Bahá’í News/Issue 100/Text
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The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís
of the United States and Canada
General Office: 130 Evergreen Place, West Englewood, New Jersey
“THE TEACHERS OF THE CAUSE”[edit]
Excerpts from Teaching Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá[edit]
| THE GUARDIAN’S MESSAGE TO THE CONVENTION
Cablegram received May 1, 1936. |
“Everyone of the ... souls must arise, blowing over all parts of America the Breath of Life, conferring upon the people a new spirit, baptising them with the Fire of the Love of God, the Water of Life; and the Breaths of the Holy Spirit, so that the second birth may become realized.”
“One must close his eyes wholly to these thoughts, long for eternal life, the sublimity of the world of humanity, the celestial developments, the Holy Spirit, the promotion of the Word of God, the guidance of the inhabitants of the globe, the promulgation of Universal Peace and the proclamation of the Oneness of the world of humanity! This is the work!”
“The first condition is firmness in the Covenant of God.”
“The second condition: Fellowship and love amongst the believers. The divine friends must be attracted to and enamored of each other and ever be ready and willing to sacrifice their own lives for each other.”
“Then with a firm resolution, a pure heart, a rejoiced spirit, and an eloquent tongue, engage your time in the promulgation of the Divine principles.”
“We must not look at our own ability and capacity; nay, rather must we behold the favors and bounties of God in these days, Who has made the drop to find the expression of the sea and the atom the importance of the sun.”
“Rest ye assured in the confirmations of the Merciful and the assistance of the Most High.”
“The cohorts of the Supreme Concourse are attacking with invincible power.”
“The teachers of the Cause must be heavenly, lordly and radiant. They must be embodied spirit, personified intellect, and arise in service with the utmost firmness, steadfastness and self-sacrifice.”
“They must completely divest themselves from the old garments and be invested with a new garment.”
“They must be baptised with the Water of Life, the Fire of the Love of God and the Breaths of the Holy Spirit.”
“They must concentrate their thoughts on the outpourings of the Kingdom of God, ... Beg for the confirmations of the Holy Spirit.”
“Whosoever arises in this day to diffuse the Divine Fragrances, the cohorts of the Kingdom of God shall confirm him and the bestowals and the favors of the Blessed Perfection shall encircle him.”
“Ere long ye shall observe that each one of you like unto a brilliant and shining star will diffuse the light of guidance from that Horizon and that ye have become the cause of eternal life to the inhabitants of America.”
OPPORTUNITIES OF PRESENT HOUR[edit]
The Guardian’s cablegram to the Convention, emphasizing as it does the supreme need of teaching on the one hand and the “most perilous stage” in the existence of humanity on the other hand, is surely intended to quicken the spirit of every American Bahá’í. A crisis confronts us in our Bahá’í life, as crisis confronts the life of the world.
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The National Spiritual Assembly is
employing every possible resource of
consultation in order to arrive at a
teaching plan which can be firmly
based and “systematically extended.”
It is clear that fulfilment of the Master’s aim as set forth in His Teaching
Tablets to America calls for an evolutionary plan, one which will grow by
its own impetus, and also a plan involving the active cooperation of every
believer. This task cannot be done by
a few, but must be a general movement, the flowing of an irresistible
stream of faith through the channels
provided in the new World Order.
| THE UNFOLDMENT OF WORLD CIVILIZATION
|
First of all let us as local communities and also as individual believers study those Tablets which have been termed “The Divine Plan.” They can be found on pages 505-544 of “Bahá’í Scriptures” and will in the near future be made more widely available in pamphlet form. Pending the development of the definite teaching plan for the coming year, which will be announced by July first, let us steep ourselves in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s creative words and try to arise to the heights His vision has supplied—heights which tower over our personal limitations, as they tower above the customs and habits of a collapsing civilization.
It might be pointed out that the foundation upon which the Master’s Tablets stand unshakeably is the Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh to the “Rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein”—that Tablet which discloses the destiny of the two continents of the West. “Assist with the hands of justice the brokenhearted, and crush the great oppressors with the scourges of the commands of your Lord, the Powerful, the Wise!” Let us recall also the Guardian’s letter on “America and the Most Great Peace”; and finally, realize the working of the spirit in the efforts being made by the American government to call a great conference of American nations which will surely mark a long step forward toward unity and away from the dissensions and dangers of Europe.
The inner and outer powers alike point the way. It is for us, conscious of the ultimate goal, to take the spiritual leadership in meeting the Guardian’s stirring prayer, “Would to God every State within American Republic and every Republic in American continent might ere termination (of this) glorious century (i.e., 1944) embrace (the) light (of the) Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and establish structural basis of His World Order.”
- NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY.
THE BAHÁ’Í SUMMER SCHOOLS[edit]
Many and significant are the references in Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and in letters of Shoghi Effendi to the importance of the Summer School which as an institution has gradually developed from the Green Acre Conferences founded by Sarah J. Farmer more than forty years ago. The golden thread of the Revelation winds throughout their entire history, from the very source of Miss Farmer’s inspiration, the Chicago World’s Fair, where Bahá’u’lláh was first mentioned to the American public.
Most interesting are these words written by the Guardian through his secretary in 1932: “Definite courses should be given along the different phases of the Bahá’í Faith and in a manner that will stimulate the students to proceed in their studies privately once they return home, for the period of a few days is not sufficient to learn everything. They have to be taught the habit of studying the Cause constantly, for the more we read the Words the more will the truth they contain be revealed to us.”
Green Acre[edit]
The School sessions of Green Acre will this year be confined to the month of August. In addition to a session for Youth, the School will have two study courses a day, Monday to Friday, during the two middle weeks of August, and conference activities and other plans for the last week will be announced later. The National Spiritual Assembly will meet at Green Acre on August first and second.
Saturday, August 1. General Conference with N. S. A. Saturday evening.
Monday to Thursday, August 3-6. Study course for Bahá’í youth. Subject, The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, conducted by Mrs. Elizabeth Greenleaf.
Friday and Saturday, August 7 and 8, Youth Conference. Sunday, August 9, Youth Symposium.
Monday to Friday, August 10-14. The Bahá’í Life, conducted by Mrs. Dorothy Baker. Islám, conducted by Hishmat Alai.
Monday to Friday, August 17-21. Nature of the Manifestation, conducted by Mrs. Mamie L. Seto. World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, conducted by Mrs. Mary Collison.
A three-day intensive Teaching Conference, conducted by R. G. Collison and Bishop Brown, will be held August 27, 28, 29.
The Executive Committee announces that Green Acre Inn will be open during July, as well as during the School sessions in August. Rates, including meals: For Youth Session a special rate is offered young people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five years of $9.00 to $12.50 per week, room and board. Regular rate at the Inn, $12.50 to $22.50, room and board. Make reservations through Mrs. Leslie Russell, Manager, Green Acre Inn, Eliot, Maine, two weeks in advance if possible. Those attending the Youth Session should make reservation not later than July 25.
Geyserville[edit]
The following general program has been prepared, and more details will be made available later.
July 13-18. The Spirit, Teachings and Influence of Islám; The Nature of the Manifestation.
July 20-25. The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: the Bahá’í Life.
Every other day during this two-week period there will be a “Bahá’í Teacher Training Course” conducted on the basis of round table discussion.
Louhelen Ranch[edit]
Youth Session, June 22-25. Registration, June 21.
Daily morning program. Comparison of Religious Administrative Orders, Mrs. Bahiyyih Lindstrom. The Bahá’í Life, Mrs. Dorothy Baker, Security for a Failing World, Prof. Stanwood Cobb.
First general session, June 28-July 5. Registration, June 27.
Daily morning program. Foundations of the New World Order, Allen B. McDaniel. The Bahá’í Teachings and Mysticism. Prof. Glenn L. Shook, The Qur’án and Islámic Culture, Prof, Stanwood Cobb.
Second general session, August 2-9. Registration, August 1.
Daily morning program. Life and
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Spiritual Laws, Mrs. Mamie L. Seto,
the Qur’án and Islámic Culture, Mrs.
Marzieh Carpenter. The Bahá’í Administrative Order, Willard McKay.
Louhelen Ranch is on Michigan State Route M-15, three miles south of Davison, Mich. P. O. address, Davison, Mich., R. F. D. 1. Buses and trains will be met at Flint if notice of arrival is sent in advance.
Rates, including meals. For Youth session: per day per person, four days, $5.00. General sessions: per day per person, single room, $2.10; double room, $1.75; dormitory, $1.35.
Make reservations as early as possible with Mrs. L. W. Eggleston, 201 East Kirby Avenue, Detroit, Mich.
IN MEMORIAM[edit]
Death proffereth unto every confident believer the cup that is life indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of gladness. It conferreth the gift of everlasting life.—Bahá’u’lláh.
- Mr. George E. Witte, Willcox, Arizona.
- Mrs. Thursa Morwood-Clark, Vancouver.
- Mr. William B. Remey, Bremerton, Washington.
- Mrs. Maverette Fisher, Three Rivers, Massachusetts.
PUBLISHING ANNOUNCEMENTS[edit]
The Unfoldment of World Civilization, by Shoghi Effendi. Paper covers, $0.15.
The Bahá’í House of Worship, by Genevieve L. Coy. Illustrated with two photographs of the Temple. The latest addition to the list of pamphlets prepared for special use as free literature. $2.25 per one hundred copies. Price when sold by local Assemblies to individuals, two copies for $0.05.
Bahá’í Administration, by Shoghi Effendi. New edition, containing the Guardian’s general letters, except the “World Order” letters, which are to be issued as a separate volume. Per copy, $1.50.
Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Special announcement of reduction in price. New prices: Bound in cloth, $0.75. Bound in paper, $0.25.
New Schedule of Discounts[edit]
Effective May 1, 1936, the National Spiritual Assembly has authorized the following discounts:
- 10% to Assemblies on orders of less than $10.00.
- 25% to Assemblies on orders of $10.00 and more.
- 25% to individuals on orders of $25.00 and more when the literature is intended for teaching purposes.
Send orders to Bahá’í Publishing Committee, P. O. Box 348, Grand Central Annex, New York, N. Y., or to Western Division, Mrs. Emma F. Smith, 940 Leavenworth Street, San Francisco, Calif.
BAHÁ’Í WORLD AS A TEACHING MEDIUM[edit]
The Bahá’í World, Volume V, offers a unique opportunity to intensify local Assembly teaching work, for its comprehensive record of the growth of the Bahá’í Faith throughout the world together with its profusion of photographs commands the immediate interest of whomever it reaches. Assemblies should see that every library in their communities is supplied with a circulating copy.
A recent analysis of the calls for Bahá’í books in libraries of two cities reveals that there have been approximately thirty-five per cent more calls for The Bahá’í World than any other single Bahá’í publication. One Assembly created much interest and increased circulation of Bahá’í books by arranging with the Librarian for a week’s exhibition of all Bahá’í books in the library catalogue, featuring especially The Bahá’í World. Volume V, by means of attractive placards.
Copies of The Bahá’í World should be placed in reading rooms, metaphysical studios, philosophic libraries, Y. W. C. A. and Y. M. C. A. libraries, etc. Also because of its importance as reference material it should be placed in the libraries of large newspapers and radio stations, universities, colleges, art schools, mechanics institutes, etc. Assemblies could well purchase a number of copies to send to liberal educators, social scientists, peace and welfare workers, as the articles concerning the Faith as well as the record of growth and achievement in The Bahá’í World cannot do other than impress these leaders with the importance of the Cause and create a wider and deeper understanding of the Teachings and the World Order enshrined therein.
- TEACHING COMMITTEE.
ANNUAL REPORT[edit]
National Spiritual Assembly, 1935-1936[edit]
Delegates of the Twenty-Eighth Annual Convention.
Dear Bahá’í friends:
The year that has come to a close, while marked by vigorous and varied activity, has been a period of spiritual incubation, of a turning inward to the life of the soul, such as has not occurred, perhaps, since the American Bahá’ís entered the valley of desolation at the loss of our Master, our inspiration, our guide, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Two conditions may be noted as chiefly responsible for this concentration of effort upon the establishment of a more conscious and vital inner life—the Guardian’s gift of “Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh”, that inexhaustible draft of the Divine Elixir, and the increased perturbations of a world whose “foundations tremble and whose wise men are confounded.” In reality we should regard these not as two conditions but as the two facets of the same providential destiny which both destroys and creates.
As long ago as November 24, 1924, Shoghi Effendi wrote: “We have but to turn our eyes to the world without to realize the fierceness and the magnitude of the forces of darkness that are struggling with the dawning light of the Abhá Revelation. Nations, though exhausted and disillusioned, have seemingly begun to cherish anew the spirit of revenge, of domination, and strife. Peoples, convulsed by economic upheavals, are slowly drifting into two great opposing camps with all their menace of social chaos, class hatreds, and world-wide ruin. Races, alienated more than ever before, are filled with mistrust, humiliation and fear, and seem to prepare themselves for a fresh and fateful encounter. Creeds and religions, caught in this whirlpool of conflict and passion, appear to gaze with impotence and despair at this spectacle of unceasing turmoil.”
What the Guardian, with clear and unimpeded view, could then so deeply discern, the nations themselves, for all the veils of spiritual darkness interfering with and distorting their vision, now begin to appreciate. It is the note of conscious desperation sounding in society which this year has surrounded us with an altered environment, one far more responsive to the ministration of the Divine Physician, yet one which likewise makes supreme challenge to the community of Bahá’ís.
What wonder then that Shoghi Ef-
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fendi has made teaching the very essence of our individual and collective
Bahá’í life; what wonder that he has
made the translation of Bahá’u’lláh’s
Tablets so important a part of his
myriad services; what wonder that the
believers themselves, without relaxing
their effort in the performance of definite tasks, have felt intensely the need
for renewing and confirming their relationship to the Manifestation of God
upon which all capacity and all effort
depends!
Therefore, as we summarize the history of this Bahá’í year terminated by the Twenty-Eighth Annual Convention, let us not fail to bear in mind the fact that not by outward progress and achievement alone, but also by the establishment of purer motives, deeper humility and new powers of understanding, does the Bahá’í community fulfil its privilege as the “nucleus and pattern” of the world order of Bahá’u’lláh.
“Termination of First Stage of Formative Period of Our Faith”[edit]
Examining the year as a whole, the following events and trends seem to possess most decisive importance.
First, the publication of “Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh”; second, the completion of the external decoration of the clerestory section of the dome unit; third, the formation of ten new Spiritual Assemblies, which took place near the end of last year but could not be recognized and reported to the friends until after the 1935 Convention; fourth, the intensification of teaching activities and the increased clarity and power with which the believers have promulgated the Message; fifth, the visit paid us by Ruhi Effendi Afnán; and sixth, the National Meeting at the Bahá’í House of Worship on October 26 and 27 which commemorated the completion of another stage in Temple construction and inaugurated the beginning of general conferences between the National Spiritual Assembly and the representatives of local Assemblies.
| NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
1936-1937 The Assembly elected at the recent Convention has organized as follows:
General address: 130 Evergreen Place, West Englewood, N. J. Office of the Secretary, 119 Waverly Place, New York, N. Y. Office of the Treasurer, 130 Evergreen Place, West Englewood, N. J. |
On August 3, in response to a cablegram announcing the completion of the clerestory section, the Guardian used these significant words: “Gratefully rejoice closing glorious chapter marking termination first stage (of) Formative Period of our Faith. Appeal entire community henceforth concentrate its attention (and) resources (upon) activities (in the) teaching field, ensuring thereby (the) means essential for completion remaining units. Praying continually success.”
Thus were we made conscious of the operation of the mysterious law of cycles, under which each successive period is given its lesson to learn, its task to perform, creating thereby, like the succession of classes in a school, an enlargement of capacity for the harder tasks and the more important lessons to come. The opportunity offered does not return; only to the degree that we have been faithful in acquiring the qualities characteristic of the prior period, when the administrative structure was developed and the thoughts and actions concentrated upon Temple construction, can we rise to the full height of spiritual development and service vouchsafed to us in this era of teaching. The body of the Cause in America has been created. It is for us now to pray and strive that this body be filled with the light of true faith.
The character of the present era was in fact disclosed clearly to us in the cablegram sent to the National Spiritual Assembly for the conference at the Temple in October: “The forces which progressive revelation of this mighty symbol of our Faith is fast releasing in (the) heart of a sorely tried continent no one of this generation can correctly appraise. The new hour has struck in (the) history of our beloved Cause, calling for nation-wide, systematic, sustained effort in teaching field, enabling thereby these forces to be directed into such channels as shall redound to the glory of our Faith and (the) honor of its institutions.”
Such words are as the turning of a fresh page. May we inscribe upon it the record of inner and outer achievement brought into the realm of possibility and therefore responsibility by the irresistible onward march of God’s Cause!
The ten new communities of believers who have established Spiritual Assemblies, adding their force to the development of the new world order, have surely received the prayers and good wishes of the friends as they assume their place in the Cause and take up the responsibilities which rest upon all who enter the realm of sacrifice and unity. In the letter of greeting sent them by the National Spiritual Assembly last May, they were reminded of these words written by Shoghi Effendi in 1923: “Though your number ... be small and limited, yet by virtue of that Celestial Power bequeathed to every one of you by our departed Master, you are assured that ere long your small company shall expand and wield such power and influence as no earthly power can ever hope for or attain. Who can doubt that He is ever watching from His Station on high over His scattered fold and is guiding and strengthening His faithful lovers who toil and labor for the fulfilment of His word and the realization of His purpose for mankind?”
For a summary of the teaching activities animating the friends this year and marking their first early response to the Guardian’s appeal, we can await with deep interest the report of the Teaching Committee and its comment upon the progress of this all-important aspect of our Bahá’í life. Only one remark need be made here; that the root of all spiritual teaching lies hidden in the soil of the quickened soul, nourished by study and devotion voluntarily attained by the individual himself, and that the success of any general teaching plan depends entirely upon the extent to which we ourselves, as individual believers, have made intense prior effort to become firmly rooted in the spiritual Kingdom. Bahá’í teaching is the fruit of faith and the measure of unity. The Cause is perfect and the world of humanity is starved for lack of the bread of understanding and the wine of love. Therefore may we not for one moment regard our existence in the Cause as a kind of static membership which, once attained, we hold passively for life, but rather as a dynamic opportunity that must be fulfilled by continuous advance from stage to stage without limit and without end.
As we were told in “The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh”: “That the Cause associated with the name of Bahá’u’lláh feeds itself upon those hidden springs of celestial
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strength which no force of human personality, whatever its glamor, can replace; that its reliance is solely upon
that mystic Source with which no
worldly advantage, be it wealth, fame
or learning, can compare; that it propagates itself by ways mysterious and
utterly at variance with the standards
accepted by the generality of mankind,
will ... become increasingly apparent
as it forges ahead towards fresh conquests in its struggle for the spiritual
regeneration of mankind.” On the
other hand, this truth does not exclude
unified effort nor well-conceived general plans; it does not confine teaching
to the realm of personal mysticism;
rather does it reveal the necessity of
imbuing our plans, whatever they are
from year to year, with spiritual reality and not relying upon formal and
collective measures alone.
It was most fortunate and opportune that the American visit of Ruhi Effendi Afnán came at the time when we were beginning to realize that the Guardian’s words on teaching involved our rise to a higher level and not merely a duplication of former attitudes and methods. While that visit, unhappily, could not extend west of Chicago, nevertheless for many communities it brought inspiration and active, fruitful assistance. His knowledge, his passionate desire to promote the teachings, his heroic endurance in carrying out the continuous schedule of meetings—all this contributed greatly to the advancement made by the Cause in America this year. An invitation was urgently extended by the National Assembly to return in the summer of 1936, but his duties at Haifa made it impossible for him to accept.
The conference held in Temple Foundation Hall last October, which gave to so many believers an opportunity to consult on the important subjects provided by the agenda, will, it is hoped, be followed in the future by similar general Bahá’í conferences held not only in Foundation Hall but also in other parts of the country. The recommendation has been recorded in the Minutes of the National Assembly for the consideration of the incoming Assembly, that it prepare a schedule of its meetings throughout the year in advance, which schedule is to provide if possible for similar conferences with the friends on the Pacific Coast, on the Atlantic Coast, and perhaps also for those in the South. Included in the recommendation is the thought that these regional conferences should contain one or more large public meetings, like the Bahá’í Congress held at each Annual Convention; so that the consultation of the friends and the collective responsibility for teaching may be more closely linked together by the National Spiritual Assembly.
It is interesting to note that this general plan revives and extends a policy put forward by the Assembly some ten years ago, when effort was made to hold a public meeting at the conclusion of each Assembly meeting—an effort which the pressure of work compelled the Assembly to forego after a few months. We trust that the time has now come when the idea can be developed with added energy and made a distinct aspect of Bahá’í activity.
Letters from the Guardian[edit]
In BAHÁ’Í NEWS for June, 1935 the Guardian’s cabled message to the last Convention (received after the Convention adjourned) was reported to all believers. We note again the strong emphasis laid upon teaching: “Appeal assembled delegates and incoming National Assembly earnestly deliberate measures required (to) stimulate all local communities (and) groups (to) lend immediate, unprecedented impetus (to) teaching activities throughout United States (and) Canada. Sustained concentration (on) this paramount issue can alone reveal potentialities (of) beloved Temple and enable superb self-sacrifice associated with it (to) yield its fairest fruit.”
The following issue published excerpts from a letter dated April 28 and a letter dated June 15, 1935, on the following subjects: Title of the Anniversary observed on November 26, henceforth to be known as “The Day of the Covenant”; translation of the Symbol of the Greatest Name either as “O Glory of Glories” or as “O Glory of the All-Glorious”; the “vital importance and necessity of the voting right—a sacred responsibility of which no adult recognized believer should be deprived, unless he is associated with a community that has not as yet been in a position to establish a local Assembly.... This distinguishing right ... however, does not carry with it nor does it imply an obligation to cast his vote, if he feels that the circumstances under which he lives do not justify or allow him to exercise that right intelligently and with understanding”; an instruction on chanting in the Temple; on membership in non-Bahá’í religious bodies; and on the paramount importance of teaching. Another letter published in July referred to the slight alleviation of conditions in Iran (Persia), due in part to the wholehearted obedience of the believers to the orders of the government.
The cablegram of August 3 on the subject of the completion of the clerestory section of the Temple has already been quoted. During this year the Assembly has received from the Guardian many title deeds to pieces of land acquired either by purchase or by gift from their Bahá’í owners, which land is now held by the Palestine Branch of the American N. S. A.
In October BAHÁ’Í NEWS appeared excerpts from the Guardian’s letters dated June 15, July 29 and August 11 which conveyed instruction on the importance of the National Fund, the reason why believers should not be identified with non-Bahá’í religious bodies, the laws of the Aqdás, encouragement to serve in both the administrative and teaching fields of Bahá’í activity.
His cabled message to the October conference has already been quoted, the full text appearing in the December issue of BAHÁ’Í NEWS. With it were published excerpts from a letter dated October 2, 1935. These passages referred to the book entitled “Modern Mystics” by Sir Francis Younghusband; approved the suggestion that in BAHÁ’Í NEWS be published from time to time such letters of the Guardian to individual believers as are referred to him for approval by the N. S. A.; stated that no importance should be attached to the stories told about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá or to those attributed to Him by the friends; and in the postscript written by Shoghi Effendi the revitalizing of the teaching work was strongly emphasized.
On November 24, in a letter to the National Treasurer, the Guardian assured the contributors to the Mount Carmel Fund of his “abiding and lively appreciation of their spontaneous and self-sacrificing assistance and efforts for the protection and promotion of the international interests of the Faith at its world center.” The first part of the letter stressed the great privilege the American Bahá’í have had in taking a preponderating share in “securing for the Cause assets that are most valuable, nay, quite indispensable, to the future development and present consolidation of its manifold institutions” at Haifa. This communication was reported to the friends in BAHÁ’Í NEWS of March, 1936.
In the same number appeared that moving explanation of the ordinance of fasting which came to the N. S. A. in a letter dated January 10, 1936, and the request that the friends be encouraged to contribute articles to the Sonne der Wahrheit, the magazine of the N. S. A. of Germany and
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Austria, in a letter dated January 8.
The postscript of the communication
dated January 10 should, in part at
least, be quoted once more because
of its penetrating power: “This new
stage in the gradual unfoldment of the
Formative Period of our Faith into
which we have just entered—the
phase of concentrated teaching activity—synchronizes with a period of
deepening gloom, of universal impotence, of ever-increasing destitution
and a widespread disillusionment in
the fortunes of a declining age. This
is truly providential and its significance
and the opportunities it offers us
should be fully apprehended and utilized.” One portion of that same letter
answered a question submitted to
Shoghi Effendi concerning the form of
the Bahá’í funeral service.
After sending to Haifa the balance of the fund required to purchase the Dumit property, the Treasurer received a letter dated January 7, 1936, from which this general reference is quoted: “The self-sacrifice which the American believers have so whole-heartedly consented to undergo in this connection are truly stupendous, and bear striking testimony to their readiness to support, at any time and in the very midst of the financial exigencies of the Cause in America, the international institutions of the Faith, and particularly the international Fund. May Bahá’u’lláh richly reward you all, both in this world and in the next.”
Other communications have made comments on and given approval to certain statements submitted to the Guardian by the N. S. A., and these words have been published as part of those statements, for example, on “Bahá’ís and War,” “The Residential Qualification of Voting Membership in a Bahá’í Community,” and “Concerning Membership in Non-Bahá’í Religious Organizations.”
The following letters have been received during the interval between the meeting of the N. S. A. in March and its meeting on April 29, too late for publication in the April, Pre-Convention Number, of BAHÁ’Í NEWS.
On March 4, the Guardian, through his secretary, wrote the Treasurer: “Will you also kindly convey to the N. S. A. his genuine appreciation of their monthly contributions to the International Fund in Haifa. In these days when the expenses of the Cause in America are getting increasingly larger, it is truly splendid to witness the continued and unfailing support which the American believers are extending to that Fund.”
On March 17, in a letter to the National Assembly: “The Guardian is sending you under separate cover one of the finest photographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with the request that you instruct the Publishing Committee to make reproductions of it, and send him twenty copies as soon as they can. He wishes also to have the reproductions of this photograph published in the next issue of the Biennial. This will be the only single picture of the Master that will appear in this volume (VI).
“The Guardian also wishes you to present the original of this photograph for presentation to the National Archives, and also to show it to the friends and delegates at the next National Convention.”
Finally, all American Bahá’ís have received another general communication from Shoghi Effendi of the character of his “World Order” letters. Action was taken at once to have it published in pamphlet form, that copies might be sent to all communities, groups and isolated believers. At the date of this writing it cannot be stated definitely when the printed copies will be available, but the approximate time will doubtless be within the first week in May. A proof has been brought to the Convention. Special reference will be made to this letter at the conclusion of the present Report.
Statements, Procedures and Rulings Adopted by the National Assembly[edit]
Before dealing with this subject in detail, let us attempt to approach what appears to be a technical and uninteresting aspect of the Cause in a spirit of sympathetic understanding.
Upon Bahá’ís rest a vital problem and responsibility to make religion a civilization rather than a church, a creed or a form of personal mysticism. The new quality breathed into the world at this Dispensation is justice. To attain justice, Bahá’u’lláh provided laws and principles, a continuing Interpreter, and institutions to administer the affairs of His Cause. In order to apply the known and recognized principles to actual situations arising in all communities, the National Assembly from time to time prepares a statement, a procedure or a ruling. Each of these is but a means to an end, a method of dealing with specific issues in order to prevent confusion and to promote justice. Exactly as the sciences and arts have their applications based upon time-tested methods; exactly as even the smallest civil community has its ordinances and regulations, so the Bahá’í body must function in accordance with definite and published procedures to which all believers are expected to conform. When a type of problem arises over and over again in the local communities, an established procedure simply means that experience has indicated a uniform way of meeting it, with the result that the powers of the friends can concentrate upon finding the right solution in each case and not be dissipated in effort to create, again and again, a temporary framework of method conforming to the Bahá’í administrative order and the Bahá’í ideal of justice. An extempore, ever-changing manner of dealing with issues not only tends to take the time and strength of a Spiritual Assembly but can even overshadow the original issue with differences of opinion on how the issue should best be handled. The only way in which we can be free to concern ourselves with activities of the highest importance is to meet secondary matters with reference to some definite procedure or ruling.
Therefore, the more attention the friends give to each procedure and ruling at the time it is published, the more our collective powers and resources can be employed for the highest ends. Fundamental to all Bahá’í activity, individual or general, is the unity of the believers; and this unity is not merely one of agreement as to the Source of Reality but also as to the art and science of our daily intercourse and association. Only with the delicate net woven both of love and knowledge can the bird of Justice be captured and brought to this needy earth.
The general statements prepared by the National Assembly have been on the following subjects: Bahá’ís and War, Membership in Non-Bahá’í Religious Organizations. The new procedures have been: The Conduct of a Local Spiritual Assembly, The Residential Qualification of Voting Membership in a Bahá’í Community, Differences Between Individual Believers, On Gossip and Backbiting, The Conduct of the Annual Bahá’í Convention, with which might be associated the statement prepared by the Los Angeles Assembly, “Of Essential Importance Is Your Unity and Agreement.”
Among the rulings may be cited: that groups intending to elect a Spiritual Assembly should report to the N. S. A. by February 1, to allow time for the Teaching Committee to render assistance and determine whether the group is prepared for that important step; the rescinding of the ruling made last year, that the notation “Ap-
[Page 7]
proved by the Reviewing Committee”
is not to appear in works published
through channels outside the Cause;
that believers are not to be removed
from the voting list for non-attendance, but the local Assembly should
endeavor to stimulate their interest;
that annual memorial meetings by a
Bahá’í community for an individual
believer are not approved; that the
Temple property, including the studio
and beach, is to be devoted exclusively
to devotional, administrative and teaching activities, but this policy does not
refer to any activities to be ultimately
carried on in the future in the five
accessory buildings of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár; that when a book is financed
by a Bahá’í author with the idea that
the Publishing Committee is to distribute the book, the author is to turn
the cost over to the Publishing Committee, so that the Committee itself
can supervise the printing; that all
radio broadcasts of a directly Bahá’í
character are to be approved by the local Assembly; young people, between
the ages of fifteen and twenty-one,
whether or not children of Bahá’ís,
may record with their local Assembly
their intention of becoming members
of the community on reaching the voting age and thereby receive the privilege of attending Nineteen Day Feasts
and other Bahá’í meetings but without
the privilege of voting. They may read
selections in the spiritual program but
not serve as chairmen of the spiritual
program. If matters affecting Bahá’í
youth are under discussion they may
report their views on the subject. They
may be appointed as members of local
Youth Committees by the Spiritual Assembly. Children of Bahá’í parents do
not receive this privilege automatically
but must make the same declaration of
intention as other young people. Bahá’í
parents are not to coerce their children
to make this declaration, but are expected to point out to their children
the importance of voluntarily associating themselves with the Bahá’í Faith.
When letters are received from members of a Bahá’í community making
suggestions and raising questions about
local conditions, they are to be
directed to go to their local Assembly and not to apply to the
N. S. A. unless dissatisfied with the
action of the local Assembly; that
the transfer of believers involved in
unfinished matters proceeding under
the local Assembly is to be postponed
pending a report of the circumstances
to the National Assembly and its approval of the transfer: that each local
Assembly hereafter send the National
Assembly a copy of all important notices covering policies, rules or regulations as well as important announcements having to do with elections and
organization under Bahá’í administration, which the local Assembly may
issue to the Bahá’í community from
time to time; that local groups are requested to elect a Correspondent once
a year, and preferably on April 21, the
function of the Correspondent being to
receive copies of BAHÁ’Í NEWS for local distribution, and to serve as link
between the group and the N. S. A.,
Teaching Committee, Publishing Committee, etc. The two rulings published in BAHÁ’Í NEWS of June, 1935,
were adopted by the National Assembly in office last year.
It is clear that the increasing number of procedures and rulings makes it impossible for individual believers to remember them all, but many of the friends have begun to develop their own Bahá’í records and files for reference, and such a function might well be assigned by local Assemblies to an officer or special committee each year.
The Decisive Events of the Year[edit]
Only time can determine the relative importance of matters affecting the Cause, but the following specific happenings all have more than merely temporary value.
- The publication of “Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.”
- The consolidation of Bahá’í control of land surrounding the Shrines on Mount Carmel.
- The completion of the entire dome unit of the House of Worship.
- The transfer to Trustees under an Indenture of the house at Malden, Mass., given to the Guardian under the Will and Testament of the late Maria Wilson—the house at which the Master rested for some time during His American visit.
- The donation to the Cause by Mr. and Mrs. John Bosch of the property at Geyserville, Calif. for use as a Bahá’í Summer School. As this property is also held under an Indenture of Trust, it makes five separate legal bodies to be administered in addition to the function of the National Spiritual Assembly itself: Temple Trustees, Green Acre Trustees, Wilhelm Trustees, Trustees for the Wilson property at Malden, and Trustees under the Indenture effected by Mr. and Mrs. Bosch.
- The second visit made to America by Ruhi Effendi Afnán.
- The symbol of the Greatest Name has been legally protected for the Cause by trade mark registration both in the United States and Canada. The word “Bahá’í” was similarly protected in the United States some years ago, and Canadian protection of it has likewise been obtained.
- The Encyclopaedia Britannica has removed the article on “Babiism” which for years has conveyed a limited and in many ways inaccurate impression of the Cause and replaced it with a new article approved by the Reviewing Committee, and furthermore has provided space for a brief article under the heading “Bahá’í.” These changes will appear in the next printing of the present edition, and we have the assurance that in the next edition the subject of the Bahá’í Faith will be more adequately treated than was possible in the restricted space available in the existing edition. To Miss Edna True we are indebted for the interest shown by the Editor in arranging for the two new articles.
- The increased number of American believers serving the Cause in foreign lands, and the notable services they have been privileged to render. Early in the Bahá’í year, Mrs. True and Mrs. Hoagg returned from Europe and Mr. R. A. Mathews and Mrs. Loulie Mathews from their journey through South America. The American believers now teaching abroad are: Miss Martha L. Root, Miss Lenora Holzapple, Miss Agnes Alexander, Miss Marion Jack, Mrs. Louise Gregory, Mrs. Clara Sharp, Miss Adelaide Sharp, Miss Julia Goldman, Mr. Charles Bishop and Mrs. Helen Bishop, Mrs. Anna Kunz, Miss Bertha Matthiesen, Miss Orcella Rexford, Mrs. Ruhangis Bolles, Miss Jean Bolles and Mr. Randolph Bolles, Jr., Mrs. May Maxwell, Miss Mary Maxwell, Mrs. Inez Greven, Mrs. India Haggerty, Mr. Mark Tobey, Mr. George Spendlove, Mrs. Isabelle Stebbins Dodge, Mr. Dudley Blakely, Mrs. Elsa Russell Blakely, Mrs. Lorol Schopflocher, Mme. Gita Orlova. Thus the American Bahá’í community, through such devoted adherents, continues to perform its high mission in the Bahá’í world.
- Early in the Bahá’í year, it was the privilege of the N. S. A. to meet the boat on which Mr. and Mrs. Howard Carpenter returned from their visit to Persia.
- The more vigorous and comprehensive plans carried out by Bahá’í youth, under which groups throughout America and in many other countries held the first of a series of regional conferences, extended their services into the field of public teaching, and, by the National Youth Committee, inaugurated a new and improved Youth bulletin.
- The publication of The Bahá’í World, Vol. V, an immense undertaking, both with respect to the gathering of its contents and the cost involved in its printing, with commensurate value as an impressive evidence of the international scope of the Bahá’í community.
- The deepening in our collective realization of the importance of the three Summer Schools as instruments destined to exalt the standards of our public teaching in all local communities, and concentrate both facilities and experience for the establishment of future Bahá’í Universities.
- The publication of the first three new teaching pamphlets in the series planned by the Free Literature Committee, which when completed will provide brief but interesting statements on essential aspects of the Faith, at a price so low that eventually hundreds of thousands of copies may be distributed.
- The completion of the important task assumed by the Committee on Editing Tablets several years ago, of preparing the unpublished Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in the National Archives for use in another volume of Tablets.
- The preparation of the general letters written by the Guardian for publication in two volumes instead of the one volume issued originally in 1928. Under the new plan, the letters are to be divided into two series one with the present title of “Bahá’í Administration”; the other with the title “The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh” and containing those letters on that subject received in more recent years. This general idea, it may be remarked, was approved by the Guardian in 1934, but the plan has been deferred until the supply of the books on hand was exhausted. The next edition of “Bahá’í Administration” will contain several early letters reported this year by the Archives Committee. The “World Order” volume will contain the two “World Order” letters, “The Goal of a New World Order,” “The Golden Age of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh,” “America and the Most Great Peace,” “The Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh,” and the new letter already mentioned, on “The Unfoldment of World Civilization.” This latter book, as all believers recognize, traces not merely for the present Bahá’í community but also for humanity itself the golden thread of Divine destiny woven through the fabric of human life in this crucial period.
- The inclusion of an illustrated article on the Temple and the Teachings in the “American Guide” series of volumes under preparation by writers in a Federal Department, which will be duplicated in the volumes covering the State of Illinois.
- The first effort to compile information concerning each individual believer in the United States and Canada by means of the “Historical Record” cards distributed a few months after the last Convention. This task is by no means fully completed at the present time. Some of the largest local communities, where the work is naturally more detailed and extensive than in the smaller communities, have not yet returned their cards. It is hoped that the cards still unreceived can be returned within the next few months. A word of explanation about the questions listed on the card: the 1935 Convention expressed the thought that it would be interesting to know the different racial backgrounds entering into the American Bahá’í community, and this view was embodied in the questions, together with further questions bringing out the various national and religious origins among the friends.
- The possibility that Spiritual Assemblies will be established this year in the new cities of Dayton, Ohio, Springfield Mass., and Rockford, Ill.
Other events, doubtless equally important, are recorded in the many annual Committee reports published in
the Pre-Convention issue of BAHÁ’Í NEWS.
BAHÁ’Í NEWS, it should be remarked, has been the vehicle for so many general statements and reports that there has not been space for publishing a number of interesting news items this year. The thought might be advanced that possibly in future a distinction can be made between material intended primarily for local Spiritual Assemblies, and material directed to all Bahá’ís. The material intended for the Assemblies could be issued in the form of a monthly mimeographed bulletin, while the more general information could have priority in BAHÁ’Í NEWS NEWS. Such a method would tend to develop BAHÁ’Í NEWS along the lines indicated in the letter written by the Guardian on April 10, 1925.
General Observations[edit]
A few general observations may be permitted, in order to learn as much as possible from our collective experience during the time since the last Convention.
First of all, let us note that the Guardian’s communications have in several instances been directed to the individual believer, emphasizing values in the Bahá’í life which only voluntary effort can create. For example, his appeal for concentrated effort on teaching goes to the very heart of individual faith and devotion, and cannot be fulfilled by administrative effort alone. His call for an abandonment of membership in non-Bahá’í religious bodies is another appeal to the individual loyalty. In his definition of the National Fund as “bedrock on which all other institutions must necessarily rest and be established,” Shoghi Effendi clearly enlarges the sphere of the individual believer’s responsibility. His letter on prayer and fasting, above all, strikes the note of personal spirituality which must distinguish our own heart’s relationship to the Divine.
Without this personal responsibility and continuous individual effort to advance in spiritual realms, administrative action would be fruitless and unavailing, a mere exercise of defined authority and power without result. Only in a common consecration to Bahá’u’lláh can the inner as well as outer ties between communities and Assemblies become fulfilled in the unity for which the Manifestation suffered all the days of His life on earth.
Regarding the National Fund, we have the Guardian’s expressed view that the demands upon it can be fully met by enlarging constantly the number of confirmed Bahá’ís. He does not advocate a retreat into smaller efforts and diminishing powers, but raises the golden banner heralding a determined and unflagging advance along the entire line. He has declared that none can estimate the reinforcement which the Bahá’í community, and every active believer, will receive from on high when devotion becomes motion of the spirit to share a God-given truth.
How can we increase our own effective effort, and help one another achieve the purpose of the blessed Cause? One way is to enlarge our conception and purify our view of the universal meaning of Bahá’í consultation, the principle underlying all our activities and sustaining our collective life. Consultation has been ordained not to enable any individual or group to bring pressure to bear upon others for the sake of attaining some predetermined aim. Consultation surely means that personal and group suggestions are advanced for the sake of contributing to the general community or Assembly discussion, and in a spirit severed from grief or dissatisfaction whatever the final decision may be. Furthermore, the law of consultation means that no matter how difficult the problem or tangled the situation which arises, all the believers concerned with it will continue their mutual contact
[Page 9]
and maintain effort to solve it until the
problem has actually been removed. It
is the breaking of relations and the refusal of consultation that makes problems unsolvable by the world outside
the Cause. Finally, the important
point should be made that individual
believers must cherish supremely their
spiritual relationship with their Bahá’í
community as a whole, and not unconsciously seek to develop stronger affiliation with those who happen to be
personally congenial. All such intimate groups within the community
tend to become partisan or otherwise
less than universal, thereby cutting
their members off from the life of the
community as a whole. In the same
way, those who remain absent from
Nineteen Day meetings and other general Bahá’í gatherings lose the flow of
life through the Bahá’í body, and after
a time must necessarily become unduly
individualistic or reflect the influence
of the non-Bahá’í environment. The
creation of unity brings sacrifice and suffering to every believer without exception. We can pay this price with
gratitude and cheerfulness rather than
reluctance if we realize that every experience of unhappiness or confusion
we encounter in the Cause represents nothing else than opportunity for further growth in the Kingdom. To withdraw from a situation because it challenges our ego is a turning away from
the healing waters that well from the
Source of life and love.
“The Unfoldment of World Civilization”[edit]
In conclusion, a few quotations from the Guardian’s latest letter, addressed to all the friends. Its title, “The Unfoldment of World Civilization,” suggests its marvelous scope as an analysis of the death of the old order and the birth of the new.
“The contrast between the accumulating evidences of steady consolidation that accompany the rise of the Administrative Order of the Faith of God, and the forces of disintegration which batter at the fabric of a travailing society, is as clear as it is arresting. Both within and without the Bahá’í world the signs and tokens which, in a mysterious manner, are heralding the birth of that World Order, the establishment of which must signalize the Golden Age of the Cause of God, are growing and multiplying day by day....
“This New World Order, whose promise is enshrined in the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, whose fundamental principles have been enunciated in the writings of the Center of His Covenant, involves no less than the complete unification of the entire human race.... No machinery falling short of the standard inculcated by the Bahá’í Revelation, and at variance with the sublime pattern ordained in His teachings, which the collective efforts of mankind may yet devise can ever hope to achieve anything above or beyond that ‘Lesser Peace’ to which the Author of our Faith has Himself alluded in His writings.... The Most Great Peace on the other hand, as conceived by Bahá’u’lláh—a peace that must inevitably follow as the practical consequence of the spiritualization of the world and the fusion of all its races, creeds, classes and nations—can rest on no other basis, and can be preserved through no other agency, except the divinely appointed ordinances that are implicit in the World Order that stands associated with His holy name.
“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. It should be viewed not merely as yet another spiritual revival in the ever-changing fortunes of mankind, not only as a further stage in a chain of progressive Revelations, nor even as the culmination of one of a series of recurrent prophetic cycles, but rather as marking the last and highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man’s collective life on this planet. The emergence of a world community, the consciousness of world citizenship, the founding of a world civilization and culture—all of which must synchronize with the initial stages in the unfoldment of the Golden Age of the Bahá’í era—should, by their very nature, be regarded, as far as this planetary life is concerned, as the furthermost limits in the organization of human society, though man, as an individual, will, nay must indeed as a result of such a consummation, continue indefinitely to progress and develop.”
“For the revelation of so great a favor a period of intense turmoil and widespread suffering would seem to be indispensable. Resplendent as has been the Age that has witnessed the inception of the Mission with which Bahá’u’lláh has been entrusted, the interval which must elapse ere that Age yields its choicest fruit must, it is becomingly increasingly apparent, be overshadowed by such moral and social gloom as can alone prepare an unrepentent humanity for the prize she is destined to inherit.... Deep as is the gloom that already encircles the world, the afflictive ordeals which that world is to suffer are still in preparation, nor can their blackness be as yet imagined. We stand on the threshold of an age whose convulsions proclaim alike the death-pangs of the old order and the birth-pangs of the new.”
Such is the tremendous vista revealed to us by the Guardian’s power to open the door upon the movements of destiny! Nothing that is merely human nature can possibly sustain the shock of the collapse as the pillars of the false temple are thrown from their foundations by an Almighty power. Only the Cause of God can endure—the Cause that moves forward by the sincerity of its believers and their whole-souled unity in a Divine Faith.
- Yours faithfully,
- THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY,
- By: HORACE HOLLEY, Secretary.
ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS[edit]
1935-1936[edit]
(Concluded)[edit]
RACE AMITY[edit]
Early in September of 1935 the National Amity Committee sent a questionnaire throughout the country asking that the following questions be answered:
- First: Is race adjustment easy or difficult in your community?
- Second: If unfavorable, is this reaction due to individuals or from the whole group?
- Third: What is the general feeling of the community towards social relationship to alien races?
- Fourth: What is the chief service rendered by your Local Amity Committee?
- Fifth: Is your Amity Committee working in harmony with the Spiritual Assembly? Is it active and responsible?
- Sixth: Will you inform the Na-
- tional Committee if you need literature on Race Amity? Do you desire a teacher or speaker during the coming season, and if so, will you indicate time?
An answer was received from all the Assemblies without exception. Through these answers it was discovered that only a small proportion of the Assemblies have Amity Committees, the work being carried forward by the Spiritual Assembly. Harmony between races seems to be the rule and only in rare cases misunderstandings have arisen in the past. Friendly meetings were held by all the Assemblies and we had many requests for literature so that Louis Gregory’s pamphlet, “The Oneness of Mankind,” was sent to each Assembly.
Five Race Amity programs were contributed by the New York Center, three Race Amity Conferences, a Fellowship Meeting and a Study Course with Scientific Evidence and the addition of World Peace. Especial emphasis on economic and social considerations—participants were, Mr. Mountfort Mills, Mr. Horace Holley, Mrs. Bishop Lewis, Genevieve Coy, Ph.D., Mrs. M. B. Trotman, Mr. Elmer Carter, and Mrs. Elsa Blakely. The keynote of these valuable meetings was taken from the quotation of Bahá’u’lláh:
“O ye discerning ones of the people! Verily, the Words which have descended from the heaven of the Will of God are the source of unity and harmony for the world. Close your eyes to racial differences and welcome all with the light of oneness. Be the cause of the comfort and the advancement of humanity. This handful of dust, the world, is one home, let it be in unity.”
Mr. Louis Gregory was asked to teach wherever opportunity offered and at once received an invitation from the Spiritual Assembly of Toledo. Eight meetings were held besides one large Sunday Evening lecture, well advertised and attended.
One address was given in the University of Toledo, to the class in Race Relations, Mrs. Heslip, formerly of Boston, as teacher. Although it was subzero weather, the ardor and fire of the friends was not the least bit chilled, and good results everywhere followed.
Following, six meetings were held at Ann Arbor.
Six meetings followed at Lima, where the Cause is so well organized. Two of these were in colored churches, and one the weekly Amity Meeting.
Later five lectures were given at Columbus.
During eight days at Dayton fine contacts were made in teaching meetings, one of which was in the Unitarian Church. Nearly all meetings attracted both races. Five or six addresses were also made at Wilberforce University, the oldest Negro College in America. Special arrangements were made for Chapel, and with various professors to take over their classes. There was an enthusiastic reception and cordial invitation to return to them. The opposition of former years here seemed to melt away. Mrs. Ada M. Young, widow of Col. Charles Young, U. S. A., is the Bahá’í worker there.
At Cincinnati, four meetings were held, one at a hotel and another, at which an address of forty minutes was given to 600 Junior High School Students, in the largest public school, colored. Three hours were spent with a famous colored editor who was greatly attracted, Hon. Wendell Phillips Dabney, a former city Paymaster. All the Teaching and Unity meetings attracted earnest enquirers.
At Cleveland, some welfare workers were intensely active. They have put the Cause on the map, so to speak. They have a new meeting place and are full of the Divine Fire. In one of the days alone, five different meetings were addressed.
Glenville High School (majority students Jewish), Central High School, Cheerio Club ( for the blind), Committee of Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom, with their guests, a very fine group. And Night School at Central High School. This was indeed a very strenuous day.
Other days included addresses at:
- Outhwaite School for Boys.
- Longwood School for Girls.
- Thomas Edison High School (two addresses).
- Address at Bahá’í Center.
- Address at Y. M. C. A.
- Address to Social Workers at Y. M. C. A.
- Address to Mothers’ Club at Settlement House.
- Personal conferences with Friends, dinners, etc.
Here at South Bend, the campaign is in progress with a series of meetings at the Bahá’ís Center. Monday there was an address to the weekly meeting of the Clergymen of St. Joseph’s County, the Bahá’í lecturer being invited to take the place of the Mayor of South Bend, who had been expected, but was called away ten minutes before the meeting. This meeting of the clergy is inter-racial, inter-denominational and inter-religious. At least one of the members is a Jewish Rabbi. The clergy gave approval to the message given broadly, yet frankly. A venerable clergyman, 79 years old, who has attended some Bahá’í meetings, was the means of obtaining this fine audience.
A call has just come from Urbana, Illinois, for a series of meetings, beginning April 19.
The Milwaukee Assembly held an All Nations Conference at 2405 Maryland Avenue. The N. A. A. C. P. as well as the Urban League and Y. W. C. A. assisted enthusiastically. Mr. R. Tarbell, Administrator of the Vocational School, gave a fine address on “Modern Times.” His talk was followed by one Max Ruskin, City Attorney, on “Social Democracy.”
A talk on “Social and Race Unity” by Mrs. C. Turney, who has served seven years daily at the Urban League, was especially interesting as she had a wealth of experience to draw from. This beautiful and successful meeting was interspersed with music and followed by a tea. Mrs. C. Busch acted as Chairman.
The friends are still talking about this wonderful Conference and are hoping we may have more, and we pray that many new workers will arise to serve this most important avenue of service to humanity.
A fireside group is being formed for new souls attracted and may all the communities soon be blessed with the Spirit of this Conference, and we pray to Bahá’u’lláh to breathe it into all the American communities, so they can drink in the beauty and taste of the Divine elixir of unity and love between the races.
A thought contributed by the San Francisco Assembly seems worthy of holding as the right note for Amity in this Day.
“Isn’t the true attitude of the Faith towards this important subject not understood by most people, especially where complications have arisen?
“First, the Bahá’í faith is not an inter-racial movement. It is a religious faith based on the oneness of humanity, one God and one universal world order through which mankind may progress. In this World Order, race is not recognized and therefore within the faith, there is no such thing as race, or race consciousness.
“Second, Inter-racial meetings are direct teaching meetings, with two objectives; one to show non-Bahá’ís the path out of their valleys of prejudice and also to make contacts with capable leaders, in order to teach them
[Page 11]
the Bahá’í principles and aims.”
- LOULIE A. MATHEWS, Chairman
- MINA TROTMAN
- VILLA VAUGHN
TEACHING[edit]
“The new hour has struck in history of our beloved Cause, calling for nation-wide systematic, sustained effort in teaching field, enabling thereby these forces to be directed into such channels as shall redound to glory of our Faith and honor of its institutions.”—Shoghi Effendi.
With this clarion call to higher services in the teaching field, the Guardian set in motion a new wave of concerted action by the American Bahá’í Community. How miraculously the Will of God functions through the sincere servants, may be realized by surveying the development of community activity within the Faith, with the trends of conduct and the increasing problems of humanity without the Faith.
After the ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, when the Faith was filled with great enthusiasm, but the form under which its dynamic principles were to function, undeveloped, the Guardian stressed the necessity of perfecting the Administrative Order, the Form through which the Holy Spirit might descend unsullied and unstained during the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh.
The next phase of community activity was the call to unified action in completing the superstructure of the Temple, and ornamenting the entire Dome—that “flaming beacon of hope to a distracted world.”
Now with the Form of the Faith firmly established, with the symbol of its glory standing unique as a beacon to wandering humanity, we are called to arise as a unit in carrying to the human race, the healing and quickening power of the Holy Spirit descending into the world through the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh alone.
In the outer world the problems of society have increased, their institutions have not met the test, and crumbling before the onslaughts of the forces of individualism and separation, have left humanity wandering in the wilderness of speculation, selfish ambition, and practices and habits, corrupt and evil. During this time the Universal Institutions of the Faith have grown stronger and functioned more vigorously, a beacon of hope has been held aloft for the hopeless ones, and now with “healing in their wings” the American Bahá’ís are arising in their vigorous dissemination of the Cause of God.
The sacrifice, the devotion, the sustained service which brought success to our efforts in the administrative field, then in the construction of the Temple, must now be transferred and increased many fold, in the teaching of the Faith.
It is impossible in any report, still less in a short review to direct attention to the immediate acts of the Friends in responding to the Call of the Guardian. All that can be done is to summarize some of the trends of service developed throughout the country; and thus gain an understanding of the attitudes and spirit essential to successful conduct of the new Teaching Campaign.
Of primary importance, is a full realization of the receptive attitude of the public towards the Faith, its institutions and its program for World Order. Everyone—regardless of their position in life—now knows a new order is necessary—and they become enthusiastic in their support of a spiritual movement, that carries within it, the solvent of all life’s problems;—and preserves that solvent, not in passive meditation or affirmation, but in dynamic action through its administrative order.
Bahá’í Teachers are all recognizing more than ever the depth of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s explanation that subconsciously every individual knows of the descent of the Holy Spirit through a new Prophet—and their main task therefore is to direct the public’s attention to a spiritual activity they already subconsciously know has occurred. The task of teaching then takes on a phase of assisting the student in the translation of subjective knowledge and influence to objective life.
Likewise growing out of the greater interest of the public in the Faith, and the directness of the spiritual influence, is a trend of teaching most important; i. e., the imparting of a realization that there is responsibility in connection with becoming a Bahá’í. An individual is taught to understand, that his acceptance of Bahá’u’lláh, is the beginning of his spiritual growth, not the consummation thereof. Therefore, a life of development and expansion is before the individual, until under the benign influence of the holy spirit his soul is quickened into spirit.
The effect has been that those now entering the Faith quickly become active supporters and workers, rather than being interested in the philosophy of the Faith alone.
Throughout America, there is ample evidence that each Bahá’í realizes as never before the individual responsibility of teaching the Faith. Never has there been such sustained, perseverant work on the part of everyone. Not only has the sacrificial service been continuous but better, it has been progressive, not ending until the student has become a Bahá’í.
Individual service finds its greatest outlet in the Fireside Gatherings, where each Bahá’í may invite his or her Friends to learn of the Cause of God, and study intimately its divine mysteries. Thus the field is enlarging beyond all present realization. Again the survey of the Teaching Committee indicates that more people have become Bahá’ís during the past year through the Fireside meeting, than through any other type of teaching. It is to be regretted that more Bahá’ís have not undertaken this method of aiding in the new teaching effort.
In a recent letter to the Chairman of the Teaching Committee the Guardian stated “what is mostly needed now-a-days is a Bahá’í pioneer.” It is interesting to note how seemingly unconsciously the American community has been responding to this urge, even before the Guardian put the Call into words—as Bahá’ís from established Assemblies have moved into thirty-three cities—thus establishing lighthouses of the Faith in that many new centers.
This pioneer spirit is showing itself likewise in many new young active Bahá’ís entering the teaching field with unusual success and confirmation. However, capable teachers in sufficient numbers have not arisen to carry forward the teachings in accordance with public demand.
The Guardian likewise has indicated another field for “pioneers.” There are 10 States in the United States, and three Provinces in Canada, where there are no Bahá’ís. There are 24 of the 48 States in the United States, and 7 of the 9 provinces of Canada where there are neither Group nor Assembly. As a part of this present teaching effort, the Guardian wishes the Faith firmly established in every State of the United States and every Province in Canada.
Public teaching campaigns have increased. Many new methods being used with success. Deserving special mention and consideration, is the fact that in each instance these public campaigns have been accompanied by study classes. Very successful was the circuit plan used by the Assemblies and groups of Upper New York, where one teacher after another made the circuit of all these Assemblies and Groups. Bahá’í Day at the International Exposition in San Diego was exceptionally successful, in that some
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2,000 people learned of the Faith on
that day, and now a follow-up study
class is being conducted.
It is of the utmost importance to know that the basis of success in teaching today, both in private, and particularly in public, is to teach directly and forcibly, the basic Bahá’í Program for the salvation of mankind, through the Holy Spirit of Bahá’u’lláh, functioning through the Administrative Order.
Towering above all other considerations in successful teaching is the supreme need of each and every Bahá’í ordering his life, individually and collectively, in accord with the injunctions of Bahá’u’lláh. Trials and tribulations have caused people to leave vague philosophies—they want and need a new way of living. How can we invite the public into a new world order, if we ourselves have not achieved a synchronized life—carrying into action the implications of Bahá’í living. Do not destroy the hopes and aspirations of the seekers—by acting contrary to the injunctions contained in the Teachings you offer as the Gift of God.
Another field of teaching service which has been attempted as yet only slightly, is the use of Bahá’í literature. The Year Book can be given to any leader of thought and student of world affairs. Sending of specialized literature to selected groups; subscribing to the World Order Magazine for non-Bahá’ís, and sending to increasing numbers the public teaching bulletin issued by the National Assembly, have all produced good results.
Above all, it is evident, that only the most intense devotion can succeed in the teaching field. It is not the knowledge one imparts, how attractively meetings are arranged, nor how pleasant attendance at classes is made, that makes a new Bahá’í. It is only the Holy Spirit that can quicken a soul; and the Holy Spirit can use us as a medium only as we become purified through sacrifice, sustained service, and intense devotion. “Nothing save the utmost devotion will produce results” writes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Statistics mean nothing in indicating the spirit of service, the seeds sown, the lives being remade, and the souls quickened. The fruits of the efforts of the Friends will be harvested for years to come. However, the cumulative results are of interest and are given from the latest records of the Teaching Committee.
| Total | ||
| New Local Assemblies during past year | 3 | 72 |
| New Bahá’í Groups during year | 2 | 22 |
| New Study Groups during year | 8 | 10 |
| New cities opened by Believers moving from established Assemblies | 33 | 154 |
| Isolated Believers enrolled | 55 | 268 |
| Total Cities in which Faith is established | 259 |
The Teaching work in America has
attained a truly sacrificial status, auguring well for the success of our efforts. Notwithstanding the same problems of life experienced by the remainder of society, the Bahá’ís have
risen above the things of the world,
and forgetting all save the Grace of
God—are carrying forward the Gifts
of the Spiritual Kingdom. These Pioneers are thus by their lives and deeds
enriching the annals of the Faith—and
bringing sooner to humanity the blessings of Universal Peace, the Goal of
the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
- LEROY C. IOAS, Chairman
- CHARLOTTE LINFOOT, Secretary
- PROF. N. FORSYTHE WARD
- GEORGE O. LATIMER
