose to cement a wide and lasting peace. Further and more important is our deep feeling that under God you are chosen to fulfill the most important function laid upon any executive or ruler since history began. The world’s peace is dawning through the radiant night of time. Upon some soul shall devolve the task of leadership under that dawning sun. May it be the everlasting fame of America that the President of the United States be that man."
Moreover, that Congress had been honored by the Exposition Directorate with the presentation of a commemorative medallion “in recognition of the Bahá’í program for Universal Peace.”
San Francisco, “a place where hopes come true, where all purposes can be accomplished”! Such were the words with Which Secretary of State Stettinius opened the United Nations Conference, as followers of the Bahá’í Faith in seventy-eight countries joined with all peace-loving peoples in the heartfelt hope that this Conference might inaugurate the age of close and continuing collaboration among the nations of the earth.
II.
April 25th was the momentous day, and all San Francisco was alive to the significance of the hour. Streets and restaurants overflowed with men of all nations. On every hand they talked of the Conference, and of its opening in full plenary session that afternoon.
Scanning the faces of the delegates one wondered: Can they establish peace? What magic touch have they to quiet the prejudices, the jealousies, and the divisive interests which characterize their nations and peoples? How will they learn to relate nation to nation, race to race, class to class? How will they bind into one organic whole the multitudinous fragments of humanity?
Truly, it was a great and solemn moment in the world’s affairs, and none who attended the opening session, whether delegate or onlooker, could ever forget it. “The deepest hope, the highest purpose of all mankind—enduring peace—is here committed to our hands .”
The Conference strove for practical results, its purpose immensely fortified by the knowledge, gained at first-hand, of the terrible interdependence of nations at war. Progress toward world collaboration had indubitably been made since the days of the League Covenant, and the need of “Force as the servant of Justice” was to win concrete recognition in the provisions of the Charter. To be sure, the objectives of the Conference were strictly limited. To write the charter of international organization, and to hammer out the machinery through which the United Nations might, in the immediate future, ensure their common security from aggression —this was the goal. Only gradually, in the years to come, the delegates agreed, would the larger vision of a truly united world be evolved.
Just two months were required by the Conference, working tirelessly and with spirit, to complete its task. The machinery of world organization was designed and embodied in a basic constitution for the guidance of all mankind. The scope of previous world institutions was widened and their powers enlarged. Now only the future would demonstrate the wisdom of world opinion in rejecting, at this juncture of events, a true concept of world federation. And only the future could test the workability of the new machine, so dependent, in the words of Field Marshal Smuts, upon "the human factor.”
As the Conference came to a close, one could not but recall the words of Bahá’u’lláh, spanning the years with their challenge since the 1860’s: "The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens. . . The well-being of mankind, its peace and security are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.”
III.
It was the privilege of the Bahá’ís during this period, while extending every support to the efforts and goals of the Conference, to bring to the attention of delegates and public alike the unique claims of the Bahá’í Faith.
Here was a Teaching which, for more than a century, had proclaimed the necessity of world organization, recognizing as the distinctive character of our age the complete interdependence of all nations and peoples.
Here was a vision which had fully anticipated the struggles of our time, seeing in them the death pangs of a hopelessly inadequate order, and the birth pangs of world civilization. Here was a consistent policy to educate humanity for its responsibilities of world citizenship, and, welcoming each advance in the development of world conscience and institutions, to infuse in the hearts of its supporters the conviction that no system less than genuine world commonwealth could provide adequate foundations for security and peace. Above all, here was a world community in action, nurtured by its dynamic belief in the oneness of mankind, aware that the root problem confronting society is the spiritual relationship which shall obtain between men, and finding in its Founder, Bahá’u’lláh, the reappearance of that Word of God which can alone revitalize and adapt the eternal truths of religion to contemporary life.
Such was the heritage and content of the Faith which Bahá’ís regarded as the "sole refuge of humanity in its hour of bitterest agony,” and which they now arose to herald at this momentous climax of world history.
RADIO ACTIVITIES
The unified teaching campaign, continuously promoted by the Bahá’ís throughout the United Nations Conference, opened at 3:15 P.M. on April 21st with a half-hour radio broadcast on Station KQW, the San Francisco outlet for Columbia network. Difficulties in securing time had finally resulted in a well-nigh providential date and hour, the very anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s Declaration of His mission, which is celebrated annually throughout the Bahá’í world. The program was also propitiously placed for the opening of the Conference.
"World Order Is the Goal” became a theme widely associated with the principles of the Faith, through this program, the statewide publicity accompanying it, and its subsequent rebroadcast throughout the United States and Canada. Principal speakers were the Honorable Robert W. Kenny, Attorney General of California and technical adviser to the American delegation at the United Nations Conference; and Arthur L. Dahl, Jr., vice-chairman of the Committee
Delegates and friends gathered at the Annual Bahái Convention of India and Burma, held at Poona, India, May, 1945.
on Bahá’í Peace Plan. An international cast of nine others took part, including the mistress of ceremonies, Miss Shirley Wattle, and representatives of China, Persia, Europe, and America—all Bahá’ís except one.
With dramatic effect the hopes of all sections of humanity were voiced for the outcome of the Conference, and excerpts from the prophetic utterances of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá were given. Attorney General Kenny made eloquent appeal to the United Nations to achieve their supreme objective, the creation of a “structure of peace,” and to America to assume that leadership for which she had been historically prepared. Mr. Dahl then projected with masterly logic and detail the Bahá’í plan for peace. "The inspiring assurance the Bahá’ís would offer,” he said, "is that there exists in the world today both a plan for a comprehensive cooperative society on a world-wide scale and the spiritual dynamic capable of putting it into operation. . . . If mankind will harness its efforts to the great spiritual force now at work throughout the world, then a true world society will surely evolve. . . .” A glimpse of the world of tomorrow was swiftly etched through readings from Shoghi Effendi’s memorable paragraphs on world commonwealth. "It is towards this goal,” concluded Miss Warde, “the goal of a New World Order, that humanity must strive. God grant that the step we take in San Francisco may set us firmly on the path!”
As indicated, this broadcast was the occasion of a widespread campaign. Through cooperation with the Regional Teaching Committee all Bahá’í communities and individuals in California were urged to bring the program to the attention of friends and public, and a uniform news release and advertisement were suggested. As a result outstanding publicity was achieved in over twenty California cities and towns. In the Bay Area 3,000 announcements were mailed and daily, neighborhood, legal, and Negro newspapers granted excellent notice. The program was rebroadcast in San Francisco on Station KYA on May 2nd, the last day of Riḍván (the celebration of Bahá’u’lláh’s Declaration), heralded by spot announcements on the radio for two days. Recordings of the original broadcast were also made by cooperation with the National Radio Committee, and orders for use in rebroadcasting were filled from forty-two cities throughout the United States and Canada, to whom the publicity material was also provided. Phonograph recordings were circulated to groups by the local Regional Committee, and provided for the Guardian of the Faith and the National Spiritual Assembly.
Although radio results are usually intangible, reports from several cities showed that the program had won professional approbation and had aroused considerable public interest. Certainly, it constituted one of the most important elements of the Peace Plan campaign.
The radio work was supplemented and strengthened by the San Francisco Spiritual Assembly, which devoted thirteen weeks on its "Bahá’í World Order Program” to a series of talks, interviews, and round tables on the theme: “Foundations of Universal Peace.” This was a fifteen-minute weekly broadcast on Station KYA, Sundays, 6:30 P.M., March 11-May 27, inclusive. The series opened with three introductory talks, each presenting in broad outline the Bahá’í Peace Program. The principles underlying both war and peace were analyzed in the next three programs, as described by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Tablet to the Hague. In the remaining weeks, the stages in the evolution of society toward the Most Great Peace were delineated, as outlined by Shoghi Effendi in the closing pages of The Promised Day Is Come.2 The series, which drew on an already-established listening audience, carried as part of its weekly announcement the historic utterance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Sacramento (quoted above), and His words also reached some 2500 persons to whom announcements were sent. A few months later this series was repeated in Southern California by the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Los Angeles. Thus did the Bahá’ís contribute their full weight
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2 Weekly titles of radio series were: Preparing for a Post-War World; Blueprints for World Peace; The Bahá’í Peace Plan; Society in Tumult; The Costs of Prejudice; The Scope of Universal Peace; The Reconstruction of Mankind; The Lesser Peace; Humanity’s Rebirth; The Emergence of World Order; The Sovereignty of Bahá’u’lláh; and Horizons of the Bahá’í Faith.
to the upraising of “the first flag of International Peace” in their State.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
The second phase of this sustained teaching campaign was conducted two weeks after the Conference opening. It was focused around a public Symposium, presented (in the words of the program) “as a tribute to the purposes of the United Nations Conference for International Organization, and with the hope that the principles of the Bahá’í Faith may add their contribution to this momentous endeavor in the cause of universal peace.”
The theme of this meeting, which was held on the evening of May 9th in the Scottish Rite Auditorium, San Francisco, was again “World Order Is the Goal.” Speakers were Mr. Leroy Ioas, member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the U. S. and Canada, and Chairman of the National Teaching Committee; Rudolf Holsti, Ph.D., former Minister of Foreign Aflairs of Finland, former Permanent Delegate to the League of Nations, and Acting Professor of Political Science, Stanford University; and Mrs. Dorothy Baker, member of the National Spiritual Assembly and Chairman of the Inter-America Committee; with Miss Marion Holley, Chairman of the San Francisco Spiritual Assembly, as chairman.
The meeting was immediately preceded by a banquet of fifty at the Palace Hotel, arranged on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly, with the really remarkable interest and help of Dr. Holsti. An esteemed statesman and champion of the League of Nations, Dr. Holsti had attended every Assembly of the League from 1922 to the last gathering in 1939, as delegate for Finland, winning the friendship of the leaders of many nations.
While realizing the extreme pressure of their Conference duties, it was yet Dr. Holsti’s wish to invite to the banquet these colleagues, to whom he planned to pay especial tribute in his Symposium address. Invitations, with enclosed programs, were therefore extended to twenty-four Conference delegates of thirteen countries,3 including nine
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3The thirteen countries: Belgium, Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway. South Africa, United Kingdom, Venezuela.
who headed their respective delegations, and the following found it possible to attend as official representatives and guests of honor:
His Excellency Francisco Castillo Nájera, delegate for Mexico and Ambassador to the United States.
His Excellency Ivan Kerno, delegate for Czechoslovakia, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Dr. Li Shu-Fan, Adviser to Chinese delegation, and adviser to Chinese Supply Commission.
Dr. Carlos Rodriguez Jiminez, Secretary to Venezuelan delegation, and Consul General.
M. Alphonse Als, Adviser to Luxembourg delegation, and Chief of Cabinet, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Most courteous replies were received from the others to whom, at a later date, the Committee was able to forward on behalf of the National Spiritual Assembly a copy of the pamphlet, The Bahá’í Peace Program, which was presented as a memento to the banquet guests.
Beside the official delegates, there were twenty-six other guests, for the most part distinguished friends of Dr. Holsti, including several college professors, most of whom had never attended any previous Bahá’í meeting. The banquet was a feast indeed, rich in that spirit of warmth and vitality which the Faith engenders.
The guests of honor from Mexico, Czechoslovakia,
and Venezuela, as well as the Consul
for Iceland, Mr. Thorlacksen, were also able
to participate in the Symposium which followed,
and their informal public statements
were remarkable both for their cordial
appreciation and comprehension of Bahá’í
principles. Meeting but a few days after the
victory in Europe, all in that audience
(estimated at 600 to 700) were vividly aware
of the sobering responsibility, which
confronted not alone the Conference but the
whole of mankind, to bring to a successful
conclusion the vast struggle in which the
world was and is still engaged, to achieve
the basis of secure and lasting peace. "Let
us devote all our energies,” was Dr. Holsti’s
plea, "to the final attainment of a permanent
peace in everlasting honor of the Great
[Page 748]
Architect of the universe Who unites all
the races, all the religions, in mutual love
and construction instead of mutual struggle
and destruction.”4 To this call the Bahá’í
speakers added with brilliant clarity the
message of the Bahá’í Faith, thus concluding a
memorable program Whose fame, it has been
learned, reached even to Egyptian readers in
an Arabic account of Bahá’í activities at
San Francisco!
The success of the banquet and Symposium grew from the sustained efforts of all the Bahá’ís in the Bay area, and was reinforced by other phases of the Peace Plan campaign, details of which are given elsewhere in this report. Suffice it to say that major publicity was obtained just prior to the meeting; spot announcements by radio were made and the May 2nd broadcast was coordinated; effective exhibits of the Temple model, literature, and spread of the Faith were arranged for the meeting; and 350 advance copies of the special pamphlet were distributed to the audience and banquet guests. Some 3500 invitations were also mailed.
Yet another activity was Mrs. Baker’s teaching during the five days she remained in San Francisco. Eight other talks were given, including a tea at the San Francisco Women’s City Club for about seventy-five guests, student groups at the University of California and Stanford University, the entire student body of Montezuma School for Boys, later the entire faculty of Montezuma, a fine public meeting for Burlingame, and two additional public meetings in San Francisco. Mrs. Baker poured out her strength and spirit without ceasing, and the enthusiasm and interest engendered were marked.
Thus the Symposium provided an opportunity for wide-spread notice of the social and spiritual principles of the Bahá’í Faith and their close relation to the purposes of the Conference. In the words of Dr. Albert Guerard, professor of French at Stanford University and noted writer on world affairs: "Especially at the present moment, we cannot forget that the Bahá’ís have always stood for the cause Which is triumphing at last.”
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4This was perhaps Dr. Holsti‘s last public statement, as he died unexpectedly a few months later, in August, 1945.
PEACE PAMPHLET
Perhaps the most far-reaching project undertaken by the Peace Plan Committee was the preparation, publication, and distribution of a special pamphlet entitled The Bahá’í Peace Program. No effort was spared on this document, either as to content or format, for it was recognized that the Conference provided ”an ideal opportunity to expound the Bahá’í peace teachings, and bring to the attention of the delegates as well as the general public the spiritual element and larger implications of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.”
Three sections, composed of introductory statements and excerpts from Bahá’í writings, presented the Faith’s concrete proposals for world organization (“The Federation of Mankind”), delineated the pivotal principle of the oneness of mankind (“The Guiding Principle of World Order”), and projected Bahá’u’lláh’s challenging claim that nothing save the power of the Word of God could unite and inspire humanity for its crucial tasks ("The Renewal of Faith”).
Prefaced by a tribute to the purposes of the Conference, whose relation to the prophetic statements of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was also clearly shown, the pamphlet effectively demonstrated the priority, insight, and far-reaching scope of the Bahá’í Program for universal peace.
The booklet was published in 11,500 copies, and in the third week of May some 2,000 were mailed to all those connected with the Conference (delegates, advisers, consultants, secretariats, press, and radio), 1,800 being sent to leading citizens in the area. In addition, the Los Angeles Spiritual Assembly distributed 1,000 copies, over 400 were utilized for the Symposium and banquet, the Assemblies and Regional Committee in California made use of hundreds more, and a small supply was made available to Bahá’í communities throughout the U. S. and Canada. (Another edition of 20,000 was subsequently ordered by the National Assembly.)
Evidence of the interest aroused among
delegates reached the Committee in various
ways. The Bahá’í News Service contributed
a typical comment: "From very reliable
non-Bahá’í sources in Chicago, I learn that the
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Faith is being discussed with considerable
interest among the delegates.” A similar
expression was heard from journalists in
Chicago who were deeply "impressed by the
Bahá’í teachings while in San Francisco.”
PUBLICITY
As noted above, the radio broadcast and Symposium provided focal opportunities for newspaper publicity, and the record for California (not including radio publicity in other sections of the continent) showed 69 items of Bahá’í publicity on the Conference campaign, appearing in 36 newspapers of 26 cities and towns. In San Francisco alone, notice was obtained in 8 newspapers, including 4 leading dailies, and legal, commercial, Negro, and neighborhood journals; while items appearing in nearby cities were also remarkably good.
Two special publicity projects were undertaken, namely, the publication of display advertisements (2 columns by 10 inches) in leading San Francisco dailies, outlining basic Bahá’í principles for peace. The first, entitled "The Bahá’í Peace Program” and embodying ten "basic principles of world reconstruction,” appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco News on May 6th (Sunday) and 7th, respectively. It was substantially copied on May 9th by the News in an interview with Mrs. Baker, four columns wide with photograph, headlined “Bahá’í Offers Ten-Point Plan.” The second display advertisement, published on June 23rd and 25th, in the San Francisco Examiner, News, and Chronicle, featured "Bahá’í Contributions to World Peace,” some “truths essential to world unity of conscience.”
Obtaining the newspaper space at such a time was truly providential, particularly as the first display appeared just before VE-Day (victory in Europe), while the second was associated with the closing of the Conference and the visit of President Truman to San Francisco.
In an article summarizing the “Bahá’í campaign of public information” during the Conference, the San Francisco Examiner included the following report: “Publicity in the daily papers told tens of thousands of readers how Bahá’í teachings provide the spiritual and moral motivation which will make the peace machinery function.”
DISPLAYS AND EXHIBITS
Displays of Bahá’í material were another effective method of keeping alive in public consciousness the Peace Program of the Bahá’í Faith. During this period five displays were arranged. The most important was a three-weeks’ exhibit, beginning June 4th, in the window of the main office of the American Express Company in the heart of San Francisco’s shopping district. Here a striking model of the Bahá’í Temple was flanked by detailed photographs of the Temple, Bahá’í literature in English and foreign languages, and copies of the peace pamphlet. According to an official of the Express Company, "we are glad to have had this display, because many people have shown interest and have stopped in asking questions and also for booklets.”
Other exhibits of Temple photographs and Bahá’í literature were displayed at the Yazdi Shop in Berkeley, the Ross Radio Shop in San Mateo, and the A. C. Ioas Printing Co. in San Francisco. As mentioned previously, special exhibits were held at the Symposium, including the Temple model, Bahá’í literature, and an interesting display of maps and placards showing the countries, races, and languages embraced by the Faith.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
As a national organization, the Faith was accorded official observer status at the Conference, and was enabled to display the peace pamphlet at the Conference headquarters for observers. Bahá’í World also had an observer present and another believer represented the Carnegie Foundation. Thus plenary sessions, commission meetings, and special meetings arranged by the State Department were attended by these observers, as well as several other Bahá’ís, resulting in countless stimulating contacts and opportunities which far exceed the compass of this summary. It is interesting to note that various Bahá’ís, through their professional activities, were brought into close relation to the Conference and some of its leading personalities.
Further, as a result of contact with the
Attendants at the Bahá’í Summer School held on October 16th to 31st, 1945, at Panchgani, India. Children from the Bahá’í Hostel at Panchgani occupy the two front rows.
Peace Plan Committee, the leader of the Indian delegation, His Excellency Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar, visited the Bahá’í Temple in Wilmette. As chairman of the Conference Committee on the Economic and Social Council, characterized by delegates as the “heart of the Charter,” he commanded universal respect and the active admiration of Bahá’ís, who recognized in the spirit and goals of the Council a kindred concern for the unity and well-being of the whole of mankind.
IV.
"I rejoice in the success of the high endeavors of the Peace Committee in San Francisco,” cabled Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Faith, on July 1, 1945, thus closing a brief but dynamic chapter in the onmarch of the Bahá’í world community. None who participated in the campaign could fail to share in some measure the sense of achievement, particularly the Bahá’ís of Northern California who had risen with unanimity, energy, and material support to discharge their significant responsibilities.
It is far too soon to evaluate the permanent contributions to world peace of the United Nations Conference at San Francisco. Nor does humanity, on the other hand, yet pretend to measure or appreciate the validity of the Divine Program enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh. Yet 1945 will certainly be remembered as a crucial year in the destinies of nations—a year to end wars and one, we dare to hope, which saw the raising of "the first flag of International Peace.”
As the future moves swiftly to its culmination, may the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá written in 1919, through the aid of all men of good will, be brought to complete fruition. “Justice and Right shall be fortified, but the establishment of Universal Peace will be realized fully through the power of the Word of God.”5
* * *
The following item appeared July 12th in Wilmette Life under the head: “Conference
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5From a Tablet written to David Buchanan, a classmate of President Wilson, which was brought to the President's attention early in 1919.
The Honorable Sir. Ramaswami Mudaliár, head of the Indian Delegation, at the Allied Nations Conference in San Francisco, visited the Bahá’í House of Worship en route to London, July 3, 1945. He was accompanied by his secretary, Mr. Nadar.
Leader from India Visits at the Bahá’í Temple.”
"Sir. Ramaswami Mudaliár of India, head of the Indian delegation at the San Francisco Conference, and the supply member of the Indian Governor General’s Executive council was a distinguished visitor to the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette this week.
"At the conference he headed his delegation and was also chairman of the Commission on the Economic and Social council. He was largely responsible for much of the success attending these deliberations in drawing up the part of the Charter which many view as one of the most important parts of the United Nations’ organization and the most hopeful for the building of a real and permanent peace for tomorrow. In fact, on the day it was presented several spoke of it as the ‘heart of the Charter.’
”Sir. Ramaswami is en route to London via Montreal, the headquarters of the International Labor organization, also visiting our national Capital. Having heard much of the Bahá’í Faith in India and London, he, with his party, made a special stop in Chicago to visit the House of Worship.”
18.
RELIGION COMES AGAIN TO MANKIND
Address delivered May 22, 1944, on the program of the Bahá’í Centenary, May 19-25, 1944.
BY DOROTHY BAKER
RELIGION is progressive, rushing forward like a giant river from God to the ages, watering the arid centuries to produce flowering civilizations and holy lives.
There has never been a prophet of a religion who has not been doubted. Through under-emphasis they have become dim historic figures who can be judged only by the results apparent in the world after them. In the light of the Bahá’í Faith, the shadowy forms of the world’s great Master Teachers stand out again in brilliant relief against the mediocrity of their times. Their wisdom is deathless. They stand alone against the world, arch-types, on a mount of vision, foreshadowing the perfections of an unfolding race. Bahá’u’lláh aptly calls them Manifestations of God. As heat manifests fire, as a ray manifests the sun, these pure and stainless souls manifest the Will of God whose plan for spiritual evolution is written, chapter by chapter, in their lives and utterances. They are despised, mocked, imprisoned, crucified, but out of the crucible of their suffering; religion is born again; they are proofs of the power of God.
Abraham, son of a pagan priest in Ur, was exiled because He taught the oneness of God. He came over into the region of the holy land, a man alone against the world. By the power of religion, His exile became glorious, His descendants produced the prophets of Israel, and most of Europe and Asia came under the influence of the God of Israel.
At a later period Moses appeared, a man who was a stammerer, who had been brought up in the house of Pharaoh, who was known among men as a murderer, who through fear had for a long time remained in concealment, shepherding the flocks of Jethro. Moses, standing one day on Mt. Horeb, heard the voice of God, directing him to free the Jewish nation. What could a stammerer reply? Would he be convincing, even to his own people? How could he command a Pharaoh?
“Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent,” He lamented, “but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue.” And the Lord said, "Who hath made man’s mouth? I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what to say.”
After this Moses went into the market places of the Egyptians, teaching the Children of Israel. The Word of God was upon Him and He was no longer afraid of any man. The people listened. At times when Pharaoh’s lash descended more brutally they turned from Moses, for how could they believe in a single man, alone against the world, against Pharaoh’s chariots, against starvation and cruelty and poverty? How could they know that Moses, whose staff was His only companion, would lead the Jews, six hundred thousand strong, into the Wilderness and the promised land?
By the power of religion Moses fed, housed, and taught the people, purified their lives, gave them back their faith, brought them under His civilizing law, and bestowed upon them knowledge and love of God. Moreover, He set in motion a great civilization for those times. The children of Israel became the envy of the pagans. The civilization of the Pharaohs went down to utter loss. Literacy, government, and moral values continued for many centuries to make Jerusalem, the city of the Jews, the cultural center of the ancient world. To such a development did they attain that the sages of Greece came to regard the illustrious men of Israel as models of perfection. An example is Socrates, who visited Syria and took from the children of Israel the teachings of the unity of God and of the immortality of the soul. A man found his highest tribute
Attendants at the Bahá’í Summer School held in Karachi, India, 1944.
in the words, “He is like the Jews.” Such is the power of religion.
Revelation is progressive, sweeping onward with the natural evolution of the race. Jesus Christ appeared, the living Word of God, flashing like a giant meteor through the musty period of decline that marked His generation.
Born of Mary, nurtured in the Jewish church, assisted neither by His own people, nor by the military powers of Rome, nor by the intellectual supremacy of the Greeks, Jesus of Nazareth brought into being, in a mere three year span of ministry, a Faith destined to cross seas and continents and enter at last every known country on the planet. Today hospitals, cathedrals, universities, and governments testify to the power of religion through Jesus Christ.
Alone against the world, healing, blessing on the one hand, hurling fierce accusations into the very teeth of a hypocritical and dormant society on the other, Jesus became the primal point of a vast civilization. So great was His power, born of God, that Bahá’u’lláh in recent times wrote of it: "The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit. . . . He it is who purified the world.”
His was a strange sovereignty. The stars were His lamps; He had no place to lay His head. Yet His was the sovereignty that could scourge the money changers! His was the power to say, "Pick up thy bed and walk!” His was the power to utter the divine words, "Thy sins are forgiven thee; go and sin no more!” All power in heaven and earth was given to Him, the humble carpenter. God does not prove His power by exalting the already exalted. From the upper chambers of communion with this Immortal Beauty, a handful of lowly fishermen conquered the world. Such is the power of religion.
Islám leaves no less a proof. The Arabic
civilization in the sixth century was sunken
into degeneracy. Drunkenness and moral
profligacy abounded. Mecca, center of
worship for the pagans, boasted no less than three
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hundred fifty idols, including effigies of
Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muḥammad denounced
the idols, preached against the
practices of the people, and declared the
singleness of God.
Muḥammad never fought against the Christians; on the contrary, He treated them kindly and gave them perfect freedom. A community of Christian people lived at Najran who were under His care and protection. Muḥammad said, "If anyone infringes their right, I myself will be his enemy, and in the presence of God I will bring a charge against him.”
How appalling were the misfortunes that befell Muḥammad! Alone against the world He preached the truth, and all the powers of Arabia leagued themselves against Him. That He dared to bless a girl child was pretext enough for stoning Muḥammad. When He prayed much in the desert alone, the people flung refuse at His holy person. A thousand injuries He sustained in meekness, a man alone against the world. It is written, too, that girl children were buried alive, and that Persian and Indian maidens were brought for licentious entertainment during the Meccan months of worship.
The scene changes. We find the Arabians emerging to scientific and moral heights under the refining laws of Muḥammad. Gambling and drunkenness disappeared. The protection of women was established. The arts flourished, the mathematics, astronomy, and literature of Cordova and Salamanca became world-famous. Moral life was purified. Political unity from Arabia to Spain drew tribal life upward to national sovereignty. In short, from the lowest human condition, the people of Islám formed for a time the most powerful center of civilization. Such is the power of religion.
But all religion moves in seasons. The nineteenth century portrays a winter. Gone is the fervor of the apostle; gone the fire of earlier faith. Decay, intrigue, and division had swept away the very foundations of Islám; division and lassitude had eaten into the fibre of Christendom; Judaism, a thing hunted, no longer presented a strong or united front.
Into such a world came Bahá’u’lláh, preceded by His youthful forerunner, the Báb.
It was one hundred years ago, on May 22, 1844, unheralded by the world’s leaders, that the Bahá’í Faith was born. The Báb received on that day His first disciple, and announced to him the dawn of a new religious cycle. The scene of the announcement was a humble dwelling in Shíráz, Persia.
The Báb Himself was a radiant young Persian of some two and twenty years. He was a merchant by profession, practicing a trade, as had the Carpenter of Nazareth, two millenniums before Him. On that eventful day He went, a little before sundown, to the gate of the city. His tranquil beauty must have arrested even the heedless, as He stood scanning the faces of the passing multitudes. Among those in the vicinity of the gate that day was a Shaykhi student, a young man of great inner-perception, whose own heart promptings had irresistibly drawn him to Shíráz, in search of a great Master. Ḥusayn, like the Magi of old, knew that a time pregnant with divine power was again at hand. With what sudden inrush of joy he must have gazed for the first time upon the countenance of the Báb. Still uninformed, however, of the reason for his ecstasy, he accompanied His lordly host to the modest dwelling chosen to become the scene of the proclamation. An Ethiopian servant opened the door, and the gentle voice of the Báb addressed His youthful visitor saying, "Enter therein, in peace, secure.” On that night the Báb announced to Ḥusayn His own mission and likewise the coming of a mighty prophet, "Him whom God would make manifest,” whose coming would introduce the foretold age of unity and peace.
Except for the fragmentary reports of
Ḥusayn, the first disciple, little is known
of the hours that flew in quick succession
from sundown to dawn in the upper room of
that house. The apostle is one of the mysteries
of every religion. He attains the miracle of
faith a little before his world, unable
to see the end from the beginning, yet melting,
flame-like into the heart of the Revelator.
The commentaries that fell from the
lips and pen of the Báb filled His listener
with extreme inner excitement. “All the delights”
records Ḥusayn, "all the ineffable
glories, which the Almighty has recounted
in His Book, as the priceless possessions of
[Page 755]
the people of Paradise—these I seemed to be
experiencing that night.”
The holy and transforming power of the Báb is the first proof of our time that religion has come again to mankind. Through the pen of a chronicler we walk with Him on the lonely road to Shíráz, whence he has come to meet the armed guards who have been sent to seize Him; we hear the pleading of the captain of the guard that He escape to a place of safety lest He be delivered to His death; we listen to His soft-spoken reply, “May the Lord, your God, requite you for your magnanimity and noble intention. No one knows the mystery of My Cause; no one can fathom its secret. . . . Until My last hour is at hand none dare assail Me; none can frustrate the plan of the Almighty.”
We follow His path of exile as far as the city of Tabríz; a thousand excited citizens come out to meet Him. They kiss the stirrups that His feet have touched, and offer their children to be healed. His mercy is like the mercy of Christ; it is given freely, with no hope of reward.
We further watch through the eyes of chroniclers the long months spent in the prison fortress of Máh-Kú, situated in the northern mountains. The rough tribesmen crowding at the gates are Kurds, wildest natives of Persia, and bitter traditional enemies of the people of the Báb. They listen to His chanted prayer; they learn to take their oaths in the name of the holy One within the walls of the prison; they yearn to attain His presence; their lives struggle upward.
A glimpse of His martyrdom is witness to the power of God. A Christian general whispers a plea for forgiveness. "Enable me to free myself from the obligation to shed your blood,” he entreats his noble prisoner. "Follow your instructions,” the Báb replies, "and if your intention be sincere, the Almighty is surely able to relieve you from your perplexity.” The Báb is suspended on ropes, to be shot. Seven hundred and fifty men, led by Sám Khán, the Christian general, fire a volley of shots. The cords are severed by the shots but the Báb remains untouched. The soldiers of Khán flee in terror and Khán thankfully retires from his ignoble task. Strangers are brought to commit the odious deed, and the spirit of the Báb takes its flight. It is high noon. A dust storm from that hour to the going down of the sun causes fright among the ten thousand witnesses of the scene. The effect of the martyrdom of the Báb is far-reaching.
The merciless opposers of His truth, like the opposers of old are swept into the limbo of the forgotten, while out of the life of the martyr—revelator moves the age-old, twofold process of the fall of an old order of things, and the rise of a believing people.
More than twenty thousand preceded the Báb to a martyr’s grave; a bare handful survived Him. Among the few was Bahá’u’lláh, son of a Persian Vazír of high station and reputation.
As a child, Bahá’u’lláh showed remarkable capacities, coupled with innate wisdom. The wisest men of the realm came to regard His destiny as distinct from others. When He was still quite young his father dreamed that he saw his son swimming in a limitless and shining sea. Innumerable fish clung to the hairs of His head as He swam, and the light of the sea was derived from His presence in the water. The Vazír, greatly impressed by the dream, summoned a wise and venerable man of that region, who gazed intently upon Bahá’u’lláh and extolled the beauty of His youthful countenance. "The limitless ocean, Oh Vazír,” he said, "is none other than the world of being. Single—handed and alone, your son will achieve supreme ascendancy over it. . . . The multitude of fishes signifies the turmoil which He will arouse amidst the kindreds and peoples of the earth. Around Him will they gather, and to Him will they cling.” By reason of this and other incidents the Vazír soon came to realize the concealed glory of his noble son. Like Jacob, he desired only the welfare of his beloved Joseph.
At a later time Bahá’u’lláh, grown to manhood,
was offered important positions of state
which He steadfastly refused. "All that we
can hope to achieve,” explained one dignitary
of the nation to his own son, “is but a fleeting
and precarious allegiance which will vanish as
soon as our days are ended. Our mortal
life can never be free from the vicissitudes
that beset the path of earthly ambition. Even
those who, while we are still living honor us
with their lips would, in their hearts, condemn
and vilify us were we, for but one
[Page 756]
moment, to fail to promote their interests.
Not so, however, with Bahá’u’lláh. Unlike
the great ones of the earth, whatever be their
race or rank, He is the object of a love and
devotion such as time cannot dim nor enemy
destroy. His sovereignty the shadows of
death can never obscure nor the tongue of
the slanderer undermine. Such is the sway
of His influence that no one among His
lovers dare, in the stillness of night, evoke
the memory of the faintest desire that could,
even remotely, be construed as contrary to
His wish. Such lovers will greatly increase in
number. The love they bear Him will never
grow less, and will be transmitted from
generation to generation until the world shall
have been suffused with its glory.”
Bahá’u’lláh spread far and wide the teachings of the Báb and for a time wisely withheld His own identity as the One foretold. In 1852, following the martyrdom of the great forerunner and prophet, Bahá’u’lláh Himself was seized and imprisoned as a Bábí in the underground dungeon of Ṭihrán. En route to this loathsome pit, He was stoned and derided by a populace incited by His enemies to acts of violence. An aged woman begged to be permitted to cast her stone. “Suffer the woman,” said the holy prisoner. “Deny her not what she regards as a meritorious act in the sight of God.”
With such calm resignation Bahá’u’lláh took up His toll of sacrifice for a Cause in which the Báb was the dawn and He the noonday sun. With a few companions He was placed in the dungeon in stocks. His words of endearment continued day by day to cheer their hearts, and no day passed without singing. “God is sufficient unto me,” ran their glad refrain, "He verily is the all-sufficing. In Him let the trusting trust.”
In later years Bahá’u’lláh, with His family and over seventy followers was exiled to ‘Akká, Palestine, a fortress city situated at the foot of historic Mt. Carmel. Here, in barrack rooms, the little band of first believers lived in such joy as to make them a source of wonder to all. In these days Bahá’u’lláh wrote to friends, “Fear not. These doors shall be opened. My tent shall be pitched on Mt. Carmel, and the utmost joy shall be realized.”
This indeed was the case. His last years were passed at Bahjí, on the plains outside of the city. Here He wrote and taught, and often in the summer, the cypress trees of Carmel offered shade to the world’s greatest prisoner. This was a fitting fulfillment of the pens of Judaism, Christendom, and Islám, which had so often extolled Mt. Carmel. Here the Christian world was wont to look for the return of the Spirit, Christ.
Here He wrote many of the Tablets to the kings, begun earlier in the exile, enjoining upon them the peace of the world and advising them of the ways to attain it. Here, in a land where women were often little more than chattel, He taught the equality of men and women. Here, in a world removed from science, He proclaimed the harmony of science and true religion. Here, in a despotic monarchy, He espoused the cause of representative government, world language, a world tribunal, and federation of the nations. Here, in the midst of fanaticism and bigotry He proclaimed, ”Consort with the people of all religions with joy and fragrance.”
Bahá’u’lláh counted all of the revealed religions as one and the same. “I have been preceded in this matter,” He wrote, “by Muḥammad, the Apostle of God, and before Him by the Spirit, Christ, and before Him by the Interlocutor, Moses.” Recognizing the differences of emphasis from time to time in God’s revealed religion, He said, “In every Dispensation the light of divine guidance has been focussed upon one central theme. . . . In this wondrous Revelation, this glorious century, the foundation of the Faith of God and the distinguishing feature of His law is the consciousness of the oneness of mankind.” From the days of the exile forward, the little band of believers throughout the world have counted the promulgation of this principle to be their foremost obligation.
The final proof of a religion is its survival
and its triumph over hardship. Were the
walls of ‘Akká to obscure forever the hallowed
light of Bahá’u’lláh? Could such a
community outlive its founders? The answer
is heartening. Today the Bahá’í Faith has
encircled the earth. In a single century it
has entered more than sixty countries, has
numbered within its ranks no less than thirty
races; its adherents represent all of the religions,
[Page 757]
all of the classes, all of the cultures
of the world; its writings are published in
over forty languages. It has swept from the
dungeon to the palace, from the humble
Merchant of Shíráz to royalty, from a handful
of Shaykhi students to scholars and
statesmen, from the upper room in Shíráz to
far-flung outposts and to the most highly
civilized cities of the modern world. Its
lovers have left hearth and home in unpaid
missionary efforts to spread its tenets and
offer its comfort to all countries. With
flame-like devotion its teachers have followed
in the footsteps of its martyrs, who, without
reward gave up their lives to establish for
all time a spiritual world commonwealth
committed to unity in the love of God.
The walls of the prison city closed around
Bahá’u’lláh in 1868. At the time of the rise
of the Young Turks in 1908, they opened to
His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who subsequently
journeyed to England, France, Germany, and
the United States. The days of this noble
successor among the western friends were
marked by striking victories, for churches,
synagogues, and peace societies opened their
doors to him. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave to the West
two profound gifts; a social message of
complete unity and an infant community whose
collective life could demonstrate it. In his
Will and Testament ‘Abdu’l-Bahá appointed
his eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi, as
interpreter and first Guardian of the Faith.
Today the Faith of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh has moved out of its primitive or apostolic period into a formative era. Haifa, now a flourishing seaport across the bay from ‘Akká, is the chosen residence of Shoghi Effendi, whose World Order Letters have already made an indelible impression upon the stream of international life. Bahjí, with its gardens and the tomb of Bahá’u’lláh, has become a place of world pilgrimage. Mt. Carmel, whose cypress trees once sheltered the holy prisoner, now boasts the terraced shrines of His family. On its ninth terrace a Temple is destined to be reared, and from its peak the future Bahá’í Universal House of Justice will overlook the Mediterranean, a House dedicated to the service of a community whose pattern is “inclined neither to East nor West, neither Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored.” “Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the ‘Most Great Peace.’ ”
The holy land of Abraham, of Moses, and Jesus, is again glorious with religious aspiration. The time-honored door of Revelation opens again before us as we listen with the first disciple to the fragrant welcome of the Báb: “Enter therein in peace, secure.”
19.
THE ONENESS OF HUMANITY
Address delivered on the program of the Bahá’í Centenary, May 19—25, 1944.
BY WILLIAM KENNETH CHRISTIAN
THE Tabernacle of Unity has been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. . . . Of one tree are all ye the fruit and of one bough the leaves. . . . The world is but one country and mankind its citizens.”
So wrote Bahá’u’lláh seventy years ago, at a time when the masses of the world’s peoples were concerned with local problems, local needs, and local aspirations. And Bahá’u’lláh wrote this at a time when the leaders of the world’s peoples were giving no heed to questions of world order.
Yet in the first half of this first Bahá’í
century, two momentous things were occurring.
Every force making for change in the
lives of men was being accelerated at a rate
beyond any comparison with a previous era
in history. Steel rails were flung across
continents. The human voice was projected over
a wire; the human voice was captured on a
disk. The center of living was changed from
a particular city, town, village, or isolated
farm. Travel and communication, with an
awesome swiftness, revolutionized the area
[Page 758]
of men’s activity. The practical meaning of
time changed. The five continents, the seas
and oceans of the world, and the islands on
their waters, were all drawn steadily closer.
During this same period, Bahá’u’lláh, in prison and in exile, lifted high the spiritual banner of world unity and justice. He claimed to be a Messenger of God, a Manifestation of Truth with the same spiritual power and divine authority that had characterized Jesus and the High Prophets of the past. He restated the spiritual obligations of man to God. He exhorted men to a life of honesty, truthfulness, purity, and service.
He decried the growing injustice in the world, the increasing blight and horror of war, the insidious poisons of racial prejudice, of class antagonism, of false national doctrines. He urged the leaders of the world to assemble an international legislature which might act to remove the causes of the world’s distress. But the mighty ones of the earth ignored His plea, and so the world’s peoples now move relentlessly through this bloody epoch, unconscious of the fact that a divine remedy has already been given to them.
The chief purpose of Bahá’u’lláh’s mission is to establish world-wide justice through unity. He has proclaimed: "The best-beloved of all things in My sight is Justice.” And this is a proclamation of justice for all men. Bahá’u’lláh did not mean justice for a certain class, for a certain race, for a certain nation, or for a limited combination of nations. He looked at the world as a unit with planetary needs. He regarded the needs, the hopes, and the possibilities of all men. He meant, quite literally, justice for all men, everywhere.
The keynote to this unity which Bahá’u’lláh has declared the basis for universal justice, is the principle of the Oneness of Humanity. This principle is neither "a pious hope” not a mere restatement of the ideal of brotherhood. Bahá’u’lláh has established again in the heart and the mind the living reality of faith. He creates the desire to achieve justice for all men. He creates an awareness of God’s love and purpose. He creates a desire to praise God in word and in deed. But far more than this, Bahá’u’lláh has inseparably joined the spiritual and the practical aspects of life. The Oneness of Humanity is "the pivot round which all the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh revolve.” The social principles of Bahá’u’lláh—consultation, collective security for the maintenance of peace, universal government, universal education—these, and others, are all methods for establishing human oneness. Bahá’u’lláh places social action and responsibility on the same high level of obligation with individual morality. In fact, the divine order for human society, found in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, is so practical that, in its basic elements, it is being applied now among the Bahá’ís of the world.
By the Oneness of Humanity is meant that all human beings are the children of God; that there is no specially-chosen race in the sight of God; that differing colors of skin constitute an element of variety, and not an element of innate difference or superiority; that differences of religious background are no longer a sufficient excuse for one group of people remaining aloof from another; that variations in political views and economic advantages do not constitute a justification for dominance and exploitation.
And the Oneness of Humanity requires the recognition of the equality of men and women. It requires the formulating of a world system of education, with some basic curriculum, and with this universal educational program open to boys and girls alike. It requires the selection of an international auxiliary language to facilitate trade, travel, and communication. It means that religion and science should be regarded as co-partners, since they are the great and complementary instruments which can lead the human race along the road of decency and enriched living. This dynamic principle also requires the erection of a world federal government, a super-government, representing the peoples of the earth, dedicated to justice without regard to race, religion, or region.
When this war subsides, the human and material wreckage will be dreadful. We will see the evidence on every hand. And the statisticians will compile their lists. But they will not be able to measure the dark cesspool of hatred, of prejudice, of warped and crooked doctrines.
No limited nationalistic principle, no limited racial principle can serve as the basis for
Bahá’í Teaching Conference held on September 10th, 1944, at Shark River Hill, New Jersey.
rebuilding our shattered world. We cannot return to the localisms of the past. The habits of the past are no longer safe. The thinking of the past can only betray us now. The world needs the vision of Bahá’u’lláh. It needs the impact of His loving spirit. It needs the solid unity which only He can create. We must, therefore, sound a warning that the Oneness of Mankind is "the sole means for the salvation of a greatly suffering world.”
The American people, especially, are challenged by this principle. For this republic which has developed a high form of just government and which has many times stretched the hand of assistance to oppressed peoples, this republic harbors also one of the most virulent forms of race hatred. Millions of people in this country, because of a mere difference in color, are cursed with an economic, social, and psychological stigma. This is the gravest internal problem for the American people in these years when a world order is evolving.
Besides a warning, this principle, enunciated eloquently and insistently by Bahá’u’lláh, brings "a promise that its realization is at hand.” The first beam of this sun of promise flashed across the darkened sky of Persia when the youthful Báb heralded a new religious dispensation. The words of this Forerunner cut the thick veils of bigotry and ignorance which lay like a vast fog over that land. He inspired His followers to deeds of such valor that the promise of spiritual regeneration in Persia was heard by great scholars in the continent of Europe. The second beam of promise might well be the announcement by Bahá’u’lláh of His mission as God’s Manifestation in our age. The third beam of promise would be the embryonic world order, found in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh and erected by the believers under the guidance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Faith.
Shoghi Effendi has written: "Leaders of
religion, exponents of political theories,
governors of human institutions, who at present
are witnessing with perplexity and dismay
the bankruptcy of their ideas, and the disintegration
[Page 760]
of their handiwork, would do
well to turn their gaze to the Revelation of
Bahá’u’lláh, and to meditate upon the World
Order which, lying enshrined in His teachings,
is slowly and imperceptibly rising amid
the welter and chaos of present-day civilization.”
Bahá’u’lláh already has created the impossible—the uniting of peoples of all races and cultures in one world-wide spiritual community. The methods and the standard of the Bahá’í world community incline neither to the East nor the West, neither to the Jew nor the Gentile, neither to the rich nor the poor, neither to the white nor the colored. Within the Bahá’í community, the Oneness of Humanity is already an accomplished fact. A divine pattern of world order has been given, and it is already taking form in the communities of Bahá’ís throughout the world.
The Oneness of Humanity demands the moral and intellectual regeneration of the individual. Each age requires the new measure of a man. Bahá’u’lláh sets the standard thus: “All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization.” . . . “Bend your energies to whatever may foster the education of men.” . . . "Let your vision be world-embracing rather than confined to your own self.” . . . “Equity is the most fundamental among human virtues. The evaluation of all things must needs depend upon it.” . . . "Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue.” . . . “That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race.”
The new measure of a man—what can create a new type of thinking and conduct? What force can so inspire and sharpen the minds of men that they may be fit instruments for the creation of a just and enduring world order? The answer is religious faith. Religion, renewed in our age by a Manifestation of God; religion, purified from the prejudices and superstitions of the past; religion, restated in the terms of our age and fashioned for the needs and possibilities of our age—such a Faith, Bahá’ís are convinced, has the power to regenerate mankind. Such a Faith is the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh—a divine remedy sent by God for the healing of the nations and the resurrection of man.
The Bahá’í lives and moves and has his being in the belief that the Kingdom of God will be established upon the earth. The Bahá’í is that individual who, through the confirming power of faith in Bahá’u’lláh, struggles against the currents of disunity and prejudice in the whirlpool of public opinion, and struggles within himself, in an effort to rise to a level of spiritual maturity and social action where he lives the principle of the Oneness of Mankind. The Bahá’í is the promise and the sign that a new type of conduct is being fashioned—men and women with a world vision and a sense of humanity that is deep and all-inclusive.
The Oneness of Humanity also "implies
an organic change in the structure of
present-day society.” Bahá’u’lláh foresaw that
humanity was about to enter a crisis of
unparalleled magnitude, and that the final
resolution of that crisis would require the
establishment of a world government. In the
words of the Guardian of the Faith: “Some
form of a world Super-State must needs be
evolved, in whose favor all the nations of
the world will have willingly ceded every
claim to make war, certain rights to impose
taxation and all rights to maintain
armaments, except for purposes of maintaining
internal order within their respective dominions.
Such a state will have to include
within its orbit an International Executive
adequate to enforce supreme and unchallengeable
authority on every recalcitrant
member of the commonwealth; a World
Parliament whose members shall be elected
by the people in their respective countries
and whose election shall be confirmed by
their respective governments; and a Supreme
Tribunal whose judgment will have a binding
effect even in such cases where the parties
concerned did not voluntarily agree to submit
their cases to its consideration.” This
world government would promulgate “a
single code of international law—the product
of the considered judgment of the world’s
federated representatives.” Such a World
Order as this which Bahá’u’lláh anticipated,
[Page 761]
would make the Oneness of Humanity a
living fact everywhere upon the earth.
The spiritual regeneration of men and women, and the erection of a world government will mark the beginning of the greatest era in human history. Slowly men have progressed from the filthy, diseased, superstitious, and ignorant conditions of the early ages. Starting with the tribal form of society, larger and more orderly units of government have been evolved. The knowledge of men and their sense of idealism have also developed.
But the childhood of the human race is over. The wars and chaos of our time mark the height of humanity’s adolescence. World unity will mark the beginning of humanity’s maturity. Bahá’u’lláh heralds the achievement of this goal. The objective of His Faith is to unite the peoples of the world in “one faith and one order.” This will be "humanity’s coming of age.”
We discover, then, that this pivotal principle of Bahá’u’lláh, the Oneness of Humanity, is not “a pious hope” nor a mere restatement of the ideal of brotherhood. It is a clear warning, yet also holds the promise of definite realization. It demands the moral and intellectual regeneration of the individual. It “implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society.” Finally, it ”represents the consummation of human evolution.”
Bahá’u’lláh has written: “This is the Day in which God’s most excellent favors have poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things. It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and loving-kindness. . . . Soon will the present-day Order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead.”
This is the consummating age, the climactic age, the fruit-bearing age in human history. But a consummation is not an easy thing, no matter how much men may devoutly wish for it. A great climax is never reached without pain. The tree cannot bear fruit unless the fragile beauty of the blossom dies, to be reborn in a form and with a substance that will nourish men and women. The peoples of the earth dwell in the fear, misery, and blood of war. But this war marks the death pangs of the old order of materialism, of greed for power, of exploitation, and of disunity. God moves in human history. His hand is above all things. The old order is perishing around us. A new order, founded on the Oneness of Humanity, is taking shape under the guidance and protection of God.
When we think, at this Centennial, of the glorious events of the past one hundred years, of the rich treasury of truth in the Bahá’í Revelation, and of the undreamed and immeasurable possibilities of the future, our joy is mixed with a great gratitude. Is it any wonder that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has said: "Behold the portals which Bahá’u’lláh hath opened to you."
20.
SAN FRANCISCO AND THE BAHÁ’Í CHARTER
BY SHIRIN FOZDAR
I.
THIS must never happen again,” echoed the voices of the people everywhere, as they expressed their resolve after the treaty of Versailles. For had they not fought the great War to end all wars? The people said, "We will build a new world order based on
international co-operation instead of
international anarchy.” Until a few years ago
people were jubilant at the thought that
nations would no longer appeal to arms in
their dealings one with another, but would
bring their case into law and settle it by
reason. Unfortunately the people did not
realize that war is merely the symptom of a
[Page 762]
virulent disease. The real disease from which
the nations suffer is not the mobilization of
troops and sacrificing of men on the battlefield.
Such atrocities are only easily recognized
manifestations of much more deep
seated maladies. The source of the real sickness
lies in the philosophy, organization and
practice of everyday life. Our economic
structure, our political system, our social
attitudes and our religious fanaticisms all
contribute to the inequalities, the dishonesties,
the intolerance and prejudices from
which wars are born.
In short, war is simply the inevitable outcome of our current thought and action. The public, however, seems to see little relationship between its daily sowing and periodic reaping. To the average person there is no connection between these two phenomena.
Those who have studied the history of past wars are well aware that the consequences of one are always the cause of the next. It is a well known fact that the vanquished nation ever nurses a hatred of its conquerors and dreams only of the day when it will be strong enough for revenge. It is futile to pretend that the social conscience is too enlightened; that the nations know they cannot afford a war; that the world is in possession of too many facts concerning the horror and losses of war, and war, therefore, is impossible. The apostles of peace, even after the Munich pact, told us there could be no war. But soon the war spirit spread over the continent, and in a few months men in Europe would have killed their own fathers, in spite of their facts and settled conclusions.
The world conflagration of 1939-1945 has conclusively proved to the world that fear and danger of war cannot be eradicated by military alliances between groups of nations, seeking to build up a strong balance of powers. It is the presence, the existence of large armaments that creates suspicion and causes the outbreak of war between those powers which are more equally balanced.
Peace is not a manufactured article. It is not created nor established by any human concept, no army or navy however great, no airplanes, submarines nor the more horrible means of extinguishing life that science has discovered, no Hague Tribunal, the League of Nations or the U.N.O. can bring about peace without the aid of spiritual powers. Submission through preponderance of force is not peace. With the aid of science we have improved our method of killing and mass butchery, and have fallen pitiful victims to the machines of our own creation. One is reminded of the story of the missionary, who returned to his native land after many years spent among the cannibals, trying to teach them civilized ways. A friend meeting him said, “Tell me, did you cure them of their loathsome habit of eating human flesh?” “Well no,” said the missionary, “at least not entirely, but I can report progress; I did teach them to eat with knife and fork.” Our progress appears to be merely the refinement of the weapons of destruction.
The San Francisco Conference of the
United (?) Nations is undoubtedly expected
to be a great step, preparatory to the downfall
and end of the present system of world
government, where each nation presumes to
keep up an armed force wherewith to settle
its disputes. Unfortunately the members of
the U.N.O. who are flushed with the fruits
of their victory, have not yet realized that
reconstruction of world conditions today
with mundane ideas can never be done. It
is like putting new wine into old bottles.
Humanity needs new hearts free from the
deadly poison of racial and national prejudices.
Without this first requisite all efforts
will be fruitless, and as useless as attempting
to bring sensation back to a numb finger
by rubbing it, when, at the base of it, a
tight band is shutting off all circulation. It
is sages and seers, not statesmen and strategists,
who can cement the differences that
prevail between the various nations. The
evils of race rivalries, economic competitions
and armament disputes would vanish if the
nations of the world realized that human
nature and needs are fundamentally the same
all the world over, and that in the eyes of
God there is no difference between man and
man. Past attempts at international amity
and peace have failed because they were inspired
not by the true spirit of friendship
and love which can be had only from an
understanding of the universal principles of
the Oneness of Mankind. If the future peace
[Page 763]
pacts are to prove not mere scraps of paper,
great care must be taken to eliminate distrust
and rivalry.
It is quite evident from experience that with the progress of science and the unification of the world, this single body cannot advance smoothly under the guidance of different and discordant consciences. Past methods of governing isolated groups are no longer workable as isolation is blasted with the birth of the atom bomb.
The more humanity clings to old methods and ideas the quicker the succession of wars and disasters; and the greater the intensity of conflict, the greater is its failure.
Economic strangulation and dismemberment of the enemy nations through force and fear will not keep the peace; fear gives birth to hate, not to love; to revenge, not to cooperation that endures.
Nations must learn to build up their fortifications not upon the sand of intrigues and hypocrisy, but upon the rock of God’s love. Kingdoms and empires, raised upon the despoiled and ruined ashes of smaller nations, are bound to disintegrate and decay. Mighty rulers and dictators have gone the way of the damned, but eternal are the glories that await those who bring prosperity and happiness to the world, for “Blessed are the Peace Makers.”
II.
The world heaved a sigh of relief when after six years of bloody warfare the hostilities ceased in 1945. The people unanimously hoped for a final and permanent abolition of war, and all the suffering, loss and destruction it involved.
The San Francisco Conference of the United Nations was called to realize, in whatever measure it was possible, this longing of civilized humanity all over the world. With the best will in the world, however, the united wisdom and experience of the world gathered there, were unable to bring about a real union of mankind, which alone can remedy the ills of our age. “The Charter,” said Field Marshal Smuts, "was not perfect. It was full of compromises; but it was a very real and substantial advance on all previous plans of security.” This is not all that enlightened humanity craves for, though it was much more than had been attained all through the age of competitive nationalism. The San Francisco creation is only an association of states, claimed to be equal, sovereign, and “peace-loving”; their equality, however, inter se, is denied by other provisions of the Charter itself, especially in regard to the Security Council, or the executive authority of the organization; while their sovereignty is only in respect of their internal administration. It was, however, this attribute of internal sovereignty which permitted Nazi Germany to persecute the Jews for long years without any effective opposition being raised by any other State; and the same excuse may lead in future to repetition of such persecutions and atrocities. Members, moreover, of the Organization do not include, at least for the time being, the erstwhile enemy nations, and their satellites, but also neutrals, like Switzerland, whose peace-loving character no one can question. The Organization, moreover, though formed expressly to maintain peace and security all over the world, to enforce respect for treaties, principles of justice and international law, and secure full recognition for "human rights and fundamental freedoms,” omits to define any of the key terms in the main chapter of the charter, giving the purpose of its being, and the motive spring of its action. It has no armed force at its own command; it leaves local armies, navies and air force untouched, and offers but a mild suggestion for gradual disarmament of the principal allies and their associates. Given these shortcomings, the Organization can scarcely be effective in attaining its immediate objective of permanent peace and international security, let alone the development of all-round co-operation among the peoples of the world, especially if the Big Three fall out on any issue, as between themselves.
In all these respects, the machinery prescribed
by Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the
Bahá’í Faith, for maintaining eternal peace
and all round security, and ensuring world
co-operation, shows unmistakable superiority.
The institution of a General Assembly
of the nations of the world; the setting up
of a Security Council as the Central Executive
authority; the establishment of an
International Court of Justice, and the bringing
[Page 764]
into existence of an Economic and Social
Council, are all landmarks on the road which,
unmistakably and irresistibly, will lead to
the goal prophesied by Him a hundred years
ago. But they are not enough, excellent as
they are. According to the Bahá’í Charter,
however, the General Assembly of Nations
will not be only a deliberative body, with
little initiative and less executive. It will be a
Sovereign Legislature for the entire world,
defining the principles of justice, codifying
international law, and enforcing respect for
human rights and freedoms. The executive
arm of the World Federation would be the
Security Council, while the judicial side of
the Universal State would be the International
House of Justice, administering justice for
all mankind in accordance with clearly defined
principles of that much misunderstood term.
As no State or people will be
excluded from the organization of the World
State prophesied by Bahá’u’lláh; and as the
basis of the Organization would be free
consent and voluntary acceptance by member
States or peoples, there can be no question
of any State being kept out of the
organization. The General Assembly of the
Federation will be formed by representatives
of all States, in proportion to the population
and resources of each, probably also with
due regard to the record (and not pretensions)
of each in regard to the love for
peace,—and not merely in proportion to the
armed importance of any member, as under
the San Francisco arrangement it has come
to be.
No people, backward or advanced, and no country, developed or otherwise, will be left out of membership. There need, therefore, be neither a Trusteeship Council, nor a Trust of some stronger country over weaker members of the world community; and of course, no "Strategic Areas,” serving as military or naval bases, to keep alive the memory of conflict, and indicate preparedness for a possible war. The Colonies and Empires of today,—Dutch or British or French,—will have to go the same way as the domination and exploitation of subject countries by Germany or Japan; and the world will have to march with a true union of all mankind as brothers working in a common cause.
The Bahá’í Charter will not depend, for maintaining peace and assuring security, on only coercive authority vested in the Central Organization. Ways and means of peaceful solution of every kind of international dispute, without exceptions, will be evolved and employed, including conciliation, arbitration, and where necessary, adjudication. No force will be left at the disposal of any individual State, large or small. The process of disarmament will be progressive, simultaneous, and universal. The only available vestige of armed might will be at the command of the World State. San Francisco also evinces unmistakable aversion to the use of force in settling international disputes. But the existing disparity of might as between the bigger States and the smaller ones, and the provision for gradual disarmament, make its basic purpose of outlawing war far from realized. This apprehension is all the better founded, when we recollect that there are still outstanding differences, in interest as well as outlook, as between the principal powers of the world today. While Britain, France and America uphold a social system founded on private property with personal profit, on individual initiative and freedom of enterprise, Russia upholds the communist ideal. Britain and France have colonial possessions, which supply no mean proportion of their material prosperity; and on which other States inevitably cast eyes of envy. America seeks expansion on the East and the West; and calls it naval bases. The League of Nations Mandates have ceased; but the Trustee Council and Trusts for Backward Peoples is only a new name for an old disease—imperialism and exploitation.
As a consequence of this difference in basic
outlook, the relations between neighboring
States, and still more so With undeveloped
parts of the world under the domination or
influence of any of these, cannot but diverge
and lead to conflicts, which, in the ultimate
analysis, may have to be settled by use of
force. The Bahá’í Charter, on the other
hand, secures the essentials for the economic
welfare of every nation. The World Commonwealth
is charged with the task of assuring the
welfare of all the nations and of
every individual therein. It must, therefore,
control the entire resources and raw materials
[Page 765]
of its component parts, provide every country with the necessary materials for its industrialization, and arrange for the natural flow of commerce and investment over the whole area that constitutes this earth. A uniform coinage and currency, uniform weights and measures, and uniform standardized terms of international trade, with equal access to the earth’s raw materials, are bound to eradicate the causes of economic conflict. The same principles applied to individuals will bridge the gulf between capital and labor; poverty and unemployment will be annihilated, and no idle rich permitted to be parasites or drones in the human hive. Education is to be recast and ideals of justice revised. Such an education must not be the privilege only of the leisured few, but available to every human being. No territory is permitted to remain undeveloped, but all must enjoy unhampered the privileges bestowed upon humanity by this Bahá’í Charter. The disparity between man and woman, between races and peoples, which now disfigure the working of the world, must disappear; and the guaranteed rights of individuals, as well as communities, carefully defined and duly enforced. Let the nations of the world take heed, and not repeat the tragedy of Versailles sowing the seed for a more devastating conflagration. Bahá’u’lláh, the author of the Bahá’í Charter had warned the monarchs of the world between 1868-1870, while suffering imprisonment for these ideals, that the world would be engulfed in fiery ordeals of world wars, and had reiterated the fact that nations could attain permanent peace and stability through nothing less than the principles laid down in that Charter.
It is impossible to lay out in this brief article the great results nations can achieve by uniting together under one world government. The ideal of a single world federation is not merely a legal or constitutional matter. A searching analysis on the same lines is found in The Foundations of Peace, wherein the author, Prof. K. T. Shah, India’s leading economist freely acknowledges his debt to Bahá’u’lláh. Much depends upon the people’s spirit of goodwill, justice and amity. “The governments of the world, instead of wasting their time, wealth and energy, in building up alliances and hoping thus to abolish warfare, or ensuring their own particular victory must turn their attention to the Bahá’í Charter, which is complete and cannot be improved upon. This is a crucial moment and the sincerity of the United Nations is being weighed in God’s balance. Let them not be found wanting, nor be branded by posterity as an assemblage of hypocrites and imbeciles.
III.
In the 18th century, Sir Isaac Newton, Bengel, Wesley and other great thinkers and teachers of many schools of thought, renewed their hopes regarding their expectation of the Return of Christ. This belief, although confined entirely to the Protestant communions, was shared by individual Christians in most, if not all, of the churches, and aroused, in some sections of Christendom, the greatest enthusiasm. It was proclaimed by bodies, such as Irvingites and Millerites, and became the distinctive tenets of various Adventist groups. One scholar fixed the date as 1785, Bengel 1836, William Miller 1843-1844 and Cumming 1866.
This attitude of religious expectancy was not confined to Christendom alone, but was shared by the followers of other world religions; by the Buddhists for the advent of a Maitreya Buddha, by the Zoroastrians for Shah Behram, the Hindus for Kalki Avatar, the Muslims for the Promised Mehdi and so on. But, as in Christendom, so throughout the world, the universal expectation of an august theophany was vitiated by misunderstanding and led to no good result. A rigid traditionalism cramped the souls of men. No organized religion in any quarter of the globe seems to have believed that the coming prophet would demand radical reforms and lift the people to a higher level of thought and conduct than that with which they had contented themselves in the past. Every religion looked for a vindicator who should be exclusively its own, who should justify its dogmas, reinforce its institutions and exalt it to a position of complete and unchallengeable supremacy over the erroneous faiths of the rest of mankind.
Great was the perturbation when, in the
midst of these conflicting beliefs, a youth of
[Page 766]
24 years, who called himself the Báb (the
Gate) arose in Persia, and proclaimed himself
to be the forerunner of Him, Who was to be
the fulfillment of all these prophecies, the
Gate through which mankind must pass to
attain to the Kingdom of God. The Báb, who
was born on the 20th of October, 1819 and
proclaimed himself on May 23rd, 1844, was
renowned for his piety and virtue. Persia
in those days was considered by the Oriental
scholars as the Augean stable of the East.
Ignorance, fanaticism, dishonesty and immorality
were the four pillars which supported the social
fabric in Persia. That the
Báb had expected a violent opposition from
his countrymen was evident from his earlier
writings in which he had clearly predicted
his martyrdom; but nothing daunted him.
Fearlessly he preached like John the Baptist,
and prepared the people for the advent of
Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith
and Author of the Bahá’í Charter.
Within a short period the doctors of divinity, fearing the overthrow of their power, agitated against the Báb, and had him arrested and incarcerated. But his message spread like wildfire kindling the hearts of all those subject to it. In their impotent rage these opponents of the Báb resorted to most violent persecutions recorded in the annals of history. Within six years of his ministry, most of which was spent in prison, the enemies of the Báb ordered his execution and on the 9th of July, 1850 the Báb’s body was publicly riddled with 750 bullets in the barrack square at Tabríz.
Chesterton has said that in modern times, instead of stoning the prophets, we smother them with roses. We also after praising them without obeying them for a decade or two, cease to read them. But our experience of Bahá’u’lláh is quite the contrary. People smothered Him with roses and paid Him the greatest respect as long as He remained the Son of a rich and influential minister of Persia, with vast properties at His disposal. But as soon as He declared Himself to be the Divine Messenger for Whom the Báb had prepared the people, and sacrificed His life, and for Whom the former world scriptures had prophesied, stones took the place of roses, hatred that of respect, confiscation of property and starvation that of riches and affluence.
Bahá’u’lláh was born on the 12th of November, 1817 and declared His advent on April 21st, 1863. He was convinced He had been destined for a great mission in life, that of uniting the various races and religions into one brotherhood. His fearless and public declaration of His message terminated His life of ease and luxury. That government, which had respected Him and His family for generations, was deeply annoyed at His seemingly audacious claim, and thus Bahá’u’lláh was clapped in chains behind prison bars with His wife and children, all of tender age. While heavy chains cut wounds in His neck, He yet strove to help man to break the fetters of greed, selfishness, vanity and waywardness. Although Himself in captivity, He worked for the liberation of humanity. Thus between the years 1868-1870 Bahá’u’lláh addressed His epistles to the crowned heads of the world, to the President of America and to the Pope in Rome, wherein He laid down the principles upon which the Bahá’í Charter is to be based. Vividly He foretold therein the fate that awaited the different monarchs, nations and the world.
"O concourse of the heedless!” He wrote, "I swear by God! The Promised Day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: ‘Taste ye what your hands have wrought!’ The time for the destruction of the world and its people hath arrived. . . . The day is approaching when its (civilization’s) flame will devour the cities. . . . O ye that are bereft of understanding! A severe trial pursueth you, and will suddenly overtake you. O ye people of the world, know verily that an unforeseen calamity is following you, and that grievous retribution awaiteth you. . . .”
Satiated with power and pelf and fully
confident of their own powers, the monarchs
of the world ignored the call of this
prophet of peace. He warned them again,
predicting Divine retribution, downfall, defeat,
immense calamity. The most daring of
all is His categorical and reiterated assurances
that after a period of worl-wide
purgation by the fire of war, human nature
[Page 767]
is to be regenerated, the nations federated
and permanent peace established. Considering
human waywardness He foresaw a hideous universal
conflict, which would engulf
every nation in the world. When they had
wasted their substance, decimated their population
and stood bleeding, bankrupt and
beggared, then they would be restored to
their right minds. People would then realize
that national vanity and touchiness, truculency
and war preparedness are as terribly
destructive in a state, as vanity, bullying and
boasting are vicious in a boy. When they
have had their fight out, and are prostrate
from their insane anger, they will be willing
to look up to the Divine Messenger for
guidance.
Bahá’u’lláh passed away in 1892, after suffering nearly forty years of imprisonment and exile, and after more than twenty thousand of His followers, men, women and children, had been butchered to death in a manner that displayed the unwearying ingenuity of the Persians in the mode of torturing their victims; they would sole the feet of their victims, soak the wounds in boiling oil, shoe the foot like the hoof of a horse, and compel the victim to run. In some cases the victims have been made to eat their own amputated ears. The more fortunate suffered strangulation, stoning or suffocation. They were bound before the muzzle of a mortar, cut down with swords, or killed with dagger thrusts. These selfless heroes laid down their lives, without murmuring in order that their blood might water the seed of Bahá’u’lláh’s New World Order. “A world from which war has been abolished, held together by ties of world federation; a great worldwide human society in which hatred and prejudice—national, religious, racial—have been annihilated. A world culture built upon close interchange of commerce, of art, of science and invention, a culture marvellously integrated by a universal auxiliary language serving as a common medium for commerce, travel and for exchange of ideas in literature and by radio and moving picture. A universal civilization in which men and women, shoulder to shoulder in full equality, labor to build a better world. A spiritualized humanity obedient to the Divine purpose, sensitive to the good and beautiful things creating art, culture and a mode of living superbly beautiful. A world in which labor and capital harmoniously operate together under new economic laws which ensure abundant and widespread prosperity and abolish forever the grim spectre of want and destitution.”
Unfortunately nations learn slowly and oftentimes at a dear price. It takes the incalculable horror of a world cataclysm to teach the nations of the world how vain and how unworkable are the worn out ideas of rival empires, safeguarded by armed forces, and how practical is the idea of federation secured by law, and based on love and human fellowship. Now that the world has just emerged bankrupt and bleeding from threatened annihilation, after this ruinous war, is it wise and just to continue ignoring the principles laid down in Bahá’u’lláh’s Charter?
It appears like yesterday, when under the stress of the blitzkrieg and the fear of invasion, the governments and the clergy of the various nations urged their countrymen to flock to churches and pray to God for the removal of our trials and tribulations. Is it not strange that when the prayers have been answered, God has been relegated to the background? In all our Peace Conferences and Peace parleys, all mention of God is eliminated? All reference to the power of prayer ignored? By this indifference is not God being tempted to visit upon humanity once more a cataclysm more ruinous than the last war, to impress upon the puny minds of men, that there is a Greater Power in this world that can compel mankind to submit to His will and carry out His Plan?
Must humanity like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah invite fire and brimstone (with the aid of the atomic bomb) from the heaven of God’s wrath, to remove man completely from the surface of the earth? Is it possible that mankind prefers extinction to a life of peace and brother hood?
21.
IMPRESIONES DE UN DELEGADO BAHÁ’Í DURANTE SU VISITA A LOS BAHÁ’ÍS DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS
BY SALVADOR TORMO
CUANDO fuí elegido representate de la comunidad Bahá’í de la Argentina para concurrir a los actos a realizarse en Wilmette con motivo del centenario de la Fé Bahá’í y la convención en mayo del corriente año, fué éste uno de los momentos mas emocionantes de mi vida. Pude percibir en ese memento, en cierto modo, el profundo y trascendental signifcado que dicha representacion involucraba, no tanto por lo que a mi persona se refería, sino mas bién a la responsabilidad que dicho nombramiento significaba como instrumento representativo y legal de la comunidad Bahá’í argentina.
A pesar de todo mi empeño para concurrir a los actos anunciados, no pude conseguirlo; el permiso llegó tarde. Pero el 4 de junio recibí un cable de la Asamblea Nacional para asistir a las reuniones que tendrían lugar en Wilmette del 9 al 16 de julio. En poco tiempo pude arreglar todos los asuntos. Las puertas se abrían en todas partes; la mano de Bahá’u’lláh actuaba en todo momento. El 29 de junio llegaba a Chicago en avión. Mi sorpresa fué al descender del mismo y escuchar una voz amiga. Allá, a dos pasos, se encontraba Mrs. Collins acompañáda de Miss True; sus rostros sonrientes produjeron en mi una extraña pero agradable emoción. En tierra extrangera encontraba de inmediato no solamente a dos amigas sino a dos hermanas. Miss True nos condujo en su coche hasta Wilmette. Con Mrs. Collins recordamos nuestra actuacion en Buenos Aires en la construcción del monumento a la memoria de Mrs. Maxwell, recuerdos agradables por cierto, al haber intervenido en una obra tan importante. Miss True tuvo la gentileza de hacerme conocer el Templo a la hora del crepúsculo. All llegar cerca, me hizo notar entre los árboles la silueta del Templo. Que visión maravillosa! momentos que jamás se podrán olvidar. Es en verdad un manatial de agua de vida, en donde millares de seres van a beber. Pude presenciar grupos constantes de visitantes quienes atraídos por diferentes motivos, entraban para conocer el Templo. Me gustaba observar sus rostros; a la salida no parecían las mismas personas; sus ojos tenían otra expresion; parecía que llevaban algo que antes no poseían; los guías habían hecho su trabajo; les habían explicado diversos aspectos del Templo, su significado y su relación con la Fé Bahá’í. Es maravilloso el trabajo que los guías realizan diariamente con tanta paciencia como devoción por la Fé; no podemos ni siquiera sospechar hasta donde llegan las semillas que los guías depositan en tantos corazones. Esa es una obra silenciosa pero efectiva. A su tiempo vendrán los frutos.
Fuí invitado varias veces a acompañar a los guías y en algunos momentos les ayudaba, ya que la gente se maraviliaba al comprobar cuan extendida estaba la Fé Bahá’í, al saber que yo venia de la Argentina.
Un lugar de gran recogimiento para meditar, es donde se encuentra la piedra fundamental. Piedra histórica, colocada allí por las Manos del Maestro, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, en el año 1912. En diversas oportunidades oré en ese sagrado recinto. Cuán intensa es la vibración espiritual allí percibida.
Las reuniones llevadas a cabo desde el 9 hasta el 16 de julio constituyeron en sí la expresion de una organización perfecta por parte de la Asamblea Nacional. El dia 9 de julio pudimos vivir los mismos momentos que tuvieron lugar durante el centenario, por medio de discos y vistas cinematográficas; los discursos y alocuciones alusivas a dicha fecha, fueron escuchados con profunda devoción; las traducciones al español fueron realizadas en todo memento con perfecta maestriá, pudiendo los delegados latino-americanos disfrutar a la par de los demás
Teaching Conference for State of New Jersey at Bahá’í Center, Teaneck, July 23rd, 1944.
de estos actos tan significativos como brillantes.
Uno de los mementos mas culminantes fué cuando, siguiendo uno al otro lentamente y en profundo silencio, presenciaban las fotografías del Báb. Momentos emocionantes fueron estos para todos. Las reacciones, no cabe duda, fueron diferentes. Instantes estos que no se olvidarán jamás.
Las reuniones de los delegados latino-americanos en la Asamblea Nacional (en que se discutieron diversos asuntos) se llevaron a cabo en la mas perfecta armonía y comprensión, asícomo también las reuniones realizadas entre los mismos delegados. La simpatía y amor generados por el contacto diario de los delegados latino-americanos llegó al punto que ninguno quería hablar del momento de la partida, Las lágrimas asomaban nuestros ojos cuando ese momento llegó. Silencioso, cada uno guards a sus recuerdos. Los lazos que se habían forjado eran fuertes, pero había que partir, aunque la despedida fuera dolorosa. Ya nos veríamos otra vez. Ya nos escribiríamos desde nuestros respectivos países. Esos lazos de unión inter-americanos entre los Bahá’ís se habían realizado. Así he podido observar como se han ido tejiendo nuestras amistades, por medio de los múltiples contactos. Jamás he podido constatar tanta generosidad, tanta buena voluntad, tanta consideración, tanto amor come lo expresado por los Bahá’ís americanos. Tengo contraída una gran deuda de gratitud por las generosidades de todo orden recibidas. Mucho tendré que hacer para pagarlas.
En todas las reuniones a que hemos concurrido, los delegados siempre hemos encontrado ese espíritu de franca simpatía entre los Bahá’ís. Tanto en Wilmette como en Evanston, Chicago, Milwaukee, siempre se dió a los delegados la oportunidad de expresarse. Era digno de observar la expectativa mostrada en todos los rostros al saber que los delegados latino-americanos iban a hablar. Cada manifestación de los delegados era acogida por los circunstantes con salva de aplausos, reveladores de la simpatía que estos esperimentaban. Todo discurso era traducido de inmediato, con la mayor perfección, en ambos idiomas. La persona que tenía a su cargo esta tarea, Mrs. Woolsen parecía interpretar hasta el minimo detalle, dándole a la vez e1 sentimiento que en cada caso era necesario.
Sería largo enumerar los distintos lugares en que fuímos invitados. Podría llenar muchas columnas de papel. En todas partes pude observar la misma simpatía. No podría citar un solo caso que pudiera haber habido una nota discordante.
Recuerdo en Milwaukee, después de haber pasado un día en la residencia de campo de los esposos Niss, lugar hermoso pot cierto, fuímos invitados, los delegados, al Centro Bahá’í de esta ciudad. Una cena excepcional y muchos amigos nos aguardaban. Se escucharon con devoción las oraciones y los
The house at Malden, Massachusetts, where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá rested in 1912 as guest of the late Maria P. Wilson, now an endowment belonging to the American Bahá’í Community.
discursos. Cada uno de los delegados latino-americanos dió rienda suelta a su corazón para expresar lo que éste sentía al ponerse en contacto con los Bahá’ís americanos. Al final, tomándonos de la mano los delegados latino-americanos con los Bahá’ís de notre-américa, exprese: “Levantemos las manos juntas como símbolo de unidad que en estos mementos aquí se realiza. Que la fuerza de esta unión se extienda por todo el continente americano y también por todo el mundo.” Me faltan palabras para describir lo que este acto produjo en los corazones de los amigos presentes. Aun aquellos que no eran Bahá’ís vinieron a saludarnos emocionados. Todos sintieron la realidad de esos mementos, momentos que perdurarán en las mentes y los corazones de los amigos.
Fuí presentado a Bahá’ís que habían tenido el privilegio de ver a ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Entre ellos Mrs. True. Fuí invitado varias veces a su casa, en donde pude escuchar de sus labios hechos muy interesantes del Maestro. Fuí invitado a pasar unos días en la casa de campo de Mrs. Stewart. Lugar encantador es Otter Lake. Pudimos conversar sobre muchos aspectos de la Causa, tanto en Estados Unidos como en Sudamérica. Recordamos muchas veces cuando ella, cinco años atrás, me hizo conocer la Fé Bahá’í en Buenos Aires y sobre los progresos realizados. En Nueva York fuí invitado en casa de los esposos Mottahedeh. Ellos también estuvieron en Buenos Aires. Tanto ellos como mi amigo Philip Sprague se desvivieron por hacerme conocer los lugares mas importantes de Nueva York. Fuí presentado al Centro Bahá’í, en donde fuí invitado a expresar mi pensamiento. Mucha simpatía encontré en todos los amigos. Mas tarde fuí invitado por los esposos Mottahedeh a pasar el fin de semana en la escuela de verano de Green Acre. En el momento mismo que iba a regresar, un llamado telefónico de Nueva York, me hizo quedar allí por tres semanas. Fué tan a tiempo, que unos segundos mas y hubiera dejado de conocer muchas de las enseñanzas que aprendí por medio de los cursos que diariamente allí se dictan. La mano de Dios obró en el momento exacto.
Así he ido aprendiendo a conocer como Dios opera en el curso de nuestras vidas.
El panorama de Green Acre es admirable, se le puede denominar como El Paraíso. No tengo palabras para expresar cuán felíz me sentí al convivir con los Bahá’ís que, como yó, estaban pasando allí unas semanas. Una vida diferente, un mundo diferente. He llegado a pensar que cuando el mundo viva la vida que se vive en Green Acre (y con esto incuyo también las otras escuelas de verano existentes) viviremos en un mundo mejor. Mi estadía allí me dió la oportunidad de conocer a mucha gente. Todos se interesaban por la América Latina. He podido observar que hay un interés latente en todos por la América del Sur. Todos querían conocer y yo gustosamente les explicaba todo aquello que estaba dentro del radio de mi conocimiento. Al notar tanto interés por todo lo que se refería a la América Latina, me ofrecí a dar una clase diaria de español. Esta se efectuadaba todas las tardes bajo de los pinos. Qué felicidad me produjo dar esta clase. Se notaba en todos los rostros el interés en conocer el español. Entre los presentes estaba un prominente sacerdote presbiteriano, Dr. Durand, quién aprendía rápidamente las lecciones.
Entre las experiencias importantes que tuve en Green Acre, es la de haber interesado en la Fé Bahá’í a dos personas. Estas se declararon Bahá’ís en Green Acre, incorporándose luego al Centro Bahá’í de Nueva York. La despedida de Green Acre la sentí profundamente en mi corazón. Una esperanza llegó prontamente. El verano próximo visitaré Green Acre. En las manos de Dios está.
Visité varias veces en Nueva York a los esposos Kinney, en cuya casa ‘Abdu’l-Bahá vivió mientras se encontraba en Nueva York. La última noche fuí a despedirme de ellos y tuve la oportunidad de encontrarme con un amigo Bahá’í que venía de Montevideo. La despedida final en el aerodromo de Nueva York, fue para mi de hondo sentimiento. Me parecía que parte de mi alma quedaba allí. Tuve que ser fuerte. Mi amigo Philip Sprague tuvo la gentileza de acompañarme, junto con su esposa e hijo, los esposos Mottahedeh, la señorita Mazzucchi de la Argentina y una de mis hijas Bahá’ís, la señorita Bert Warter.
Siempre tengo presente lo que les dije a los amigos con quienes estuve en contacto: La felicidad, el amor, la simpatía que ustedes me brindan, los llevaré como tesoro a la Argentina y allí lo distribuiré entre todos los amigos y simpatizantes, para que se establezcan lazos de verdadera comprensión y amistad entre los dos pueblos no solamente entre los Bahá’ís sino también entre los ciudadanos de la República Argentina.
22.
PIONEER JOURNEYS
BY VIRGINIA ORBISON
BOLIVIA
EARLY one hot December morning in 1943, after several false starts with anticlimactic despedidas, (farewells) the plane schedule got together with the weather and I was actually on my way through the lush outskirts of Asunción del Paraguay to the tiny airport built beside the huge modern airfield which was still under construction by the North Americans. Gertrude Eisenberg, seeing me off, looked small but valiant. She was left alone to carry on the task of keeping together and teaching the group started two years before by Elisabeth Cheney. This little band had been restimulated by my visit and it had grown during these last four short months. Gertrude, who had recently arrived, found the ninth adult, who, that following April, made possible the formation of the first Spiritual Assembly of Paraguay.
As only one plane a week went out of Paraguay to the North, obtaining passage was a problem with or without priorities. The plane was well burdened as we flew up the broad winding Río Panará into the jungle country. In a few hours it arrived at Corumbá,
Bahá’ís of Caringbah, New South Wales, Australia, whose Spiritual Assembly was established April 21st, 1945.
a far corner of Brazil. It was only hot then, not very hot, or impossibly hot. The little river port town in the heart of the continent had the usual plaza, an avenue of magnificent royal palms, a U. S. Navy Catalina floating at anchor, and much tropical fruit for sale. All Brazilian cars seem to have long ornate satin cushions resting in the space between the rear seat and the rear window. There were even the taxis which are, as in all other places, just passenger cars charging a more or less uniform fare depending on whether one looked like an experienced or inexperienced gringo. Panagra passengers are put up at a row of houses serving as “hotel”—all very informal.
The next morning we flew over the river and over the Chaco country, making many hops into cleared spots in the jungles. The plane carried Indians—one with a little pig under her arm and manta—chickens, cargo lashed to the front seats and men in tropical work clothes. Quite a contrast to the formal travel of more frequented lanes. At one place we landed near a little cemetery where a little band of Indians weirdly sounding rondadores (pipes of Pan), crude drums and quenas (flutes) were pounding and wheezing beside the tombstones, and the passengers stood about while the plane loading proceeded. We were in Bolivia.
Santa Cruz was our stop for the night.
We were certainly on the Local-Stops-at-all-Points
plane! This interesting but primitive colonial-type
town was seen only from
the air, as Pan Air has fine modern accommodations
for its passengers at the airport. After boarding
our plane in the
morning we gradually climbed, and instead
of jungle, we were over high stark dramatic
[Page 773]
mountains, gorges and peaks with only color
—no vegetation whatever—in short, the
high Andes. The broad and watered valley
of Cochabamba (most popular resort of the
Bolivians) was a contrast. There I saw my
very first Cochabambina, a lovely chola (a
class of mixed Indian and other blood) walking
primly in her high stiff white stove-pipe
hat with broad brim (the higher the hat, the
richer she is) with her colored fringed manta
or shawl, many wide colored skirts, high
boots and long black braids to give her great
elegance.
Leaving healthful Cochabamba, we flew on and on, higher and starker, along the Altiplano with its relief map appearance until we reached the rim of the great Andean gash in which nestles La Paz. There we left our twin-motor 21-passenger Douglas, and after good hot coffee and a toasting by the fireplace, we took the cabs to the edge of the rim, and dived down the winding steep spectacular descent into the city below. There was the great mountain, Illimani, gorgeous and resplendent in brilliant snow watching over the city from far over the other side, just as Eleanor Adler had seen it when her train wormed in from the Chilean port of Arica two years before. At that time, there were no Bahá’í friends to take her in and make her comfortable upon her first encounter with such a strange land—12,025 feet up, and not a word of Spanish, completely alone. Not really alone, because the “company of His chosen angels” was there to guide her immediately to the house of Yvonne Cuellar, who soon became the first believer in Bolivia, and who opened the way ardently for the spreading of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in that land. Seven months later, Eleanor left Bolivia leaving a glorious trail of interest in the Cause, and four devoted and capable believers.
To this very house of Yvonne Cuellar I, too, went, and there found my Bahá’í home in La Paz. More Bahá’ís had been added, all helped and inspired by Flora Hottes, loved and able pioneer who had arrived in the past year. Many friends came to hear about and discuss the Faith with us. Suddenly there came the terror and unrest of a revolution—and then, a few days later, Christmas, bringing little boys in small troups making queer Incaica music on drums and quenas as they went from house to house to play and dance for the Niño Dios in His little manger.
Very early on New Year’s Day I left for a trip to Sucre which is the Capital, although the President lives in La Paz, the center of all activity. The Supreme Court meets in Sucre, named after the Mariscal Sucre, one of the famous South American heroes. Although there is much antagonism and national rivalry among these countries, they all fervently observe the birthdays of their mutual heroes and liberators—such as the great Simón Bolivar, San Martin, Sucre, etc.!
All alone in my camarote or sleeping compartment, I sketched scenes of the bare altiplano, flat beige-colored plains with never a tree or a flower, small windowless houses of adobe and thatched roofs, each with its tiny cross with holy water jug on top; Indians squatting in heavy ponchos in the rain —rain leaking into the cars and deluging one between cars while jerking one’s way to the comedor. This was a voyage of adventure through all the other cars: chair, second, third classes always getting more crowded with cholos, children, baskets, and more wet, as the dining car is always on the end of the train and has a little chimney stack. A school girl on vacation who shared my room returned at night after spending the day with other friends on the train. The bunks were arranged one over the other and all bedding was stored on the top one during the day. One cannot be exclusive and buy up the whole camarote, but this is at least one room which is shared only with one person of the same sex!
Early morning found us in the completely
unique Villa Imperial de Potosí. There
loomed the famous pyramid-shaped Cerro
Rico (Rich Hill), the nearly untouched
colonial city spreading down the long slope.
All the silver to finance the Spanish Armada
came out of that hill. They said that I was
the first white woman to look upon the
vast and varicolored valley from the lofty
top of that cerro (and this I like to believe!) .
Other women there were—in their many
long, brilliantly colored skirts and man-type
felt hats, working the mines along with the
men. But only tin is now taken after the
[Page 774]
workings of four centuries. Idle llamas gazed
at us with supercilious aristocratic air as
the heavy truck struggled up the steep winding
slippery road. Cable buckets passed
overhead carrying down the ore which only
llamas used to bear.
Four days were spent in Potosí while waiting for the autocarril which goes to Sucre. At the Rancho Hochschild where I was privileged to stay, the mine officials were most hospitable. Much to be remembered were the long drive through rarely visited country; movies of ancient vintage shown in what had been a precious carved stone church built by the Spaniards; the Moneda where all the coin of Bolivia has been minted —the machinery brought from Spain and powered by oxen or slaves—the machinery of centuries commencing with wooden apparatus, down to present day steel; the Mascarón, a huge Bacchuslike face in natural colors over an archway, said to be the caricature of a former governor. One evening here around the fire of sweet-smelling moss clods from the Alto, the world’s travail and the great remedy brought by Bahá’u’lláh were discussed with these Jewish friends, who among the millions, had been forced into pain and change.
A six-hour run in a 4-motor Chrysler bus on railway wheels was spent in gasping delightedly at some of the loveliest and most dramatic bits of this earth that one could wish to see. The driver enjoyed chasing donkeys, goats or sheep off the tracks, coming as near as possible without touching them. It seemed extraordinary to leave one great valley, only to climb suddenly into another having a round mirror lake; then to descend gradually into a land full of spectacularly flowering cactus, pepper trees and into the sweet valley where is sequestered the city of Sucre.
The four-day sojourn seemed much longer —so many things happened! Immediately, don Raúl Jaimes Freyre, the distinguished writer and educator; brother of the great Ricardo, man of letters, was found in his house, house of the Inquisition of former times. It was the scene also, of a latter-day “inquisition” during the lectures given there on the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, as the intellectuals and artists gathered to hear, question, cavil and believe—some to read and promise deeper study of the teachings. The tiled white city of Sucre is an isolated paradise. Life parades so leisurely across the cobblestones using no busses or street cars. Charming and courtly are the people, but impossible for an outsider to know Without proper entré. Like Potosí, it is still dreaming of Spanish days and is proud of its withdrawn culture. To sit, or “hacer el paseo,” around the Plaza near noon and at dusk, is to review one’s friendships.
Much pain, as always, was felt at leaving such dear, if recently found, friends. Back to Potosí I journeyed with only time for dinner at the Rancho before catching the train for La Paz. There I found Alicia Bustamante, the famous Peruvian artist who had shown such lively interest in the Faith while in La Paz. The long return was spent with a school teacher and her friend, who enjoyed hearing of the new world Faith destined to unite all of mankind in harmonious living. There was an invitation to visit their school. Twenty-four hours later, at nightfall, from out of the complete blackness of rain clouds suddenly we beheld the magic lining of twinkling lights in the enormous bowl of La Paz beneath the splendor of a well washed full moon. Great Illimani sparkled adamantly in its manta of silver snow.
And there was Flora Hottes, loved pioneer for Bolivia, comfortably resting in my bed when I arrived. She had just returned from a much needed change of altitude to Lima. We listened to stories of her experiences with Eve Nicklin in Peru. The last few days were spent in endless visa and permiso de salida hunting, and again the usual false starts. The delays made it possible for me to see again the wonderful Bolivian friends, and to visit a very quaint and interesting annual fair—Feria de las Alacitas. For several days booths are set up by cholos in a plaza where one can buy, in miniature, all the objects of one’s desire for the coming year.
Sadness crept on me at leaving the valiant country of Bolivia where a culture of great interest has been built up and maintained under almost insuperable physical difficulties: killing altitude, inadequate transportation,
Banquet held at the Schroeder Hotel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 24, 1945, under the auspices of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís. On this occasion the Bahá’í Plan for Universal Peace was presented before a company of some 700 people, Bahá’ís and non-Bahá’ís, among whom were many distinguished Educators, Internationalists, Churchmen, Scientists and Writers who contributed to the success of the meeting.
no seaport, lack of proper nourishment, lack of water, tortuously grown vegetation or hot, wild lowland jungles inhabited by strange animals and naked savages.
Bolivia should especially welcome the great unifying impulse of Bahá’u’lláh which brings the only possible solution to its political, social and spiritual problems. All of these will end with the fulfillment of the destiny of the oneness of the Americas, and indeed, the world, all bound together harmoniously by the mystic chain of Bahá’í love and unity.
ECUADOR
It was in an expectant but nevertheless sad mood that I left Eve Nicklin’s generous hospitality at three-thirty that damp November morning of 1944, to go all alone in the taxi, which stopped only once to be identified by a bundled-up “agente de policia.” On the way to the Limatambo airport there was time to think of the many things connected with leaving Peru which had meant the heights of thankful joy, and some considerable depths of woe. What would be the events of the new post in Ecuador?
John Stearns was approaching his release from pain in that lonely Lima hospital after a year’s stoic and uncomplaining fight with a fatal disease. Indeed, he died on the afternoon of the next day.
Doris and Willard McKay met John sometime in 1937.
In their home he enjoyed the
music, sports, and most of all, the happiness
he found there. His own marriage had been
dissolved. After the 1938 Annual Bahá’í
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Convention and Emeric Sala’s description of
it in a talk at Jamestown, New York, he
began to study the Faith.
“The magic of Green Acre Summer School confirmed John,” writes Willard McKay. . . . “It seemed so wonderful to him, that when he had driven me home to Jamestown, John drove that five hundred miles back to Green Acre to find out whether or not he had imagined it! . . . John’s acceptance seemed to release Jamestown from its inhibitions . . . and the first Local Spiritual Assembly was formed on April 21, 1939, with a Bahá’í community of fifteen members. . . . John was an ardent teacher and committee worker. Just when he decided to go to Ecuador I don’t know, not do I know what gave him the final impulse.” He prepared himself by studying Spanish and taking a course at the Louhelen Bahá’í Summer School in Michigan.
So it was, then, that John prepared to leave his home in Jamestown, New York, to go to Ecuador, undeveloped in the measure of the world’s progress, and unknown to him, a place where few people could understand his language and his ways, a high equatorial land, where no vestige of its former glory of gold, jewels, plumed warriors, and almost legendary culture remained. The Inca had built up his civilization for hundreds of years only to watch it torn down, stone toppling stone, ruthlessly and greedily crushed and eliminated by the Spanish Conquistadores. Today their descendants wander, busy, or idle, rich, but mostly poor, about the streets of what was once San Francisco de Quito—streets following the same contours of the luscious green valley of perpetual Springtime. They see only remnants of the Spanish splendor begun by four hundred men whose names can still be seen engraved on the wall of the Cathedral building in the mother country’s own or borrowed style, from the very stones of the Incas—stones so laboriously hauled from far-away quarries. Descendants, all, of the same four hundred men who had taken to themselves women from the conquered, whether they wished it or not.
John left his own land, as have many others in their times and ours, to introduce the Cause of God in its renewed and amplified beauty where it was not before known. His mission was to tell of the new ideologies ordained by God for the age of destiny into which we are being thrust. As a boy he must have had unconscious foreknowledge that his lot upon this earth was to be hard and full of pain. In unrelenting stoicism he used to sleep on the floor without covering so that he could go into the woods and not be concerned if lacking in comforts or even being lost. He was the uncompromising leader among his brothers and sisters, and his advice in all matters was always asked, even by his mother. They were resigned, then, and not surprised at his tearing up of all roots of home and starting a new life in a far-off city which straddles the equator. Although not sharers in the same Faith, they respected his unbending decision to carry out his mission.
On May 23, 1940, John arrived in the capital city, Quito. For a while he lived in a pension and taught English in the Instituto Cultural in order to become acquainted with people. He was soon making plans to import machinery to start a candymaking business for his support. Candy in the European or North American style is a rarity in some South American countries, but much liked by its peoples. After many months of communication concerning finances and transportation, the Kandy Kitchen was established in a "modern” apartment. And here also, the first Bahá’í meetings were held.
A South American always asks a ”gringo” (who can be nearly anyone not of the country—but mostly it applies to United States citizens) why he has come to the South. This is the cue for the Bahá’í pioneer to tell of the Cause, and it brings forth varying forms of response. Of course, in all of Ecuador, the Name of Bahá’u’lláh had probably never been said unless Martha Root had paused in the port of Guayaquil for a few hours and uttered the Greatest Name, while making her trip around the Americas about twenty-five years ago. Mr. and Mrs. E. R. Mathews also touched the port, I believe.
John, in his quiet reserved way would
invite the people he met to talk and to tea.
Soon he could call many of them strong
friends. One evening a fervent and intelligent
[Page 777]
young man of Quayaquil came to hear
from his lips the story of Bahá’u’lláh and
the destiny towards which the world is so
rapidly moving. Eduardo Gonzalez Lopez
left the house only after a full night of
discussion—a convinced believer in this new
World Faith, although he did not sign until
a year had passed. John and "Les” shared
many months of study, hard work and of
bending all efforts for spreading the Faith.
John spoke and "Les” interpreted, they made
translations, and broadcast radio programs.
It was a busy time and certainly not without
its dissonances. The radio programs were
broadcast for about a year. Words and Music,
and Bahá’í Echoes were made into
booklets and distributed as far afield as the
broadcasts themselves.
Soon these two young men saw many persons rallying to this new Cause. Some left Quito to go to other parts, or out of the country, so there were never enough in one place to form a Spiritual Assembly. During this time some Bahá’í travellers had stopped over in Quito and Guayaquil (where John had made a brief sojourn). Among these had been Eleanor Adler on her way to Bolivia, Marcia Steward en route to Chile, and Mr. and Mrs. Rafi Mottahedeh who greatly helped and encouraged John, Philip Sprague, Mrs. Mary Barton, and Etta Mae Lawrence who was on her way to pioneer in Argentina.
In October 1943, John discovered that the pain he had tried to ignore for so long was a serious illness. Two months later he made a long, painful land trip to Lima for treatment at the Hospital de Radium Therapia, leaving his business with Bahá’í friends, as he would never admit the thought of not recovering. Eve Nicklin, pioneer to Peru, helped him and tried to comfort him. He endured all pain and the torturing treatments almost without comment. After a cable from the Guardian whose prayers had been asked, John had a period of seemingly regained health. Some of this time he spent with Raymond Betts, American business man in Lima, lying in the desert sun by an intensely blue pool, with not a trace of vegetation anywhere, where the subjects of the Inca had bathed hundreds of years before. Here was discussed the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, although Ray had heard of it previously from Eve and Flora Hottes. Later, on April 21, both became members of the first Spiritual Assembly to be formed in Peru. (The story of Peru has been told in another place.) Shortly after this, John knew that he must have another operation, which he bore, watched over by Irma (Mrs. Ray Betts) who took him into her home. He lasted a short time only. He seemed to make himself endure until the return of Ray Betts who had gone away on a long trip. Then, in a hospital on November 7, 1944, he died. Eve, Irma and another friend were with him on that afternoon.
The beloved Guardian wrote, “The radiant and selfless services of dear John Stearns will not be forgotten, and the country is indeed blessed where a pioneer not only taught but remained and died while still loving and glorifying his Faith.”
The believers in Ecuador left by John became scattered. Help there was needed and this task fell to my lot. In Lima, during the months from January to September he had sometimes told me of his work in that land. Two months’ interval was spent in Bolivia where my instructions were received to proceed to Quito, Ecuador, since Artemus Lamb was unable to stop there on his way to his mission in Chile.
Five hours flight only from Lima, it took to reach Guayaquil, port town, where lack of war time priority made a stopover necessary. While awaiting decisions in this matter, a conversation began with a delightful Chilean woman who was on her way to New York. We found that we had met before in Santiago de Chile at the home of one of her relatives. Her brother and his family had been among my first friends. His satirical political paper, Topaze, had made him famous as well as his production of several motion pictures. Jorge Delano was later to be invited to the United States by its President, who was also one of his distant cousins. Senora Delano de Sierra had recently returned from a stay in Punta Arenas, Magallanes, the world’s southernmost city, where she had met Marcia Steward, pioneer to Chile, and had become most interested in the Cause. Argentina was also the scene of her meeting with many believers.
That night in my hotel, Eduardo Gonzalez and Emilio Minervini, two of the faithful ones of Guayaquil (young Jorge Sarco was the third), came to see me. But next morning early the trip towards Quito was resumed. Rivers, jungles, tropical flowering trees, higher and higher—past the great volcanos, Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, past a wooded, shelved tableland—which were enchantments, and into the neighboring valley where is situated one of the oldest precious cities of the Andes—Quito.
Just as surely as the world of the Incas, from Quito to Tiahuanaco was stripped and wrecked by wars, so in our time do we see the mighty convulsion—only on a worldwide scale. The old values are being swept aside in Ecuador, in South America, and indeed all over the world. It is the Bahá’í who proclaims the source of the impulse which is revolutionizing mankind’s ordered life—this in his small but ever-widening orbit. His soul-shaking duty is to bring orientation to the participants in this disequilibration; his duty to set in motion the actual knowledge of the meaning of the already pushing down and ruthless change which disturbs peoples of our time. The World Plan brought by Bahá’u’lláh clarifies and gives direction to this process.
Quito, now, was to see an attempt at the continuance of John’s labor. Only three handicapped believers remained. However, activity for me was rudely curtailed by prolonged and persistent neuritis. Change of living quarters and medical aid did not help. On the night of Christmas, unsleepingly pondering why such obstacles should be presented when a Spiritual Assembly was the intense hope for April, it occurred to me that perhaps Guayaquil was the destined spot. Air passage was obtained the next day, for only a moment’s delay would have meant a month of waiting. A trip of seventeen to twenty-four hours on an Ecuadorian train was unthinkable, ending with its midnight dark ride across the River Guayas on the antiquated boat “Guayaquil,” and always the possibility of wading over washouts, this being the beginning of the rainy season. Young Chico who had served me well helped me to pack, or rather to throw things into my case and the books into a carton which fell apart upon being taken off the plane. About an hour after leaving Quito I was on my way to a comfortable bed in the Gran Hotel, Guayaquil. The tropical heat thawed out the pain in two weeks. Through "Les” Gonzales I became established comfortably in a guest house run by his aunt and an English woman. Here also we were able to hold the first real Bahá’í meetings in Guayaquil—the upper room arranged with seats, desk, table, lamp, ferns and flowers and, most important, Bahá’í books and pictures. In Guayaquil "Les” had gathered two other faithful ones who had come from Quito. "Les” had been the delegate from Ecuador to the Bahá’í Centenary held in Wilmette at the Bahá’í House of Worship in May and also the meeting for the Latin-Americans in July of 1944. His attendance at Bahá’í Summer School and Convention had greatly inspired and informed him. He, it was, who had kept alive the Faith in Guayaquil.
From January to April we worked together,
the four of us—gradually adding
others. One more came from Quito; still
another believer reawakened to active effort.
Friends were met and brought to the gatherings
held regularly. The date of April 21
crept nearer and the tension which Eve and
I had experienced in Lima the year before
was repeated. A young medical student,
Guillermo Molina, who came to exercise his
scientific learning at the Bahá’ís’ expense,
left with fervent expressions of conviction
of Bahá’í truths. He soon declared his intentions
but insisted that he would examine
thoroughly, so as to be sure of his action.
(Commendable, yes—but would he convince
himself by April 21!) Suddenly he and
another serious and fine young man, who
had felt himself not worthy, begged to be
accepted. April 8 came bringing Haik Kcvorkian
from Buenos Aires. He was to do
pioneer teaching in Guayaquil, and arrived
only after lengthy procedure of travel. April
17 found us needing one more, as neither
Haik nor I was eligible to be on the Spiritual
Assembly, neither one having a permanent
residence visa. The person nearest to
joining us was a lovely Norwegian exile,
who had a beauty shop. During the three
hours it took to have a permanent wave
some heart-deep questions were asked. After
[Page 779]
receiving the replies, she fell silent for a
time. There was no sign of effect until, just
as we parted, Else Jorgensen asked that she
might sign! Even the weather seemed to cooperate,
as the RAINS had remained in the
clouds at least on the evenings of our meetings!
So, in the upper room, surrounded by our Bahá’í books, pictures and many flowers, in the hot breeze of the electric fan—each in his "best” and with happy smiles—the first Spiritual Assembly of Ecuador was formed! The memory of John Stearns was very strong with us as we all felt that he was happy at last over the flowering of his devoted and selfless labors in that land.
During a series of medical treatments there was the opportunity of telling a distinguished physician of much influence of the Faith. He declared himself a champion of anyone working for this Cause. He was one of many of all classes thankfully hearing of, and welcoming this pure and dynamic Power for improvement of conditions, social and spiritual.
May 17, 1945 was the date of my reluctant farewell to Guayaquil. This new Bahá’í Community seemed especially remarkable as it consisted of very young people. Five men of unusual attractiveness and capacity, all under twenty-five, one of thirty-two, and two women but a few years older. Haik Kevorkian, whose family came to Argentina as pioneers with the Guardian’s own counsel, stayed With them to help develop and strengthen their Assembly, to continue his work well begun, that of giving the example of how young people—or any people —can successfully live the high standard of Bahá’í conduct in a world which seems to have forgotten (if it ever knew) what life on this planet can become. The declared aim of these young people was to form a nucleus, ever growing, of an inviting example of living, to their compatriots in Ecuador.
"The companions of God,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself has declared, "are in this day, the lump that must leaven the peoples of the world. They must show forth such trustworthiness, such truthfulness and perseverance, such deeds of character that all mankind may profit by their example. . . . Within the very breath of such souls as are pure and sanctified, far-reaching potentialities are hidden. So great are these potentialities that they exercise their influence over all created things.”*
PARAGUAY
The plane circled high over the city. Like a symbol and omen of what might transpire on the new venture, Santiago de Chile lay below us, decked in a morning veil of mist and smoke. Ahead was the flight over the conquered Cordillera of the Andes. The new post in Paraguay was not easy to contemplate; it would not be easy to follow the devoted and selfless Elisabeth Cheney, who, two years before, had established a small group of believers under great handicap, in the capital City of Asuncion.
The hour’s flight over the brown and snowy white mountains seemed but a few minutes of smooth ecstasy. I thought of Martha Root, twenty—four years earlier, in the autumn months of 1919, wending her way over the steep and tortuous trails on muleback. For her there had been no lolling comfort, no gazing out in rapture, or reading of the morning paper while skimming over the dangerous gorges and past the menacing peak of the Aconcagua. Martha had struggled for days to hang on, to avoid sliding down the mule’s neck, or slipping into eternity over a precipice.
It seemed significant as well as gracious, that Roberto Herera Ramírez, the first aviator to fly over the Andes with a passenger—twenty-two years ago—a Chilean, and destined to be one of the first believers in Bahá’u’lláh in Chile, had come to the airport with his brave wife, Eugenia, to bid me farewell. Now, while still young, they see his dream of continental air travel realized, his effort, with its tragic result of crash and long illness, recognized and rewarded by his government.
The four hours over the Argentine pampas revealed only a vast flat cultivated plain, without any visible gauchos. The biggest bus in all experience carried us into Buenos Aires, South America’s most modern city,
————————
*Advent of Divine Justice—P. 19 by Shoghi Effendi.
but there is much reminder of Paris in its tree-lined boulevards, sidewalk cafes and European architecture, now being crowded by the new.
During the two weeks’ stay in Buenos Aires, I met most of the Bahá’ís, and as usual, deep roots of friendship were quickly put down. South America’s first Bahá’í martyr, May Maxwell, by her love and sacrifice, seems to have inundated these lands with her spiritual presence. She could never endure the cold, they say, especially spiritual coldness. Now the warm and shady peace of Quilmes is her abode, and the refuge of all who approach it. The hours spent there with Etta Mae Lawrence, dear dedicated pioneer, and Haig Kevorkian, will not be forgotten. Courage to face Paraguay was gained there, I think.
The mystic chain of Bahá’í love is strong; in Montevideo it also held our hearts. The friends everywhere are growing through tests and obstacles secured by love. The Guardian has indicated great and important responsibilities for Argentina. These devoted friends have the will and capacity for accomplishment.
The early morning hydroavión trip started with a long and profound swoosh through the waters of the Rio de la Plata before its release into the air. The Delta and Tigre, seen from the air, were quite unlike the place of waters, boats, flowers and sweetcolored colonial houses that I had visited some days before. Flying up the wide and later twisting, turning river—stopping at several small and primitive towns, we came, after about five hours, over Asunción, set in a bend of the river in the midst of the tropical lush plain that is Paraguay. Across the river from the small but modern port could be seen only green trees, undergrowth and the red, red earth—the smoke, blue misty, of charcoal burning in the distance.
As I emerged from the port alone, after the usual customs procedure, I found it a bit surprising to see a few cows wandering about loose; not many people were about, as it was the middle of the day and siesta time. It was rather lonely. The hotel, with its dark columned interior patio was nearby. I could hardly wait to meet the Bahá’ís. Only one who has tried it can imagine the sensations of the first days. Panic was in my heart. I began to appreciate Elisabeth Cheney’s task, and uttered supplications for the fruition of her great labors. Soon the two devoted believers, Josefina Plá and Centurion Miranda, were found by directions and much walking—there are few telephones in Asunción. They had kept alive the Faith in spite of obstacles and inexperience.
In the small gathering of our first Feast celebrated together, two persons who had been loyally studying, declared themselves believers. This was great encouragement, but the encountering of the "waiting servants” in a country strange, and with few opportunities, presented a baffling problem. Then one day, in a most miserable moment, came a letter from our beloved Guardian. It arrived with its divine encouragement and mysterious action-provoking effect. Then my perturbation ceased!
Shortly, I found myself established in a private home recently turned into a pension. Here were discovered the first of the new crop, as the dueña and her talented daughter soon became believers. Through them and the other friends new contacts were made. Soon a radio interview was proposed, on the subject, Motion Pictures. After writing the script the night before and having the Spanish corrected the next morning, we went on the air, and the Sacred Name of Bahá’u’lláh was mentioned for the first time from Paraguay. It was a precious moment when the Name soared clearly by short wave over all of South America. The interviewer became a believer soon after, and also a young technician.
Later there were invitations to sing on the radio. By helping thus on a program in honor of one of Paraguay’s poets, I gained the opportunity of meeting writers and musicians. Abilities seem to sprout in most extraordinary ways on a pioneer venture. The equipment of a diplomat, psychologist, accountant and physician would be no small advantage!
How well the Guardian foresaw needs when he advised me in a cable to "exercise patience”! Having patience while eternally waiting for believers, or anything at all, in these lands of slow tempo, is a state which anyone must cultivate, should he wish to remain in one piece.
Many meetings, celebrations, Feasts took place in what had become for the time, our Bahá’í Center. Every day brought someone to hear of the Faith, or a chance to present it. Talks were given to the Theosophists and to the Rosicrucians. At a banquet, the guest of honor, Sir Eugene Millington Drake, well-loved Englishman known all over Latin-America for his generosity, charm, and the direction of Cultural Affairs for Great Britain, was seated between two Bahá’ís. There, for the first time I encountered the brilliant young poet Augosto Roa Bastos, later to become much impressed by the Faith.
Wandering about the streets of Asunción, picking one’s way among the sharp cobblestones and admiring the sweet little donkeys, laden with vegetables, meat, fruits, and their little (always) women riders with long hair in a knot sticking out in back, and nearly always with a cigar in their mouths and, in hot weather, a large, black umbrella aloft, is the accompaniment to sowing the Greatest Name in the atmosphere of this land. Brilliant blue is the sky when not convulsed with thunder storms. Feathery flowering trees of violet jacarandá bloom. Flaming colors are everywhere. Curious flat—twigged trees with bunches of yellow-pinky flowers bursting out of the ends, later to sprout large waxy green leaves, are the jasmine-mango trees. Papayas, guayavas and kapoc trees are abundant. The latter have trunks like coca-cola bottles with thorns sticking out all over them. The flowers are like orchids, and the fruit like huge avocado pears. And then the kapoc silk pops out and runs over with a most fantastic effect. At Feasts we used quantities of large gardenias as they cost only six cents for a dozen!
Our Bahá’í house, being typically Paraguayan, had rooms in a long row, all opening onto each other, and also having huge double doors opening onto the long patio. The well was nearby and a small grove of orange trees and jasmine vines grew in the cleanly swept garden. And pensionistas were bound to hear of the Faith. Some Brazilians and some Argentinians left with a new outlook and the determination to find the Bahá’ís in their country.
Many persons who do not become believers right away are excellent "carriers” and there is always the hope that sometime they will convince themselves in an ardent moment.
Speaking of the Faith in the village of Luque, which we reached by means of a little wooden-car train drawn by a round fat locomotive followed by two little cars full of fuel wood, chugging, spewing smoke, and then the return in the evening, watching sparks from our engine (not so different from the huge lantern-eyed fireflies) are nice to remember.
The poet, Julio Correa, gave a party there in his lovely old quinta, in honor of a neighboring poet. Many of us, including Josefina Plá, and Gertrude Eisenberg, trouped there that day. His colonial house, shaded by huge old trees, had a column-supported porch all around it. Cows stalked about, not bothering to hide their disapproval of so many strangers taking their shade. Chickens wandered in and out of the house. The poets recited their latest poems, although during business hours, they might be bankers, engineers, philosophers or actors. Sila Godoy played his intimate and exquisite instrument, the guitar, like a young Segovia. Barbecued pork (delivered in wheelbarrows), dulce de Caña (sugar cane drink), empanadas (a sort of meat pie seen with variations all over South America) and potato salad were devoured on the porch near the immense breadfruit tree.
Life is still fairly simple in Paraguay in
spite of the struggle between the old ways
and the new which are fast taking possession.
Unbelievable changes are under way,
such as the huge new airport, new hospitals
(where goats and families will not be permitted
to live with the patient), new roads,
sanitary systems, and public health programs.
Of these gifts and importations from the
United States, many have been fearful, but
others begin to see the deep significance of
all this physical activity as the preparation
for the spiritual and material union of the
countries of the Western Hemisphere. The
North Americans charged with these works,
have as yet no conception of the deeper
meaning and are not interested in knowing.
Paraguay is emerging in a phenomenal manner
from its age-old slumber interrupted by
tragic wars which lately have destroyed most
of its male population. Its disturbance is
[Page 782]
tortuous, and occurs under protest, but its
awakening is inevitable.
With Gertrude Eisenberg, their pioneer and teacher, the Bahá’ís of Asunción del Paraguay, as the fruit of Elisabeth Cheney’s initial impulse and many sacrifices, established their first Spiritual Assembly in April, 1944.
A multitude of persons have heard of the Faith in this mysterious flowering land. A curious. acceleration of confirmation has taken place—the wishes of the beloved Guardian have had their effect. The destiny of this loved country is being seized and is animating an awaiting people.
I shall remember Paraguay for its poets, its perfumed music under the brightest of moons beside the Southern Cross, its flaming flowering trees, its loving sensitive souls, eagerly listening to the creative Words of Bahá’u’lláh which tell of their liberation from age-old cares. The Guardian wrote: "We are at last beginning to see the first tangible response to Bahá’u’lláh’s words addressed in the Aqdas to the Presidents of the American Republics: ‘The lights of the Faith are kindling in these distant lands and will shine, no doubt, with a wonderful brilliance in the days to come.’ ”
23.
THE SPIRITUAL CONQUEST OF MAGALLANES
BY ARTEMUS LAMB
“MAGALLANES (Spanish for Magellan),” says the Encyclopedia Britannica, ”is a territory of southern Chile extending from 47° S to Cape Horn. . . . It is one of the most inhospitable regions of the world, being exposed to cold, westerly storms for most of the year.” Its name comes from the fact that through it runs the famous Straits of Magellan. The principal seaport and commercial center is Punta Arenas (Sandy Point), a busy little city of some 40,000 souls composed of Chileans, Spaniards, Yugoslavs, British, Scotch, Scandinavians, Germans, French, "Hindus” (any one who comes from India) , “Turks” (Arabs, Turks, etc., most of whom are Moslems), one couple from the United States of America, and a temporary group of geologists, drillers and their farmilies who are helping the government search for oil.
Outside of the native Chileans, the British-Scotch and Yugoslav Colonies are the largest, the former having come, many years ago, to develop the now famous sheep industry of Magallanes, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. The latter, it is said, owe their origin to a shipwreck of a Yugoslav trading vessel, whose survivors discovered gold upon
the beach and forthwith notified their families and friends at home. The remaining inhabitants have wandered here almost entirely with the single aim of making their nest egg and some day returning home, wherever that may be. All speak more or less Spanish, the official language of the country. In regard to the weather, an item of vast importance here, although the storms and winds still blow, and there is a scarcity of sun, the climate is yearly growing milder in Punta Arenas itself (why nobody knows) and it could now hardly be termed “one of the most inhospitable regions of the world.”
Into this setting, from Santiago, in August 1943, arrived Marcia Steward, Bahá’í pioneer to Chile from the United States. Shoghi Effendi had urgently requested that an outpost of the Faith, a Bahá’í community, be established in this most southerly city of the world. Marcia was given the opportunity to add new laurels to her distinguished services in Chile by initiating the foundation of the Faith in this unique city.
The first word of the Bahá’í Cause reached
Punta Arenas in 1937, when Mrs. Stuart W.
French spent a few hours in the city while
she and Mr. French were on a cruise. During
[Page 783]
this brief stay Mrs. French encountered a
professor in the schools who proved to have
attended a Bahá’í banquet in Los Angeles,
California, some years before, at which Mrs.
French had presided as the chairman. At the
conclusion of their visit together the professor
rejoiced in the gift of a copy of
Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, in the Spanish text.
Marcia Steward, however, became the first Bahá’í to undertake the gallant task of establishing the foundation of a Bahá’í Center in this distant land. Throughout the many trials and difficulties of these first lonely months, although she was frail in health, Marcia’s valiant spirit was constantly supported by the encouragement of the Guardian, and her efforts were blessed with success. Fourteen months later, when the writer of this article appeared upon the scene, he found a Bahá’í class meeting each week, knowledge of the Cause widely diffused, its principles recognized, people of influence and authority cognizant of its literature and deeply interested in its Teachings, and Marcia, with an ever-growing circle of devoted friends—a valiant soldier of the Army of God who had been aided to another victory for His Cause.
The arrival of the writer in Punta Arenas, on October 2nd, 1944, to support the teaching work so auspiciously begun by Marcia Steward, marked the culmination of a series of astonishing events in the unfolding pattern of Magallanes’ spiritual destiny, and of the human instruments used in the process.
For some months before the Centenary Convention held in May, 1944, in Wilmette, the Guardian had made repeated appeals for additional help to Magallanes, expressing the hope that a man could undertake this post. In response to these pleas the writer made known to the Inter-America Committee his willingness to go. Many seemingly insurmountable obstacles lay in the path and many changes of plan were made, but finally on August 11, he sailed from Los Angeles on the "Rio de la Plata.” His plans at that time called for a month’s stay in Ecuador and a subsequent business tour of South America.
A week later, while in the harbor of Acapulco, Mexico, the “Rio de la Plata” burned and sank. On the strange chain of circumstances that followed it is not necessary to dwell. Six weeks later a very dazed pioneer went to work in Punta Arenas, without having visited Ecuador, nor made the proposed business trip, but holding in his hand a letter from the Guardian, whose personal postscript commenced: “I am delighted to learn that you have at last reached your goal and are wholeheartedly engaged in your noble pioneer work in that distant land.”
The growth of the Cause in Magallanes then entered upon a new phase. Marcia returned to Santiago for a few months and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Santiago dispatched one of its members, Esteban Canales Leyton, to serve as the official pioneer to Magallanes. Esteban was the first Chilean believer to undertake pioneer teaching work, and one of the first Latin Americans to arise for the support of the pioneer field in the Southern Hemisphere. Esteban, formerly a Catholic Youth Leader, was a member of the Santiago Assembly and was elected the Chilean representative to the Bahá’í All-America Centenary Convention.
A cablegram came from the Guardian, ”praying early formation Assembly.” Up to that time we had not thought of such a possibility for there were still no local believers and apparently no immediate prospects of any. However, quietly, almost mysteriously and without any seemingly conscious effort on our part in the selection, one by one began to appear prepared, spiritually-minded, sincere souls, rising above materialism, and the tradition-bound lethargy of the general population.
In March, 1945, word reached us of a message of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, calling attention to “the great importance of Magallanes as a center, and the necessity of extending it every assistance, so that this Bahá’í year an Assembly may be firmly established there.” On April 5th a personal letter from the Guardian assured us that his prayers would sustain us in our efforts to form the Assembly that month. We were confident then that victory was ahead, although there were still no local Bahá’ís.
Then on April 15th was held that
never-to-be-forgotten
evening meeting in the tiny
kitchen of Esteban’s house when eight wonderful
[Page 784]
"waiting servants” arose to answer
the call of God. All except one had come
from other parts of the world, and surely
are fulfilling the purpose for which they
came. ”The tongue is powerless to describe”
the joy and beauty of that night which we
shared with the new believers whose names
follow: Sr. Hugo Arteaga-beitia, Mr. Olaf
Arrundsen, Lina Smithson, Wilhelmina Willems,
Sra. Vodanovic, Srta. Rosy Vodanovic,
Raúl Villagrán and Julio Cesar Villagrán.
What will be the future of this remarkable place in which the Guardian has displayed so much interest? At the moment a national airline is in contemplation, as well as the building of the canal of Ofquí which would closely connect Magallanes with the north. The direct air route from South America to New Zealand lies directly over Punta Arenas via the South Pole.
The establishment of world commerce, as now visualized, by air and sea could easily make Magallanes, like Singapore, the crossroads of the world. Hitherto unexplored and unsuspected natural resources, in quantities of undetermined scope, are now being discovered here.
On April 21, 1945, the Guardian cabled the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada his happiness over the establishment of "the structural basis of the administrative order in the most southerly city in the world” and added: “I urge the Inter-America Committee to devote special attention and to undertake prompt measures designed to increase the number of believers, establish local administrative headquarters, and multiply the subsidiary agencies indispensable for the maintenance of a flourishing Community in the southerly extremity of the southern hemisphere. Praying for ever-increasing successes.”
Spiritual victories are in sight of such proportions as to exceed our fondest hopes, and to inspire us with renewed energy that they may be fulfilled. What God has in store for this fascinating land of privation, death and toil on the one hand, and of opportunity, inspiration and peace on the other, only He can know. Vamos a ver!
24.
CARRYING THE FAITH TO THE PHILIPPINES
BY LOULIE A. MATHEWS
IT WAS early spring, 1937, when the Franconia drew into the harbor of Manila. We had been promised twelve hours ashore, but when the time came the Captain shortened our stay to four hours, due to tides and winds and other things against which there is no argument. Four hours only! These would be precious minutes in which to find a place that would receive and distribute the Bahá’í literature in Spanish and English we had brought.
Quickly we engaged a carriage and asked the driver to take us to a bookstore—to the best one in Manila. He nodded and we set off at a brisk pace until presently we drew up before a large and imposing shop. To the man in charge the purpose of the visit was explained, but he shook his head vigorously, asking did I not know that without the Archbishop’s stamp upon it no book could be received? Perhaps, it was suggested, the prelate might permit a religious book, not Catholic however, to be accepted, if we drove to his palace to secure the permission.
"No! No!” replied the manager excitedly. "Never will he allow such a book as you describe to be placed on the shelves of any book store of Manila!”
His words were only too true, as we found everywhere we turned. Two hours, golden drops of time, had already passed. At length, in desperation, we asked to be driven to the address of President of Manila College. There we were received pleasantly and questioned courteously as to why we wished to have literature there. If we did not have the Archbishop’s
Hobart, Tasmania, Bahá’ís.
Bahá’ís of Northampton, England.
permission, was the literature then anti-Catholic? We assured the President of the college that it was not "anti,” but was to spread ideas of universality in religion—in all religions—to bring them close together. Finally, after considerable thought he said, "In the college library we have one small shelf allotted to comparative religions. As I remember, it is now overcrowded, but you might try; the librarian is very liberal minded.”
We thanked him and hurried on, scarcely daring to look at the time. Something frantic showed in my face as I broached the request to the librarian to accept a few pamphlets for the shelf of comparative religions. I held up the thinnest among them to let him see how little space they would require. Still he hesitated, all the while shaking his head. Overwhelmed with the intense need, I cried out, "But you must take them! We have come thousands of miles that you should have the blessing they will impart to these Islands!”
"Very well,” he replied thoughtfully, ”I shall take one into the other room and look it over, perhaps we could use one.” Up and down the narrow room I walked, praying fervently, beseeching Bahá’u’lláh to soften the heart of this man and permit these precious words to rest on this Island. In a little while the librarian returned smiling and said, “There is nothing adverse in your little book. You may place one or two of the Spanish pamphlets on that top shelf.” I hurried forward and pushed the thick volumes apart with all my strength, and left four little volumes shining out from among the ancient faiths that stood ranging on either side.
Just as the gong sounded for the last fifteen minutes before sailing, we mounted the gangplank. So far to come, so little accomplished, rang a sad refrain in our hearts. But we were forgetting that this is God’s Cause and that it is He, and not we, who brings forth the blossoms and the fruit.
* * *
When the Franconia docked in Los Angeles in April, 1938, a letter awaited us, postmarked from the Philippines, and signed, "Maddela.” It read:
“Only a few days after your visit to Manila, I left Solano and went on business to Manila, where, having a little time to spare, I dropped into the reading room at the college library. On the shelf of comparative religions I found four new little books. I took one down and sat enthralled. This was the religion I had been seeking as long as I could remember! One after another I read the four little books, forgetting time and place. Finally, I took my pencil and jotted down sentence after sentence. Then, as in a dream, I returned to Solano, and calling my wife and our two families, I told them that the religion we had so earnestly sought was the Bahá’í Faith and that we must all embrace it. We accept this Faith, we rejoice in its tenets, and we are anxious to be enrolled in the beautiful Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. God, the All-Powerful, has made the tree blossom.”
Before long the Bahá’í community had grown to fifty members. When war broke out all communication ceased with the Maddelas or with the Bahá’í Assembly of Solano. The weary months of war dragged on until the summer of 1945. Then, in September, once again news winged its way from the Philippines—this time from the brilliant, devoted Bahá’í, Alvin Blum, attached to a medical unit with the United States Army.
"I left the 249th General Hospital in Manila,” writes Sgt. Blum, “where I am stationed, and hitch-hiked 223 miles to reach Solano where there had been a Bahá’í Assembly. Solano is in ruins. It had been a thriving city of more than twenty thousand people, before the war, while now it is reduced to only a few thousand. I soon located the Maddelas, happy and full of spirit, in spite of their impoverished condition. Before the war they had been influential and well established but when the Japanese came they were forced to leave everything and flee for their lives. Now, with ten people living together, they have only a grass hut of one room. They cook over an open fireplace and their dishes and cooking utensils are crude and handmade. Of the fifty enrolled Bahá’í members, twenty-five have been killed or are missing. For three years the Maddelas hid in the rice fields, living under such conditions that it was miraculous they survived.
As a result of the bombings and terrible hardships, Mr. Maddela’s hair turned snow-white and he became totally deaf. They were all overjoyed to meet their first Bahá’í visitor and we talked of our beloved Faith until night fell and I went to a nearby field hospital to sleep.
There I secured some food and clothing for them and we had another happy reunion in the morning. They are fine, intelligent people; both Mr. and Mrs. Maddela have taught school and are held in high esteem. Before the war they had built, with great effort, a Bahá’í Center, and had placed a sign at the entrance inviting everyone to come to their Bahá’í reading room. At last, they told me, when they were able to come out from their hiding places in the rice fields, they returned to find the city a mass of rubble, their home destroyed. Only one thing was standing! It was a sign which read:
”BAHÁ’Í CENTER—READING ROOM
EVERYBODY WELCOME”
25.
COSTA RICA, THE BEAUTIFUL
BY GAYLE WOOLSON
WHEN I first read the fortifying, faith-imbuing statement of Bahá’u’lláh: “They that have forsaken their country for the purpose of teaching Our Cause—these shall the faithful Spirit strengthen through its power. A company of Our chosen angels shall go forth with them, as bidden by Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Wise. How great the blessedness that awaiteth him that bath attended the honor of serving the Almighty! By My Life! No act, however great, can compare with it, except such deeds as have been ordained by God, the All-Powerful, the Most Mighty. Such a service is indeed the prince of all goodly deeds, and the ornament of every goodly act,” I felt reinforced with an assurance that I would never hesitate or be afraid to go to any foreign country in the service of the Holy Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. It was, then, in response to the Guardian’s appeal for pioneers for Latin America in his message to the 1939 Convention that I was privileged to go to the beautiful land of Costa Rica.
Costa Rica, the heart of the Americas, with its friendly, warm-hearted people of world renowned hospitality, its rich picturesque scenery and delightful climate, is a jewel among Latin American countries unsurpassed in its beauty and charm. The name of this tiny Central American republic lying between Nicaragua and Panama means "Rich Shore” which bears eloquent testimony to the country’s wealth of blessings.
It was on March 23, 1940, that Mrs. Amalia Ford, the other pioneer, and I boarded the United Fruit Company steamship, the S. S. Ulua, at New Orleans, and headed for Costa Rica where we were to carry God’s new Message which Bahá’u’lláh proclaimed to the world to cure the ills that exist in society by establishing the Divine Teachings He revealed for the unification and spiritual regeneration of humanity.
On our way, the boat made a day’s stop at Havana, Cuba, where we were met at the dock by Philip and June Marangella, the first pioneers of that country. We spent a wonderful and eventful day with these devoted pioneers who have lent such valuable services to the establishment of the Bahá’í Faith in Havana. We spent a memorable afternoon in their apartment that day where we were gathered with the first Bahá’í of Cuba, Sr. Perfecto Perez, and held a memorial meeting for Mrs. May Maxwell, the great international Bahá’í teacher, who had recently laid down her life in the path of God in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After thirty-eight years of consecrated, selfless service to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, “her earthly life, so rich, eventful, incomparably blessed” was "worthily ended.” She who had won the “priceless honor (of a) martyr’s crown” and
A store in Havana, Cuba, announces the Bahá’í Youth Symposium, 1945.
Reading Room in Newark, New Jersey.
who has been titled the “Mother of the Latin races” is a shining example and great source of inspiration to all Bahá’í teachers.
We landed at Puerto Limon, the Atlantic port of Costa Rica, on March 29th, after an extremely pleasant week’s journey. Landing on Costa Rican shores was like entering into a new world. A thrilling new world it was, indeed, for I found myself, all at once, amidst Spanish speaking people, with different customs, temperaments and way of being. Not knowing Spanish at the time made this world especially new to me; Mrs. Ford, though, was well-versed in the language. We were immediately impressed with the friendly, cordial attitude of the people making us feel welcome the instant we set foot on their soil.
A most picturesque and fascinating trip was the hundred mile journey inland from the port to our final destination—San José, the capital city. It is regarded as one of the most beautiful rail trips in the world. Along the coast are the usual palm fringed bays, inlets and rivers and the typical beautiful vistas of the tropics, while the interior is high up in the mountains. An ever changing panorama of large banana, cacao and coffee plantations, sugar cane, cocoanut palms, tropical fruit and flower trees, orchid plants, valleys, rivers and streams, native huts with their friendly peasant owners waving at the passengers is disclosed as the train winds its way up the mountains until the lofty peaks of the Cordilleras, backbone of Central America, appear majestically on the horizon.
No less exhilarating than the magnificent scenery is the invigorating change that takes place in the atmosphere, introducing a springlike tang in the air as one leaves the warmer coastal region and is carried to the bracing altitude of the interior. The view throughout this section of the journey may aptly be described as breath taking. The whole valley of the Reventazon River may be seen with one sweep of the eye with the rushing river itself appearing as a tiny, narrow ribbon of white foam a thousand or more feet below the train. The charm and delights of Costa Rica grew hour by hour, and a highlight was experienced as the train, approaching San José, made a steep, winding climb into the heart of the mountains. The heights were seen above where San José is embedded, and as we went higher and higher, it was as though we were ascending to some mysterious, unknown kingdom high up in the heavens. A heart-gripping emotion was sensed as we reached the capital, the new recipient of the light of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings for world unity, universal love and spiritual brotherhood, an emotion both of gratitude for the privilege of being a bearer of this glorious message to this virgin territory, and of awareness of the great responsibility which such a mission implied.
San José is a beautiful, modern city, bordered on all sides with inspiring mountains. In addition to the numerous attractive parks, one sees an abundance of trees and flowers, occasionally an entire tree covered with red, yellow or lavender flowers adorning its setting. It has approximately 80,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom are of almost pure Spanish descent. The altitude of the city is about 4,000 feet above sea level which gives it an ideal spring-like climate the year around with an average sea level temperature of 70 degrees, somewhat cooler at night. Every morning is a bright spring morning in San José. There is no autumn or cold winter. The trees, shrubs and grass are green, and the flowers bloom throughout the year. It has two seasons, the dry season from November to April and the rainy season during the remaining months when its rains in the afternoons, sometimes until evening, but the mornings are generally lovely and sunny. San José has been becoming more and more a summer resort.
In Costa Rica one finds a peaceful, peace-loving, hospitable people, rich and poor alike, and a tranquil atmosphere with none of the hustle and bustle of the large cities of North America. Life moves along in a leisurely sort of way, and the visitor eventually comes to realize that, after all, a little more of the "mañana" spirit helps to make life more enjoyable. The beautiful innate qualities of the Latin Americans make them splendid Bahá’ís. They are a people of exquisite human feelings. They are kind, courteous, loving, friendly and tactful. They are extremely careful not to hurt anyone’s feelings, a trait which is a natural inclination of their sensitive natures. They have great spiritual and
intellectual capacity, possess a keen sense of humor and are poets by nature, as among them the ability to compose poetry seems almost universally prevalent. Because of these characteristics and the growing trend toward liberalism, the Bahá’í Teachings have found great receptivity in Latin America.
Our first opening in getting our Bahá’í work started in San José was made through the Chamber of Commerce where we inquired about groups interested in liberal thought. We were informed that Señorita Esther Mezerville, a former director of the Girls’ College and a member of the Theosophical Society was the one to see. The kind gentleman giving us this information even telephoned her and made an appointment for us to see her. She was a charming, gracious lady of dignified bearing who listened to the Message with interest. She took us to visit Professor Roberto Brenes Mesen, well-known Costa Rican educator, writer and poet, and his wife. In the course of our conversation, we were delighted to learn that he had spoken in the Temple some years ago when he lived in Evanston and taught at Northwestern University. Miss Mezerville also contacted the president of the Theosophical Society in our behalf, who invited us to their hall where Mrs. Ford presented the Message. We found the Theosophists receptive to the Teachings and to be our true friends and collaborators.
Things moved fast for us and within a month after our arrival, a weekly Bahá’í study class was established. The few attendants we had were from the Theosophical Society and other contacts that were made. At that time we were living in a pension (boarding house) and the landlady gave us permission to use her dining room for our class. A funny incident occurred after our first meeting when the landlady had a sudden change of heart, and as the friends began to arrive for the second meeting, she firmly informed us that under no condition could we have our meeting there. We felt we had the right to use our own bedroom so we invited the friends in there but the lady would not allow us to use any of her chairs. With the use of the edge of the bed, some of our suit cases and the one lonely chair we had in the bedroom for seats, we happily carried on our meeting. Through the efforts of one of the friends, a small apartment was soon found for us where our meetings were conducted with freedom and regularity.
Rapid progress was made with the marvelous cooperation of the friends. One would bring a relative, another a friend to the meetings and they would take active part by speaking and presenting papers they had written on the Teachings. They showed wonderful ability to express themselves both in speech and in writing. After the reading of passages from the Bahá’í Writings, most interesting discussions would follow. Almost invariably, someone would bring, of his own volition, a commentary he was inspired to write on some principle or aspect of the Cause. We were fortunate in getting fine publicity early in the course of our work as one of the new believers was the owner and editor of the magazine, Alma Tica, (meaning Costa Rican Soul), in which a section was devoted to the Bahá’í Teachings in each edition. Since the war, however, this publication has been temporarily discontinued.
The group grew to the extent that the following year, 1941, when the time arrived for the formation of the Spiritual Assembly, there were twelve Costa Rican Bahá’ís to take part in the election. In a letter from Shoghi Effendi to the Spiritual Assembly of San José, written December 17, 1941, by the Guardian’s secretary, he said: "Your Assembly will go down in history as the first Bahá’í Assembly in Central America, a great distinction and blessing, and the Guardian feels that if you continue to progress so rapidly you will soon be in a position to spread the Cause, through representatives of your Community, in other neighboring lands. This would be of great value to the work of teaching these divine laws and truths, as then the Latin Americans would be hearing it from the lips of their own people, in their own language, which, of course, would be very effective.”
The progress continued and in the following
year on April 21, 1942, a Spiritual Assembly
was formed in Puntarenas, a seaport
on the Pacific side, in the province of that
same name, another one of the seven provinces
of Costa Rica. It was very interesting
how this came about. Our one prized Bahá’í
[Page 791]
family of San José was visited by a son living
in Puntarenas who was, as yet, unaware of
the Teachings.
Upon being told of the Cause and reading some of the literature, he became aflame with ardor and devotion, finding, at last, that for which his soul was thirsting. He took Bahá’í books and pamphlets back with him when he returned to Puntarenas and in his place of work, the custom house, during spare moments, he would gather a few of his intimate friends, also employed in the Custom House or at the pier, and read the Teachings to them. He became the first Bahá’í of Puntarenas, and seven of the men were interested. They expressed a desire to form a study class. It was just at this time that the chairman of the San José Assembly was transferred to Puntarenas in his work, enabling him to help the new group with their meetings. As Puntarenas is only a four hour train ride from San José, I was able to visit them once a month. These men all became Bahá’ís and with the transfer of the San José Bahá’í making nine, the Spiritual Assembly was formed.
In June of that same year, the legal registration of the San José Spiritual Assembly with the Costa Rican Government was completed. According to Costa Rican law, the San José Spiritual Assembly is considered the mother Assembly in the country and any other Bahá’í Assembly formed in Costa Rica becomes automatically incorporated under this registration.
In the second letter from the Guardian, through his secretary, to the Spiritual Assembly of San José, dated July 26, 1942, he said: "The progress which the Bahá’ís of Costa Rica have made during the past year is little short of astounding, and shows the deep receptivity the people of that country have to the New Message of God which Bahá’u’lláh has proclaimed to the world. You must all indeed be both proud and grateful that you live in a land so tolerant of progress, and which enables you to establish the blessed institutions ordained by our Faith.
“The establishment of the new Spiritual Assembly of Puntarenas is a great step forward, and the legal registration of the Cause and approval of the government marks a milestone in the progress of the Cause not only in Costa Rica but in Latin America.
"The more the Guardian receives news from the Central and South American Republics, the more firmly he becomes convinced of the great capacity possessed by the peoples of Latin America. They are proving themselves to be both deeply spiritual and intellectual, and he cherishes great hopes for their future development and their contributions to this glorious Faith of ours.
"How wonderful that in less than a hundred years the message that originated in the heart of Persia should have spread to the heart of Central America, and kindled such love and devotion and hope as now burns in the hearts of the new believers in that distant continent!
“The Guardian hopes that you will not only succeed in establishing further centers in your own native land, but that the activities of the Costa Rican Bahá’ís will spread to neighboring countries and aid in the establishment of the Faith there.”
The Message has also penetrated into other provinces of Costa Rica. The Theosophical group of the province of Alajuela invited the Bahá’ís of San José to present the Teachings at one of their gatherings. A group of thirteen Bahá’ís and friends made the trip and an interesting meeting was held. Much receptivity and enthusiasm was shown by the new listeners. We left books and pamphlets to be circulated among them. The ground of human hearts is so fertile now that wherever a teacher would go and remain a while, a group would be easily established. There does not seem to be enough teachers to supply the demand of the spiritually hungry souls that are craving Divine Light.
Our first Bahá’í of Puntarenas had an experience
that resulted in the Message being
taken into the Costa Rican province of Cartago.
One day when he was at the pier in
his city, he noticed that a man was watching
him very intently. For several days, whenever
he saw that man, the man’s eyes seemed
to be fixed upon him. He inquired from
among his friends who the man was and one
said he thought he was a detective. This
made our Bahá’í quite indignant; why should
he be watched by a detective, he was not
guilty of any offense! One day the man
[Page 792]
passed the Bahá’í’s home and the two of them
exchanged glances and an “adios,” the
customary greeting. A few days later the man
passed the house again. Our Bahá’í was in
the parlor of his home which is built close
to the sidewalk. The window and door were
opened so the man stopped and casually
started a conversation. Some Bahá’í books
on a table in the room caught his attention.
”What kind of books are those?” he asked.
Our Bahá’í, thinking that the man was
checking up on him and perhaps suspected
him of having some kind of literature which
he should not have, proudly answered that
it was religious literature. “May I see one
of those books?” he requested. The Bahá’í
handed him one, and in his inner perturbation
did not even notice which book it was. The
man calmly and observingly turned the
pages. He then asked if he could buy the
book. The Bahá’í answered that he could
borrow it and then if he felt he wanted it,
he could have it. The man thanked him and
took the book. It was
Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era. The Bahá’í
found out later that
the man was not a detective but a guard at
the pier and one whose soul thirsted for
Divine Truth and he knew that our Bahá’í
had possession of some new religious teaching.
Every day for some days later, the Bahá’í noticed that the man spent all his spare, moments at the pier in reading the book. After finishing it, the man asked for another, then another, having read in all, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Some Answered Questions. The man later told the Bahá’í that he was moving to the province of Cartago and that he wanted to take the books with him. Some time later he wrote asking for more literature and for pamphlets to give to his friends. He was referred to me as it was more convenient to send literature from San José. His letter to me was very beautiful and unique in his inspired expressions of devotion for the Cause. Here is a part of his letter translated into English: “It was on the 20th of July of this year (1943) that, by coincidence, this Sacred, Unique and Unparalleled depository of Teachings, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, came into my hands. I consider this date memorable, glorious as today I have nothing comparable; and for me it is an inexhaustible fountain of light, guidance, hope, certitude and assurance. My ultimate, one and only resolution is the upholding of this Holy Cause.” In a letter which he wrote to our Bahá’ís of Puntarenas, he said: “For twenty-six years I have dedicated my time to searching and meditating on religious matter and never in my life have teachings like the Bahá’í Teachings come into my possession. I am astonished, extremely satisfied and also always interested, but it is an interest which is well defined and without possibility of retrogression. In the reading, study and meditation of the Bahá’í Teachings, I feel great joy and ecstasy; it is something supernatural indeed. I feel the breath of the Holy Spirit in all my acts and occupations. It is in truth something supernatural that moves me. I am, I can say, a new creature, glory and thanks be to God.”
A very successful method used by the San José group to build up the meetings and make them better known was to occasionally invite some outstanding person of the city to be our speaker. We had such fine men as Professor Roberto Brenes Mesen, former professor of Northwestern University and distinguished writer and poet; Mr. Joaquin Garcia Monje, owner and editor of the widely circulated literary magazine, Repertorio Americana, who has been very cooperative and generous in giving space for Bahá’í articles and who is an Ex-Minister of Public Education in Costa Rica and a former director of the Public Library, and has had the distinction of being invited by the League of Nations to visit Geneva; Professor Jose B. Acuna, one of Costa Rica’s outstanding educators and psychologists, who is now teaching at the Winona Teachers’ College in Minnesota; and Mr. Benjamin Odio, lawyer, who also gave us his invaluable and generous assistance in obtaining the legal registration of the Spiritual Assembly. We deeply cherish the friendship of these kind friends and shall forever be grateful for their valuable help.
Visits from other pioneers are always very
effective and helpful in the development of
a group. It is hard to express how a pioneer
thirsts for visits from fellow-pioneers while
in those virgin and distant lands, especially
when the Community is just a new one, and
[Page 793]
what a great joy, rare treat and fortification
it is to see them, to talk with them, to derive
the blessings of their association and assistance.
If only more would come! Pioneers
who visited us in Costa Rica, in the order in
which they came, were: Gerard Sluter,
Mathew Kaszab, Cora Oliver, Louise Caswell,
Johnny Eichenauer and Virginia Orbison. Gerard
Sluter visited San José while on
his way to Colombia from Guatemala,
Mathew Kaszab came from Nicaragua, Cora
Oliver and Louise Caswell from Panama,
Johnny Eichenauer from Salvador after also
having visited Honduras and Nicaragua, and
Virginia Orbison visited us on her way to
Chile from the United States. Each has left
his special contribution to the growth and
strengthening of the Costa Rican Bahá’í
Community.
The San José Community is proud that two of its members have done pioneer work, Dr. David Escalante who cooperated with Mrs. Dorothy Baker in Venezuela and Sr. Gerardo Vega who has assisted with the work in Panama.
It is such a great thrill and source of immeasurable joy to witness, through the wondrous ways of God, the birth, establishment and growth of a Bahá’í Community in a virgin land. Throughout every moment of activity, as one door of opportunity opens after another in the promotion of the Holy Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, the pioneer is always vividly aware of the miraculous and mysterious workings of His Divine Spirit, aware of his own utter nothingness and of how he does nothing, that he is merely an instrument, a key in the Hands of the Great Door-Opener and that it is His Spirit and Power that do the work.
The interesting experiences, joys and blessings of pioneering are indeed abundant, and once a taste of pioneer service is had, it is like something that gets into one’s blood and it does not seem possible to be content without it; and what is given and sacrificed, be it of oneself or any other contribution, is as nothing in comparison to what is received in return, in both the spiritual and material sense of the word. It makes us realize that a mystery of sacrifice is that there is no sacrifice, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells us.
Of my many experiences, the following is one I shall always cherish. One day in June, 1942, a Chinese family moved into an apartment adjoining mine. The next day, as I heard one of my new neighbors walking in the corridor towards my front door, I, too, went toward the door to meet him. My wide front door which gave entrance directly into the parlor was open, and there in the doorway stood a dignified Chinese gentleman; he was looking at the Greatest Name which was hanging on the wall facing the entrance. “You are a Bahá’í!” were his first words as he shook my hand. "I am Mr. Z. T. Ing, the Chinese Consul of Nicaragua. This is the third time I have seen this Bahá’í symbol,” continued the gentle, soft-toned visitor. ”The first time was in China when I met a very friendly Bahá’í teacher (regrettably, he could not remember her name), then once in the United States, and now here.” He then went back to his apartment and brought his wife, a sweet, gracious lady who was dressed in a charming Chinese garb, and in introducing us, he said: "Mama, she is a Bahá’í.” They expressed an excellent opinion of the Bahá’ís. A few days later, after Mr. Ing had finished reading the Wisdom of Abdu’l-Bahá, he said that the Bahá’í Teachings would find great receptivity in China as that is the way the Chinese think.
He had brought his family from Managua, Nicaragua, to San José to enjoy more comfortable climate but his work called him back there. He would make occasional visits to San José and on one of these visits, when he was attending a Bahá’í meeting, he made a beautiful statement about the Cause which thrilled and inspired us. He said ”I have faith in the Bahá’í Religion because it is the essence of all religions and the basis of it is that it accepts all races on an equal basis. It is something which meets with the needs of these times and it satisfies within. I firmly believe it will replace all the existing religions of the world and it will be the one Universal Religion for all.”
During the stay of the family in San José, we became very good friends and they were so kind, so hospitable and loving that I felt a part of them. They even gave me lessons in eating with chopsticks though I always ended up resorting to the fork if I wanted any nourishment.
The way some of the believers are attracted to the Cause is often reminiscent of The Dawn-Breakers and shows how many are long before prepared in the spirit to receive the Divine Message. One believer of San José had a dream seven years before she learned of the Cause in which she was sitting at the foot of a tree when a venerable figure of Oriental appearance, with a white beard and wearing a beautiful white turban approached her and handed her a tray on which were some exquisite fruit and a crystal pitcher of water. He spoke to her in her ear and as he did so she beheld a magnificent temple. It was seven years later when her husband who was attending the Bahá’í meetings brought home the Spanish version of the Wisdom of Abdu’l-Bahá, and as she opened it and saw the picture of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the frontispiece, she recognized Him as the venerable figure in her dream.
The pioneer, besides enjoying the many happy experiences which flower his path, is faced with difficulties as well. One of these that came my way was experienced when I received a cable from home notifying me of the grave illness of my mother and later of her passing. My family wanted me to come home but I did not feel I could leave my post. The situation was difficult because of very young brothers and sisters at home. It was my sister Dahela who took over our mother’s place with the family responsibilities, and though young herself, she valiantly shouldered her task. This enabled me to remain in Costa Rica and since then I have always rightfully referred to her as the "pioneer at home” as had it not been for her, I would not have been enabled to remain in the pioneer field. It was soon after this that Mrs. Ford returned to the United States after a year and a half of devoted service.
My adventure in learning Spanish began upon my arrival in Costa Rica. In fact, there is no better school for acquiring a foreign language than to be in the country where it is spoken. At first I attended the girls’ college known as the ”Colegio Superior de Senoritas” and although I did not receive instruction in Spanish there, I went to be among the students to hear the language spoken by them and the teachers and to practice by means of conversation with the girls. It was a most delightful experience. Outside of school, I had a private Spanish teacher from whom I received two lessons a week. The following year I attended the newly inaugurated University of Costa Rica. I made a special study of the verbs and concentrated much effort on learning the various conjugations. In my conception, once the verbs are grasped, the rest in Spanish comes easily. It is a beautiful, rich language and a key for unlocking the treasures of the Latin American soul.
The Costa Ricans love the English language and many of them speak it. They are especially eager to study it with some one from North America so as to hear the American accent. It was shortly after I arrived that I found myself with several students. The number of students grew as time went on and eventually I was also able to give Spanish lessons to a few English-speaking students. This work was continued until I was employed as secretary and translator at the Pan-American Highway Office Which was set up in San José.
While in Costa Rica, I met people from various Latin American countries, and it was interesting to note how those from different countries spoke Spanish with different inflections, each having a typical melody peculiar to his country. One can recognize those from other countries by the "song” in their speech. When I visited Guatemala after learning Spanish in Costa Rica, I was amused when Guatemalans would say to me, "You come from Costa Rica, don’t you?” They could tell, they said, because I spoke with the Costa Rican song. The people from Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico, for example, have a very marked inflection.
It was a jubilant occasion when the delegate of
Costa Rica to the Centenary Convention was informed
by the National Spiritual Assembly that he
would be enabled to
go to the United States to attend that momentous
event. He brought the letter to me
to translate it for him and we could hardly
believe it to be really true; we had not
considered that such a great undertaking
could be realized, making it possible for the
Latin American delegates to attend that glorious
celebration within the walls of our majestic
Temple. As we read this wonderful
[Page 795]
news, we were so overtaken by emotion and
excitement, we did not know whether we
were going to laugh or cry. Profound joy
and gratitude filled our hearts. All the Latin
American delegates must have felt that same
emotion when they learned than an experience
that occurs once in a lifetime was to
be theirs. Only the power of Bahá’u’lláh
could accomplish such a great achievement,
to bring together in love and unity representatives
of these various Latin American
countries with all those that would be gathered
in North America, breaking down the
barriers of distance, language and lack of
means and demonstrating that spiritual
brotherhood which is the salvation of all
nations. This undertaking had a great effect
not only on the Bahá’ís of Latin America
but also on the other Latin Americans who
learned of it, making them realize more
deeply the scope and power of the Cause of
Bahá’u’lláh.
After four years in the wonderful country of Costa Rica, the time had come for my departure. It had been like going through four years of school, a school of life, to better enable me to serve the Cause of God. The evening before I left, a happy close to my stay was occasioned by the one who was the first to open the doors to the Message in that country, Miss Esther Mezerville, a former director of the Girls’ College and an outstanding member of the Theosophical Society not only in Costa Rica but in all of Latin America. She told me that she was going to speak of the Bahá’í Faith at their meeting that evening and so I attended. After the kind words of the president who spoke of the important work of the Bahá’í Faith in Costa Rica, Miss Mezerville spoke of world unity as the sign and need of the times and said that in their endeavor to seek their ideal of world brotherhood, they must be alert to movements working toward unity in the world today. She then put emphasis on the great work of the Bahá’í Faith in fostering unity among all religions and races, and stated, “I am now reading Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era,” as she drew the book out of her purse, “and I am convinced that the Bahá’í Faith is the future religion of the world.” She recommended the investigation of the Teachings to her fellow members. Her
Recently completed Guest House of the ‘Iráq Bahá’ís. In Baghdád, adjoining the already finished Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds, the ‘Iráq believers have constructed this commodious hostel for visiting friends.
beautiful words and the spirit and conviction with which she spoke them shall ever be engraved on my heart.
It was on April 18, 1944, that I left Costa
Rica to spend three weeks in Guatemala
City and then return to the United States.
There were mixed emotions within me on that
lovely bright morning as friends, both
Bahá’ís and non—Bahá’ís, gathered to see me
off at the airport and showered me with
gifts, bouquets and corsages. The feeling of
sadness on leaving these dearly-beloved
friends was mingled with that of joy at visiting
another Latin-American Bahá’í Community
and then attending the Centenary
Convention and seeing my family and friends
at home again. As I boarded the Pan-American
airship, I waved to the friends with a
[Page 796]
feeling of comfort in knowing that the
Costa Rican Bahá’ís would staunchly carry
on their vital task.
On the way to Guatemala, the plane made a short stop at Nicaragua, Honduras and Salvador, and at each of these countries it was thrilling to have a brief visit with Bahá’í friends who were waiting for me at the airport.
Every moment of my visit to Guatemala City with our wonderful pioneer, Mrs. Florence Keemer, and the Guatemalan Bahá’ís was so filled with activity and glorious experiences that it, in itself, is a long story. Here is a beautiful, picturesque and colorful city; it is modern and sparkles with cleanliness. The streets of Guatemala are said to be the cleanest in the world. This beauty was glorified by its lovable people, equally as warm-hearted, hospitable and gracious as those of Costa Rica. Mrs. Keemer’s radiant love and charm had won her many friends among whom there was an amazing receptivity to the Divine Teachings, and her excellent work was exemplified by the outstanding Bahá’í group I was privileged to know and work with for that short period.
There are indeed priceless treasures in store for anyone who arises to serve the Cause. "The Almighty will no doubt grant you the help of His grace, will invest you with the tokens of His might, and will endue your souls with the sustaining power of His holy Spirit.
“All must participate, however humble their origin; however limited their experience, however restricted their means, however deficient their education, however pressing their cares, however unfavorable the environment in which they live.
"The field is indeed so immense, the period so critical, the Cause so great, the workers so few, the time so short, the privilege so priceless, that no follower of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, worthy to bear His name, can afford a moment’s hesitation.”
26.
FOUNDING THE FAITH IN PUERTO RICO
BY AYNED MCCOMB
PUERTO RICO is a tiny island less than one hundred miles long and only about thirty-five miles wide, set like a tropical jewel in the chain of other islands comprising the Greater Antilles of the West Indies. One shore faces the expanse of the Caribbean Sea, the other shore faces the broad splendor of the Atlantic Ocean, and mountains rise against the sky throughout the entire length of the interior. The refreshing trade winds, peculiar to the tropics, rustle the verdant flowering foliage and cause the many palm trees to whisper gently in the sun.
Puerto Rico was discovered on November 19, 1493, by Columbus while he was on his second voyage to the New World. This makes it the only bit of land now owned by the United States, upon which Columbus ever set foot. Juan Ponce de León was its first Governor after he had conquered it for Spain in 1509. From then until the year 1898 Puerto. Rico was ruled by Spain and many times during that period had to defend itself against foreign ships and pirates.
In 1898 after the close of the Spanish American War, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris but it was not until 1917 that Congress granted full American citizenship to all natives of the Island.
San Juan, the capital city, was founded in 1521 and is the second largest city in the entire West Indies. San Juan is both the seat of government and the heart of all commercial and intellectual pursuits throughout the Island. The people today are mostly a mingling of Spanish, Negro and Carib Indian, although there are still many of the white race only. There are also some families of German, French, Dutch and Syrian strains. Spanish is the first, and preferred language, but English is a second tongue with many people.
Puerto Rico’s historical and cultural antiquity
[Page 797]
began over four hundred years ago,
but the greatest event in its spiritual history
began quite recently, and without the knowledge
of most of the inhabitants. April 21st,
1943, was the date of this significant event
which marked the establishment of the first
Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’í Faith
in Puerto Rico. These first spiritually
awakened souls of the Island set about to
achieve the spiritual conquest of a wilderness
of age-old tradition and prejudice, even
as the early explorers had sought to conquer
her lands.
The Community of Bahá’ís of Puerto Rico is growing in numbers and in influence. Through an increasing distribution of the literature of the Faith and recently from new opportunities of radio, the knowledge is reaching out to plant within the hearts of many people the vision of a new life.
It is interesting to note that the Island of Puerto Rico is an offshore possession of the United States, and under the Bahá’í administrative order the teaching work is advanced under the direction of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, as is the case with Alaska or Hawaii. It differs, however, in one important respect, for Puerto Rico is Spanish in speech, in custom and tradition, and its inhabitants are Latin Americans whose culture traces back to Spain. In carrying on the teaching work the scope of literature has therefore been confined to available Spanish translations.
The future is bright for all the world and Puerto Rico will enjoy her full share of its brightness. World wide air travel will bring to every remote corner the opportunity to advance and progress. The Bahá’ís of Puerto Rico stand ready, along with their fellow believers throughout the world, to help in the fulfillment of the spiritual destiny that must mark the progress of human civilization in every land.
27.
THE FOUNDING OF THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH IN VENEZUELA
BY ELISABETH CHENEY
AS THE Faith spreads from land to land following in the wake of those intrepid pioneer teachers whose mission thus becomes immortal, it is with deep appreciation that one considers the advent of Miss Priscilla Rhodes who went to Venezuela in 1940 and has remained making her permanent home there after several years as a successful business woman.
After Miss Rhodes, Mr. and Mrs. Emeric Sala of Toronto, Canada took up their residence in Caracas where they made many friends and with great tact and assurance continued to advance the Faith until they were obliged to return to Canada.
In 1942 another pioneer teacher, Miss Gwenne Dorothy Sholtis, spent some months in Caracas leaving an indelible imprint upon the lives of many of its citizens by her valiant efforts, though laboring under serious conditions of ill health. During her residence in Caracas Miss Sholtis’ tiny apartment was the center for teaching activities where Bahá’í hospitality and loving service drew many to hear of the Faith as she prepared the way for future teachers. Although grieved to leave the field where she had reached so many hearts she was comforted by the assurance that Srta. Léonor Morín had become completely confirmed and was like a brilliant candle held aloft to welcome Mrs. Dorothy Baker of Lima, Ohio who reached Caracas after some weeks spent with her daughter in Colombia where they were both engaged in energetic teaching work.
Mrs. Baker found only a small group gathered to hear her at her first meeting and the prospect seemed to presage a long period of patient effort but her time was somewhat limited and she ardently besought divine aid in a night of discouragement. The next morning Sra. Trina de Courlaender, who was
Site of the Meeting Hall of the Baghdád Bahá’ís. Upper picture: on the left is the already completed Guest House. Lower picture: on the right is the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds of the ‘Iráq Bahá’ís.
a friend of Miss Sholtis and had been advised of Mrs. Baker’s coming, telephoned her to invite her to a meeting of the “Union de las Mujeres Americanas” of which Sra. de Courlaender was president and founder. Mrs. Baker found there a group of some thirty outstanding Venezuelan women who were working for the advancement of all women in their country. Mrs. Baker accepted the invitation with pleasure only to find on her arrival that she was the honored guest, that special entertainment had been prepared and that a group of children had gathered to recite and dance for her. There was some speech making and a number of newspaper reporters appeared to interview her while a lovely young señorita, Mercedes Bermudas, presented to her a beautiful bouquet of roses and orchids.
To all requests for interviews Mrs. Baker stated only that she was “encantada” (delighted) with everything, but the reporters, catching the joyousness of Mrs. Baker’s attitude expanded their reports with many complimentary remarks about the whole affair which appeared in the next day’s papers. So successful was the meeting that it became the fashion to ask those who had met Mrs. Baker, "Do you think you could get me an invitation to one of Sra. Baker’s meetings?”
As a result, in the closing weeks of her
stay in Caracas the meetings grew from three
or four students to an attendance of about
forty and when she departed in March she
[Page 799]
left ten declared Bahá’ís in Caracas, nine
adults and one youth. In addition to Miss
Rhodes and Srta. Léonor Morín these included Dr.
David Escalante, Dr. René Escalante and his wife,
Sra. Violeta de Escalante, Sra. Trina O. de
Courlaender, Sra. Lulu de Serrano, Sra.
Maria de Rodriguez and her daughter, Srta.
Maruja Rodriguez, fifteen
years of age, and Sra. Rosita Madero de
Bennett. As Dr. David Escalante was soon
to return to Honduras where his home was
established, no permanent Assembly could
be formed but since that time Venezuela has
been added to the list of South American
countries where Spiritual Assemblies exist.
Dr. David Escalante was elected to represent the Venezuelan Bahá’ís at the Centenary celebration in Wilmette and he had definitely planned to visit Chicago and attend the ceremonies. However at the last minute he was unable to secure the necessary visa. At the second meeting, when representatives from other Latin American countries who had been unable to reach Chicago in time for the Centenary, were guests of the National Spiritual Assembly in Wilmette in July, 1944, Sra. de Courlaender had been elected representative, but she too, was prevented from attending because of illness so that Venezuela, unfortunately, was not represented at those historic meetings.
The next visitor to Caracas was Miss Elisabeth Cheney of Lima, Ohio, who arrived in December, 1944, for a six weeks’ sojourn while enroute to other South American countries. During Miss Cheney’s visit many meetings were held and seven new Bahá’ís accepted the Faith, six of these being adults and one a declared youth. These included Sra. Yolanda L. de Stronach, Sra. Mercedes de Suárez, Srta. Mercedes Entrena, Srta. Mary Giménez, Srta. Maria Antonia Aguilera Orsini, Sra. Ermelinda de Estrena and Sra. Myriam Rodriguez Paredes, the last being also a youth member. This increased the number of registered Bahá’ís to sixteen, fourteen being adults and two declared youths.
According to the Bahá’í Administrative Procedure Assemblies are organized only on April 21st of any year, but by permission of the Inter America Committee the friends were permitted to form an administrative body for the purpose of gaining experience which would prepare them to function regularly when a Spiritual Assembly should be elected in April.
In addition to those who had already accepted the Faith a class of some twenty-five students attended the meetings, of whom five verbally declared their faith in Bahá’u’lláh at the closing meeting of January 8th, 1945. These declarations were lovingly and joyously received and after having attended six meetings and received personal instruction they will be formally received into the Bahá’í Community. The sixteen registered believers were in each case those who had been reached either by Gwenne Sholtis or Mrs. Baker. Thus do the seeds planted by the loyal and devoted pioneer teachers ultimately bear fruit!
28.
COMMEMORATIONS EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT
BY CHRISTINE LOFSTEDT
THE postage stamps of commemoration issued in 1944 by the government of the United States of America pleased the public. Specific group reactions varied, as: the philatelists were delighted with the unique series; the social scientists were proud of the acclaim given the scientific and technological contributions to culture; and the Bahá’ís, happy in the possession of the stamps and sharing the satisfaction of achievement, rejoiced in the manifest spiritual bounties that had been showered upon mankind through the inscrutable power of the Creative Word of God.
Reproduction of the commemorative stamp, issued in 1944, honoring the centenary of the first official telegraphic message—“What Hath God Wrought”—sent on May 24, 1844, from Baltimore to Washington.
The stamps commemorating three significant technological achievements in the field of communication bore the following captions:
(1) The first steamship to cross the Atlantic, 1819-1944
(2) Centenary of the Telegraph, 1844-1944
(3) Completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad, 1869-1944
The years 1819, 1844, 1869 and 1944 have historical and social significance to the people of the United States of America; but in addition, the dates listed have been associated with profound spiritual values which are cherished everywhere by Bahá’ís who are the believers of the World Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
The important historical events designated may be briefly noted. (1) The 1819-1944 stamp commemorates the accomplishment of an American sailing packet, Savannah, which was fitted with boiler and engine. Reaching Europe in 1819, the Savannah was the first vessel in the world to venture onto the open ocean using steam power. She became the forerunner of the modern palatial ocean steamers.
(2) The 1844-1944 stamp commemorates the achievement of Samuel F. B. Morse Who demonstrated the practical application of the power of electricity in the rapid transmission of information from Baltimore to Washington. On May 24, 1844, a young woman sent the first official message: “What Hath God Wrought?”
(3) The 1869-1944 stamp commemorates the junction of the Union Pacific With the Central Pacific Railroad at Promontory Point. The event marked the conquest of territorial distances, the distribution and utilization of national resources, the eradication of social distances and the establishment of national solidarity and unity.
The Bahá’ís throughout the world are interested also in the contemporaneous events in the spiritual realm decreed by God for this Dispensation.
In addition to the stamp honoring the centenary of the telegraph, the United States Government issued other commemorative stamps during the year 1944 which proved to be of interest, both as to date and subject matter, to all Philatelists familiar with the Bahá’í Faith.
(1) On October 20, 1819, Mírzá ‘Alí Muḥmmad, later known as the Báb, which means ”Gate,” was born in Shíráz, Persia.
(2) On May 23, 1844, the Báb declared His Divine Mission. Being the Forerunner of the "One Whom God shall make manifest,” the Báb announced the coming of the Lord of Hosts, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
On that eventful day, in Ṭihrán, Persia, was born ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh. He was destined to share the Father’s hardships, to receive the mantle of spiritual authority, and to become the Center of the Covenant, the Interpreter of the Word of God, the Master.
(3) The year 1869 was the beginning of the period in which Bahá’u’lláh, imprisoned in ‘Akká, issued His appeals and warnings to the rulers of the nations, and the leaders of ecclesiastical groups.
(4) The first Bahá’í century ended in
1944, a universal milestone, marking a period
of unparalleled activity which included
prophetic declarations of Spiritual Missions,
majestic commands to world leaders of political
and religious units, the formulation of
principles and laws for personal behavior
[Page 802]
and group co-operation and association, and
the erection of spiritual institutions through
which the New Civilization will function.
Within the brief duration of time, 1844-1944, are distinctly silhouetted the outlines of institutions—divinely ordained and spiritually implemented—which are functioning according to the divine pattern designed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Father. God’s Kingdom on earth as promised by Jesus Christ has come. "Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven” has become a reality which awaits mankind’s awareness and participation in the dynamic process. Bahá’u’lláh has said:
“O people! The Day, promised unto you in all the Scriptures, is now come. . . . The Word of God hath set the heart of the world afire . . . embrace the ancient Faith of God.”
