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No. 141

YEAR 97, BAHÁ’Í ERA

January, 1941

“THE TORCHBEARER OF THE NEW, THE WORLD CIVILIZATION”[edit]

Letter from Shoghi Effendi

Dearly-beloved friends:

My heart is thrilled with delight as I witness, in so many fields, and in such distant outposts, and despite such formidable difficulties, restrictions, obstacles and dangers, so many evidences of the solidarity, the valor, and the achievements of the American Bahá’í community. As the end of the First Century of the Bahá’í Era approaches, as the shadows descending upon and enveloping mankind steadily and remorselessly deepen, this community, which can almost be regarded as the solitary champion of the Faith in the Western World, is increasingly evincing and demonstrating its capacity, its worth, and ability as the torchbearer of the New, the World Civilization which is destined to supplant in the fulness of time the present one. And more particularly in the virgin and far-flung territories of Latin American, it has in recent months, abundantly given visible evidence of its merits and competence to shoulder the immense responsibilities which the carrying of the sacred Fire to all the Republics of the Western Hemisphere must necessarily entail.

Through these initial steps, which, in pursuance of the Plan conceived by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, this community has taken, through the settlement in each of these sovereign states of the New World of American Bahá’í pioneers, through the formation of Bahá’í groups and the establishments of two Assemblies in Buenos Aires and Bahia, the American National Assembly, as well as its Inter-America Committee, and all subsidiary agencies, no less than the individual members of the North American Bahá’í community who have sacrificed and are still sacrificing so much in their support of this Divine and momentous Plan, have earned the unqualified admiration and the undying gratitude of sister Assemblies and fellow-workers throughout the Bahá’í World.

Their work, however, is only beginning. The dispatch of pioneers, the provision of adequate means for their support, their settlement and initiation of Bahá’í activities in these far-off lands, however strenuous and meritorious, are insufficient if the Plan is to evolve harmoniously and yield promptly its destined fruit. The extension by the Parent Assembly—the immediate source from which this vast system with all its ramifications is now proceeding—of the necessary support, guidance, recognition and material assistance to enable these newly fledged groups and Assemblies to function in strict accordance with both the spiritual and administrative principles of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, would seem as essential and urgent as the preliminary task already achieved. To nurse these tender plants of the Vineyard of God, to foster their growth, to direct their development, to accord them the necessary recognition, to help resolve their problems, to familiarize them with gentleness, patience and fidelity with the processes of the Administrative Order and thus enable them to assume independently the conduct of future local and national Bahá’í activities, would bring the plan to swift and full fruition and would add fresh laurels to the crown of immortal glory already won by a community that holds in these days of dark and dire calamities, valiantly and almost alone, the Fort of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Fortified by these reflections, let them gird up their loins for still mightier exertions and more brilliant victories.

SHOGHI.

December 3, 1940.

GLAD-TIDING FROM THE HOLY LAND[edit]

“It will certainly rejoice your heart to know that notwithstanding the difficulties created by the war situation, the Cause in the countries neighboring the Holy Land is making steady headway. In Damascus where the friends are well advanced with their plans for the purchase of a plot of land as site for their future Haziratu’l-Quds, and in Egypt where the authorities have at last granted, though only to two of our communities in Cairo and Isma’liyyih, special burial grounds, the prospect appears to be [Page 2] particularly bright and promising. This glad-tiding will assuredly impart infinite joy to all our American friends, and stir them to scale still nobler heights of self-sacrifice in service to our Cause.”— SHOGHI EFFENDI, through his secretary, November 7, 1940, in a letter to Mrs. Thomas Collins.

BANISH SUPERSTITION[edit]

The great purpose of Divine Revelation is the education of mankind. The Teachings are written by the Supreme Pen, now authoritatively translated to us; also their interpretation and applications first by the Master and now by the Guardian, are related universally to the peace, well-being and progress of all mankind. They are also like a sharp sword which separates truth from error, light from darkness, life from death. Man attains that for which he struggles on the basis of his faith in them.

Alas for mankind, submerged in a sea of superstition, the waves of which are increasingly violent and destructive! The hold of illusions upon people can be realized only by those who, divinely aided, have wholly or partially escaped. One superstition is the belief in and fear of death, despite the fact that all nature in its variegated forms and all true religion as well, impress the continuity of life. One formerly in close contact with the Master, registered the observation, possibly inspired, at any rate true, of how a man will sleep in a place with other men who are perfect strangers to him, at times, without fear of injury to body or possessions. Yet the same man would fear the nearness of a corpse during his hours of sleep, although it can neither slander, beat nor kill him, all of which a man with physical life can do. This illustrates the hold of superstition upon most people. It is obvious that could humanity free itself from all such weights, it might easily soar heavenward in executing the Will of God.

Man must apply himself to true sciences, especially those, as Bahá’u’lláh says, “which do not begin and end in mere words,” for such studies will powerfully aid his release from superstitions. But the education of mankind is progressive. In the light of religion and science he is destined to make ideal progress. But the people of this stage of human development, even though guided by the gladsome Light of Revelation and trained by scientific studies, sometimes unconsciously bring into Bahá’í centers the gloomy tales and attachments of their previous associations. All such veils we must patiently and lovingly, yet very thoroughly, try to remove. Of course the Divine Teachings give no sanction for the use of force and violence even in the matter of separating souls from idolatry.

From time to time reports reach us about some of the friends, mostly the younger Bahá’ís, clinging to such idols as reincarnation, numerology, astrology and occultism expressed in psychic phenomena, for all of which there is no sanction in the Divine Teachings. The Master in his wonderful Book, Some Answered Questions, demolishes every basis of faith in reincarnation. In a signed Tablet, circulated among the early believers, He points out in the clearest terms, its ruinous effect as superstition, limiting human progress.

Psychic practices, condemned in both the Old and New Testaments of the Christian bible, are also discouraged and forbidden by the Revelation of this new day. It is apparent what havoc they now play in the world at large, enabling demagogues and charlatans to exploit the unsuspecting, magnifying the ego and banishing capacity for spiritual guidance. When spreading the teachings, the most vital and confirmed of all human activities, should not the effort be to reach normal and balanced people, who will not veil others by their personal oddities and eccentricities? Who will not try to make the Faith revolve around themselves?

Why waste precious time with numerology, which has no basis in science, reason or revelation? Why not study instead algebra, geometry, calculus, or even plain old arithmetic, confining “numerology” to concentration upon Nine, the symbol of the Greatest Name, which, with its derivatives and significances, has a message for all the beings?

Astrology, but the restatement of ancient beliefs and superstitions, should in this wondrous day give place to astronomy, science of the outward heavens, which wonderfully conveys to us the Glory of God.

The Divine Sun that is the Manifestation sheds light upon all true sciences and arts, rather creates them for man’s use and enjoyment. Reflect upon what light and inspiration are shed upon the fine arts, architecture, painting, sculpture and music; upon the liberal arts, such as poetry, eloquence, language, logic, psychology; upon the industrial arts, such as trade, business, agriculture, aviation, shipping, etc.; upon the natural sciences, such as biology, physics, chemistry, healing, pioneering, invention, and discovery; upon the social sciences, such as sociology, anthropology, history, statecraft, administration; upon the greatest of all sciences, Theophany, the science of Manifestation. When there is so much that is real within the reach of man, an inexhaustible plan of development and power, why should he concentrate upon darkness and superstition? His Maker constantly beckons him and confirms his efforts to advance. Bahá’u’lláh says:

“The heart must be free from the fire of superstition, that it may obtain the light of assurance and that it may perceive the Glory of God.”

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY.

IN THE SPIRIT OF ACHIEVEMENT[edit]

The community of the Faith in America has been given a particular mission and a definite task to achieve by the end of the first Century of the new Era. This mission, described by the Guardian in his successive communications on the subject of the Seven Year Plan, is not merely paramount in importance, it is likewise all-inclusive, its needs and demands embracing every Assembly, every Committee, every Institution and every individual in the entire American Bahá’í community. By our collective and our individual relationship to this mission, we have access to the very Spirit of Divine Victory establishing peace and justice on the earth. As we bend our energies in its service, as we respond to its enlarging opportunity, as we strive to understand its profound implications, so do we receive capacity to achieve, for in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh it is not our personality that renders service, but the Spirit which can use it for higher than personal ends.

The Seven Year Plan is both our supreme test and our supreme opportunity. It fixes the scope and also the time of the task. It means continuous effort, not simply an occasional activity, and a whole-hearted, united effort, not merely vague wishes and pious hopes.

The Plan, as all have noted, includes two tasks of equal importance: Temple construction, and Teaching.

Temple construction, by its very nature, is a concentrated work. It requires resources provided by all believers, but the individual believer can not participate in the actual work of construction.

Teaching, however, is only partly an effort which can be concentrated by either local or national authority. Bahá’í teaching is the sum total of our inner lives reflecting spiritual truths into the world about us, and not a mechanism for psychological promotion along lines of American economic or political enterprise. We need teaching facilities, like pamphlets, and we need plans as well as authoritative supervision, for the Faith does not tolerate a jungle of conflicting personal activities, but the most elaborate [Page 3] of plans and the most advanced of advertising methods, alone, will not result in the confirmation of souls and the formation of spiritual communities.

Thus our teaching must always represent a balance between the vital power of faith and intelligent consultation on means, methods and occasions for collective enterprises. On the one hand, we cannot abandon teaching to the mystical element in individuals, and on the other hand we cannot concentrate teaching into the authoritative actions of local or National Assemblies and their many Committees.

The individual believer must always strive to live in the spirit of teaching, and we are assured that whosoever attains this station will be witness to miraculous achievement. Bahá’u’lláh gave this assurance; the Master repeatedly emphasized this promise; and the Guardian has in many passages given it definite application. The whole conception of pioneer teaching is based on the heroism of the pioneer and not on the efficiency of the administrative order, though this too plays an essential part after the heroism has been manifested in the field of action.

It is imperative that local Assemblies attain full understanding of the nature of Bahá’í teaching, both as an expression of the inner life and as the fruit of mature consultation. The purpose of this statement is to offer a few suggestions to local Assemblies, and call attention to their heaven-sent opportunity to vitalize their communities, transform inertia into enthusiasm, and depression into radiant action.

1. Every believer has a teaching mission which can be expressed in wise use of daily contacts as well as in participation in community plans. The foundation of unity and vigorous spiritual life is encouragement of this Divine gift, and provision of all possible opportunities by the Assembly for its active use. But the individual believer should not depend upon the Assembly for opening the doors to service. Faith is that inner activity which the Holy Spirit employs to create occasions for teaching. Each of us is responsible for the character of our own inner life.

2. Teaching plans should arise from careful analysis of the available local resources and conditions and not simply imitate some method which has proved successful in some other city. The local communities are different in size; they also differ in experience, maturity and in the distribution of talents and capacities. The spirit of teaching is a conquest, not a technic learned at second-hand. Thus, in one community the important meeting may be a weekly or monthly public lecture, while in another city the Spirit may raise up an intimate fireside group which will accomplish what a formal lecture fails to achieve.

Main Story Ornamentation No. 3. By December 5, 1940, four of the nine faces were well advanced, the grading was completed and the Temple property protected by a fence extending along Sheridan Road and Linden Avenue and connected with both canal bridges.

3. The aim of teaching is to enlarge our numbers with confirmed followers of Bahá’u’lláh, people of zeal, knowledge and capacity. Any community pausing too long in its growth displays a danger signal which every believer as well as the Assembly should heed. Life is growth. Absence of motion is the absence of life. To overcome such a condition, we should first of all look to our own inner lives and not try to find in criticism a means of silencing our own conscience. Even a few truly consecrated believers in a community can be a channel for a renewal of general activity and enthusiasm. To possess intensity without sacrificing the principle of consultation—to recognize authority without sacrifice of initiative and enthusiasm—this is the balance which all believers might well strive to attain, and the balance without which the community can scarcely survive.

4. After setting in motion the forces of teaching for service to the Faith in the community, the Assembly should strive for additional energy which can be applied in establishing the Cause in nearby localities. Indeed the privileges are boundless and offer fulfilment to every devoted Bahá’í in the land. For as we examine the teaching field we realize how many varied types it needs, from the pioneer who can stand all alone in his faith, to the enthusiastic believer able to make contacts, and from the educator who can expound the laws and principles to the administrator who can assist in coordinating the efforts and releasing the capacities of all the friends.

As the Guardian wrote in The Advent of Divine Justice (pages 44, 45): “Upon every participator in this concerted effort, unprecedented in the annals of the American Bahá’í community, rests the spiritual obligation to make of the mandate of teaching so vitally binding upon all, the all-pervading concern of his life. . . . If he be a member of any Spiritual Assembly [Page 4] let him encourage his Assembly to consecrate a certain part of its time, at each of its sessions, to the earnest and prayerful consideration of such ways and means as may foster the campaign of teaching, or may furnish whatever resources are available for its progress, extension, and consolidation.”

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY.

ETCHING OF “SMILING PHOTOGRAPH” OF ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ[edit]

The Photograph and Sales Committee is glad to announce a new edition of the etching which reproduces the photograph of the Master known as the “smiling photograph.” No copies of this etching have been available in recent years. The quality of this reproduction makes the etching beautifully adapted for framing. The price, including postage and packing, is $1.65 per copy. Order from Mr. H. E. Walrath, 4639 Beacon Street, Chicago, Ill.

PUBLIC TEACHING IN ATLANTA[edit]

In connection with the meetings of the National Spiritual Assembly held in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 22, 23 and 24, 1940, opportunity was taken to hold another in the series of public meetings which the Assembly has been holding in different cities over a period of several years.

Particularly important have been those meetings held in the cities of the South, where the number of believers is fewer and the teaching opportunity overwhelming.

The Atlanta meeting was held Sunday evening, November 24, in the Biltmore Hotel, which had given assurance that no race restriction would be imposed. The first speaker, Mr. Harlan Ober, developed the theme of The Need for a Spiritual Renaissance. This was followed by an address by Mrs. Dorothy Baker on The World Tomorrow. Horace Holley presided.

Meanwhile, the local Bahá’í Committee had worked out plans for radio addresses and also for a talk in the First Congregational Church to a Negro congregation. Mr. Allen B. McDaniel spoke over the radio Friday afternoon, November 22, Mrs. Terah Smith spoke at the same station Saturday afternoon, while Mrs. Dorothy Baker delivered the address in the church Sunday morning.

The Regional Conference held Sunday afternoon is reported in a separate article.

View of Supplementary Administrative Building, 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, where the Treasurer’s Office, Publishing Committee and additional facilities for the National Assembly have been maintained since December 2, 1940.

PRESENTING THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH IN THE SOUTH[edit]

On the afternoon of Sunday, Nov. 24, 1940, an historic meeting devoted to the varied problems of teaching the Bahá’í Faith in the South, was held at the Atlanta Biltmore Hotel, Atlanta, Ga.

There were present seven members of the National Spiritual Assembly, and one or more representatives from each Regional Teaching Committee located east of Texas. Other Bahá’ís from Atlanta, and from Augusta, Ga., and Greenville, S. C., brought the total number to twenty-seven, coming from six different southern states.

Never before have so many Bahá’í gathered together for the one purpose of discussing the varied problems that Bahá’í teachers have to face, and it was recognized by all those present as marking a new era in this most important work.

Mr. Allen McDaniel, Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly, presided, and read from America’s Spiritual Mission, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Prayer for the Southern States. Then the meeting was opened for discussion, led by Nellie J. Roche, Secretary of the Regional Teaching Committee.

An informal report on the Special Bahá’í Teaching Conference held in June, 1940, at Vogel Park, Ga., was given, and permission to hold a similar conference in the summer of 1941 was granted by the National Spiritual Assembly, with financial support pledged.

It was agreed that the secretaries of the four Regional Teaching Committees east of Texas be asked to serve as the General Committee to make arrangements for the 1941 Special Bahá’í Teaching Conference.

If possible, a brief Youth Meeting will be held during this time, and arrangements will be made for a full exhibit of Bahá’í literature, and teaching materials of all kinds.

The problems of presenting the Faith in a bi-racial society as exists in the South, to two races bound together by many ties of mutual dependence and personal affection, but separated in many ways by differences in racial development and experience, by custom and tradition, and by legal enactments, were discussed, dividing themselves into three groups, (1) The White Majority; (2) The Colored Minority; (3) The Jewish Minority, with the accent on the first two as offering the greatest challenge to us.

The discussion established the fact that the greatest problem is that of presenting the Faith to the majority group, and that the importance of reaching this group in large numbers cannot be overestimated. It is they, who to a very great extent set the pattern of life, establish customs, and are responsible for the enactment of laws.

Our second group, the Colored Race, present us with grave responsibilities for offering the Pattern for Future Society, and because an alert and forward-looking minority is apt to be more immediately responsive than any majority group, this problem is quite different in many ways.

The Jewish group probably offer the greatest difficulties because of their [Page 5] conservatism, and their racial solidarity in social, business, and religious activities.

The recent tour made by Mrs. Dorothy Baker through several Southern states was commended, and the National Spiritual Assembly was asked to make arrangements for more such tours.

Telegrams and letters of greeting from several friends unable to attend the meeting were read.

NELLIE J. ROCHE, Secretary,

Regional Teaching Committee Kentucky, Middle and East Tennessee, Northern Georgia and Alabama.

INTER-AMERICA NEWS[edit]

The Inter-America Committee desires to correct the impression that Mr. and Mrs. John Shaw in visiting Jamaica met with difficulties growing out of class distinction as was stated in Bahá’í News No. 139. Mrs. Shaw reports that they were treated with every courtesy. Her account of the various meetings which were held and the clippings received by the Inter-America Committee give every evidence of awakened interest, and of their gracious reception, and tactful method of introducing the Faith.

Argentine

Philip Sprague writes that within a fortnight a class which began with twenty or so members have developed into a membership of seventy who are enthusiastic and studying with great interest. He feels that there is much that can be accomplished in Argentina. Mr. Sprague has sent an additional order for books to supply the ever increasing demand. He speaks of the very delightful reception which the Friends tendered him on his arrival and the excellent newspaper publicity.

Mr. Sprague’s account was further elaborated by a letter from Mr. Salvador Tormo, who gives a stirring account of the increasing interest in the Cause. Mr. Tormo speaks of an inspiring meeting at which a retired Commander of the Argentine Navy and his wife declared themselves. He also reports a contact, which may prove exceedingly valuable, of a chemical engineer, who is a member of one of the oldest and most important families in the Argentine.

Bolivia

Mrs. Eleanor Smith Adler has been en route to her destination in La Paz, Bolivia, where she was due to arrive about the tenth of December.

Brazil

Word of the most encouraging kind has been received from Rio telling us that Miss Jeanne Bolles is there and plans to remain for some time; she is being assisted by Miss Leonora Holsapple. This news was received from Philip Sprague who visited in Rio de Janeiro and sent an enthusiastic account of his reception there. A later letter from Miss Bolles confirms his report of the interest and enthusiasm recently shown in the Cause. She also reports that all of the centers through which Miss Cheney will pass on her way to Paraguay have been notified of her coming.

Bahá’í Youth of Helena, Montana observe International Bahá’í Youth Day February 25, 1940 with a Symposium

Chile

Mrs. Marcia Steward Atwater will reach Valparaiso on December tenth and will proceed to Santiago, where we have a registered believer and where Mrs. Atwater has many letters of introduction.

Costa Rica

Word from our two pioneers, Mrs. Woolson and Mrs. Ford, brings us the intelligence that Matthew Kaszab has been visiting them. He spoke at a meeting of the group in Costa Rica and was very well received. They mention the establishment of a Bahá’í Library and from the encouraging reports which they send, we have every reason to believe that a firm foundation is being laid in Costa Rica.

Cuba

Mrs. Emogene Hoagg is at present located in Havana and is devoting her time to deepen the consciousness of the six Friends she found there. She speaks of their great friendliness and their admiration for Mr. Marangella who recently returned to New York.

Guatemala

Mrs. Stewart is now in Guatemala and has submitted to the Committee a suggestion that it might be well for her to spend some time in the Central American Republics to consolidate the work there. This suggestion has been forwarded to the National Spiritual Assembly as the Inter-American Committee feels that this will be a fine move.

Nicaragua

Mr. Matthew Kaszab writes that he has discussed with the Friends in Costa Rica a very tentative plan for a radio hook-up of Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, giving weekly talks on the Cause alternately in Spanish and English. Mr. Kaszab, whose plans are somewhat uncertain is now in Managua, Nicaragua. His address is in care of the American Consul.

Paraguay

Miss Elizabeth Cheney sailed on November thirtieth for Paraguay, stopping en route at Rio for one day, one day at Montevideo, and arriving in Buenos Aires on December seventeenth. She plans to remain there for a few days before proceeding to Asuncion, Paraguay.

Uruguay

Mrs. Enos Barton of Chicago sailed for Montevideo to join her son, Wilfred, on November fifteenth and is due to arrive on December second. Mrs. Barton will cross over to the West Coast and visit the various centers there en route home.

Miss Gertrude Gewertz, to our regret, has been unable to obtain a visa to Costa Rica and will not sail as previously reported.

Mrs. Sara Ellen Peake has also been unable to get away as planned.

Translations

The translations which are now in print [Page 6] are being carefully reviewed by a specially appointed committee and reports will be submitted to the National Assembly in case any revisions or corrections are necessary.

Pioneers

The Inter-America Committee asks that any of the Friends considering pioneer work in South or Central America, make plans to stay for more than a year. The National Spiritual Assembly feels that it is too expensive to finance brief visits. This request applies particularly to those who need financial aid in reaching their posts.

LIST OF SPANISH TRANSLATIONS[edit]

The following Bahá’í books and pamphlets have been translated into Spanish and printed. Not all are now available, and some translations will be revised before a new edition appears. However, the list illustrates the great progress made in this very difficult field of Inter-America teaching.

Principles of the Bahá’í Faith; What Is the Bahá’í Movement?; Prayer Book; Future World Commonwealth; The Goal of a New World Order; Seven Valleys; Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (the passages included in the pamphlet printed in English); Kitab-i-Iqán; Temple pamphlet; Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era; Some Answered Questions; Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

IN MEMORIAM[edit]

Death proffers unto every confident believer the cup that is life indeed. It bestoweth joy, and is the bearer of gladness. It confereth the gift of everlasting life.—Bahá’u’lláh.

Mrs. Elizabeth Schwab, New York.

Miss Elizabeth Muther, Honolulu.

Mr. Le Roy Rainboth, Richmond Highlands.

Mr. Adolph Chapman, Racine.

Miss Elizabeth Poulson, Racine.

Mrs. Effie M. Snyder, Seattle.

Mrs. Aura G. Gordon, Tucson.

Mrs. Ella Beemer, Kenosha.

Mrs. Ella Bennett, Wauwatosa.

Mr. Roscoe Lamb, La Canada, Calif.

Mrs. Elizabeth Farnier, Monroe, Wash.

BAHÁ’Í CALENDAR[edit]

Nineteen Day Feasts: Sovereignty, January 19; Dominion, February 7, Loftiness, March 2.

Period of the Fast: nineteen days beginning March 2.

Meeting of the National Spiritual Assembly: February 7, 8, 9 at Wilmette, Illinois.

BOOK DISPLAY IN MAIN LOBBY OF RACINE PUBLIC LIBRARY April 19 to April 26, 1940

BAHÁ’Í EXHIBIT AT THE NEW YORK WORLD’S FAIR[edit]

The Bahá’í experiment of bringing the teachings to the world on a wholesale plan was a very gratifying success. Not only did the literature go into thousands of homes through the public school children, who came in groups from every district of New York and New Jersey and other nearby states, but several thousand persons passing leisurely through the building were attracted by the glorious utterances of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá upon the wall and by the Temple Model. Many stopped to ask questions of the attending Bahá’í. The Fair opened in April, 1939, and continued until October 10 of that year, reopened on May 10, 1940, and continued until October 27. During those periods three thousand persons signed the register and the following distribution was made of literature. Two hundred and forty thousand booklets which were made especially for Fair distribution, ten thousand of the large Temple pamphlet, ten thousand post cards of the Exhibit at the Fair, five thousand printed notices of lectures at the New York Center and some three thousand programs of the Souvenir at West Englewood, one thousand World Order Magazines, and five hundred Youth Magazines.

Realizing the power of the Word one catches some vision of the extent of this work in His name.

NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR COMMITTEE

By: Ophelia B. Crum.

PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES[edit]

The friends are reminded that the new address of the Publishing Committee is 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois.

Messages From the Guardian. This pamphlet of 80 pages contains the messages which the Guardian addressed to the American Bahá’ís collectively and to the National Spiritual Assembly and Annual Convention from 1932 to 1940, in the form of cablegrams and as postscripts to letters written through his secretary. Compiled from Bahá’í News. Paper cover. Index. Per copy . . . . . . . . . ..$0.20

The Heart of the Gospel. The new work by George Townshend, author of The Promise of All Ages, clearly and beautifully expounds the mysteries of the Christian Revelation in the light of the continuity of Religion fulfilled in the faith of Bahá’u’lláh. 188 pages. Bound in fabrikoid. Per copy . . . . . . . . $1.50

STATES AND PROVINCES LACKING A SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY[edit]

“First century (of) Bahá’í era drawing to a close. Humanity entering outer fringes most perilous stage its existence. Opportunities (of) present hour unimaginably precious. Would to God every State within American Republic and every Republic in American continent might ere termination (of) this glorious century embrace (the) light (of the) Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and establish structural basis of His World Order.”— SHOGHI EFFENDI, May 1, 1936.

[Page 7]Examining now the map of North America alone, we find that after traversing more than half the allotted seven years we still lack a local Spiritual Assembly in the following States and Provinces. The formation of groups, however, and the registration of isolated believers has proceeded vigorously, and the basis for our collective success has been established.

New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, Alaska, Porto Rico, Canal Zone.

Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon.

TEMPLE MODELS[edit]

In view of the many demands upon the Budget for Temple construction and teaching work, the National Assembly advises the friends that there are several Temple models available for exhibits, but that any local Assembly, Regional Teaching Committee or other Committee wanting the use of a model, must be prepared to assume, from its own budget, the cost of transportation to and from the designated point. The National Exhibits Committee takes care of the routing of models and their repair when necessary. Address Mr. Allen B. McDaniel, Chairman of Exhibits Committee, Waterford, Va.

TEMPLE POSTCARDS[edit]

A very attractive postcard with illustration of the Bahá’í House of Worship is now available. It reproduces the photograph showing the Temple reflected in water. Price per copy, 5c.

Another new Temple card consists of a small, double card with the reflection picture in halftone and the nine texts of Bahá’u’lláh selected by the Guardian to be inscribed over the nine entrance doors. This was designed as a souvenir for the non-Bahá’í visitors guided through the House of Worship. Price, two for 5c, or $2.00 per hundred, post-paid.

Orders filled by Photograph and Sales Committee. Address Mr. H. E. Walrath, 4639 Beacon Street, Chicago, Ill.

A BAHÁ’Í GLOSSARY[edit]

Mr. Ali-Kuli Khan is acting for the National Assembly in the preparation of a new and more complete Bahá’í glossary. In order that this glossary may contain the definition of all words and terms required by believers in their study of the Writings, the friends are requested to suggest words and terms they wish defined. The suggestions can be sent to the National Assembly, which will assemble them for the use of the special Committee.

Bahá’í Youth Regional Conference held in Hall of Religious Conference, Los Angeles City College, June 2, 1940

LIBRARY ACTIVITY[edit]

The Library Committee would like to call the attention of the friends to the C.C.C. Camp Libraries and the Army Post Libraries which are making urgent calls for gift donations and offer a field for Bahá’í book placements. Several requests have already come to this Committee for books for these important libraries and we hope to receive many more such requests.

Other libraries which might be contacted more frequently by the friends are the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Libraries, Women’s organizations, Jewish Community Clubs and other Hebrew Libraries. A number of Jewish Libraries have accepted copies of Advent of Divine Justice recently and asked for additional volumes. It is encouraging to report that a number of splendid opportunities for further teaching work resulted from placing books in these libraries.

Suggestions have been given by this Committee in past issues of Bahá’í News which would be helpful in making library contacts and will answer many of the questions sent along to us concerning library donations and methods of approach.

Several splendid tributes to our books and teachings have been received from librarians and we should like to share a few excerpts from recent letters with the friends. Mr. James McMillen, Director of Libraries at Louisiana State University writes: “We are indeed grateful for the four works on the Bahá’í Faith which you so kindly presented to the Library. The life and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are of great interest to the layman as well as to the student of theology. The comprehensiveness, power, and beauty of the Bahá’í doctrines lend a ray of hope to this troubled and war torn world. . . . We consider ourselves fortunate to be the recipient of these publications and invite you to visit our collection in the near future.”

Miss Evangeline King, Librarian of the Cheyney State Teachers College, Cheyney, Pa., writes: “Personally, I am deeply interested in the Bahá’í teachings and you may be sure I shall try to capture the interest of others. I should say that nothing could be more timely for us than this clear pure gospel.”

Mrs. Miriam Kemp, Librarian of the Cook County School of Nursing Library, Chicago, writes: “The book (Bahá’í World, Volume 7) is very interesting indeed and we appreciate your generosity in giving us such a valuable book. I’m sure that we are all eager for world brotherhood, peace and unity, to which this book is devoted.”

Mrs. Brown, Librarian of the Tennessee State College, Nashville, wrote some time ago: “There are a number of our students who do get a great deal of inspiration out of reading these books.”

The Library Committee has an ample[Page 8] supply of books available for presentation and would welcome many more requests from the friends. Contact librarians with confidence that our books will appeal to them and will be accepted readily.

LIBRARY COMMITTEE.

By: Ellen Sims, Chairman.

THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD[edit]

References to the Bahá’í Faith for Volume IX

Will all Bahá’ís be on the lookout for references to the Bahá’í Faith in books or periodicals by non-Bahá’í authors or articles by Bahá’ís in non-Bahá’í publications? Please send these references to Mrs. Bertha H. Kirkpatrick, Olivet, Mich., for use in Bahá’í World volume IX. The information should include the name, author and publisher of the book with the page on which reference occurs. If the reference is in a magazine or periodical the information should include the name, publisher and place of publication of the magazine as well as the date of the issue and page on which reference occurs. This request does not refer to newspaper publicity which should be sent as usual to the Bahá’í News Service. The references may be favorable or otherwise.

THE BAHÁ’Í WORLD

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE,

By: Bertha H. Kirkpatrick.

RACE UNITY ACTIVITY[edit]

A recent project in the South successfully opened up for members of the Race Unity Committee, contacts with clubs, schools and universities among the colored population of the entire South. In Nashville, the Tennessee State College, as well as Fiske, opened its doors to two successive Bahá’í speakers and formed study groups for adults and students. Dr. William Hale, president of State College, said to his student body, “This program is unanswerable.” At LeMoyne College and at Henderson Business College in Memphis, Bahá’í talks were enthusiastically received. City College of Louisville heard the world order message, and high schools at Greenwood, Mississippi; Suffolk and Holland, Virginia. In Augusta, Haines Institute; in Columbia, Benedict College and Allen University were addressed. Seven talks were given in Liberty City, a government housing project with 3,500 inhabitants in Miami. Colored churches in Jacksonville and Atlanta, home groups, and general public meetings were held throughout the South. The noble old scientist, Dr. George Carver of Tuskegee, said: “I am very partial to the Bahá’í Faith; the spirit of Christ is in it.” Dr. Fred Patterson, president of that institution, remarked: “The Bahá’í Faith has the spirit of sincerity and is without some of the usual limitations of religion.” The inter-racial commission at Atlanta was interviewed, and in this city the National Assembly held a mixed public meeting, preceded by a most interesting conference with Southern teachers and friends.

A Milwaukee member of the Committee recently addressed the Twilight Forum of the Jews of Milwaukee, and has been privileged to collaborate with Mr. Gould, editor of the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. Milwaukee is also very busy with the Indian group. It is recorded that 16 boys and girls attend youth groups regularly, and that Mr. Powlas, now a member of the Milwaukee community, is in correspondence with Indians throughout the United States.

Detroit recently entertained the Race Unity Committee at a very lively community dinner, where a few of the following suggestions were made, and recorded by Mrs. George True:

1. Use the family approach. Children are democratic, and through neighborhood play, often bring families of varying races together.

2. Fairs and expositions held by minority groups in a city are open to friendly cooperation and display of a model of the Bahá’í Temple.

3. Visit Urban Leagues, Indian Councils, and inter-racial centers. Many of these are now receiving the World Order Magazine. Invite club groups to attend special Bahá’í events in your city.

4. Use good Bahá’í speakers who happen to pass your way, to address such groups in schools and clubs. These groups are often segregated from the general flow of your city’s life and would otherwise never find you.

5. Read some of the books listed in the bibliography supplied by this Committee, to increase your understanding and sympathy.

6. It is suggested that when reaching minorities, the whole world order program be given, so that the friends reached will not confuse us with mere racial movements.

7. Cultivate the friendship of editors of minority papers and periodicals.

RACE UNITY COMMITTEE

BAHÁ’Í NEWS SERVICE[edit]

To assist the friends who are isolated or who have formed new groups since the Guardian’s change of Assembly jurisdiction, the Bahá’í News Service has arranged a planograph sheet.

This sheet displays a variety of types of publicity to illustrate ways of writing up publicity material for newspapers. Each clipping is identified as to its type by the printed headings. The illustrations include articles on the following: announcements of meetings, radio broadcasts, Commemoration services, follow-up after a lecture series, various phases of the Faith, letters to editors, weekly column, and presentation of books to libraries.

These samples are only suggestions of how to write publicity. It is better for you to write your own.

We have removed the names and dates from the headings of the clippings in order to emphasize the material in the articles themselves.

The bottom of this same sheet is devoted to the right and wrong ways to paste the names and the dates of the newspapers to the clippings themselves, when sent to this Committee for mounting in the press books. We hope that the friends will give this matter some attention. Publicity clippings are history in the writing. They are perishable and when improperly glued together have to be re-arranged. The clippings suffer, the Press Books are most untidy and the Committee is unable to adequately cope with the increased task. May we thank the increasing number of friends who have found it possible to help us in this great matter.

The Bahá’í News Service has available for your use:

1. Book review releases.

2. Releases on Bahá’í attitude toward certain controversial subjects.

3. A series of six articles on the “Goal of a New World Order.”

4. Miscellaneous articles on “World Peace,” “Bahá’í is Not a Cult,” “Organization of a New Assembly,” and a short history series.

5. Bulletins for isolated believers, groups and Publicity chairmen of Assemblies.

6. Releases on the Temple, Temple model and supplementary information about the national headquarters.

7. Mats and glossy prints of the Temple, Temple model and Haziratu’l-Quds.

We suggest that the friends use news items that appear in the News Letters for publicity releases.

A series of reports of the outstanding publicity work being done as reflected in the Press Book clippings is being prepared.

BAHÁ’Í NEWS SERVICE COMMITTEE.

By: Virginia Camelon, Chairman.

[Page 9]

RADIO TALKS AVAILABLE[edit]

The following new talks have been mimeographed and are ready for distribution to the friends desiring radio material:

America's Place in a New World Order

The Future We Face

Search for Truth

Progressive Revelation

The Wisdom of Tests

Faith is Fellowship

Fellow-Feeling in Wartime

Requests for radio material have recently been received from such widely divergent places as:

New Zealand; Alaska; Atlanta, Ga.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Jerome, Arizona; Esmeralda, Argentina; Nashville, Tenn.; Augusta, Ga.; San Francisco, Cal.; Columbus, Ohio; Decatur, Alabama; San Antonio, Texas; Baltimore, Md.; Madison, Wisconsin.

Announcement will be made when the transcriptions or records of radio talks now under way are completed.

Please note change of address—from now until March 15th, requests for radio material should be sent to Mrs. Wendell E. Bacon, Monson, Mass., instead of to Mrs. F. S. Morton, 5 Wheeler Ave., Worcester, Mass.

RADIO COMMITTEE

By: Florence Morton, Chairman.

BAHÁ’Í SCHOOL ACTIVITIES[edit]

The National Spiritual Assembly has listed the following functions as suitable for the Bahá’í Schools in the present or future stages of their development.

1. Instruction in Subject Matter of Bahá’í Literature.

2. Instruction in Technic of Functioning as a Bahá’í Teacher:

A. Public Speaking, Preparation of Talks and Lectures.

B. Fireside Teaching, Preparation and Use of Study Outlines.

C. Publicity, Its Functions, Preparation and Contact With the Press.

D. Radio Teaching.

E. Contacts. Opening New Cities.

F. Pioneer Settlement.

G. Regional Teaching.

H. Informal, Intimate and Occasional Teaching.

I. Organization or Forums, Round Table Discussions, Question and Answer Periods.

3. Provision for Study and Research.

4. Youth Activities.

5. Children's Activities.

6. Area or Regional Teaching: Development of Meetings and Classes in the Vicinity of the School, to Spread the Cause, Give Practice to Speakers Attending the School, and to Establish the Influence of the School as a Permanent Bahá’í Institution.

6. Committee Facilities and Instruction. Special Meetings For Representatives of various National Committees to Explain Their Work and the Teaching Facilities They have to Offer. Committees like Radio, Race Unity and Publicity, as well as Child Education, can be Regarded as Invaluable Institutional Teachers whose Capacity Should be Used at the Schools.

7. Assembly Instruction and Training. Facilities for the Improvement of Local Assembly Functioning and Activity are an Important Asset of the School.

8. Social Activity: Including Arts and Crafts, Singing, Dramatic Work, Recreation.

BAHA'I BOOK EXHIBIT, PEORIA
Arranged by the Spiritual Assembly, this exhibit was displayed in the window of Jacquin & Co. during the autumn of 1940.

CHILD EDUCATION[edit]

“One hour's reflection is preferable to seventy years of pious worship.” (Iqán, p. 238).

The art of meditation needs to be practiced if it is to have its fullest results. One who has never learned this art finds it difficult of accomplishment at first. The person becomes fidgety and his mind wanders away from the subject upon which he is trying to meditate. However, by persistent effort and practice he can finally master the art. Then as the periods of meditation lengthen they will increasingly yield rich, full spiritual experiences. Children too can learn to meditate. Of course the desire must be there. How can that desire be built up? It is a matter of time and spiritual growth.

The very young child is too active and [Page 10] too absorbed in the world about him to take time out for the silent consideration of things spiritual and yet in his small way he does meditate. His are not usually spiritual thoughts but rather of things he sees and loves, in his world. “Why,” he asks, “don’t fishes sing too like little birds?” or “Does that apple mind getting bumped when he falls from the tree?” or “Are flowers afraid to stay in the garden all alone at night?”. So on and on goes his questions, only, alas, in many cases to be laughed away much to the child’s chagrin and disappointment. But, you say, there are no answers to such foolish, childish questions. So the matter is dismissed and an opportunity to start the child off on a simple experience in meditation is lost. Yet any one of these questions and thousands of others like them could be the means of directing the child’s attention to God and His Creation and His plans as far as we know them.

A four year old girl once asked a bumble bee which was buzzing over the tall holly-hocks, “Are you talking to the flowers, Mr. Bee?” and her Bahá’í grandmother, standing in the garden near by answered, “‘Abdu’l-Bahá used to talk with the flowers.” Thereupon the child’s eyes became as stars and she ran up to her grandmother, saying, “Tell me more.” So the old lady and the little girl sat down and talked of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. And when the grandmother left, the child remained, sitting on a large stone, in a pensive mood. Since we cannot enter into the thoughts of our children we cannot say of what this child was thinking but to all appearances she was lost in meditation.

So much for the spring-board, if we may use that expression. Now we come to the question of time and place. No child can meditate unless the environment is right. The young child should be provided with a place where he can be quite alone and undisturbed where he can think things out for himself. He will not meditate on spiritual things during his early years but he will be establishing the habit of thinking things through even though in the beginning it may be largely a matter of physical experimentation with things in his environment. The mechanical pattern will be there. Then as his interests turn to spiritual things, the child will meditate upon them. All of this does not mean that he shall be set off in the yard or in his room or nursery to be completely forgotten. He will (and rightly) resent that but it does mean that he will not be constantly shadowed or hovered over by some overly concerned parent or guardian. He will have his God given right to be alone.

As the child grows older he can be encouraged to meditate on some definite subject taken from the Bahá’í writings. For example this from the Hidden Words: “O Son of Being! Attribute not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have attributed to thee, and say not that which thou does not. This is My command unto thee; do thou observe it.”

The older child may be taught that through meditation inspiration for the improvement of life on this plane may be accomplished, for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has told us that, “O people of Bahá! The faculty of meditation is the depository of crafts, arts and sciences. Exert yourselves, so that the gems of knowledge and wisdom may proceed from this ideal mine and conduce to the tranquility and union of the different nations of the world.” (Bahá’í Scriptures, par. 122.)

Since meditation is of such vital importance to the spiritual development of mankind, let those who have been divinely entrusted with the rearing and guidance of children assist the child is developing this faculty remembering that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that, “Through this faculty man enters into the very Kingdom of God.” (Wisdom of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, page 164.)

ASSEMBLIES IN RURAL AREAS[edit]

Hitherto, the only area in which a Bahá’í community of nine or more could establish a Spiritual Assembly has been the locality bounded by the civil limits of the town or city. Now, with the Guardian’s approval and advice, we have a new type of area in which Bahá’í communities located in agricultural districts, outside of towns and cities, can also form an Assembly.

As, however, there must be some definite limitation for the jurisdiction of Assemblies in rural areas, the National Assembly has chosen the logical one of the township.

Beginning April 21, 1941, wherever there are nine or more declared believers residing in the same township, but outside any of the towns or cities located in the township, they will be authorized to establish a Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of that township, and the area of jurisdiction of such Assemblies will be the entire township, less the portions of the township occupied by towns and cities.

Thus, there can be a Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the township, and at the same time, Assemblies for different towns and cities within the township, all these Assemblies having definite areas of jurisdiction entirely separate and distinct, and easily determined by the believers.

Bahá’í groups qualifying under this new principle are requested to report to their Regional Teaching Committee with a detailed explanation of the residence of each member of the group, and the Regional Committees in turn will report such applications, with a recommendation, before April 21, to the NSA. In the event that confusion is caused by the fact that a township might have the same name as a town within it, the National Assembly will endeavor to suggest a solution of the problem.

Furthermore, in those States (mostly in the South) which do not have the township form of political division, the believers living in the same county, but outside of any town or city in the county, can establish a Spiritual Assembly under the same conditions as apply to the township area already mentioned.

The number of isolated believers in the United States and Canada is now about fourteen hundred, many of them resident in rural areas outside of any municipal government. The Guardian’s permission gives to every isolated Bahá’í, no matter where he lives, the responsibility for striving to establish the Faith in his area so that a Spiritual Assembly can eventually be formed. This broadening of the basis of our collective participation in the world order of Bahá’u’lláh transforms the relation of all isolated believers to the Bahá’í community. Their separation from it is a temporary condition, not a permanent principle as hitherto. They are nothing else than pioneer teachers in their locality, and every such believer is urged to ponder his new and enlarged spiritual privileges as a Bahá’í.

The sooner that Regional Teaching Committees can report on groups of nine or more believers, the more effectively can steps be taken to prepare them for the important step of the election of a Spiritual Assembly on April 21.

REGISTRATION CARDS OF ISOLATED BELEVERS[edit]

Individual teachers who confirm an isolated friend are requested to see that the registration (enrollment) card when filled out is sent through the Regional Teaching Committee and not direct to the National Assembly. These cards provide space for a counter-signature, and this is to be filled out by the Regional Secretary and not by the teacher. The purpose is to center responsibility for the status of the new isolated believers in the administrative body acting for each area outside the local Assemblies.

[Page 11]

ENROLLMENTS AND TRANSFERS[edit]

Worcester, two. New York, five. Flint, one. Spokane, six. Springfield, Mass., two. Miami, three. Madison, three. Los Angeles, ten. Chicago, two. Evanston, one. Portland, two. Lima, one youth. Knoxville, one. San Francisco, four. Seattle, two. Baltimore, one youth. Philadelphia, three. Milwaukee, two youths.

BAHÁ’Í DIRECTORY[edit]

The friends are requested to correct their Directories in accordance with the additions and alterations here reported.

Assemblies

Knoxville, Tenn., Mrs. Lessie McMichael, 711½ So. Gay Street.

Montreal, Quebec, Miss Anne M. Savage, 1548 Pine Avenue, West.

Flint, Mich., Miss Margaret R. Tracy, P. O. Box 434.

Spokane, Wash., Mrs. Marget Stange, 211 Mohawk Bldg.

Lansing, Mich., Mrs. Earl Shetterly, 813 Fayette Street.

Baltimore, Md., Miss Mildred Elmer, P. O. Box 855.

Rochester, N. Y., Mrs. Florence Hand, 1600 South Avenue.

Groups

Danville, Ill., Mrs. L. M. Underwood, 404 Gilbert Street.

Syracuse, N. Y., Mrs. Edward Belcher, 909 Ackerman Avenue.

Salmon Falls, N. H., the members of this group have moved from the city and the group is therefore dissolved.

Denver, Colo., Mrs. M. Rita Wallace, 2448 Humboldt Street.

Portsmouth, N. H., Mrs. Margaret Loveday, 1079 Maplewood Avenue.

Laramie, Wyoming, Mrs. Joe J. Homalos, 262 Railroad Street.

River Forest, Ill., Mrs. A. R. Kessler, 605 Keystone Avenue.

Grand Haven, Mich., Miss Cora C. Edge, 614 Lafayette Street.

West Vancouver, B. C., Canada, Mrs. M. E. Fry, 2264 Inglewood Avenue, Hollyburn, P. O.

New Rochelle, N. Y., Roberts E. Fuller, 57 Brookside Place.

Muskegon Heights, Mich., Mrs. Josephine Spink, 525 Fifth Street.

Tenafly, N. J., Miss A. H. Land, 4 Huyler Avenue.

Red Bank, N. J., Mrs. William Lefkowitz, 115 McLaren Street.

Huntington Park, Calif., Peter Dickson, 7633 State Street.

Findlay, Ohio, Loring K. Ebersole, 1122 No. Main Street.

Wilkinsburg, Pa., Mrs. Olive Chapin, 1105 Walnut Street.

Seville, Ohio, George Wells.

Committees

Inter-America: Miss Bertha Matthieson unable to serve.

Geyserville School: Chairman, Ali Yazdi; Miss Charlotte Linfoot and Miss Fayrouk Ioas added to Committee.

Regional Teaching Committees: Missouri and Kansas, new address, Miss Opal Howell, Secretary, 302 No. Spring Street, Independence, Mo. New England, new address, Mrs. Amelia Bowman, Secretary, c/o Chamberlin, 11 Maple Terrace, Three Rivers, Mass., and Miss Jeanne Steed added to Committee. West Virginia transferred to region of Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. Delaware transferred to region of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. Westchester County, N. Y. (a new region) Committee: Mrs. Clarence L. Welsh, Secretary, 216 Old Bedford Road, Port Chester, N. Y., Miss Gertrude Atkinson, Miss Gladys Fox, R. E. Fuller. Maryland and Virginia, District of Columbia: Mr. Wm. Burns Patzer, Secretary, Cabin John, Md. Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and West Tennessee: new members added, Mrs. Evelyn Bivins and Mrs. Eugene Keller. Texas, except northern Texas: Mrs. Donald L. Corbin, General Delivery, Palacios, is now Secretary. North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa: Mrs. Eunice Baker, Secretary, 530 Medical Arts Bldg., Omaha, Neb. California, Nevada and Arizona: Mrs. Edward Bode, Miss Dagmar Dole, Artemas D. Lamb added to Committee.

Index: Miss Lelia Miller added to Committee.

Contacts: Mrs. David Earl, Mrs. Hilbert Dahl, Miss Vera Richter added to Committee.

International Auxiliary Language: David Earl added to Committee.

Race Unity: Miss Nellie J. Roche added to Committee.

Youth: Harvey Wilkes added to Committee as regional member for Pacific Northwest.

Green Acre Youth Week: Norman Smith added to Committee.

REQUEST BY GREEN ACRE COMMITTEE[edit]

The Green Acre School Committee, desiring to develop facilities for classes in the study of Spanish, would like to inquire whether any believer can present to Green Acre a Linguaphone or records for teaching Spanish. Address the Committee Secretary, Miss Marjorie Wheeler, 84 Pleasant Street, Worcester, Mass.

WORLD NEWS[edit]

1. Irán

The close of the year 96 and the inauguration of the Bahá’í New Year 97 were doubly blessed and sanctified for the friends in Irán by the receipt of the following cablegram by the N.S.A. of Irán from the Guardian on the eve of the Ridvan Festival:

“Beloved friends (of) Irán remembered (at the) Holy Shrines. (I am) fervently [Page 12] praying (for the) speedy fulfilment (of the) divine promises.—SHOGHI.”

The N.S.A. for the coming Bahá’í Year was elected by 94 votes out of the statutory number of votes for Irán fixed at 95.

The members are as follows:

Jenabi Valiullah Varqa.
Jenabi Ali Akbar Furutan.
Jenabi Shu’a Ala’i.
Jenabi Fazil Mazandarani.
Jenabi Nurreddin Fath A’zam.
Jenabi Enayatullah Ahmad Pur.
Jenabi Ahmad Yazdani.
Jenabi Dr. Yunis Afrukhtih.
Jenabi Muhsin Asasi.

A number of pilgrims were able this year to reach the hallowed precincts of the Shrines in Palestine and to partake of the blessings of a visit to the Central Bahá’í Institutions in Haifa and the Guardian. The glad tidings they brought back as to the steady headway the beloved Cause is making throughout the world were of great cheering effect for the Bahá’ís of Irán.

The Youth Committee in Tihran is going to renew its untiring efforts of last year for the up-keep of a Bahá’í Summer School in Haji Abad some 39 kilometers outside Tihran. The School will be opened towards the end of June and will be of great success if administered on lines similar to those of last year.

Scheme is being worked out by a devoted Bahá’í of Tihran, Mr. Abdul Hussein Zargham for the up-keep and education of a number of Bahá’í orphans in his farm outside Tihran. The Youth Committee is sparing no effort to make this proposition a success. Already a number of orphans have been collected from the provinces and Tihran, and the work starts with excellent promise of future success.

An alarming fire recently broke out at night in the stores of the Rice Company in Bandar Jaz, a small port on the Caspian Sea. It threatened to destroy an extensive neighboring quarter of the town. A Bahá’í youth named Aqa Mohammad Sangi, member of the local S.A., who heard of the news, immediately left his bed and went out to fight the fire with no interest except his Bahá’í love for his fellowmen. While owners of endangered properties left their premises in the face of the inevitable peril, he simply threw himself into the flames and with heroic sacrifice and extraordinary suffering succeeded in subduing the fire and cutting it off from the rest of the town. He reached his goal but lost his life in a glorious task watched with awe and admiration by hundreds of spectators. The inhabitants of the town, deeply moved by this disinterested and heroic sacrifice, paid a pathetic homage to the departed soul and more than 400 of them followed his body to the cemetery and attended the Bahá’í interment rites, which as Muhammadans, they avoided so far. The admirable self-sacrifice shown with spontaneous impulse by this Bahá’í young man had its immediate recompense in the form of the interest of the spectators in Bahá’í teachings and is bound to bear in future other fruits of great importance. The fire and the heroic efforts of this departed soul in such a neglected corner of the world may in themselves not appeal to the outside world but the spontaneous and disinterested character of the self-sacrifice is instructive for us in showing in how many different ways the true Bahá’í spirit can find expression capable to awaken interest in our fellowmen.

The foregoing items have been selected from recent issues of the News Letter published by the N.S.A. of Irán.

2. Iráq

From the News Letter issued by the N.S.A. of Iráq the following reports are reproduced.

The Tenth Annual Bahá’í Convention was held on April 26, 1940 in the Haziratu’l-Quds of Baghdad, and was attended by seventeen delegates. The meeting was opened by the chanting of a Tablet, which was followed by a word of welcome addressed to those present by the Presiding Officer of the N.S.A. Then the permanent Chairman and Secretary of the Convention were elected. The annual report of the activities of the out-going N.S.A. was then read by the Secretary (a brief summary of the Report is given below). This was followed by a discussion by the delegates of urgent matters of the Cause, particularly the question of teaching and the establishment of new centers, according to the expressed wishes of the Beloved Guardian. A number of other recommendations were made for consideration by the incoming N.S.A., which was elected at the end of the session.

N.S.A. for 1940-41:

Munir H. Wakil	Chair-man
Daoud s. Toeg	Vice-chairman
Adib R. Bagdadi	Secretary
Sulman J. Dloomy	Treasurer
Jalil Shirin	Member
Hasan S. Bagdadi	Member
Kamil Abbas	Member
Ibrahim Qassabchi	Member
Abdu’r-Razzaq Qassabchi	Member

The main items in the N.S.A.’s Report were:

a. Completion of half of the building of the Haziratu’l-Quds of Baghdad.

b. Gradual purchase of modern furniture for the completed half of the Haziratu’l-Quds, including the National and Local Assembly rooms, the Archives and Library rooms, and the meeting hall.

c. The start to institute a befitting National Archives and National Library.

d. Subscriptions in the Arabic translation of the “Dawn-Breakers,” being printed by the N.S.A. of Egypt.

(To be continued)