Bahá’í World/Volume 8/United States and Canada Annual Report 1938-1939
ANNUAL REPORT—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHA’IS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
1938-1939
THE Bahá’í year now drawing to a close has witnessed the stage of definite crisis in human affairs, the vanishing of hopes to avert catastrophe by human power, a great progress in the achievement of the Seven Year Plan, the Guardian’s inspiring action in associating the revered name of the Greatest Holy Leaf with Temple construction, his renewed and stirring call for pioneers in the teaching field, and his spiritual gift and blessing to all American through the general letter dated December 25, 1938. Such events and conditions, more sharply contrasting the old order with the new, make us realize that North America has become the theatre in which is being enacted a scene of transcendent importance in the majestic unfoldment of God’s Faith upon earth.
To attain a full inward realization of that truth, to fit ourselves, individually and collectively, for service to the Divine Will at the turning point in human history, taking our stand entirely within the spirit and activity of the Faith and leaving behind the false hopes and doomed desires of the worldly life—this, indeed, constitutes the essence of the significance of the year that ends; and the historical record of that period has real value only as it may contribute to our capacity for deeper experience, purer vision and more valiant action. History, to the Bahá’í, is not a tie with past human limitations but an increasing possibility to attain a future conforming to the Will of God.
This Bahá’í year was born in the response made by the believers assembled at the last Convention to the Guardian’s words, "draw nigh unto Bahá’u’lláh that He may draw nigh unto them,” to Shoghi Effendi’s presentation of locks of Bahá’u’lláh, to the cablegram reporting the ascension of the Holy Mother, Munírih Khánum, and to the sudden and unexpected death of Mrs. Grace Ober while reporting her teaching activities.
The National Spiritual Assembly as its fundamental action and policy for the year reported a general plan based upon the Guardian’s cablegram of July 4, 1937, outlining the five successive steps necessary for completion of the Temple work, and including a Teaching budget and plan appealing for that "more burning enthusiasm” . . . and “higher sense of solidarity” which the Guardian had evoked.
For continuance of Temple construction the Assembly established a budget item of $75,000.00, one-half the estimated cost of the exterior decoration of the first story.
For Teaching activities in North and South America, an item of $30,000 was included in the budget. Setting the teaching policy as adopted in consultation with the Teaching Committee, the Assembly published in BAHÁ’Í NEWS for July, 1938, a statement emphasizing settlement by pioneers, the development of definite projects, concentration by Regional Teaching Committees on isolated believers, groups and study classes, the extension of local Assembly teaching, and a call for individual initiative under administrative supervision.
The Inter-America Committee was extended, its functions more clearly defined, and necessary funds allotted for Mrs. Frances Stewart’s journey to South America, the
Some of the Bahá’ís attending the annual convention of the Bahá’ís of the British Isles, London, 1939.
results of which have been so fruitful to the Cause.
A schedule of meetings was adopted which included one new city, Knoxville, Tennessee, and two established Bahá’í Centers never previously visited, Urbana, Illinois, and Los Angeles, with plans for public meetings and regional conferences in each.
Some of the more important incidents of the year are briefly presented as follows:—
Evidences of Progress
The Assembly Roll for the year as published in BAHÁ’Í NEWS reported the recognition of eight new Assemblies and the re-establishment of two former ones. The new Assemblies are: Glendale, Arizona; Sacramento, California; Moncton, New Brunswick; Toronto, Ontario; Maywood, Illinois; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and St. Lambert, Quebec. Rochester, New York, and Topeka, Kansas, regained their Assembly status.
Even more significant in the Divine Plan was the formation of a Spiritual Assembly at Mexico City by a community of believers, all natives of that country, the first signal victory won by the Inter-America Committee. Mr. Pedro Espinosa has been invited to attend the 1939 Convention as the guest of the National Spiritual Assembly, thus creating a closer bond with our co-workers in Mexico.
To contribute to the deepening of our spiritual life, two departments have been conducted in BAHÁ’Í NEWS this year, “The Charter of the New World Order,” prepared by Mrs. Dorothy Baker, and “Draw Nigh Unto Bahá’u’lláh,” compiled by Mrs. Della Quinlan.
The moving picture film of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá taken in Brooklyn during 1912, carefully preserved ever since by Mr. Roy Wilhelm, has been placed in the custody of the Archives Committee.
A translation of the French footnotes in The Dawn-Breakers, made by Dr. and Mrs. Perigord of Los Angeles, with the approval of the Guardian, is being printed as a supplement to that volume, the cost having been met by a generous special donation.
The Guardian, who approved the reprinting of Bahá’í Scriptures some years ago, has recently advised certain revisions before a new edition appears.
The fund of $1,000 set aside for the
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Memorial to Keith Ransom-Kehler
in Isphahan has been transmitted to the National
Spiritual Assembly of Írán through Shoghi
Effendi, as conditions in Írán now appear to
make it possible to proceed with the construction.
The design, made by the late
Myron Potter of Cleveland, was illustrated
some years ago in BAHÁ’Í NEWS and also in
one volume of THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD.
The lamentable destruction by the civil authorities of the types of the German edition of the revised Esslemont book has been mitigated by the printing of the work in Switzerland, from a fortunately-preserved copy of the manuscript, under the auspices of the International Bahá’í Bureau. The American Bahá’í community were privileged to contribute to the expense, with the Guardian’s permission, through the National Fund. Copies are expected in April or May, and some will be set aside for the Inter-America Committee to use among the German colonies in South America, while other copies can be used here. Mr. Karl Neumann’s translation of Promise of All Ages has become available in manuscript form, and its use has been referred to the Guardian.
Miss Lidia Zamenhof, who arrived as the guest of the American believers in September, 1937, left for Poland in November, 1938, being unable to extend her permit and thus foregoing a number of special teaching opportunities which had arisen. Her activities are reported by the Committee on International Auxiliary Language, but a word should be added to point out that her capacity as a teacher of Esperanto, her fame as a daughter of the founder of the language, and her firmness as a Bahá’í produced a new atmosphere of cordial unity between the Esperanto groups and the Bahá’í community which constitutes a distinct teaching opportunity.
With the Guardian’s approval, a duplicate unit of one of the beautiful details of the Temple exterior decoration is being produced for shipment to Haifa as gift to Shoghi Effendi. A Temple model has been presented to the National Spiritual Assembly of Írán, through Shoghi Effendi, at his request.
A statement prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt, based upon the laws and ordinances of Bahá’u’lláh in matters of personal status such as marriage and inheritance, has been under consideration for more than a year, and recently the Guardian’s permission was asked to send a duplicate copy to each local Spiritual Assembly for study by the community. It is interesting to note that the statement was originally prepared as the result of the decision by the Egyptian courts that the Bahá’í Faith is an independent religion. Since in Egypt and other Islamic countries, except Turkey, there is no civil law to control matters of personal status, these matters being subject to the authority of the Qur’án, it became necessary for the National Spiritual Assembly in that country to prepare and file the Bahá’í laws and ordinances to be applied, under its own recognized authority, to the members of the Egyptian Bahá’í community. The legal parallel does not exist in America or other western nations, where the civil constitution centuries ago assumed direct control over areas of human activity and relationship previously regulated by the church. The unique situation which arose in Egypt, however, served to bring into operation a number of the laws of the Aqdas which the American believers cannot yet apply in place of the civil code. But the restricted circulation of this intensely interesting Bahá’í document might well serve to prepare the American Bahá’ís for the future application of the laws and ordinances of Bahá’u’lláh; and the Guardian’s view of the proposal is awaited with great interest.
Concerning the activities of American believers in other lands, reference is made to the fact that such activities, throughout Mexico, Central America, the Islands of the Caribbean, and South America, are now reported annually in detail by the Inter-America Committee. In other areas, grateful mention is made of Miss Martha L. Root’s teaching work in India and her recent journey to Australia for another intensive campaign; the continued devoted services of Miss Marion Jack in Sofia, Bulgaria; the activities of Mrs. and Miss Sharp in Ṭihrán; Mrs. Joel Stebbins in Europe; Miss Beatrice Irwin in England; Miss Annaken Krogh in Denmark; Mr. and Mrs. Max Greeven in Holland; Miss Matthisen in Europe; Miss A. Josephine Kruka in Finland;
The shop which was used by the Báb during his days in Búshihr. It has recently been purchased by the Bahá’ís of Írán to be preserved as a sacred site.
and Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher who in February departed for teaching work in the Scandinavian countries. Mr. Mark Tobey returned after many years in England and is now active in the Bahá’í community of Seattle. The successive volumes of THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD represent the one directly international Bahá’í activity which the Guardian has centered in America during this formative period of the Faith. The gathering of the contents from the entire Bahá’í world, and the manufacture of successive works costing each in excess of $5,000, is at once a mighty task and a correspondingly great privilege. Volume VII is now on the press. The believers are urged to realize that each volume adds to the growing solidarity of the new spiritual commonwealth of Bahá’u’lláh, and affords ample evidence of its universal character and wide range of thought and activity. Such a work at present cannot be made to repay its cost, and therefore it is viewed by the National Assembly as a contribution to the general field of teaching. Whatever the Committees, Assemblies and individual believers can do toward extending its distribution will be a distinctive service to the Faith. It is the one place where we can, as it were, meet face to face our fellow-Bahá’ís of other country, race, class and inherited creed. It should be noted that the publication of the new volume has been greatly assisted by a special donation of $2,500.
The local influence of the House of Worship has been strikingly revealed this year in two ways: the selection by the Wilmette postmaster of the Temple design for “Air Mail Week,” which meant that the design was carried on letters to many parts of the world; and the action of the president of the Village board in writing the Illinois State Commission to recommend that the Temple model be exhibited in the Illinois State Building at the New York World’s Fair.
While the important details concerning
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Bahá’í properties are
reported separately by
the Trustees, it should be noted that the
Green Acre Trustees have received the gift of
a cemetery lot in Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
from Mrs. Loulie A. Mathews.
Through the initiative and thoughtfulness of Mr. Charles Mason Remey, the American Bahá’í community was represented by a floral tribute at the memorial meeting conducted for the late Queen Marie of Rumania, the first member of royalty to be confirmed in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, at the National Cathedral at Washington, D. C., on July 25, 1938.
A new instrumentality for teaching has been developed by the Temple model made by the John J. Earley Studios. Not only is the model on exhibit continuously at a number of local Bahá’í Centers, but has been featured in such public gatherings as the Canadian National Exposition, Cornell University; the Art Gallery, Binghamton, New York; the International Youth Congress, Vassar College, Flint, Michigan; Flower Show, American Furniture Company store, Albuquerque, New Mexico; the New Mexico State Fair; florist shops at Lima, Ohio, and Port Huron, Michigan; and in the Biltmore Hotel and Hotel Arcady, Los Angeles. A model is now part of the permanent exhibit of the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago.
A national committee has been requested to report a definite plan for exhibiting the model at State Fairs throughout the country.
The Book Exhibit held at Santa Paula, California, as illustrated in BAHÁ’Í NEWS for October, 1938, represents still another possibility for a new form of public teaching which will undoubtedly be developed by local Assemblies and groups.
Most impressive of undertakings in public teaching at present are the plans adopted for the World’s Fairs to be held during 1939 at San Francisco and New York. At San Francisco, space has been taken for a display of the Temple model and Bahá’í literature, and a beautiful design for the background and for the pedestal of the model has been developed. In addition, the model has been accepted by the Temple of Religions for exhibit in a building devoted to a historical religious exhibit, and Bahá’í meetings will be held in the Temple of Religions. Photographs and further important details will be available before the Convention opens.
Conditions at the New York World’s Fair were found to be definitely less liberal. The Temple of Religion, under construction from funds specially donated, is under the supervision of a committee representing Protestants, Catholics and Jews. Its meetings are to be restricted to the exposition of religious themes which will in no way deviate from a conception of tolerance based upon the theory that the rights of every existing church are to be preserved. It is a tolerance limited to the acceptance of the established ecclesiastical bodies and their creeds, and apparently not open to the declaration of universal principles capable of uniting humanity in “one Order and one Faith.” No religious exhibits are permitted in the Temple of Religion. Moreover, a ruling was adopted two years ago excluding any directly religious exhibit in the Educational Building or other buildings controlled by the Fair. The separate structure raised by the Christian Science Church was apparently arranged before that ruling was adopted.
It appears possible, however, for the Bahá’ís to secure space in the Communications Building for an exhibit laying chief emphasis upon publications, with a display of the Temple model a subsidiary feature. The details, at this writing, are awaiting approval by the National Spiritual Assembly.
The Bahá’ís, on the other hand, have made application to the Temple of Religion for the use of Bahá’í speakers in its public meetings, have offered a Temple model to the Illinois State Commission for its State Building, and have made a similar offer to the United States Steel Corporation, whose interest in the Temple as an outstanding example of the new possibilities of cement construction was indicated by the use of the Temple as front cover illustration of US Steel News in March, 1937.
The attitude of the New York World’s
Fair has been reported because it seems typical
of a policy which the Bahá’ís are likely to
find confronting them more and more in
North America as the lines are drawn
between the old order and the new. Such a
conception of tolerance surely represents a
final effort at defence raised by those who
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identify the church with
religion and overlook the true interests
of mankind. Bahá’í
teachers may well consider these facts and
prepare themselves to deal with situations
arising from them in future years.
It is, on the other hand, exceedingly gratifying to realize that the American Bahá’í community has become able to undertake such large tasks as are represented by these two World’s Fairs. Both will bring together millions of visitors, many of whom will be prepared to recognize the evidences and proofs of a World Faith. The experience acquired in handling affairs of this magnitude will be a valuable asset for the future.
The National Assembly has this year appealed to the local Assemblies to lay great emphasis upon their observance of the Anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh on November 12, and upon the subject of the Oneness of Mankind in their public gatherings during the month of January, 1939. The response in both cases has been profoundly gratifying.
Indeed, as we pay attention to the Guardian’s consummate wisdom in evoking the latent powers of the Bahá’í community, we realize the important role played by social symbolism in the formation of a new spiritual community. The successive Anniversaries and Nineteen Day Feasts, organic parts of the Bahá’í life, are themsleves examples of the need for special occasions devoted to a release of the forces of ardor and consecration. Further experience may justify some plan under which the programs of the local Assemblies are occasionally coordinated by the National Assembly to concentrate effort upon some particular aspect of the Teachings or some special condition in the civilization of which we are a part. It would be impressive, for example, to set aside some date each year for meetings in which special welcome would be extended to groups of the foreign-born. America has many of these groups. They are grievously affected by the increasing international disturbances, and as yet we have no systematized method or technic for directing their attention to Bahá’u’lláh’s Plan of world accord and the reconcilliation of national, racial and religious traditions in one all-embracing Cause.
The three Summer Schools have continued their rapid progress in the establishment of facilities for Bahá’í education and the training of Bahá’í educators. Their combined effect has already produced a remarkable improvement in the public teaching activities maintained throughout North America. Both functions have been necessary, and both are closely interrelated, yet as the local communities evolve the education of believers in the Teachings will no doubt fall primarily upon the local Assemblies, while the training of educators—the function of the normal school in the civil community—will become specialized in the Summer Schools. The privilege of attendance is very real, and it is hoped that isolated believers and members of local groups will make particular effort to enroll at one of the Schools.
As the date of the annual local elections approaches, it is gratifying to record that the following groups have qualified to form a new Spiritual Assembly on April 21: Knoxville, Tennessee; Jamestown, New York; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Helena, Montana; Huntington Park, California; Eagle River, Wisconsin; Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; East Cleveland, Ohio, and Richmond Highlands, Washington. The number of local bodies in North America identified with the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh will thus become eighty-seven after April 21, 1939.
The local incorporations as approved by the Local Committee during the past year include: Cincinnati, San Francisco, Vancouver, Phoenix, Columbus, Philadelphia, Lima, Portland, and Jersey City.
Through the generous spirit of Miss Martha L. Root we have received a donation of many copies of her new book, Táhirih the Pure, published in Karachi, India, under the auspices of the National Assembly of India and Burma. In this book we have a new and more complete record of that great Bahá’í soul whose martyrdom has been acclaimed by liberals throughout Europe. Gratitude is expressed for Miss Root’s achievement and her thoughtful donation to the American Fund.
These and many other actions, such as are recorded by the national committee in their individual Annual Reports, indicate something of the power with which the American Bahá’í community is advancing toward its goal.
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A Bahá’í year, however,
is to be understood not so much by
any series of definite
actions as by the fundamental possibilities
and implications revealed for us and
established for us by the Guardian of the Faith.
We must learn how to parallel our capacity
of response with the power of progress, both
inward and outward, released through the
Guardian’s messages, and employ each definite
achievement only as a measure of the greater
thing to be accomplished.
Messages from the Guardian
In order to enable the friends to realize more clearly the accumulative force of Shoghi Effendi’s instructions, advices and appeals directed to America in this era of the Faith, the National Spiritual Assembly presented those received from January 10, 1936 to September 24, 1938 in a compilation enclosed with BAHÁ’Í NEWS for November last.
“While we have all read and meditated on these messages singly,” it was pointed out in announcing this compilation, “their meaning and power as a whole are overwhelming. In letter after letter, cablegram after cablegram, Shoghi Effendi has developed the theme of devotion, sacrifice, understanding and mighty action for this very period of the severest danger humanity has ever suffered. The existence of the Bahá’í Community itself, and its destined capacity to become the instrument for the release of God’s blessing of world order and peace, depend entirely upon our individual and collective response to these directions, warnings and supreme appeals . . .
"Therefore the National Spiritual Assembly, conscious of the gravity of the hour, implores the local Assemblies, communities, and groups to grasp and incorporate in their very souls the vital import of the Guardian’s words. Shoghi Effendi has created a new and higher reality for the American Bahá’ís . . .”
To the 1938 Convention he cabled: “. . . let them, delegates, visitors alike, draw nigh unto Bahá’u’lláh, that He may draw nigh unto them.”
To the National Assembly he cabled on June 6: "Rejoice, thankful, initiative, resourcefulness (of) newly-elected National Assembly prompting them signalize inauguration period (of their) stewardship by launching third stage in progressive unfoldment (of the) Seven Year Plan.”
On July 5 he wrote: “The Pen of Bahá’u’lláh, the voice of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, have time and again, insistently, and in terms unmistakable, warned an unheeding humanity of impending disaster. The Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven the lump, the chosen remnants that must survive the rolling up of the old, discredited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and resolute. The American believers, standard-bearers of this worldwide community and torch-bearers of an as-yet unborn civilization, have girt up their loins, unfurled their banners and stepped into the arena of service. Their Plan has been formulated. Their forces are mobilized. They are steadfastly marching towards their goal.”
On September 10: “I feel truly exhilarated as I witness the ever-recurrent manifestations of unbroken solidarity and unquenchable enthusiasm that distinguish every stage in the progressive development of the nation-wide enterprise which is being so unflinchingly pursued by the whole American Bahá’í community. The marked deterioration in world affairs, the steadily deepening gloom that envelops the storm-tossed people and nations of the Old World, invest the Seven Year Plan, now operating in both the northern and southern American Continents, with a significance and urgency that cannot be overestimated.”
The cablegram received September 24
conveyed tremendous significance: “Loyalty
(to) World Order (of) Bahá’u’lláh, security
(of) its basic institutions, both imperatively
demand all its avowed supporters,
particularly its champion builders
(in the) American continent, in these
days when sinister,
uncontrollable forces are deepening (the)
cleavage sundering peoples, nations, creeds,
classes, resolve despite pressure (of)
fast-crystallizing public opinion,
abstain individually, collectively,
in word, action, informally as well
as in all official publications,
from assigning blame, taking sides, however
indirectly, in (the) recurring political crises
now agitating, ultimately engulfing, human
society. Grave apprehension lest cumulative
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effect (of) such compromises
disintegrate (the) fabric, clog (the)
channel (of the) Grace that sustains
God’s essentially supranational,
supernatural Order so laboriously
evolved, so recently established.”
In reply to a question received concerning the application of this instruction, the National Assembly informed the inquirer that believers should take part in no political or economic measures aimed at international situations except such as are commanded by their civil government.
On November 29 the Guardian cabled: "(The) virtual termination (within the) appointed time (of the) gallery section (of the) Mashriqu’l-Adhkár triumphantly ushers in (the) final phase (of the) major task courageously shouldered (by the) champions (of the) Seven Year Plan . . . (The) poignant memory (of the) ever-loved Greatest Holy Leaf, inseparably linked to (the) American believers’ Temple exertions, impels me (to) offer, (at) this decisive hour, one thousand pounds in her name and as token (of) her debt of gratitude for their response (to) her last appeal addressed to them (in the) evening of her life. (I am) confident (that the) Temple Construction Fund, which from now on will ever bear her name and be consecrated (to) her memory, will, following this offering, swell (to) such proportions as will carry forward (the) stupendous undertaking (to a) glorious consummation.”
In a letter dated at the same time, he wrote: “The initial contract, proclaiming the opening of the final phase of a work that embodies the finest contribution ever made by the West to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, is now ready for your signature. The fourth of the successive steps outlined in my previous message1 is punctually being taken. The fond hopes cherished on the assumption of your exalted office are being amply fulfilled. The heroism displayed by the members of the American Bahá’í Community in the face of these recurring, constantly widening opportunities is growing more apparent every day.”
The Guardian’s letter of November 27 contained an important instruction concerning the Bahá’í calendar which was published in the January, 1939 issue of BAHÁ’Í NEWS.
Then came those messages calling for the extension of the teaching work to all unoccupied areas and laying greater emphasis on establishing the Faith in other countries of the Americas. The cablegram received January 26, 1939, stated, in part: “Recent swift progress (of) Temple ornamentation prompts me entreat American Community (to) focus immediate attention (and) center energies (upon) corresponding acceleration (in the) Teaching enterprise (in) Seven Year Plan . . . End of First Century rapidly approaching. Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Manitoba (and) Nova Scotia still unsettled. Universal, prolonged intensification (in) pioneer activity (is the) crying need (of this) fateful hour. (The) establishment (of) one resident believer (in) each virgin territory (is the) precondition (to the) full launching (of the) subsequent, eagerly-anticipated stage aiming (at the) spiritual conquest (of the) southern half (of the) Western Hemisphere. (The) Concourse on high expectantly await, ready (to) assist (and) acclaim (the) nine holy souls who, independently or as deputies, will promptly, fearlessly volunteer (to) forsake (their) homes, cast away (their) attachments (and) definitely settle (in) these territories (to) lay firm anchorage (of the) Administrative Order (of this) undefeatable Faith. (I am) irresistibly urged (and) proud (of the) privilege (to) pledge nine hundred pounds (to) facilitate (the) permanent settlement (of) pioneers (in) these States and Provinces whose acts (and) heroic self-abnegation will mark (the) Conclusion (of this) Shining Epoch (in) American Bahá’í History.”
Two days later, Shoghi Effendi wrote: “The twofold aim you are now pursuing should at no time become obscured, nor should either one of the dual responsibilities you have assumed be allowed to preponderate over the other. The urgency of the task connected with the ornamentation of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár has been rightly recognized, and its immediate needs have been generously and promptly met. A similar, nay a mightier effort should now be deliberately and persistently exerted in the field of pioneer
————————
1The cablegram of July 4, 1937, previously referred to in this report.
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teaching, in both
the United States and Canada. . . .
“Very soon we shall be entering the second half of the last decade of this, the first century of the Bahá’í Era. The five remaining years should essentially be consecrated to the imperative, the spiritual needs of the remaining Republics of both Central and South America, for whose entry into the fellowship of Bahá’u’lláh the Plan was primarily formulated. . . .
"The period ahead is short, strenuous, fraught with mortal perils for human society, yet pregnant with possibilities of unsurpassed triumphs for the power of Bahá’u’lláh’s redemptive Cause. The occasion is propitious for a display, by the American Bahá’í Community,in its corporate capacity, of an effort which in its magnitude, character, and purpose, must outshine its past endeavors. . . .
"Dearly-beloved friends! What better field than the vast virgin territories, so near at hand, and waiting to receive, at this very hour, their full share of the onrushing tide of Bahá’u’lláh’s redeeming grace?”
At this date of writing, the latest communication from the Guardian is the following cablegram received March 24, 1939:—
“Fresh, ominous rumblings demonstrate (the) inevitability (and) foreshadow (the) approach (of the) final eruption involving (the) dissolution (of a) lamentably defective international order. (The) privileged community (of) American believers forewarned, undismayed, spiritually equipped. Notwithstanding (the) gravity (of the) times, (they) will pursue unswervingly (the) divinely-chartered course their attention undistracted, (their) objective unobscured, (their) resolve unimpaired, (their) support undiminished, (their) loyalty unsullied. (The) immediate obligation (is to) complete settlement (of) Delaware, Utah, Manitoba, (and) Nova Scotia before termination (of) Bahá’í administrative year. Responsibility solemn, pressing, unavoidable.”
Progress of Seven Year Plan
It is in the light of all the foregoing messages, and fully conscious of the import of that general communication published as The Advent of Divine Justice, that the salient features of the development of the twofold activities of the Seven Year Plan must be traced.
Turning first to Temple construction.
When the year opened, the gallery contract was in full force, with the necessary funds on hand. By April 30, 1939, work will have been resumed on the exterior decoration of the few units uncompleted in December, 1938. The responsibility defined for the current year was the accumulation of funds amounting to one-half the estimated cost of the exterior decoration of the first story. By March 15, 1939, the National Spiritual Assembly had found it possible to authorize the Temple Trustees to contract for the production of the models and molds, and to purchase the supply of quartz. These two new contracts were approved and welcomed by Shoghi Effendi. Of the $75,000 incorporated in the annual Budget as the goal, approximately $60,000 has been contributed so far.
The March, 1939 issue of BAHÁ’Í NEWS reported that the balance needed for the molds contract was $6,862.64, and that the estimated cost of casting and applying the units to the first story is $95,000. As the models and molds will be finished before the end of the summer, the matter of accumulating funds for the next contract is already imminent, and will be a responsibility to be assumed by the incoming National Assembly.
In the teaching field, the great accomplishment has been the settlement of the nine areas for which the Guardian made supreme appeal in his cablegram received January 26, 1939.
This subject engaged the deep attention of the Teaching Committee, and consultation and correspondence with that committee has made it possible to inform Shoghi Effendi that his wishes and instructions have been met.
The response of the believers has been truly inspiring, and the full story can not even yet be recorded, as fresh offers are being received. The settlement of the nine areas, however, has been effected through plans under which the following Bahá’ís have already, or soon will, proceed to the field: Miss Honor Kempton, Alaska; Miss N. Grace Bissell, Vermont; Miss Helen Griffing, Nevada; Mr. and Mrs. Hilbert Dahl, West
The bath of Urúmíyyíh where the Báb bathed during His visit to that town. It has been recently purchased by the Bahá’í of Írán as an historic site.
Virginia; Mr. Harold Hunt, West Virginia; Mrs. Marguerite Reimer Sears, Utah; Mr. and Mrs. Allah K. Kalantar, Delaware; Mr. Rowland Estall, Winnipeg; Miss Doris Skinner, Calgary; Mrs. Beulah S. Proctor, Nova Scotia; Miss Evelyn Cliff, Nova Scotia; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas McNally, Rhode Island; Mrs. H. Emogene Hoagg, South Carolina.
A significant spiritual victory has been achieved, for now the prerequisite condition laid down by the Guardian for concentrated effort in the other American countries has been fulfilled, and the blessings from the spiritual Kingdom will surely pour forth in greater abundance upon every Bahá’í activity we undertake from now on.
The record of success in South America and in the West Indies reported by the Inter-America Committee is also impressive. The Bahá’í community of Mexico City is vibrant with enthusiasm, and will take an increased part in the Inter-America teaching work, not only through participation in the required Spanish translations but also no doubt through traveling teachers.
In a letter dated February 8, 1939, the Guardian graciously acknowledged the progressive steps taken under the Seven Year Plan in the following words: “The illustrious community of the American believers, contemptuous of risk or peril, is driving ahead, relentlessly and with its whole vigor, toward the dual goal which the Seven Year Plan has set before it. The virtual completion of the contract for the gallery section of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, the inauguration of the First Story Construction Fund, the signature of the contract for the models of the Main Story, the prompt response to the Fund newly associated with the memory of the Greatest Holy Leaf, the consequent placing of a further contract for the construction of the molds, the acceleration of pioneer teaching and the resultant penetration of the Faith into practically every State and Province in the United States and Canada—all these have, in the course of the second year of the Seven Year Plan, followed in amazingly swift succession. With dramatic swiftness, with unyielding resolve, with uncompromising fidelity and superb courage, the community responsible for such a unique demonstration of Bahá’í initiative and enterprise is overcoming the barriers, whether material or moral, that threaten to interfere with the execution of its declared purpose.”
The Nature of Maturity
In The Unfoldment of World Civilization Shoghi Effendi identified the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh with the maturity of the human race, an assurance, yet also a challenge, that has special significance for the members of the Bahá’í Community.
These larger and more responsible tasks which the American believers have since assumed are essentially characteristic of maturity in contrast to childhood and youth. They call for a true inward poise and assurance, a capacity for true consultation, and a degree of trustworthiness which we have never before attained. The bounty of the task brings the worthiness to achieve it, if we be completely loyal to its implications for both the community and the individual soul.
In consultation, whether local or national, Bahá’ís meet in consciousness consecrated to the achievement of unified understanding and action. Bahá’í consultation produces communication and cooperation among types and personalities which in the world are separated by abysms of ignorance, antagonism and military force. Our victory over the tendency to exclude other views, other values and other forms of capacity from the final outcome of consultation is our contact with the higher powers which alone can enable us to attain the goal. Bahá’í unity is not the result of self-suppression any more than of suppression by others, but a balance between initiative and sacrifice to the majority decision which stands as one of the new attributes of life in this Dispensation.
As we perceive the differences in the rate of growth and maturity among the local communities, we can realize that confirmation does not depend upon numbers nor upon the size of the city nor upon its geographical location, but upon its degree of unity and its power for consultation. The forces of confirmation, we are told, lie everywhere about us, awaiting the conditions under which they can enter into the operation of community life. May we not make a higher resolve, as individuals, to permit no further continuance of any latent tendency to feel aloof from any fellow-believer, and as communities hasten to remove any condition of disunity which may have been perpetuated from former times. The conscious soul lives in the eternal present, and the present need not be a repetition of the past but a spiritual conquest unique and ever-renewed.
The time has come for unexampled effort. To meet the tests imposed by Bahá’u’lláh Himself we must turn resolutely from those artificial tests which sometimes we have imposed upon other believers or resented their imposition upon ourselves. An entire Bahá’í community can be made radiant by a changed attitude on the part of two or three believers.
In that same letter of February 8, the Guardian declared: “Though much has thus far been achieved, yet the processes now set in motion through the evolution of the Plan are still too rudimentary to permit even a faint glimpse of the brilliancy of the epoch in which ‘Ablu’l-Baha’s own Plan must come to fruition. . . . Ours is the solemn, the inescapable duty to labor faithfully and unremittingly to insure that no opportunity is being missed, that no avenues are left unexplored, that might, however indirectly, contribute to the furtherance of those tasks that claim so insistently our immediate attention.”
The Advent of Divine Justice
The communication addressed to the American believers by Shoghi Effendi under date of December 25, 1938, and published with the title The Advent of Divine Justice, brought to us the supreme blessing of the current Bahá’í year. In its clear unfoldment of the future, its directions for concentration of effort upon specific tasks for a long period of time, its exposition of the prerequisites for the success of our collective action, and its unification of the inner and outer aspects of Bahá’í life at this crucial hour, this message conveys to us that spiritual food our souls and minds and hearts so poignantly require.
Its assimilation into the very depths of our being will prepare us for victory over the tasks and trials that must signalize the establishment of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh upon earth.
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
By: HORACE HOLLEY, Secretary.
