National Bahá’í Review/Issue 71/Text

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[Page 1]

Gardens at Bahjí extended

REJOICE ANNOUNCE FRIENDS BEAUTIFICATION DURING CONFLICT AGITATING MIDDLE EAST FOURTH QUADRANT AREA SURROUNDING MOST HOLY SHRINE EMBRACING OLIVE GROVE SOUTHWEST PILGRIM HOUSE BAHJÍ. BLESSED SHRINE AND MANSION NOW COMPLETELY ENCIRCLED BEAUTIFUL GARDENS INSPIRED BY PATTERN HARAM-I-AQDAS CREATED BY BELOVED GUARDIAN. PRAYING SHRINES SUPPORTERS MOST GREAT NAME EVERY LAND MAY REDOUBLE EFFORTS PROMOTE INTERESTS PRECIOUS FAITH IN ANTICIPATION FIVE YEAR GLOBAL PLAN SOON TO BE LAUNCHED.

4 December 1973 UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

Next Global Plan To Last Five Years

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

Five months separate us from Ridván 1974 when the next global plan will be launched. For a period of five years the attention, resources and energies of the Bahá’í World Community will be directed to achieving the aims of this plan.

By Naw-Rúz 1974 you will have been notified of the overall goals of the plan and the specific tasks assigned to each of your national communities. Each one of you is therefore urged to arrange for a meeting, at Naw-Rúz or soon after, to which you will invite the Board of Counsellors in your zone to be represented and at which the plan can be considered and thorough consultation held on the manner in which each one of your communities will launch it.

You are asked to give careful consideration as soon as possible to the advisability of holding one or more conferences in conjunction with your Convention or soon after. You may wish to consult the Counsellors on this matter. We believe that such conferences would greatly assist in acquainting the friends with the nature and aims of the plan and in enlisting their enthusiasm and resolution to achieve it. All details as to the number of such conferences, their timing, their agendas are left entirely to your discretion, but we recommend that in planning them you attach great importance to the participation of youth so that they may feel wholly identified with the tasks assigned and give their immediate and maximum support to their accomplishment.

Now is the time to begin directing the thoughts and plans of the friends to the next great demand which will be made upon them and we assure you of our prayers at the Sacred Threshold that you may be guided and strengthened to take such decisions and make such plans as will enable your communities to anticipate with eagerness and receive with joy the new tasks to be offered them, tasks whose wholehearted and united accomplishment will raise the Community of the Most Great Name to a position where it may have far greater effect upon men’s minds and prepare it for further thrilling and awe-inspiring achievements in the pursuit of its ultimate goal of the redemption of mankind.

With Loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Universal House of Justice November 21, 1973

Contribute to Fund [Page 2]

Standards for Bahá’í publishing

Recognizing the need for a great increase in the provision of Bahá’í literature in all languages, we have reviewed the whole process of Bahá’í publishing including such matters as reviewing, standards of production, sales and distribution, relationships between National Spiritual Assemblies, the international needs of the teaching work and the position of Bahá’í authors. We are eager both to stimulate the supply of new works and to liberate the channels of publication and distribution. We wish to encourage Bahá’í authors as well as to promote production of the basic texts of the Faith.

We therefore ask you to study the attached memorandum yourselves, pass it on to your Publishing Trusts and/or other agencies concerned, and make it available generally to the friends in whatever way you may find practicable.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

—THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

March 28, 1971

In accordance with these instructions the National Spiritual Assembly has reviewed the memorandum and made it available to all National Bahá’í Committees and agencies which are concerned with the production of Bahá’í publications. The following excerpts are quoted for the guidance of Local Spiritual Assemblies and the believers.

Reviewing

At this early stage of the Cause all works by Bahá’ís which deal with the Faith, whether in the form of books, pamphlets, translations, poems, songs, radio and television scripts, films, recordings, etc. must be approved before submission for publication, whether to a Bahá’í or non-Bahá’í publisher. In the case of material for purely local consumption the competent authority is the Local Spiritual Assembly, otherwise the National Spiritual Assembly (through its Reviewing Committee) is the approving authority.

Temporary measure

That this measure is both obligatory and temporary is borne out by the following statements of the Guardian:

"They must supervise, in these days when the Cause is still in is infancy, all Bahá’í publications and translations, and provide in general for a dignified and accurate presentation of all Bahá’í literature and its distribution to the general public." (Principles of Bahá’í Administration, pp. 38-39)

"The administration of the Cause should guard against such rigidity as would clog and fetter the liberating forces released by His Revelation. The present restrictions imposed on the publication of Bahá’í literature will be definitely abolished;" (The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 9)

Purpose of review

The purpose of review is to protect the Faith from misrepresentation and to ensure dignity and accuracy in its presentation. In general the function of a reviewing committee is to say whether the work submitted gives an acceptable presentation of the Cause or not.

Standards of Review

The standards to be upheld by reviewers are the following: (a) conformity with the Teachings, (b) accuracy, (c) dignity in presentation. The Spiritual Assembly, on the basis of its Reviewing Committee's report, gives or withholds approval of the work.

While a National Spiritual Assembly intending to publish Bahá’í literature is encouraged to accept the review of another National Spiritual Assembly, it is not required to do so and has the right to review any work prior to authorizing its publication or republication by its own Publishing Trust or publisher in its area of jurisdiction. This does not apply to works by Hands of the Cause, which are reviewed in the Holy Land.

A National Spiritual Assembly which receives for approval a manuscript from outside its area of jurisdiction should inquire whether it has already been submitted for review elsewhere, and in the case of its having been refused approval, the reasons for such refusal.

Bahá’í authors

Bahá’í authors should welcome review of their works, and can greatly assist promptness in review by supplying a sufficient number of copies of the manuscript for each member of the Reviewing Committee to have one.

Bahá’í authors may submit their works for review to any National Spiritual Assembly, and may send their works, once approved, to any publisher they like, Bahá’í or non-Bahá’í, at home or abroad. It should be remembered, however, that the approval should be given by the National Spiritual Assembly of the country where the work is to be first published. And in the case of a non-Bahá’í publisher the author should insist on use of the system of transliteration at present used by the Faith for languages employing the Roman alphabet. [Page 3]

REVIEW

Commentary on five-year plan

The bugle note of alert has been sounded. We now know that the next global enterprise will span five years—a period shorter than that of any of the four prior teaching plans adopted since 1937: the first two lasted for seven years each, 1937-1944, 1946-1953; the third for ten years, 1953-1963; the fourth for nine years, 1964-1973.

In its letter of 30 November 1973, The Universal House of Justice has called upon each National Spiritual Assembly to give consideration at this early date to the advisability of holding one or more conferences in conjunction with its Convention or soon after. The Supreme Institution believes that such conferences "would greatly assist in acquainting the friends with the nature and aims of the plan and in enlisting their enthusiasm and resolution to achieve it." Moreover, the House of Justice has urged each National Assembly to arrange for a meeting with the Continental Counsellors in its zone at which the plan can be considered and thorough consultation held on the manner in which it will be launched in its community.

Without any hint of the decisions being made at the World Centre, the National Spiritual Assembly decided in September to hold a national conference some time after Ridván for the specific purpose of launching the next plan in the American Bahá’í community. Announcement of the location of the conference was made in the November issue of The American Bahá’í. At a meeting in October, both the Continental Board of Counsellors and the National Spiritual Assembly agreed to meet soon after their receipt of the outline of goals of the plan to consult on the best means by which it should be implemented, and the actual dates for such meetings were scheduled. Thus, the action of the National Spiritual Assembly in calling a conference, which will be held in St. Louis between August 29 and September 1, 1974, and the agreement it reached with the Continental Counsellors in scheduling joint consultations on the plan fortuitously anticipated the instructions of The Universal House of Justice. The friends may, therefore, rest assured that no time will be lost in bringing to them through the National Convention, through the St. Louis conference and other means the full implications of the eagerly awaited plan which, no doubt, will mark another glorious chapter in the unfoldment of God's design for the redemption of mankind.

In a sense the letter from The Universal House of Justice is a reminder that this year of respite has been a time of preparation for another large world undertaking. The best preparation for the plan to come will be the accomplishment of the tasks set before us during this interim year. For, whatever the aims of the five-year plan might be, there will continue to be the fundamental need for all of us to study more and more the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, to conduct our lives in accordance with His standards, to teach His Cause, to build His institutions—the only hope of a sore-stricken world and to give to the funds of His Faith.

The four objectives outlined in the National Spiritual Assembly's message of 28 June 1973 to the American believers are a measure toward the fulfillment of these needs. To the extent to which the individual believers and Local Assemblies succeed with these objectives, they will be prepared to carry forward the aims of the five-year enterprise to be announced at Ridván 1974.

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES

Standards for Bahá’í publishing

(Continued from page two)

Bahá’í publishers may not publish any work about the Faith until it has been approved by the National Spiritual Assembly of the country where it is to be published.

Approval of a work imposes no obligation upon any Bahá’í publisher to publish it.

Whatever "house styles" Publishing Trusts and other Bahá’í publishers may adopt, transliteration of Oriental terms into languages using the Roman alphabet must at present be according to the system chosen by the Guardian and described in volumes of The Bahá’í World.

Although no Bahá’í work may be published without approval, it is not mandatory to print an approval notice in any publication.

Bahá’í publishers, when accepting a work for publication, will make their own arrangements with the author on all such matters as accuracy of quotations, documentation, grammar and spelling, dates and even the re-writing of passages which the publisher may consider need improving, or he may ask the author to write additional material or to delete part of the original manuscript. Although such matters are entirely between the author and publisher, any addition, deletion or changes which affect the meaning must be submitted for review with the relative context. [Page 4]

DECEMBER 1973

Spiritual Assembly of South Hadley, Massachusetts. Incorporated April 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of Columbia, South Carolina. Incorporated 10 April 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of Jacksonville, Florida. Incorporated 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of Durham, North Carolina. Incorporated 20 March 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of New Haven, Connecticut. Incorporated April 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of Bergenfield, New Jersey. Incorporated 19 March 1973. [Page 5]

Incorporated Assemblies for 1973

Spiritual Assembly of Central Sonoma County Judicial District, California. Incorporated 5 April 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of Sparks, Nevada. Incorporated 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of Gainesville, Florida. Incorporated 2 April 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of Moore, Oklahoma. Incorporated 18 January 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of Denton, Texas. Incorporated 15 May 1973.

Spiritual Assembly of Brattleboro, Vermont. Incorporated 23 January 1973. [Page 6]

Bahá’í standards in matters of teaching

The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is the spiritual world of light, of truth, of justice and of love. Therein exists no shadow of doubt, no ambiguity, no furtive gloom beneath which superstition can flourish and scatter its evil seeds to the wind. Therein exists no love which is not just, and no justice which is not loving. Man's assurance, his security and his life and welfare stand upon the foundation laid in that heavenly world.

In these days of strife and confusion, the loyalty of every Bahá’í is directed to the realities found in the Revelation. The virtue of tolerance is not a license for believers to mingle error with truth, but rather the confidence that the erring soul can eventually abandon whatever is not confirmed by the Manifestation of God.

The world at the time of the renewal of religion is full of pseudo-mystical and pseudo-scientific practices. These are not merely fallacious and impotent to do good—they are harmful in that they foster the taste for adulteration and introduce into the Bahá’í community elements making for disunity, since they enter not by Revelation but by human insistence.

Consider such practices as spiritualism, palm-reading, numerology, dietary fadism, astrology and the substitution of "direct guidance" for the collective consciousness of an authoritative Bahá’í Institution and for the authenticity of the Bahá’í Teachings. We must be clear about these matters. Nothing which cannot be authenticated in the Teachings should be incorporated as Bahá’í teaching in public, fireside or other presentations of the Faith. They have no claim to philosophy or science of social value unless they are confirmed in the Sacred Writings. Community consultation will enable us to discriminate and protect the precincts of truth from sacrilege.

The Local Assembly is responsible for upholding the Bahá’í standard in matters of teaching and practice claiming to represent the Faith.

—NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY

In Memoriam

Mr. George Akes Arlington, Texas Summer 1973

Mr. Andrew Anderson Charlotte, North Carolina September 27, 1973

Mr. Eugene E. Babcock. Huntington Station, New York February 10, 1973

Mr. Ad Banks Helena, Montana October 13, 1973

Mr. James Benjamin Florence, South Carolina October 24, 1973

Mrs. Lorena Blumberg Milwaukee, Wisconsin November 18, 1972

Miss Marjorie L. Buckner Walla Walla, Washington October 6, 1973

Mrs. Audra Powell Cottrille Jackson, Michigan September 30, 1973

Rachel Foster Mexico March 1973

Mr. James Gillispie Danville, Kentucky June 1973

Mrs. Lynnie Graham Boise, Idaho September 29, 1973

Mr. Henry Hayes: Beaumont, Texas October 28, 1973

Mr. Wayne Hayward Ojai, California October 7, 1973

Mrs. Virginia Koester Rock Island, Illinois October 13, 1973

Mr. Theodore Logsden Vancouver, Washington September 30, 1973

Mr. Marcus Joseph Luff Healdsburg, California. September 12, 1973

Mrs. Isis Mariani Hinsdale, New Hampshire Date unknown

Mrs. Glados Spoden Charleston Heights, South Carolina October 27, 1973

Mr. Harry Steele Sacramento, California March 6, 1973

Mrs. Margaret Sykes* Chicago, Illinois November 10, 1973

Mrs. Rosa Thomas Tallahassee, Florida September 1973

Mrs. Nanny Walker Kershaw, South Carolina October 18, 1973

Mr. Jacob Williams Mayesville, South Carolina Date unknown

Mrs. Ruth Wilson Mayesville, South Carolina Date unknown

Mrs. Margaret Sykes was one of the oldest Bahá’ís in the Chicago area. She enrolled in 1907 and received a letter of confirmation and welcome from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. [Page 7]

REVIEW

The Spiritual Assembly is your lifeline

Sacred are the duties of those who serve as members of local or national Assemblies! Among the most outstanding are:

"To win by every means in their power the confidence and affection of those whom it is their privilege to serve; to investigate and acquaint themselves with the considered views, the prevailing sentiments and the personal convictions of those whose welfare it is their solemn obligation to promote; to purge their deliberations and the general conduct of their affairs of self-contained aloofness, the suspicion of secrecy, the stifling atmosphere of dictatorial assertiveness and of every word and deed that may savor of partiality, self-centeredness and prejudice; and while retaining the sacred right of final decision in their hands, to invite discussion, ventilate grievances, welcome advice, and foster the sense of interdependence and co-partnership, of understanding and mutual confidence between themselves and all other Bahá’ís."1

The Universal House of Justice has assured us that only as members of Local Spiritual Assemblies individually deepen themselves in the basic truths of the Faith and in application to the principles which govern their Assembly's operations will the Institution grow and develop towards its full potential.2

‘Abdu’l-Bahá is constantly engaged in ideal communication with any Spiritual Assembly which is instituted through the divine bounty, and the members of which are in the utmost devotion turning to the divine kingdom and are firm in the Covenant. To them He is heartily attached and with them He is united by everlasting ties."3

1. Declaration of Trust, page 15 2. The Local Spiritual Assembly, p. 5 3. The Local Spiritual Assembly, p. 6

Directory Changes

District Teaching Committee

CENTRAL STATES

Missouri: Mrs. Mildred Birkett is now the Secretary instead of Convener.

Northern Minnesota: Mrs. Meg Luckinbill (spelling correction of last name)

South Dakota: Mr. David Moore, Secretary, 222 North Dakota, Vermillion 57069

NORTHEASTERN STATES

Connecticut: Miss Elizabeth Schwartz, Secretary, 10 Roberts Street, Westhaven 06516

Western Pennsylvania: Mrs. Kay L. Maloney is now Secretary instead of Pro-Tem.

Rhode Island: Mrs. Joanne Main, Secretary, West Main Road, Little Compton, 02837

Vermont: Mrs. Kathleen Gray is now Secretary instead of Convener.

SOUTHERN STATES

Southern Florida: Mrs. Jene Bellows, Secretary, Island Club, 777 South Federal Highway, Pompano Beach 33062

Maryland/DC: Miss Antoinette Washington, Secretary 8407 Greenbelt Road, Chelsea Wood, Greenbelt, Maryland 20770

Mississippi: Miss Anne Zmeskal is now Secretary instead of Convener.

Eastern North Carolina: Mr. Fereydoun Jalali is Secretary instead of Convener.

Eastern Oklahoma: Mrs. Renate Neel, Secretary, Pleasant Hill Farm, Route 1, Chouteau, 74337

South Texas: Miss Carol Clyde, Secretary, 1301 South 9th, Apt. 37, McAllen 78501

Central Texas: Miss Priscilla Griffith, Secretary, 11305 Hilltop, Austin, 78753

Southern Virginia: Mr. Robert Vines is now Secretary instead of Convener.

REGIONAL TEACHING COMMITTEE

Navajo-Hopi Regional Teaching Committee, Mrs. Pearl Schuyler, Administrator, Box 474, Fort Defiance, Arizona 86504

Bahá’í Events

World Religion Day, January 20, 1974 Feast of Naw-Ruź, March 21, 1974 Feast of Ridván, April 21-May 2, 1974 National Bahá’í Convention, April 26-28, 1974 [Page 8]

NATIONAL BAHÁ’Í FUND

Local Assembly contributions high

November 15, 1973

To: All Local Spiritual Assemblies and Bahá’í Groups

Dear Bahá’í Friends:

Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá! Praise be to God for the victory He has bestowed upon His devoted servants. During the month of ‘Ilm the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies contributing to the National Bahá’í Fund totaled 569 for the second successive month, just a few short of our goal of 575. Reinforcing this stirring triumph in the field of participation, the friends of God for the same month have poured out $118,678 in contributions, more than any other month so far this year.

The power of the Bahá’í Fund to effect sorely-needed National Bahá’í Fund Total Number of Assemblies Contributing spiritual change in the world depends directly upon the breadth of support it receives from our National Community. The spiritual progress of each believer as well depends upon the degree of his own sacrifices for the Fund and in service to the Cause.

In order to preserve the fruits of this hard-won achievement, we now call on all Communities and friends who have shared in this victory to continue their efforts. At the same time we urge those who for any reason have held back, to come forward and assist their self-sacrificing co-workers through their regular support of the National Bahá’í Fund. Every believer must participate to ensure our continued success.

With deepest love in His service,

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES

Dorothy W. Nelson, Treasurer

	Mashiyyat (Will)	‘Ilm (Knowledge)	Fiscal Year to Date
Contributions	$ 88,148	$118,678	$ 908,815
Budget Goal	$132,000	$132,000	$1,320,000
Estates	$ 19,142	$ —	$ 53,154

ASSEMBLIES

• GOAL BY ‘ILM 1973: 575 (OCR: 550, 500, 450, 400, 350)
• MONTHLY GOAL: $132,000

Contributions may be addressed to: National Bahá’í Fund, 112 Linden Ave., Wilmette, Illinois 60091; Bahá’í International Fund, P.O. Box 155, Haifa, Israel; and Continental Bahá’í Fund, 418 Forest Ave., Wilmette, Illinois 60091.

Generating Impulse

Has your Community studied "The Generating Impulse" yet? Over 200 local communities have since it was first published last January. These are only a few of the responses we have received:

"I have yet to see a program so well given! Excellent twist on a difficult and heavy subject."

"The best deepening we have had in some time."

"The structure of the seminar was great! Brief, easy to understand and really encouraged discussion and learning. I personally got a whole new understanding of the Fund."