Bahá’í News/Issue 362/Text
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| No. 362 | BAHA’I YEAR 118 | MAY, 1961 |
The First World Holy Day
When ‘Ali-Muhammad declared His Mission in the city of Shiráz, Persia, on May 23, 1844, He created the first occasion in all known history which can be observed by the peoples of the entire world with eoual right, for one purpose, and in the same spirit. For He whom we know as the Báb came as one of the Prophets of God, but His mission was not a preliminary but a culmination of the great cycle of the past. Through Him shone forth the Dawn-Light of the day of the creation of mankind. When he revealed the divine Word, the separation of the peoples was annulled, their division transcended, their hostility overcome. Man as the highest kingdom of reality under the Prophets received the inspiration to arise as one organic and mysterious being and enter into his true heritage as the sign of God and the expression of His will. The Báb summoned the races and peoples to respond to their glorious destiny by uniting in obedience to the divine decree.
There is no distinction between the Manifestations of God. Human beings cannot say that their Prophet is superior to others, revealed a more sublime Word, or endowed them with special authority over the people of other Faiths. What is distinctive is the stage of development in men at the time the Prophet comes to them to re-illumine the one true path. The Báb is the first World Prophet, and the day of His Declaration the first World Holy Day, because in our own time the process of spiritual and social evolution had completed the preliminary stages in the unfoldment of human attributes and attained to the condition of universal civilization.
Not all humanity has yet become conscious of what happened on May 23, 1844. Those who have this realization demonstrate their conviction of the oneness of God by meeting certain tests which infallibly determine both their knowledge and their sincerity.
The first condition of universality is recognition of the unique station of the Manifestation of God, the Prophet, as the sole connection between mankind and the Creator. One may have all rational knowledge, but lacking this recognition he lingers outside the precincts of spiritual truth.
The second condition is the acceptance of the equality of all the Manifestations, the founders of revealed religion. To reject one, whether He be Christ, Moses or Muḥammad, is to reject all the Messengers by substituting one’s limited conception for the reality itself. For if we reject one portion of the Path, we are not on the Path. The identifying landmarks are lost; we must try to recover the way.
The third condition is understanding of the principle or method by which the guiding truth is brought to this world, by recurrence of revelation, and in accordance with a progressive enlargement of the scope of truth. Thus it is not enough to say one believes in all the Prophets because they all brought the same message. Such a view is one‘s own limitation arbitrarily imposed upon the successive statements of truth as revealed and accessible in the Sacred Scriptures of all Faiths. Were religion only that scheme of recurrent repetition which some philosophers teach, the very essence of progress and development would be removed from human life.
The fourth condition is acceptance of mankind itself; the willingness to discard the old formulas of separation which sought to justify pride of race, creed, or class, and reduced true ethical principles to the realm of convention and convenience. These myriad barriers which divide humanity are nothing more than expressions of prejudice. True faith impels one to help banish these shadows from the world.
The fifth condition is confident realization that the day of spiritual victory has dawned; that the promise of ancient faiths is being swiftly fulfilled; that the world is being inspired to conquer superstition, overcome ignorance and surmount inertia; that the nations will attain peace; that world civilization has already been created as the pattern of reality for the new age.
To observe with reverence and gratitude the date of May 23, 1844, far from belittling or ignoring the Holy Days of the past, in reality exalts each of them by connecting it with its essential aim and fulfillment. For in the Báb have returned Jesus, Muhammad, Moses and all the Prophets. There is no other way in which the peoples of today can honor their ancestral traditions than by honoring Him in whom faith is life and not memory nor imagination.
—HORACE HOLLEY
Religion for Mankind
Message from Holy Land to the Twenty-one
To the Hands of the Cause, Auxiliary Board members, representatives of National Assemblies, delegates and believers gathered during Riḍván, 118, at the historic Conventions for the election of independent National Spiritual Assemblies in the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Beloved Friends:
On the glorious and historic occasion of the formation of no less than twenty-one independent national spiritual assemblies throughout Latin America let us lift up our hearts in praise to Bahá’u’lláh for the blessings He has poured forth so abundantly on the labors of His servants and for the fruition of yet another cherished plan of our beloved Guardian.
It is now almost ninety years since Bahá’u’lláh in the Mother Book of His Revelation, raised His “clarion call,” addressed collectively to the rulers of the republics of the Western Hemisphere, and summoned them to take “advantage of the Day of God.” From the moment when the Supreme Manifestation poured forth His bounties upon the Western Hemisphere until this auspicious day when no less than twenty-four independent national Bahá’í bodies, stretching from Alaska to Chile, have been constituted, the New World has received a never-ending stream of blessings from on high.
Before we look to the future of the work in Latin America we would do well to cast a glance over the past and remember the exploits that have led up to this present hour of consummation. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, planted the seed of victory when He called upon the believers to make every effort “so that these republics may become so illumined with the splendors and the effulgences of the Sun of Reality that they may become the objects of the praise and commendation of all other countries.” Already, during His own lifetime, a few consecrated souls, among them she whom the Guardian characterized as “that starservant of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, the incomparable Martha Root” had visited some of the Latin American republics and begun to teach there. However, it was not until the inauguration by the beloved Guardian in 1937 of the first “Seven Year Plan,” the object of which, as he wrote, was “the establishment of a minimum of one Bahá’í Center in each of the republics of Middle and South America” . . . “for whose entry into the fellowship of Bahá’u’lláh the Plan was primarily formulated,” that the few isolated Bahá’ís scattered throughout that vast area were reinforced in their labors by an official and systematic campaign conducted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada under the direct guidance of Shoghi Effendi himself. In 1938 he called upon the friends to “launch an offensive against the powers of darkness, of corruption, and of ignorance, an offensive that must extend to the uttermost end of the southern continent, and embrace in its scope each of the twenty nations that compose it.” By 1944, the end of the first Seven-Year Plan, which coincided with the glorious first centenary of the inception of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, the devoted band of North American pioneers now reinforced by many new native Bahá’ís, had succeeded in establishing no less than fifteen spiritual assemblies in the republics of Central and South America, and in forming groups in the remaining five.
These early victories so stirred the heart of the beloved Guardian that he said the opening of Latin America would “come to be regarded as one of the most glorious chapters in the international history of the Faith.” By 1947, soon after the second Seven-Year Plan was launched at his instruction, the centers in Latin America had grown to over a hundred and the assemblies had reached thirty-seven, an increase of twenty-two in a three-year period. One of the most “vital objectives,” to use his own words, of this second Seven-Year Plan, was the formation of two Latin American national assemblies, one to be representative of the believers of Central and the other of South America. Fourteen years ago the beloved Guardian heralded those two bodies as “precursors of the institutions which must participate in the election, and contribute to the support, of the Universal House of Justice,” and stated their function was to lead to the constitution of a “properly elected, fully representative national spiritual assembly in each republic of Central and South America.” This, he said, would constitute the last stage in the administrative evolution of the Faith in Latin America.
The victories achieved during the first Seven-Year Plan, the remarkable progress made during the interim before the second Seven-Year Plan was launched, so rejoiced the heart of the beloved Guardian that he lifted up his voice and testified—in words that must forever be a crown upon the heads of the Bahá’ís of all Latin America—to the greatness of their achievements. “No community” he wrote “since the inception of the hundred—year-old Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, not even the community of the Most Great Name in the North American continent, can boast of an evolution so rapid, a consolidation as sound, a multiplication of centers as swift, as those that have marked the birth and rise of this community of His followers in Latin America,” a community he called “this privileged, this youngest, this dynamic and highly promising member of the organic Bahá’í World Community.” His love flowed out to them in a mighty wave; in glowing words he welcomed that community into full partnership in the affairs of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, and asserted that . . . “the eager, the warm hearted, the spiritually minded and staunch members of these Latin American Bahá’í communities” . . . were now “launched on their Crusade for the spiritual conquest of the whole planet. . . .”
Historic Conventions in Latin America
With the release of the stupendous program of the World Crusade in Riḍván 1953 the destiny of the Latin American republics became clear. Magnificent, staggering—a youthful community gazed in awe at the tasks alloted it! Fourteen virgin territories became its responsibility to open to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in a ten year period, territories most of the Bahá’ís of the world had never heard of and whose location was a mystery to them! Twenty national Bahá’í headquarters were to be established in the twenty capital cities of Latin America and two sites for future Bahá’í temples were to be purchased. The two recently formed national assemblies responsible for the work in these twenty countries must have asked themselves how such feats could ever be accomplished by the new assemblies, the struggling groups, the scattered isolated believers under their jurisdiction. Other projects were added to these, either in the original Crusade plan or at a later date. The worthiness of the new Latin American community, which had now taken its rightful place in the Bahá’í world, was soon demonstrated. With the never-failing help of its devoted and loving mother community in North America, it shouldered its sacred burdens, clung tenaciously to the precious work entrusted to it by its Guardian, and forged ahead from victory to victory. He had called upon it in 1947 to “rise to the heights of its glorious opportunity which destiny is unfolding before its eyes.” It arose, and so nobly did the Latin American Bahá’ís fulfill their trust that in 1955 the Guardian announced to the Bahá’í world that in 1957 he would increase the number of national assemblies responsible for the work throughout that area to four, dividing Central and South America, respectively, into two regions, thus facilitating the administration of the rapidly expanding work in each area. Fresh bounties and new evidences of the high regard in which the Guardian held these believers in the Latin countries of the New World were steadily forthcoming up until the very end of his life. He urged them, as supplementary goals, to secure a Bahá’í endowment in each republic and a Bahá’í temple site in the eighteen countries without one. He indicated that Jamaica would form a national assembly of its own by including her in the roll call of delegates to one of the last conventions held before his passing. In numerous messages to the Bahá’í world, to assemblies and individuals, he praised the devotion of the believers, extolled their services. listed their victories, and painted a glowing picture of their future.
In less than a quarter of a century the seeds so widely sown have yielded the harvest being reaped today in the name of Shoghi Effendi, according to the provisions of the Divine Plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and through the mighty spiritual impetus imparted by Bahá’u’lláh. The event the entire Bahá’í world, in this blessed Riḍván period, is celebrating, is of a nature unequalled in the annals of our Faith. Twenty-one countries are at one and the same time reaching the last stage of their administrative evolution through the election of their independent national assemblies. That vast area, “an area,” as Shoghi Effendi was wont to say, “extending from the southern confines of the great republic of the West to the extremity of Chile,” has now come of age in the conduct of its affairs. The pillars which must assist in bearing the weight of the Universal House of Justice so soon to be constituted, have been safely erected.
At this breath-taking moment of fulfillment, before plunging into the great work that lies ahead of them, it is essential that these communities, and above all the members of their newly-elected national assemblies, take stock of their present position and survey the tasks still to be accomplished, tasks clearly set forth by the Guardian himself. As these new national Bahá’í communities face the future they should, we feel, above all else, remember, cherish and foster the unity of purpose and spirit which has consistently characterized their growth and which was so carefully inculcated in them by Shoghi Effendi himself. We cannot urge upon the believers too strongly the necessity of maintaining this supranational quality of Bahá’í life regardless of the new-found independence of their national communities. The close and loving cooperation which has existed between different Latin American communities in the field of teaching and publications should continue in order to consolidate the work already initiated and economize the very limited funds of the Faith available for Bahá’í literature, as well as to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and ensure a uniform and high standard in the matter of translations.
Our beloved Guardian, on various occasions, set many specific goals for Latin America, particularly in the subsidiary Six-Year Plan given to the four regional assemblies formed in 1957. The believers and their newly elected national representatives must now keep these goals constantly before them, and exert the utmost effort to assure their accomplishment.
The local spiritual assemblies, groups and isolated centers which have, at the cost of so much self-sacrifice and devotion on the part of both native and foreign pioneers. been raised to, and in some cases have even surpassed, the number specified by the beloved Guardian, must be safeguarded at any price during the coming years and, indeed, multiplied‘ The consolidation of the homefronts, and the preservation of the precious goals so laboriously won, must be regarded as a paramount duty at this critical period which inevitably follows the birth of any new national community. Each national assembly must bear in mind that the foundation of local assemblies upon which it rests consitutes, however indirectly, the foundation of the Universal House of Justice itself, and that the pillars of this mighty institution must under no circumstances be weakened at the very moment when the dome is about to be placed upon them.
The separate incorporation of each new national
The Bahá’ís of the Dominican Republic held on Jan.
6-8 It three-day National School in Ciudad Trujillo, organized by the National Teaching Committee, for the
preparation of believers for the election of the first
National Spiritual Assembly of the Dominican Republic. Visiting teachers were Mrs. Marguerite Sears and
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schecter. The central themes of
the school were Bahá’í history and administration.
assembly, as well as all firmly grounded local assemblies, is likewise an important phase of the work to
be undertaken in each of the republics, and in Jamaica, and constitutes one of the most fundamental
ways of consolidating the tasks already carried forward during twenty-four years in such a remarkable
manner. Likewise, every effort should be made to win
recognition for the Bahá’í Holy Days on which work is
suspended and to secure permission to perform Bahá’í
marriages legally.
The beloved Guardian, in a momentous communication addressed jointly to the national assemblies of Central and South America in 1951, listed “the consolidation of the recently inaugurated national and local funds” as one of the foremost responsibilities of these newly-formed regional administrative bodies. During the remaining months of the World Crusade when the financial requirements for attaining total victory are so great, the friends must be made aware of the need for a steady and continuous flow of contributions to their national funds, an outpouring which the beloved Guardian characterized as “the life—blood of these nascent institutions.” The spiritual significance and blessing of voluntary giving in support of Bahá’í activities should be strongly emphasized by the new national assemblies as they acquaint the members of their communities with the obligations which they must now discharge.
The emphasis placed by Shoghi Effendi on the importance of ensuring the wide dissemination of properly translated books on the Faith, as well as on the holding of an increasing number of regular summer schools and regional conferences, must never be forgotten and every effort should be made to implement his instructions given as long ago as 1947. “Other agencies,” he wrote, “such as publicity and advertising in the press, the multiplication of accurate and improved radio scripts, the extension of teaching projects through regional teaching committees, visual education and the organization of public meetings, should be fully utilized to capture the attention, win the sympathy, and secure the active and unreserved support of a steadily increasing proportion of the population of the various Latin American republics.”
Of the precious new territories given at the beginning of the Ten-Year Plan to the two national spiritual assemblies of Central and South America, two of which were subdivided by the Guardian himself at a later date, those still assigned to the Latin American regional bodies, as well as the consolidation areas allotted to these same assemblies, must continue to be the responsibility of the believers and their elected representatives, at least until the globe-encircling Crusade ends in 1963. After carefully considering the geographical relationship of these territories, now numbering twenty, as well as other factors, we have reapportioned them among the new national bodies as follows:
To Chile, the three goals of Chiloé, Juan Fernandez, and Easter Islands; to Brazil, the six goals of British and French Guiana, Surinam, and the Islands of Trinidad, Barbados and Grenada; Whilst Venezuela has been allocated the two goals of Curacao and Margarita. Panama, Guatemala, Ecuador, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have each been apportioned one goal, respectively, as follows: Tuamotu Archipelago, British Honduras, Galapagos, Martinique, and the Virgin Islands. Jamaica, the only territory outside the twenty Latin American countries to achieve the status of an independent national community at this time, will be responsible for the four goals of the Bahamas, Bermuda, Antigua and St. Lucia.
Last but not least of the great responsibilities now laid squarely upon the shoulders of not only the elected representatives of these new national Bahá’í communities but upon the rank and file of the believers of all twenty-one countries, is the teaching work in that area, where as the Guardian wrote, “the first fruits of the Divine Plan . . . have already been garnered in such abundance,” and which he characterized as “the vital process of individual conversion.” Bahá’u’lláh has, in numerous Tablets, made teaching the paramount spiritual obligation of every single believer. The whole purpose of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan is to teach the Faith of His Father to all the peoples of the world. As long ago as the time when the first Seven-Year Plan was given to the Bahá’ís of North America by the beloved Guardian, he pointed out to them that the purpose for which they had so laboriously erected the administrative machinery of their Faith was to teach, and that now they must arise and use this instrument for this supreme purpose—the propagation of their Faith. On the occasion of the half-Way point of the World Crusade, in the last message the Bahá’í world was ever to receive from him, he associated the coming five years with mass conversion.
Now is the auspicious moment for the members of
these new national communities “whose Motherlands[Page 5]
have been chosen,” as Shoghi Effendi wrote, “as the
scene of the earliest victories won by the prosecutors
of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan”—to arise and teach
as never before. Let them recall the wonderful appeal
the Guardian addressed to them: “Theirs is the opportunity, it they but seize it, to adorn the opening
pages of the second Bahá’í century with a tale of
deeds approaching in valor those with which their
Persian brethren have illumined the opening years or
the first, and comparable with the exploits more recently achieved by their North American fellow-believers, and which have shed such luster on the closing
decade of that same century.” These communities have
now entered the period of “strenuous and organized
labors” the Guardian spoke of, “by which future generations of believers in the Latin countries must
distinguish themselves” in that period when, as he
said, “native Latin American traveling teachers will
arise who, as the mighty task progresses, must increasingly bear the brunt of responsibility for the
propagation of the Faith in their homelands.”
A bright picture stretches before the eyes of the believers in the New World and the harvest, in many places, stands ready for the gamers hand. The greatest possibilities for mass conversion at the present time are undoubtedly amongst the Indian tribes. As long ago as 1947 the Guardian wrote that particular attention should be directed to the “various Indian tribes, the aboriginal inhabitants of the Latin republics, whom the Author of the Tablets of the Divine Plan has compared to the ‘ancient inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula.’ ” He then quoted the wonderful words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá regarding them: “attach great importance to the indigenous population of America. For these souls may be likened unm the ancient inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, who, prior to the Mission of Muhammad were like unto savages. When the light of Muhammad shone forth in their midst, however, they became so radiant as to illumine the world. Likewise, these Indians, should they be educated and guided, there can be no doubt that they will become so illumined as to enlighten the whole world.”
How grateful all those believers must be who were in any way responsible for the beginning of this process of mass conversion among the Indians, which had already started during the lifetime of the beloved Guardian. What joy it brought him, with what enthusiasm he hailed the formation of the first all-Indian local assembly, how dear to his heart was the first Indian Institute at Chichicastenango, how frequently he spoke to pilgrims from East and West of the importance of this work and the progress it was making, and how carefully he noted in his records the names of the tribes enrolled in the Faith and the native languages into which Bahá’í literature had been translated. In his own words he clearly indicated for the believers of Latin America the manner in which he wished them to proceed in this all-important teaching field and clearly set forth the role he wished the new Indian Bahá’ís to play in both the administrative and teaching work of the Faith. “A special effort should be exerted to secure the unqualified adherence of members of some of these tribes to the Faith, their subsequent election to its councils, and their unreserved support of the organized attempts that will have to be made in future by the projected national assemblies for the large-scale conversion of the Indian races to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.”
The duties devolving upon the newly elected national assemblies and the communities they renrtsent are manifold and arduous. The possibilities which he before them are infinitely promising. Within this area, which has now come of age in the administration of its own affairs, there are black republics and white republics. Within at least one of these the majority of the believers are descended from the original inhabitants of the Americas. What a glorious demonstration of the oneness of mankind! What an opportunity these favored new national communities have of exemplifying the reality of that brotherhood of man Bahá’u’lláh has asserted as the cardinal principle of His Faith!
No words could breathe more hope and confidence into the hearts of the believers in that favored portion of the globe than those addressed to them by the beloved Guardian himself during the last year of his life: “May these communities, now standing on the threshold of unprecedented achievements, which have already, through their collective endeavors, ennobled the record of Bahá’í accomplishments during the last twenty years of the Formative Age of the Bahá’í Dispensation, who are so noticeably contributing, through their diverse national characteristics, to the enrichment of the life of the International Bahá’í Community, be vouchsafed a still fuller measure of celestial strength, that will enable them to fulfill their high destiny in the years to come and play their part in hastening the world-wide triumph of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh and the firm establishment of its embryonic World Order.”
HANDS OF THE CAUSE IN THE HOLY LAND
Signed:
RUHÍYYIH
AMELIA COLLINS
LEROY IOAS
PAUL HANEY
A. FURUTAN
JOHN FERRABY
JALÁL KHÁZEH
A.Q. FAIZI
April 1961.
Bahá’í's from Mexico City and Puebla attending a
Teaching Conference held in Guadalajara, Oct. 1960.
Naw-Rúz Greeting from Holy Land[edit]
“With humble hearts (we) turn (to) Bahá’u’lláh in thanksgiving (for the) bountiful blessings bestowed (on) His faithful followers throughout (the) world during (the) past year enabling them (to) win unprecedented victories (on) all fronts stop Mother Temple (of) Africa befittingly dedicated (,) Mother Temple (of) Australia nearing completion (and) construction work (on) Mother Temple (of) Europe rapidly progressing stop Mass conversion so ardently called for by beloved Guardian (while) continuing (in) African continent (and) expanding (in) South America (,) Indonesia (and) Malaya (is) now beginning-(in) India stop In sending (our) loving Naw-Rúz greetings (we) urge (the) friends (to) join in fervent prayers (to) Bahá’u’lláh (and) supplicate further outpouring (of) His bounties assuring (the) coming year even greater victories (and) raising higher (the) banner (of) His glorious Faith in every land as (a) beacon and (the) sole hope (for) peace (and) unity (in this) distracted world stop Air mail message all National Assemblies.”
(signed) HANDSFAITH
Haifa, Israel, March 13, 1961
Distinguished Hand of Cause Corinne True Ascends to Abhá Kingdom[edit]
“Grieved (over) loss (of) distinguished disciple (of) ‘AbduA’l-Baha Hand (of) Cause Corinne ‘True. Her long association (with) early history (of the) Faith in America (and the) raising (Of the) Mother Temple (of the) West, (her) staunch, unfailing championship (of the) Covenant (and) steadfast support (of the) beloved Guardian (in) every stage (of the) unfoldment (of the) World Order (is) unforgettable (and will) enrich (the) annals (of the) Faith (of the) western world. Urge hold befitting memorial gathering (in) Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. Airmail message (to) Hands (and) National Assemblies.”
Haifa, Israel April 1961.
(signed) HANDSFAITH
The beloved Hand of the Cause, Mrs. Corinne Knight
True, lovingly known as the “Mother” of the Mother
Temple of the West, and one of the earliest American
Bahá’ís, passed away in her home on April 3 at the
age of ninety-nine, Arrangements were made for a
memorial service to be held Friday evening, April 28,
during the National Convention, An account of this
meeting will appear in the next issue of BAHÁ’Í NEWS.
—U.S. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
Hand of Cause Visits African Villages
Immediately after the dedication of the Mother Temple of Africa, Rúḥíyyih Khánum set off to tour the villages of Uganda. Kenya and Tanganyika, staying with the believers, living in their homes and joining in all their activities. Though the schedule was a rigorous one, she daily grew more radiant and happy as she went from village to village. So great was this love for Africa, that she changed her plans and instead of leaving on February 8 from Tanganyika, she went back to Kenya until the 23rd, visiting the pagan areas in that territory, accompanied by Violette and ‘Ali Nakhjavání and reported as follows by Violette Nakhjavání in the Bahá’í Gazette of Central and East Africa:
On January 18, 1961 at 2:45 p.m., ‘Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum accompanied by ‘Ali and me left Kampala for a fifteen days’ visit of the Bahá’ís of Uganda and Kenya.
It is impossible to describe in full all the events it was our lot to witness by accompanying Rúḥíyyih Khánum on her never-to-be-forgotten trip. It was a fortnight packed with joy, thrill, excitement and blessing for the friends and for her.
During this period she attended eleven conferences, eight in Uganda and three in Kenya, dedicated two Bahá’í primary schools, met with over 1000 believers, slept nine nights in nine different African homes, ate with the African believers their native food, gave them in simple language pearls of wisdom from the Holy Teachings and gems of love from her tender and radiant heart. She taught them the meaning of humility in action, and of modesty and simplicity as exemplified in her own deeds. She showed them the path she was treading—the path of true faith, love, service and sacrifice.
Among other things, Rúḥíyyih Khánum impressed upon the dear African friends that their own folklore, their traditions and their native songs and music should not be discarded, but that in a society of unity in diversity they were to preserve and develop these and other special traits and capacities God had especially bestowed upon them, as their contribution in enriching the spiritual and material Life of human society. Her words had a magnetic influence upon the friends, who permitted by her, would sing their songs for her, play their instruments, and perform their old tribal dances, sometimes until the late hours of the night.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum had captured their hearts and their souls. They were happy to see her, to be with her and to be Bahá’ís in this glorious Day.
To give a glimpse of her tour, may I present a few revealing extracts from my diary:
“The following morning, Sunday, January 22, we left Soroti for the village of Angola in Wera. A very large crowd of more than 140 people were awaiting Rúḥíyyih Khánum’s arrival at the house of Alfred Odeke. The meeting was under a huge tree, where they had erected a grassed-roof shed for their dearly-loved visitor. After the devotional, Rúḥíyyih Khánum gave a very inspiring talk in encouragement of the friends. She told them that they must have confidence in their own abilities, that they have a great gift to offer to human society, that according to the words of our beloved Guardian the time will come when the African Bahá’ís would go abroad and teach the other races and peoples of the world. After lunch the meeting continued With more talks and questions and answers.
“Rúḥíyyih Khánum on that afternoon spoke of the equality of the sexes, and that the women should take an active part in all the Bahá’í activities. She told us that about half of the pioneers who left their homes and went out during the Ten-Year Crusade were women. After a little break for sweets, etc., the village music band was introduced to Rúḥíyyih Khánum and she was told that they had prepared some tunes for her. The band consisted of nine young boys of between fourteen to seventeen or eighteen years of age. They had seven congos (drums) of different sizes and tones. Their conductor was Mr. Opure, who had presented Rúḥíyyih Khánum with a spear during the dedication weekend in Kampala. Okello, the eldest of the players, was the band leader. All the boys were Bahá’ís and had written on the congos ‘Bahá’í Band of Angole.’ They played many beautiful tunes, both old and new, and sang to the music, and almost everyone, old and young, danced with joy and delight. Photographs were taken and this went on after dinner. Esau Tukei, one of the very active Bahá’í teachers, played most beautiful melodies on the harp. He had thought out such beautiful words of thanks to Bahá’u’lláh for His bounty and grace to His people. A young boy, who was the drummer, played some traditional beats such as the tune which is played when there is a sick person in the house, to scare the spirit of the dead grandfather whom they believe has come to take away the sick person. They also danced a very exciting war dance. The happiness and radiance which was shown in the face of Rúḥíyyih Khánum was like a healing medicine to the hearts of these lovable people. She thoroughly and sincerely enjoyed their music, their dances, their wholehearted hospitality, and made it quite clear that she did so. She repeatedly told them that these arts are their tradition, that they should keep and Cherish them and be proud of them, Her very open appreciation and love helped the friends to drop all feelings of shyness and reserve. They took her truly as one of their own loved ones. I shall never forget the way the young musicians came and sat at her feet and played with such deep feeling and love, looking up at her face to see if she enjoyed it. Her beautiful smile, the sparkle in her eyes, showed her deep happiness and affection towards them. It was nearly midnight when eventually we retired to bed. . . .”
Rúḥíyyih Khánum and Violette Nahkjavání meeting with the Teso Bahá’ís.
A teaching session in the Maragoli-Tiriki area, Kenya,
given by Rúḥíyyih Khánum.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum joins in singing Bahá’í songs composed and sung by African Bahá’ís, Maragoli-Tiriki
area, Kenya.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum’s first visit to the pagan virgin area,
Nandi reservation, Kenya.
Africans listening to Rúḥíyyih Khánum explain the
Bahá’í Teachings, Nandi Pagan area, Kenya.
“Saturday, January 28, was the first day of our
Kenya tour. We left Kitale soon after lunch in two
cars, one of Aziz (Yazdi’s) and the other ours. At
3:00 p.m., we arrived in Malikisi Location in the
village of Namwela, in the house of Hezekai Kiliswa.
A crowd of over one hundred were awaiting Rúḥíyyih
Khánum’s arrival. A very beautiful grass shed had
been erected, and its poles were decorated with fresh
bunches of flowers; more flowers were put at the
entrance of the garden. The faces of the dear friends
were glowing with happiness and pride for having our
dearly loved Rúḥíyyih Khánum among us. After
Prayers, Rúḥíyyih Khánum gave a very wonderful
talk on the importance of living a Bahá’í life, of the
great value and strength that love can create in the
community. She told us that once someone asked the
beloved Guardian, how can I love all the people when
there is so much difference in our temperaments and
characters? The Guardian explained that two brothers
might be of diverse temperaments and habits, likes
and dislikes, but as they love their one father and
Know that he loves them both, they will realize that the
father in his wisdom must have seen something good
in the other brother, and it is for the sake of that
one thing that he loves him. Thus, through their love
and faith in the father they decide to love each other
and overlook the shortcomings of one another. This is
how we should love our fellow men. It is our unified
love for Bahá’u’lláh that should bind us together.”
The following extracts are from a talk given by Rúḥíyyih Khánum at Kabras, Kenya:
“After being in Africa this is the mental picture that I have: You have here the African people with all the good qualities that God has given them; like a mountain here. And over here you have another mountain, which is the future, its prosperity and progress. I have been asking myself: Is it possible for us to come from this mountain to this mountain without going into the valley? If the people of one African country, most of them, become Bahá’ís they will have such good characters. They will not have all this materialism, all this bloodshed, which is the valley. . . .
“I don’t know whether the friends remember What Bahá’u’lláh said about the black people. The middle of the eye, the pupil, is always black, Whatever the color of the eye itself. Bahá’u’lláh said that the black people are like the pupil of the eye. This is a tremendous statement. The Founder of our Faith has said that the African people can reflect the light like the pupil of the eye. . . .
“The African Bahá’ís not only have a great destiny, but they also have a great responsibility. They must go out and teach. It was Shoghi Effendi’s wish that you should go out and teach. . . .
“Wonderful things are possible in this world if we have faith in God. I think the Bahá’ís have that faith. They should have confidence in themselves and confidence in Bahá’u’lláh. Often we see very plain men become very famous..Why? Because they take action; they do something. . . .
“Christ, referring to Peter, said, ‘On this rock I shall build my church.’ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that Peter was such a simple man that he took his food and divided it in seven piles, and ate one pile each day. When the seventh pile came, he knew it was the Sabbath.
What happened to Herod? Nothing! But Peter who was so ignorant, is remembered and loved by us all today This is to show us that God Will assist all those who arise to help His Faith. . . .
“The page in Africa is white, but it is a big page. Anyone who wants can write his name on this page through his services.”
This is just part of the story — an experience which was more heavenly than gearthly. The impact of Rúḥíyyih Khánum’s historic visit to East Africa will be assessed in days to come. Its immediate fruits have been a greater confidence of the friends in their future, more determination to serve and a renewed spirit of dedication — all of which will, to a large extent, stimulate the vital process of mass conversion in these fertile lands.
International News Briefs[edit]
Following a previous visit three months earlier by Johnny Wilson who is a Tlingit Indian from Juneau, Alaska, Eugene King, an Aleut Indian from Tacoma, Washington, left on a speaking tour among the Indians of Southeastern Alaska at the invitation of the Southeast Alaska Teaching Committee. He spoke at Ketchikan, Petersburg, Angoon on Admiralty Island, and Hoonah. Mr. King, although blind, could perceive that these Indians on remote, small islands in the Prince Rupert Sound are eager for this Faith.
Mr. William Mitchell, Auxiliary Board member from Kingston, Jamaica, arrived in Cuba on January 19 to spend a week each in Camaguey and in Cienfuegas, and for the remaining two Weeks of his permitted visit he went to Havana and Marianao. In all his meetings Mr. Mitchell encouraged believers to build up strong communities so that the new National Spiritual Assembly of Cuba, so soon to come into existence, will be a strong body.
A successful Youth Congress was organized by the Bahá’í Youth Committee of Puebla, Mexico, on Feb. 12, 1961. The program was beautifully developed by the
Bahá’ís of Tiriki, Kenya, gathered to meet Rúḥíyyih Khánum.
Rúḥíyyih Khánum meeting with some of the Bahá’ís in
Nairobi, Kenya.
youth themselves assisted by one adult. Thirty-two persons attended, coming from surrounding communities.
This Congress was preceded by an equally successful
meeting of the youth of Mexico City and Puebla and
their friends at the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds in Mexico City.
This meeting resulted in four youth declarations in
Puebla.
From the Alaska Bahá’í News we learn that the years of patient Contact and ground work of the Whitehorse Bahá’ís are bearing fruit with the added efforts of Jim Walton, Tlingit Indian from Juneau . . . and as of January 27, there are thirty-four newly declared Indian believers in and around Whitehorse. The chief of the Teslin Indians and one of the Whitehorse chiefs declared their belief in Bahá’u’lláh. Startling indeed are the events taking place in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory!
Bahá’í public meeting held at Maragoli, Kenya, Feb.
1961.
First Indian Conference Held in Bolivia
The first Indian Congress of Bolivia was held in Oruro on Feb. 21-25, 1961, with 116 Indians participating. They came from forty-six different places in Bolivia. Visiting teachers were Eve Nicklin and Edmond Miessler. At the end of the sessions twenty-two new believers were enrolled.
The activities in Bolivia during the past year have been mostly devoted to deepening the knowledge of new believers and preparing them for the historic first National Spiritual Assembly of Bolivia. This has been done through extensive programs of visiting their villages or inviting them to the summer school, different classes and conferences.
Just before Riḍván 1961, the number of Indian believers has passed the one thousand mark.
Left: Children attending Indian Bahá’í School at Villa Nieque, Bolivia, with their teacher Mauricio. Right: Students taking exercise at Bahá’í School in Hankocuio, Bolivia. Sabino, their teacher, is standing behind them.
Indians of Western Hemisphere Embrace Faith in Unprecedented Numbers[edit]
In a stirring letter dated March 13, 1961 to National Assemblies and to the members of the Auxiliary Boards in the Western Hemisphere, the Hands of the Faith in the Western Hemisphere recounted triumphs in the teaching work in the Americas “unsurpassed in the collective history in the West.”
The following excerpts from this letter indicate how widespread has been the response of the indigenes of this continent to the call of Bahá’u’lláh now being raised in even the remotest Indian communities in all of Latin America, Canada and Alaska through the efforts of self-sacrificing Bahá’í pioneers and traveling teachers.
“El Salvador reports the joyous news of the purchase of their Temple land, another Crusade victory.
“Nicaragua has their first all-Indian local assembly, with numbers increasing and teaching spreading ever further into the green mountains and valleys of this important nation.
“Mexico has vied with Nicaragua and has raised up an all-Indian community and local assembly at Cholula, Mexico, where the numbers have greatly increased during the past few months, and the spirit burns more brightly each passing day.
The first all-Indian Bahá’í community of San Rafael,
Mexico. Señora Margarita de Cruz (second row, center)
and Señor Manuel Rodriguez of Puebla (standing extreme left) whose devoted labors helped to establish
this community.
“The National Assembly of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela has reported more new believers this year than in all of the entire last year. The
most thrilling news is that over fifty percent of the new
believers have entered the Faith in the past two months
in a fresh wave of enthusiasm for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Ecuador continues its concentration on the teaching work among the Indians at Vagabundo, the first all-Indian community in this national region, where the work is growing in strength.
“The revered Hand of the Cause, Mr. Zikru’lláh Khádem, following his visit to the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, reported the news of the encouraging response of the dear Canadian friends on almost every front, to the concentrated plan of teaching launched by their National Assembly. Already they have more new believers this year than any other year in their history. A team of teachers, one Indian and one white, has systematically been visiting the Indian areas, shedding the love of Bahá’u’lláh and demonstrating it in their very make-up. More new Indian believers have entered the Faith this year in Canada than any year before in the history of the nation. All-Indian assemblies will be part of the joyous news at their Riḍván period. The National Assembly secretary writes that they are assured or thirty-six local assemblies and that they have the potential of reaching fifty-two out of their sixty. In the Yukon, they have more than doubled their number at Whitehorse. They have had an increase of over 175 percent, mostly among the Yukon Indians from two different tribes. They ascribe their success to having a clear understanding of what their goals are, frequent consultation on the teaching work, a community-wide enthusiasm in which every individual believer recites the long obligatory prayer each day; the Tablet of Ahmad, and where they unitedly arise to serve ‘as unrestrained as the wind.’
“Bolivia still shines in solitary glory for its work among the American Indians. An all-Bolivian Indian Congress was recently held in Oruro, Bolivia. There are now 1300 believers in Bolivia in some one hundred centers. There are plans to form approximately twenty new all-Indian local assemblies this coming Riḍván, an unprecedented number.
“Hand of the Cause Dr. Raḥmatu’lláh Muhájir is now teaching among the Bolivian Indians and Hand of the Cause Mr. Enoch Olinga is teaching among the believers in the Greater Antilles . . . These victories are a fitting climax to the past two years of effort in which first all of the local spiritual assemblies were won, and in which now all twenty-one new National Spiritual Assemblies become Pillars of the future Universal House of Justice. . . .
“For such benefits, for such arresting and majestic vindication of our undefeatable powers inherent in our precious Faith, we can but how our heads in humility, awe and thanksgiving, renew our pledge of fealty to it, and, each covenanting in his own heart, resolve to prove faithful to that pledge, and persevere to the very end, until our earthly share of servitude to so transcendent and priceless a Cause has been totally and completely fulfilled.”
Maturing With the World Crusade
One of the signs of maturity, surely, is the ability to think things through. Watch a child. He rarely pursues one activity for long, before his attention is caught by something else and off he goes to another busy-ness, totally unaware of having left his first action unfinished. Activity is what he is interested in, not getting something accomplished.
For adults, and especially Bahá’ís, the ability to think things through is a quality that can be cultivated. Steadfastness in the pursuit of what we have found to be true is a part of it. Shoghi Effendi is a shining example of this quality. He saw what needed to be done. Then he carried through, clear-sightedly, regardless of obstacles, and called on the Bahá’ís to arise and help accomplish it.
Shoghi Effendi has told us that the advent of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh signalizes “the coming of age of the entire human race” (WOB 163). That just as the life of an individual must go through stages of development, so also must the collective life of mankind pass through its “long ages of infancy and childhood” and the “turbulent” stage of adolescence (WOB 202), stages which will, in time, give way to the wisdom and calmness of maturity. “Then will the human race reach that stature of ripeness which will enable it to acquire all the powers and capacities upon which its ultimate development must depend” (WOB 202).
As those first to become awakened by the spiritual forces flooding the world through the Revelation oi Bahá’u’lláh, the Bahá’ís are charged with the responsibility to be the first to demonstrate the “transmuting power” of this Spirit and thus distinguish themselves from the “community from which God has raised them up . . . Otherwise, the supreme and distinguishing function of His Revelation, which is none other than the calling into being of a new race of men, will remain wholly unrecognized and completely obscured” (ADJ 14). Theirs is the privilege to be the first to apply His Laws, and to erect the divine institutions which are to be the “channel through which His promised blessings may flow” (WOB 9). As the Bahá’ís strive to fulfill their responsibilities and understand their functioning, they grow in maturity, and are then able to assume greater responsibilities.
Esteban Canales, Auxiliary Board member (second
row, third from left) during his visit to the all-Indian
Bahá’í community of San Rafael, Mexico.
It is an integral part of the unfoldment of His Will
in this world that the means of bringing about the
process of maturing is also provided. Thus, the Tablets
of the Divine Plan were revealed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the
Center of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, to awaken
primarily the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada
(as the “champion builders”) to their responsibilities
in raising the call of the Kingdom. The God-given
Mandate in these Tablets being delivered, the process
of detaching the Bahá’ís of the West from the spiritually immature material world began.
With the coming of the Guardianship in 1921, the role of the Bahá’ís became ever more clearly defined, as Shoghi Effendi through his dynamic letters constantly encouraged each and every Bahá’í to understand clearly the progressive steps necessary in carrying out, in various stages, the Divine Plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. With the beginning of the third successive stage in this unfoldment — the Ten-Year World Crusade — Shoghi Effendi outlined the tasks that needed to be achieved by the Bahá’ís of the world by 1963.
Each succeeding letter contained a more urgent plea, urging the Bahá’ís to arise, to seize their opportunity. our Guardian had thought it through. He saw the hoped-for end in the beginning. He was calling the Bahá’ís to a world-wide realization of the need to arise, to become mature, to do this, now, and to stick with it, for the salvation of humanity as well as for our own.
We had been called upon to erect local assemblies. Soon we could see that the compelling reason for the establishment of local spiritual assemblies was to form the “broad and solid base” (GPB 330) for support of the national spiritual assemblies, the “pillars.”
Now, with the imminent fulfillment of the goal of the required number of national spiritual assemblies for 1963 — almost quintupling in ten years the number of national assemblies in the world — we begin to understand, and to experience, the need for “harmoniously, vigorously, and efficiently functioning” local and national assemblies throughout the Bahá’í world (B. Admin. 41). We see that the reason for working so hard to establish an adequate number of national spiritual assemblies is that they provide the support on which the “crowning unit” (GPB 330) of the administrative structure must rest—the Universal House of Justice. This had been the goal all along. But, as if blinded by the bright light of the future, We had taken each step on the way as if it had been the goal,
La Paz, Bolivia, Bahá’ís and visiting teachers Eve
Nicklin and Edmund Miessler at future Temple site
overlooking city, purchased Jan. 1960.
sufficient and all-absorbing. And we magnified the
problems of the particular out of all proportion to the
grand perspective of which they are but a part. We
had not thought it through.
We had elected our local spiritual assemblies trying to consider, in a “rarefied atmosphere of selflessness and detachment” (B. Admin. 65) the seven qualifications of these members as given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold” (B. Admin. 21).
Moreover, we had elected our delegates to the National Conventions, perhaps too often on a personal basis rather than “With that purity of spirit that can alone obtain our Beloved’s most cherished desire” (B. Admin. 65).
Then suddenly we found ourselves faced with a truly grown-up task. We were faced, Riḍván of 1960, with the task of electing delegates who would elect the national spiritual assemblies which would, at Riḍván 1961, elect the International Bahá’í Council, the forerunner of the Universal House of Justice, “a House which posterity will regard as the last refuge of a tottering civilization” (WOB 89).
The “high qualifications” for members of Bahá’í national spiritual assemblies are stated by Shoghi Effendi:
“Hence it is incumbent upon the chosen delegates to consider without the least trace of passion and prejudice, and irrespective of any material consideration, the names of only those who can best combine the necessary qualities of unquestioned loyalty, of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience” (B. Admin. 88).
Only an awareness of what these national spiritual assemblies are called upon to do, at Riḍván 1961, an awareness of the international structure of the Faith, of the crucial world-wide implications of this step, of the fact that all that had gone before was a necessary prelude to what was now about to be achieved, an awareness that this is the first approach toward election of the Universal House of Justice, could insure the mature carrying out of the important step, in 1963, of the direct election by these national spiritual assemblies, “from among the mass of the faithful” (WOB 154), of this supreme legislative body. In His Will and Testament ‘Abdu’l-Bahá provides that this Universal House of Justice “is to be elected from all countries, that is from those parts in the East and West where the loved ones are to be found” (WT 20).
The members of the national spiritual assemblies, as the electors, therefore, are to know the “loved ones” of East and West, the “mass of the faithful.” To this end Shoghi Effendi, in his spiritual world-embracing Crusade, with its intercontinental Conferences, with its pioneering under the twelve national assemblies, has been preparing us, by calling together the Bahá’ís of all continents, with the Hands of the Cause and the national spiritualassemblies, in order that they may meet and come to know one another, from East and West. How else could an intelligent election of even the “foreninner” of the Universal House of Justice be carried out? In order to elect “from among the mass of the faithful” it is necessary that the electors come to know the Bahá’í; of East and West that can fulfill the qualifications given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will and Testament for members of this supreme body:
“Its members must be manifestations of the fear of God and day-springs of knowledge and understanding, must be steadfast in God’s faith and the wellwishers of all mankind” (WT 14).
Shoghi Effendi has pointed out that its members must not be “governed by the feelings, the general opinion, and even the convictions of the mass of the faithful, or of those who directly elect them. They are to follow, in a prayerful attitude, the dictates and
A few Bahá’ís from surrounding communities and one
guest (standing left) visiting the Merico Temple site
during the National Bahá’í Congress Dec. 29-31, 1960.
The site is on the outskirts of Mexico City overlooking
the Valley of Mexico. It is bordered by the highway
and has on it some magnificent trees.
promptings of their conscience.” They “are not, as Bahá’u’lláh’s utterances clearly imply, responsible to those whom they represent” (W138 153).
These are qualities of maturity, of complete dedication, of singleness of purpose, of universal outlook, of absolute justice.
Our beloved Guardian has led us patiently and lovingly, step by step, throughout the thirty-six years of his Guardianship, and is still leading us if we but follow his writings and his example. He has delineated patterns which run like golden threads through the grand design.
Oft-recurring in his writings is the reference to the “twofold process" of expansion and consolidation. Under his unerring guidance we have come to understand that as we spread the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, we establish new bases, and from these bases the teachings can
First Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Blue-fields, Nicaragua, formed 1961.
be further spread: teaching and administration. We
have also come to understand that “the one integrating
process in a world whose institutions, secular as well
as religious, are for the most part dissolving” is the
“world-embracing, continually consolidating activities”
(WOB 194) of the Bahá’ís, intent on erecting throughout
the world the framework within which the World Order
of Bahá’u’lláh—“the Ark of everlasting salvation in this
most grievous Day” (WOB l94)—is to be reared in the
future.
Twenty—five years ago Shoghi Effendi wrote: “Though the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh has been delivered, the World Order which such 3 Revelation must needs beget is as yet unbom” (WOB 168). The present, therefore, is like the period of its incubation. It is to be “the fairest fruit of a slowly maturing age” (WOB 41).
The Administrative Order is not the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, Shoghi Effendi makes clear, but is “the chief agency empowered to usher in the concluding phase, the consummation of this glorious Dispensation” (WOB 156).
An integral part of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh is the House of Worship, the central Edifice oi the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár. Erection of Houses of Worship, the “Mother Temple” on each continent, and purchase of sites for future erection of other Houses of Worship have therefore necessarily been objectives of this world Crusade. Their importance will become ever clearer in the future, as they assume their true function in the “direct and constant interaction between the spiritual forces emanating from this House of Worship centering in the heart of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár and the energies consciously displayed by those who administer its affairs in their service to humanity” (B. Admin. 186).
With the conclusion of this first world-wide Crusade the first epoch in the evolution of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan will come to an end. This achievement will, in itself, Shoghi Effendi tells us, pave the way for establishing, in succeeding epochs “in the course of subsequent crusades” throughout the Formative Age, in the remaining territories of the world, the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith, “with all its attendant agencies, and of eventually erecting in these territories still more pillars to share in sustaining the weight, and in broadening the foundation, of the Universal House of Justice” (Bahá’í World XII, 137),
Thus the divine process of unfoldment of the Will of God for this day continues. We have grown more mature in the accomplishing of the objectives of this first world Crusade. We can increase the process of maturing only by fitting our thinking and action into this ever-expanding, ever-deepening universal pattern. We can no longer afford to consider any given action or area as circumscribed, Every particular action relates to the whole. Every remotest area is connected with the World Center of the Faith With the establishment of the Universal House of Justice on the Holy Mountain of God, in fulfillment of ancient prophecies, past ages will be caught in to the present, and to the future.
We can now see more clearly the direction in which our glorious destiny is leading us. Though as yet many of the steps on that way are not visible to us, we know that the unerring guidance which has led us thus far will continue to lead us if we but remain steadfast in following the pattern delineated. Only as we relate our every action to the whole, as we think things through and refuse to be side-tracked, can we assume the responsibilities which it is our great privilege as believers in the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh to carry. Only thus can we fulfill the tasks of the present and only thus can we hasten the coming of “the Christ-promised Kingdom of God on earth, the Kingdom of Bahá’u’lláh” (BW XII, 137). Only thus can the coming of age of mankind be fulfilled. “Who can doubt that such a consummation—the coming of age of the human race—must signalize, in its turn, the inauguration of a world civilization such as no mortal eye hath ever beheld or human mind conceived?” (WOB 206).
—BEATRICE ASHTON
LOCAL ASSEMBLIES FORMED RIḌVÁN 1960[edit]
First Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Uppsala, Sweden, formed Riḍván 1960.
Eight members of the local Spiritual Assembly of La
Paz, Bolivia. Front row, left to right: Hernan Saravia,
Jane Khamsi, Issac Mamani (through whom in his second month as a Bahá’í 273 Indian believers enrolled in
the Faith), Lecile Webster. Back row: E. Alverez, Livia
Barbara, Molly Landivar, Massoud Khamsi.
First Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Valencia, Venezuela, established Apr, 21, 1960. Left to right: Mireya Muñoz, Saturnino Bello, Julio Perez, Clara de Perez, Peter McLaren, Martha Posner, Wilder Mesa, Joan Lozier, Real Posner.
Eight members of the first Local Spiritual Assembly
of Distrito Sucre, Venezuela, established Riḍván 1960.
Left to right: Bernice Bernardo, Elena de Weinreb,
Marines de Caro, Ana de Gotta, Luis A. Gotto, Marinette de Bourillon, Chana de Voss and Hans Voss. The
ninth member, John Krafft, moved to Germany.
Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Santa
Monica, Calif. incorporated Mar. 8, 1961. Front row,
left to right: Kenneth Wiley, Mrs. Leona Wallace, Mrs.
Alma Witt, Wallace Carter. Back row: Mrs. Arleen
Wiley, Dr. Charles R. Witt, Mrs. Arleen Boyd, Martin
Kob, Mrs. Victoria Longstreet.
Bahá’í News for Bahá’ís Only[edit]
The believers throughout the world are reminded that BAHÁ’Í NEWS is published for registered Bahá’ís only and under no circumstances should it be given to anyone else.
It must not be given to public or any libraries other than local Bahá’í community or Bahá’í school libraries, nor should it be discarded with waste papers and magazines collected for sale.
Many items appearing in BAHÁ’Í NEWS are confidential in nature and cannot be properly understood by persons not Well grounded in the Faith. Those items which are of interest to the general public are circulated through public information channels utilized by the National Spiritual Assembly.
—U.S. NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
Baha’i Publishing Trust[edit]
The Kingdoms of God. By Janet Lindstrom. Illustrated by Anna Stevenson. While the main subject is the classification of all created things into the five kingdoms of God on earth, emphasis has been placed on the Divine Plan underlying the order of the universe and the impossibility of existence without this spiritual foundation. Some elementary scientific facts are included in accordance with the instructions of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá when he commanded us to help children “to study sciences with the utmost diligence.” (Bahá’í World Faith, p. 383).
This book is planned for the child from six to ten. The older child may take the book into his own hands and read it for himself, while the younger one may listen to a reading of it by parent or teacher.
This book is bound in deep turquoise Sturdetan, pyroxylin treated to resist soil and moisture and stamped in an attractive cover design in two colors. The text is illustrated on every page with marginal drawings by Anna Stevenson whose work in Blessed is the Spot proved so delightful.
Per copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2.25
Calendar of Events[edit]
FEASTS[edit]
May 17—‘Aẓamat (Grandeur)
June 5—Núr (Light)
HOLY DAYS[edit]
May 23—Declaration of the Báb
May 29—Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh
Baha’i House of Worship[edit]
Visiting Hours[edit]
Weekdays
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Auditorium only)
Sundays and Holidays
10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Entire building)
Service of Worship[edit]
Sundays
3:30 to 4:10 p.m.
BAHÁ’Í NEWS is published by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States as a news organ reporting current activities of the Bahá’í World Community.
Reports, plans, news items, and photographs of general interest are requested from national committees and local assemblies of the United States as well as from national assemblies of other lands. Material is due in Wilmette on the first day of the month preceding the date at issue for which it is intended.
BAHÁ’Í NEWS is edited by an annually appointed Editorial Committee. The Committee for 1960-61: Mrs. Eunice Braun. International News; Miss Charlotte M. Linfoot, National News; Miss D. Thelma Jackson and Mrs. Harriett Wolcott, Editors.
Editorial Office: 110 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A.
Change of address should be reported directly to National Bahá’í Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois, U.S.A.
