The American Bahá’í/Volume 4/Issue 9/Text
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Bahá’í conference planned for 1974[edit]
A conference to launch the next global teaching plan will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, between August 28 and September 2, 1974, the National Spiritual Assembly has announced.
Accommodations for more than 5,000 people are being reserved in the city. At least 2,000 rooms have already been committed to the conference by hotel owners in the city, according to the National Teaching Committee, which is responsible for conference preparations.
Further details about this Labor Day weekend conference, and registration information, will be published in forthcoming issues of The American Bahá’í.
The conference will be used by the National Spiritual Assembly to review with the friends the goals and assignments the American community will receive in the next plan.
A new international teaching and consolidation plan is expected from The Universal House of Justice by Riḍván 1974. The National Bahá’í Convention, where the Riḍván Message of The Universal House of Justice is normally shared with the delegates, is scheduled for Wilmette, from April 26-28.
In selecting St. Louis as the conference site—a city at the geographical center of the nation—such requirements as ease of transportation, availability of facilities, and low cost of travel and accommodations were considered.
The conference program will be conducted in the city’s 10,000-person capacity Kiel Auditorium.
The National Teaching Committee has suggested that individuals and Bahá’í families attending the Labor Day weekend conference may wish to include travel-teaching in their vacation plans.
Records job open[edit]
An immediate opening has developed at the National Bahá’í Center for a person experienced in the field of records management, to assist with the storage and retrieval of National Assembly documents. Knowledge about the organization and use of microfilms would be helpful. Interested Bahá’ís should send applications and resumés to: National Bahá’í Center, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091 (Attention: Personnel Affairs).
Repairs on Temple under way[edit]
Essential repair and maintenance work on the House of Worship in Wilmette, long delayed by the need to expend available funds in winning the teaching and consolidation goals of the Nine Year Plan, has been ordered by the National Spiritual Assembly.
Repair of a section of 18 steps on the Linden Avenue side of the Temple was completed in August. The remaining steps encircling the Temple were cleaned in early September to have them match the concrete and stone of the new ones.
Workmen recently completed cleaning and painting the steel frame of the Temple dome; and the metal handrails on the grounds of the House of Worship were also treated to a new coat of paint. A portion of the upper dome was caulked and sealed to make it watertight, and at least ten badly damaged glass panes have been replaced.
This preliminary work is part of a more extensive schedule of repairs that must be undertaken over the next several years to renovate the House of Worship.
Although recent architectural surveys indicate the Temple is structurally sound, some routine repairs which would normally have been undertaken from year to year were postponed because of the degree to which the financial resources of the American Bahá’í community were committed to winning the worldwide goals of the Nine Year Plan.
Among those repairs that must now be undertaken are the restoration of the concrete apron that serves as a walkway around the perimeter of the Temple, which has settled and cracked in places because of the movement of the earth beneath it; the reupholstering or replacement of chairs in the House of Worship auditorium; the replacement of unstable canvas chairs in Foundation Hall; the rehanging of drapes in the clerestory of the House of Worship; and the painting of the upper-level and the water-damaged ceiling of the Temple auditorium.
On April 16, 1973, The Universal House of Justice contributed $20,000 on behalf of the entire Bahá’í world to the projected Temple work. The National Spiritual Assemblies of Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii soon followed this lead. Canada pledged $20,000 to the effort during the current year; Hawaii promised $25,000 over a five-year period; and Alaska offered between $1,000 and $2,000 per year, and more if possible.
Many of the needed improvements are the natural consequence of the great attraction the Temple has had for visitors since its dedication in 1953, and the use the facilities have received from the more than three million people who have traveled here. The reupholstering or replacement of
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Temple repairs begun in August
(continued from page one)
chairs in the auditorium, purchased more than two decades ago for approximately $25 each, is one example of this type of repair. Another might be the necessity the large stream of people has created to carpet and place a ceiling over the Foundation Hall exhibit area, not only to improve its appearance but to muffle the noise generated by large groups congregating to view the Bahá’í displays. In 1972 alone, the number of visitors exceeded 200,000 people. Between August and September of this year, more than 75,000 people made the journey to Wilmette to see the Temple and its surroundings.
Now that the Nine Year Plan has been accomplished, the National Spiritual Assembly feels the stage has been reached in which the care of Bahá’í properties in the United States must be placed on a sound financial basis.
To begin to undertake the necessary repairs, and to allow for money to be set aside to provide a general maintenance fund for systematic future use, a larger share of the 1973 U.S. national budget has been allocated to the care and maintenance of Bahá’í properties, particularly those at the National Center. Of the total $2.5 million U.S. budget, $576,000 has been set aside for Bahá’í properties. A substantial portion of this allocation has been earmarked for improvements on the Temple itself.
Auxiliary Boards expanded worldwide[edit]
Two measures to extend and reinforce the service of the Auxiliary Boards have recently been adopted by The Universal House of Justice.
In a letter to the Bahá’ís of the world, dated 7 October 1973, the House of Justice announced that the number of Auxiliary Board members throughout the world was being increased to 270.
A second measure designed to further develop that institution will allow the Continental Boards of Counsellors to appoint assistants to the Auxiliary Boards in areas where they feel circumstances require it.
“Such authorization does not have to be given to all the Auxiliary Board members in a zone nor does the number assigned have to be the same for all Board members; The Universal House of Justice wrote, “indeed certain Boards of Counsellors may decide that the present circumstances in their zones do not require them to take advantage of this possibility. Such matters are left entirely to the discretion of each Continental Board of Counsellors.”
Of the total Board members, eighty-one will serve on the Auxiliary Boards for the Protection of the Faith, and 189 will serve on the Auxiliary Boards for the Propagation of the Faith.
Eighty-one Auxiliary Board members will be assigned to the Western Hemisphere, including North America, the House of Justice said. Fifty-four will serve in Africa, eighty-one in Asia, thirty-six in Europe, and eighteen in Australasia.
The nature of the duties of the assistants, and the duration of their appointment, will also be left to the discretion of each Continental Board, The Universal House of Justice said.
“Their aims should be to activate and encourage Local Spiritual Assemblies, to call the attention of Local Spiritual Assembly members to the importance of holding regular meetings, to encourage local communities to meet for the Nineteen Day Feasts and Holy Days, to help deepen their fellow-believers’ understanding of the Teachings, and generally to assist the Auxiliary Board members in the discharge of their duties,” the House of Justice wrote.
The House of Justice letter announcing these measures will be published in the November Bahá’í News and in the December National Bahá’í Review.
THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY. From left to right seated: Dr. Dwight Allen, Dr. Dorothy Nelson, Dr. Firuz Kazemzadeh, Dr. Daniel Jordan. From left to right standing: Mr. Franklin Kahn, Miss Magdalene Carney, Mr. Richard Betts, Miss Charlotte Linfoot, Mr. Glenford Mitchell.
Choose a challenging article from WORLD ORDER for study in your local Bahá’í school adult classes.
Historians agree on Martyrdom of the Báb[edit]
Contrary to what one might expect, there seems to be widespread agreement among historians on one dramatic fact of the Báb’s Ministry: that He was not injured by the first volley discharged by a military regiment assigned to execute Him on Sunday, July 9, 1850.
This surprising conclusion emerges from an article in the Winter issue of World Order Magazine, presenting six accounts of the Martyrdom, from historians with widely differing views on the mission and teachings of the Báb.
With the exception of a passage from Nabíl’s Narrative, included in this anthology because of its accuracy and its poetic character, none of the accounts in World Order have ever been published in English. Several of the accounts were newly translated for publication in this issue.
The selections on the Martyrdom of the Báb presented include a dispatch from the British Minister in Ṭihrán, Justin Sheil, to Lord Palmerston, Britain’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs; an excerpt from the third volume of an official government history, written by Násiri’d-Dín Sháh’s court historian; an excerpt from a book on the Báb by the noted Russian Orientalist Mírzá Kazem-Bek; a passage from the comte de Gobineau’s substantial work, Les religions et les philosophies dans l’Asie centrale; a selection from an attack on the Bahá’í Faith by Mírzá Mihdí Khán Za’ímu’d-Dawlih; and a portion from Nabíl’s Narrative.
Although most of these authors differ in many of their facts about the religion of the Báb, they agree that the Báb escaped injury when first fired upon by the military regiment. With the notable exception of the illustrious Nabíl, all of the authors were unfriendly to the Faith of the Báb.
The second paragraph of Mr. Sheil’s dispatch to Lord Palmerston gives this terse account of the execution: “The founder of this sect has been executed at Tabreez. He was killed by a volley of musketry, and his death was on the point of giving his religion a lustre which would have largely increased its proselytes. When the smoke and dust cleared away after the volley, the Báb was not to be seen, and the populace proclaimed that He had ascended to the skies. The balls had broken the ropes by which He was bound, but He was dragged from the recess where, after some search, He was discovered and shot.”
The Sháh’s official historian, whose master approved of the dreadful execution, wrote the following account:
“So they led them through the city and the bazaar and brought them to the Tabríz Square. On Monday, 27 Sha’bán, on orders of Hamzih Mírzá, soldiers of the Bahádurán regiment, of Christian confession, were to shoot them. Since these soldiers had often heard about the disturbances caused by the followers of the Báb in the cities, being reluctant to execute the Báb, they aimed their guns high and low, as well as to the right and to the left of the Báb so that He was not hurt at all. However, this time Mullá Muhammad-Alí, His disciple, was killed. He was firmer
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Teaching committees formed[edit]
Four minority teaching committees have been appointed by the National Teaching Committee to encourage individuals and local communities to participate in minority teaching projects.
These committees will continue the work initiated by previous minority teaching committees in helping to educate the Bahá’ís to the importance of teaching minority peoples.
The new committees are: the American Indian Teaching Committee, based in North Dakota; the Asian-American Teaching Committee and the Black Teaching Committee, in the Northeast; and the Spanish-Speaking Teaching Committee, in California.
Although the members of the committees, in order to reduce operating costs, will be drawn from the area in which the committees are located, the scope of their work will be national.
The task of the committees will be to build the momentum already established in teaching minorities throughout the country. The committees will, in addition to advising the National Teaching Committee, publicize the need for minority teaching, and serve as a clearinghouse for
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Assembly seminars begin in November[edit]
| the American Bahá’í
Photo/Art Credits COVER: Courtesy St. Louis Tourist Board; 1. Courtesy St. Louis Tourist Board; 2. TAB Photo; 3. TAB Photo; 4. Left to right, Ewing Galloway, Bettmann Archives; 5-9.TAB Photo, Ken Jennrich; 10,11. TAB Photo, Mike Winger, Don Boykin, Casey Walton, Jack Gartner, Juan Caban; 12,13. Yvor Stoakley; 14. Top left, TAB Photo, bottom right, David Lurie; 15. Left middle, David Walker, bottom, Ken Jennrich; 16. TAB Photo; 18. Mark Tanny; BACK COVER, Yvor Stoakley, TAB Photo. Drawings: 6,8. Bill Smith; 5,6,13,19. David Villaseñor. THE AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í is published monthly by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. Material must be received by the 15th of the month prior to publication. Black and white glossy prints should be included with material whenever possible. Articles and news written in a clear and concise manner are welcomed from individuals as well as assemblies and committees. Address all mail to: The American Bahá’í Editorial Office, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091. |
A new round of Local Spiritual Assembly seminars will be conducted throughout the nation by the National Spiritual Assembly beginning in November and ending in March.
The purpose for the 49 scheduled seminars, according to the National Assembly, “will be to assist Local Assemblies to meet their responsibilities more effectively at a time when greater demands are being made upon them to fulfill the objectives for which they were created.”
The National Assembly expects full attendance at these seminars, and has asked each Local Spiritual Assembly to insure that at least five of its members attend.
Each seminar will take a full day. It will be convened at 9:30 a.m. and continue until 4:30 p.m., with a break for lunch.
HOUSE OF WORSHIP TOUR. The people in this photograph were among the twenty-four Bahá’ís on a special tour of the National Center conducted October 19-21. It was the second year the tour was held and included a tour through administrative offices, teaching in the gardens, and prayer in the House of Worship.
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Pope Pius IX
Napoleon III
Kings’ photos available[edit]
A set of eight portraits of kings and rulers to whom Bahá’u’lláh addressed Tablets is now available through the International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre.
The pictures are available in black and white prints, black and white glossies, and black and white 35 mm slides.
Unlimited international rights have been secured for the reproduction of these pictures by any Bahá’í institution, and for reproduction of these pictures by any other media in connection with a Bahá’í story.
Your local Bahá’í librarian or authorized Bahá’í distributor may have them in stock, or can supply you with prices and ordering information.
If these materials are not available in your area, please write the International Bahá’í Audio-Visual Centre, 1640 Holcomb Road, Victor, New York 14564, for additional information.
Travel-teaching plan announced[edit]
The National Teaching Committee has developed a plan to use homefront pioneering and travel-teaching during this interim year, as instruments for consolidating the victories already secured, and preparing the community for the next global teaching campaign.
According to this plan, the District Teaching Committees will coordinate homefront pioneering and travel-teaching within their boundaries during the remainder of this Bahá’í year. They will identify their own need for homefront pioneers and travel-teachers, and they will provide training and help to plan itineraries for volunteers.
To be successful, the plan requires the assistance and support of individuals and institutions in every state, the National Teaching Committee believes.
One of the conditions for successful teaching set forth in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, the Committee says, is that a continual stream of pioneers and travel-teachers be available throughout the country to assist with teaching goals.
The National Teaching Committee is asking each Bahá’í to determine whether he can serve the Cause as a travel-teacher or homefront pioneer. His availability would not necessarily require him to move or travel great distances. Some of the most useful work can be done within twenty miles of home, the Committee says.
Individuals who feel they can volunteer should contact their District Teaching Committee. The District Teaching Committee will know where they will be most useful and will be able to provide other valuable help and assistance.
Individuals should contact their own District Teaching Committee even when they plan to travel-teach outside their own state or district. The District Teaching Committee should be the channel through which they communicate with District Teaching Committees in other areas. If a believer plans to homefront pioneer outside his district, he should contact the National Teaching Committee.
Groups or isolated believers who think they can use the assistance of travel-teachers and homefront pioneers should also contact their District Teaching Committee.
Jeopardized Local Spiritual Assemblies[edit]
The Local Assemblies listed below are currently considered to be in jeopardy by the National Teaching Committee.
- ARIZONA
- Bisbee
- Chinle (Navajoland)
- Douglas
- Maricopa County-North
- Mesa
- Pima County
- Prescott
- Sierra Vista
- CALIFORNIA
- Albany
- Auburn, J.D.
- Carmel
- Coronado
- Del Mar
- Fullerton
- Imperial Beach
- Livermore
- Lynwood
- Malibu
- Manhattan Beach
- Merced
- Monrovia
- Monterey
- Mountain View
- Newport Beach
- Pismo Beach
- San Carlos
- San Marcos
- South Gate
- Temple City
- Vallejo
- CONNECTICUT
- Hamden
- FLORIDA
- Orange County
- Orlando
- ILLINOIS
- Berwyn
- Chicago Heights
- NEW JERSEY
- Newark
- North Plainfield
- NEW MEXICO
- Hobbs
- Ruidoso
- NEW YORK
- Albany (capital)
- Town of Ramapo
- OHIO
- Cleveland Heights
- Franklin Township
- Kent
- Youngstown
- OREGON
- Cottage Grove
- Grants Pass
- Springfield
- PENNSYLVANIA
- State College
- TEXAS
- Kingsville
- McAllen
- WASHINGTON
- Bellevue
- Franklin Co. C.D. #3
- King Co. C.D. #8
- Pierce Co. C.D. #2
- Toppenish
- Vancouver
- WISCONSIN
- Cudahy
- WYOMING
- Laramie
- Lost Assemblies
- San Leandro, CA
- Salina, KS
- Kalispell, MT
- Douglas, OR
- Glenview
- North Chicago
- Morton Grove
- Rock Island
- INDIANA
- Gary
- Greenfield
- Warsaw
- West Lafayette
- IOWA
- Council Bluffs
- KANSAS
- Hays
- MAINE
- Augusta
- MASSACHUSETTS
- Holyoke
- Salem
- Shutesbury
- MICHIGAN
- Bay City
- MINNESOTA
- Anoka
- Bemidji
- Bloomington
- Staples
- MISSOURI
- Missouri River Township
- Rock Township
- St. Joseph
- NEBRASKA
- Hastings
- NEW HAMPSHIRE
- Peterborough
- North Woodstock
Greenlake Institute in business 13 years[edit]
Over the years the Greenlake Institute has given Bahá’ís from the Illinois/Wisconsin area ample cause to marvel.
Thirteen years ago, when this annual institute was inaugurated, a scant handful of people attended the sessions held at the American Baptist Assembly campgrounds, ninety miles north of Milwaukee. Every year since, participation has increased.
This year, the attendance itself provided almost as much instruction about the goals of the Bahá’í Faith as the study program developed by the Southern Wisconsin District Teaching Committee. Almost 1,000 people materialized for the October 5–7 weekend event.
Among the speakers were the Hand of the Cause Dhikru’lláh Khádem, National Spiritual Assembly member Miss Magdalene Carney, Auxiliary Board member Dr. Peter Khan, Mrs. Marguerite Sears, and Dr. Philip Christensen, secretary of the National Teaching Committee.
Miss Carney, representing the National Spiritual Assembly, addressed the conference on two occasions. Each time, she outlined concerns of the National Assembly for the quality of Bahá’í life in this country.
One of the primary tasks of Bahá’ís during the interim year is to strengthen community life, she said.
“If somehow each individual can begin to focus on the realization of God’s purpose for his life, we feel that we can really get along much more quickly with the building of Bahá’í community life.”
She said it was high time that we move ahead with this imperative task; that we “rehearse in private and perform in public” our Bahá’í responsibilities.
MISS MAGDALENE CARNEY represented the National Spiritual Assembly at the Greenlake Institute.
Although she assured the audience that the National Assembly is optimistic about the progress of the Cause in this country, she said it was necessary to also share openly the Assembly’s concerns and feelings, and to elicit the support and confidence of the friends.
About pioneering, she said it would in the future undoubtedly take on new characteristics. “Couples are being called upon to go to various areas of the world, more so than those of us who are single,” she said.
One implication of this is that Bahá’í married couples “will have to get it together and stay together,” she said. This development would in itself strengthen Bahá’í community life, because of the importance placed on the family unit in the Faith, she explained.
THE GREENLAKE INSTITUTE is held annually at the American Baptist Assembly campgrounds (above), ninety miles north of Milwaukee.
“As this Faith grows in stature and the opposition comes, we will need pioneers who will be not only physically stalwart, but strong spiritually and mentally as well, and who will be ready to defend their Faith in various quarters by the purity of their lives.”
She spoke about the declining standards in the world at large, and recalled the Guardian’s warning that the American believers could not claim to be wholly immune from the deficiencies staining the character of their nation.
“Because of that we must really actively strive to internalize the Teachings in our lives,” she said. “We must get all of the prepared deepening materials, all of the sacred writings, off the printed pages and actualized in our lives.”
To combat the corrosive effects of the declining world order upon the Bahá’í communities, the National Assembly has given increasing attention, according to Miss Carney, to two major tasks:
1) deepening the individual believer’s understanding of the laws and moral principles of the Faith; and
2) improving the ability of local Spiritual Assemblies to deal with personal problems, to permit the National Assembly to concentrate more attention on the teaching plans, and on the goal of enrolling every individual on the planet under the banner of Bahá’u’lláh.
An important tool for accomplishing the first task is the Comprehensive Deepening Program, she said; a project developed three years ago by the National Assembly to produce significant deepening materials for the Bahá’í community.
The first installment of materials for the Comprehensive Deepening Program recently went on sale. Each believer has been urged to purchase
(continued on page nineteen)
HOPI INDIAN BLESSING corn and pumpkin crop just before the harvest. Arizona.
Tracking Bahá’í growth to the Lesser Peace[edit]
This edited speech was presented by Dr. Peter Khan at the Greenlake Institute.
I am told by people who are professionally qualified in the field of history that one of the purposes of history is to provide people with a perspective on how they stand in relation to the past, so that they can learn from it, and properly view themselves and their activities.
We who are members of the Bahá’í Faith find ourselves with an advantage over others: not only do we have the Divine interpretations of history, which is given to us in the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the Guardian, and the House of Justice; not only do we have a proper perspective from which to view history; but the Bahá’í writings also provide clear and definitive guidance concerning the course of human events.
The writings of the Guardian indicate that the direction of humanity involves two processes, both of which had their origin when Bahá’u’lláh issued His Proclamation to the kings and religious leaders. The Guardian tells us that these two processes are the decline of the old order, and the growth of the new. We are more than familiar with the process of decline.
In this talk I want to spend time discussing several aspects of the process of growth, for the purpose of indicating where we have been, where we are today, and where we will be going in the future.
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By the end of the century the Lesser Peace will have come |
For the sake of discussion, I have divided the growing process into three parts: developments at the World Centre, developments in the Bahá’í community, and developments in the outside world. I want to discuss each of these three parts in relation to the past, the present, and the future.
The Cause of God in every age propagates itself by mysterious processes. It does not proceed in a sequential way, at a uniform rate. It proceeds at an uneven rate, propelled by spiritual as well as material forces. What happens at the World Centre is a key to understanding developments in the rest of the world. There are many passages in the writings of the Guardian which illustrate this proposition.
Dr. Peter Khan
The most dramatic of all developments at the World Centre was the arrival of the Lord of Hosts Himself to the shores of the Mediterranean. The revelation of the Tablet of Carmel on the slopes of Mount Carmel had a great spiritual impact on the world, as did the great effort and suffering that went into the transfer of the holy Remains of the Báb to the heart of Mount Carmel, and the erection of His Shrine by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Later, the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb was built, the Archives building was erected, and in 1963, the election of The Universal House of Justice was held. These events at the World Centre have all had a profound spiritual effect on the world.
Events within the Bahá’í community are very simple to describe. The Bahá’í community has grown at a phenomenal rate. After just one century, the Faith is represented in more than 70,000 centers around the world. History has no parallel whatever to this circumstance.
In reviewing what has happened, I want to say that the growth of the Faith in the past hundred years has not been haphazard; it has been the result of systematic planning. The great Bahá’í achievements of the last century have resulted from the systematic plans formulated by divinely guided institutions. The Báb gave the Letters of the Living a systematic teaching plan. Bahá’u’lláh systematically directed the teaching activities of the Bahá’ís, sending them to various countries, guiding their activities, soliciting reports from them. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did likewise; and He revealed the Tablets of the Divine Plan. The Guardian formulated plan after plan to guide the Cause.
I have mentioned some of the developments at the World Centre and some which have transpired within the Bahá’í community. Thirdly, I would like to refer to the historic developments in the world at large. In this regard, I want to stress that the significance of what has happened in the past century is far from that which the world assesses. Let me give you an example.
One important development was the formation of the League of Nations in 1920. We know that the American President, Woodrow Wilson, played a significant role in the formation of the League. The League of Nations was a failure. President Wilson’s Administration was considered a failure as well because the United States Senate did not allow America’s participation in that first international governmental organization. Although most historians tend to dismiss the Wilson Presidency as ineffectual, here is what the Guardian writes:
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Our contributions are most effective when they follow a regular rhythm. |
“To her President, the immortal Woodrow Wilson, must be ascribed the unique honor, among the statesmen of any nation, whether of the East or of the West, of having voiced sentiments so akin to the principles animating the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, and of having more than any other world leader, contributed to the creation of the League of Nations—achievements which the pen of the Center of God’s Covenant acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace, whose sun, according to that same pen, must needs arise as the direct consequence of the enforcement of the laws of the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh.”
I mention this simply to demonstrate that the writings of the Guardian, and of the House of Justice, give us a far different perspective on what has happened
DEER IN THE BERRY PATCH. Zia Indian Pueblo, New Mexico.
[Page 7]
Photograph taken during one or the many talks.
2. A young boy listens to a presentation of the Hand of the Cause Mr. Khádem; 3. The cast of “Journey of a Soul” a Bahá’í road show performed at the institute; 4. Not everyone was listening to lectures all of the time.
5. Dr. Phil Christensen;
6. There was also time to relax and stroll on the expansive properties along the lake; 7. One of the many musical groups which performed.
8. Mrs. Marguerite Sears; 9. The Hand of the Cause Mr. Khádem greets a young Bahá’í; 10. Inside the auditorium during one of the talks.
Tracking Growth: Local Assemblies will increase in maturity and effectiveness[edit]
during the past hundred years than the statements and observations of historians and world leaders.
Very dramatic events have also occurred at the World Centre in recent years. In fact, things that have happened there in the last six months are things that will be discussed for centuries to come. Three great events have occurred recently: the publication of the Constitution of The Universal House of Justice; the publication of “A Synopsis and Codification of the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas”; and the establishment of the International Teaching Centre.
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Local assemblies will increase in maturity and effectiveness |
During the past few years, the growing process has also continued in the world at large. The wars which have broken out in many countries have been part of the decline and part of the growth as well. Many countries throughout the world have had civil strife and conflict. This, too, is part of the decline and part of the growth. At home, we have witnessed the Civil Rights Movement, the war on poverty, the new Test Ban Treaty, the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, and so on. These, no doubt, have contributed to the decline and to the growth.
So much for the past. Now, what of the future? The Guardian tells us—and the House of Justice confirms this—that in the near future there will be dramatic developments in the three areas we have discussed. By “the near future” I mean before the end of the century; within the next 27 years.
By the end of the century, the Lesser Peace will have come. This development of the Lesser Peace will be a consequence of two things: firstly, the political unification of the eastern and western hemispheres; and secondly, the emergence of world government.
What else will happen in the next few years? The Universal House of Justice has announced plans to build its permanent seat on the slopes of Mount Carmel. This represents the establishment of the Arc of Salvation in the heart of the world. We cannot yet even dimly perceive the accession of spiritual power which will come to the House of Justice and to the national and local institutions as a result of this event. After the erection of the Seat of the House of Justice will come the construction of other buildings along the Arc established by Shoghi Effendi, including the International Teaching Centre.
The Hand of the Cause Mr. Khádem
Within the Bahá’í community, we can look forward to an increase in the maturity and effectiveness of local Spiritual Assemblies in the near future.
To summarize, three significant trends will characterize global developments in the years ahead. In the world at large, there will be the evolution toward the Lesser Peace. At the World Centre, construction of the great edifices of the Faith on Mount Carmel will get under way. Within the Bahá’í community, there will be a continuation of our explosive growth, and also an increase in the maturity and effectiveness of local Assemblies.
The Guardian has said that these three things will occur in synchronism; they will occur at the same time. In other words, the next 27 years are going to be without parallel in the history of mankind. Friends, great things are ahead of us. Most of us in this room will live to see part, or all, of these things. We will live to see events which, now, stagger the imagination, and which we only dimly perceive.
We are living at a time which will call upon us to make great sacrifices; sacrifices of energy, sacrifices of personal comfort, of relaxation, of time, of sleep, and sacrifices of families.
I want to spend a few moments discussing the Fund, because the Fund is a basic part of the sacrifice which is ahead of us in the next few years. In thinking about the Bahá’í Fund, the contribution of money to the Cause of God, I have asked myself, “What are the basic principles which underlie the Bahá’í Fund? Is it simply the giving of dollars and cents to a religious organization, or is there more to it?” I have come to the conclusion that there is far more to it.
It seems to me there are three basic principles which underlie the Fund.
The first principle is that there is interaction between the material and spiritual worlds. We human beings are living, at one and the same time, in two worlds. The material world we perceive with the senses; we are well aware of it. The spiritual world we only perceive as our spiritual insight grows and develops. Nevertheless, during the 6,000 years of recorded human history, people have wondered about the spiritual consequences of their actions.
One of their speculations has been that the material world is antagonistic to the spiritual world; that there is an either/or relationship between them. Things that are
BAHÁ’Í YOUTH sing at Greenlake Institute.
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spiritually good have been considered materially bad. This same principle has been applied to the spiritual world. Things that are materially bad for you, like being uncomfortable or torturing yourself, are spiritually good. Rituals have been developed in an attempt to find, by trial and error, material actions which will have a spiritual effect.
All of this speculation can now be put aside. The Manifestation of God has come, and has stated quite definitively what the spiritual consequences of our actions really are. He told us that there are certain material actions which have dramatic spiritual effects. There are some things which we can do in the material world which will unleash a great amount of spiritual power. One of these is contributing to the Bahá’í Fund.
The second of these principles which I believe underlies the Bahá’í Fund is that life is characterized by periodic rhythms in activity. In the physical realm, we are familiar with such rhythms: the rhythm of eating every few hours, the rhythm of sleeping, the rhythm of walking, the rhythm of resting.
We also know that there are more subtle influences in physical life. We know that the temperature of the body, and the glandular secretions of the body, vary over a 24-hour period. They vary again over a 28-day cycle, and fluctuate still more over a solar year.
Bahá’u’lláh told us that these rhythmic, periodic processes characterize the spiritual life as well as the material life. There are rhythms in spiritual activity just as there are rhythms in physical activity. Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings often express spiritual practices in a rhythmic form.
For example, He speaks of daily prayer, He speaks of daily study of the Writings, He speaks of a Feast every 19 days, of a fast once every year, of pilgrimage once in a lifetime.
When it comes to the Fund, our contributions are most effective, in the spiritual as well as the material sense, if they follow a rhythm of regular contributions. I believe that this practice is the material expression of a fundamental spiritual law.
The third fundamental principle which I believe underlies the Bahá’í Fund is the principle of purification. Whenever the religion of God has come, the Manifestations have directed themselves to purifying things that were impure.
When Muḥammad came to the Arabian people, they had a building of worship in the center of Mecca, the Kaaba, which was in a grossly impure state. It was filled with idols of stone and wood, which were worshipped in a crude and debasing way. Yet Muḥammad chose that very spot to be the center of worship for the Muslim people; the center of worship for the one true God. This is an example of how the religion of God directs itself to purifying things that were impure.
CLASSES AT THE INSTITUTE were well attended, and the friends took careful notes on the talks.
Bahá’u’lláh has done precisely the same thing. I think there are few things in this world as impure as the giving of money to religion. There are few things that have been so associated with hypocrisy, with coercion, with bribery of a spiritual nature, and with corruption and materialism. There are many people in our society who regard anything associated with contributing money to a religion as impure and corrupt. I think that one of the principles underlying the Fund is that Bahá’u’lláh has come to purify this concept, to show us through the power of the Covenant, through the purity of the Administrative Institutions, that the giving of money can be and is pure. Bahá’u’lláh has purified an impure concept.
Human Rights Day Planned[edit]
Preparations for Human Rights Day, December 10, come fast on the heels of winding up UN Day activities. This second special day set aside by the United Nations to proclaim the need for Universal Brotherhood of Man is close to the heart of the Bahá’í world.
The principles of the Bahá’í Faith which stress the equality of men and women, elimination of prejudice of all sorts, universal education, and the oneness of mankind, are also the aims of the United Nations, which are carried out through its humanitarian programs.
December 10, 1973 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights drawn up at the United Nations.
Placed in this historical perspective, it brings closer to the national Bahá’í community the need to fittingly celebrate Human Rights Day. This could be done with a luncheon or dinner, library displays, school programs, posters, speakers knowledgeable in one or more aspects of human rights, television or radio spots, slide shows of people or areas in need.
Human Rights Day calls attention to the United Nations, and a Bahá’í goal—that each man, woman and child may live with dignity, and with freedom from want and fear.
ACOMA PUEBLO WATER BIRD. New Mexico. Harvesting his own crop of berries.
A visual tour of District Conventions[edit]
- The Hand of the Cause William Sears (center) with friends in Southern California District #2 Convention.
- Navajo Indian believer in Southern California District #2.
- Convention in Southern California District #1.
- Registration in Colorado.
- Voting in Northern Illinois.
- A Bahá’í consults agenda in Northern Illinois.,
- Friends consulting in Massachusetts.
- Kansas District Convention.
- Continental Counsellor Miss Edna True in Northern Illinois.
- Mr. Farshang Javid, National Representative, addressing the friends at the New Jersey District Convention.
- Bahá’ís at Convention for Southern and Eastern Georgia.
Warm spirit, hospitality impress Africa traveler[edit]
by Yvor Stoakley
Fresh from a three-week extravaganza of “spiritual energizing” which included attendance at the Third National Bahá’í Youth Conference in Oklahoma City, and a nine-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the Bahá’í World Centre, I landed in Addis Abába on Friday, July 13th.
My itinerary, which had been worked out only days before at the World Centre, included a week-long stop in Ethiopia, and successive two-week stops in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, and Liberia. What follows is an account of the highlights of the first half of our teaching efforts in Africa—the “fast-awakening continent”.
A week of transition[edit]
My initial stop in Africa was Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and since I had to acquire visas for Kenya and Tanzania, our teaching efforts here were somewhat circumscribed. Nonetheless, I was given an opportunity to address the Bahá’ís of Addis Ababa about pilgrimage, attend several firesides and deepening classes, and share some teaching suggestions gleaned from the Oklahoma City Youth Conference with the Local Spiritual Assembly Youth Committee.
The warm spirit and hospitality of the Addis Ababa community made me very sorry that I could not have assisted them more. On the 20th of July, I departed from Addis Ababa with visas in hand bound for Kenya, the second stop on my six-nation tour.
A world-embracing Faith[edit]
The first three Bahá’í friends to meet me when I arrived in Nairobi were from Canada, Iran, and the Sudan, respectively. The Canadian was a young pioneer named Gordon Grams. He was waiting in Kenya while his application for a work visa to Zaire was being processed. Ezatollah Hemmati was the Persian believer’s name. He had arrived in Nairobi only a week before, coming from Ethiopia, where he had been pioneering for 19 months and 19 days. Hemmati is a dental technician by profession. He sold a prosperous laboratory in Tehran and left to pioneer in Africa at the bidding of Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum.
ON THE ROAD to the bus stop, two miles from Nawamanga.
For several days I visited the Bahá’ís in Nairobi before the National Teaching Committee drew up a ten-day itinerary for Hemmati and me in western Kenya. Before we embarked on our journey, we visited with Continental Counsellor Mr. ‘Azíz Yazdí, as he was leaving to take up his new duties as a member of the International Teaching Centre in the Holy Land.
The Western Province[edit]
Our five-day visit to Western Province in Kenya, the first half of our ten-day excursion, proved to be the most rewarding experience in all of our East African teaching.
BAHÁ’Í BOOTH at agricultural show at Kendu Bay. The author is at the left; Mr. Hemmati is second from the right.
From the moment we arrived in “Bahá’í-rich” Western Province until the moment we left, we received a continuous stream of warm and loving welcomes from the Bahá’ís in the villages. Everywhere you turn there are Bahá’í communities. Some 30,000 of Kenya’s approximately 50,000 Bahá’ís live in this Province. Eight of its current National Spiritual Assembly members are also from here.
We spent one night at Menu Bahá’í Teaching Institute, nestled in the hills of the beautiful, verdant Rift Valley. During those five days we spoke at schools, visited with the Bahá’ís in their homes, addressed many groups, and met with Local Spiritual Assemblies. We talked about the role of Bahá’í youth, the Laws and Ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the importance of the Nineteen Day Feast, and the functioning of the Local Spiritual Assembly.
Perhaps the best example we had of the radiant spirit Bahá’u’lláh has kindled in the hearts of these pure and simple people is the day we arrived four hours late for one of our scheduled talks.
We had addressed a group of the friends in the Namawanga Bahá’í Centre on Sunday morning (July 29) concerning the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh’s Most Holy Book. That meeting had run an hour overtime. So by the time we said goodbye to the friends and walked two miles to the bus stop, we were more than two hours late. The 17-kilometer bus ride consumed nearly another hour. By the time we got directions, found our host at this new location, and walked another 3/4 of a mile to the Bahá’í Centre, we were every bit of four hours late. One man was sent ahead of us on bicycle to ask the friends that still remained to wait.
Our host at this point was Mr. Eluid Muhatia, a member of the National Teaching Committee. He had come out to meet us half a mile from the Chebayus Bahá’í Centre and escorted us the remainder of the way. As we came around a bend in the road, we saw a small sign that read “Chebayus Bahá’í Centre”. It stood before a small mud building with a thatched roof.
As we entered the door of the Centre, more than 70 Bahá’ís—men, women, children, old, young—arose and sang “Alláh’u’Abhá”. They continued to sing until we greeted each one individually.
The program which followed was the most joyous and heart-warming of our entire journey. They began with prayers in three different languages. Then music by the Bahá’í Youth Choir of Mukhalanya Local Spiritual Assembly area. This was followed by several selections of music sung by all the Bahá’ís present.
Then the members of the six Local
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Spiritual Assemblies represented there were introduced. Some Assemblies had as many as six members present. After these introductions, we were given an opportunity to address the friends with the chairman of the meeting translating our remarks. With a broad, beaming smile, Hemmati humbly informed the friends that he was not the teacher. Pointing to me, he told them, “This man is the teacher. My English is very weak. He is the teacher and I am the servant of the teacher.” When his remarks were translated, the Bahá’ís applauded their approval vigorously. So I began by telling them that “As Hemmati is the servant of the teacher, that makes me the servant of the servant.” When this was translated, the applause was even more vigorous!
I spoke mainly about my recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land and showed some pictures which I had with me. After questions, the meeting was closed with several prayers.
Away in a manger[edit]
We left the beautiful friends of Western Province on Monday, July 30, and proceeded as instructed to Myania Province on the shores of Lake Victoria. We spent a few days visiting the friends in Kisuma, Kenya’s third-largest city, and then proceeded by ferry across the lake to Kendu Bay. An agricultural show (comparable to a county fair in the U.S.) was to be held there Friday and Saturday, August 3–4. The Bahá’ís had reserved a stand there for an information booth. Hemmati and I were asked to help staff the booth.
We arrived on Thursday to decorate the stand, which was made of poles and reed mats. A whole carload of posters and displays had been sent from Nairobi, but due to an oversight on the part of the carrier, they forgot to unload them and returned them to Nairobi. So we started from scratch, and using a few posters which the local Bahá’ís had, and some of the pictures and posters sent with me from the Holy Land, we put together a fairly attractive display.
THE BAHÁ’Í CENTER of Nawamanga, Kenya.
STUDENTS AND BAHÁ’ÍS at St. Peter’s Secondary School, Nakalira, Kenya.
More than 300 persons visited the booth the first day and received literature on the Faith. The second day fewer people came, but the questions seemed to be deeper.
On Friday night when we sought lodging at the hotels, we found all the prices had been doubled because of the show. So the four of us manning the booth spent the night sleeping on reed mats inside the Bahá’í stand. It reminded me of the story of Mary and Joseph who could find no lodging the night that Christ was born, and spent the night in a manger.
On to Tanzania[edit]
Kender Bay was the closing chapter in our visit to Kenya. Hemmati and I traveled back to Nairobi, stopping one night along the way to visit the Bahá’í pioneers in Nakma, Kenya. From Nairobi, we were instructed to proceed overland to Arusha, Tanzania, a six-hour bus trip. Hemmati, investigating the possibilities of working and pioneering in Tanzania, continued to accompany me.
In Arusha, our host was a newly arrived American pioneer, Mr. Jeff Kiely. Although he had been in Tanzania only three months, he was already deeply involved with the teaching work there. He is a member of the National Teaching Committee and also director of Tanzania’s highly successful Bahá’í correspondence course. Arusha is in the north of Tanzania, about 50 miles from Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest point on the African continent. We spent our first few nights at the newly built Arusha Bahá’í Centre.
During our week in Arusha, we visited the Bahá’ís in Moshi (50 miles to the east), taught in nearby villages, and held a public meeting at the Arusha Bahá’í Centre. We also scheduled a meeting at a secondary school near Moshi where nearly all the students are enrolled in the Bahá’í Correspondence Course. But as it turned out, difficulties in transportation prevented us from seizing that opportunity.
Dar-es-Salaam—The City of Peace[edit]
Our second and final week in Tanzania was spent in and near the capital, Dar-es-Salaam. Dar-es-Salaam is the term in Swahili for “City of Peace.” For the remainder of our program in Tanzania, we were assigned to two Bahá’ís from the Dar-es-Salaam area: Mr. Ahmad Jan-baz, a young Persian pioneer, and Mr. Mack Ownors, a Kenyan who had lived in Tanzania for most of his life.
We spent a considerable portion of time visiting the nearby village areas where eight local Assemblies were raised up in the final year of the Nine Year Plan!
One day, in a village on a nearby peninsula, we had a very spirited discussion with a headmaster of one of the schools and several members of his staff. On another occasion, we sat for several hours discussing the Faith with students at the National Fisheries Institute. We also had an opportunity to meet a believer from the Maasai tribe, Mr. Robert J. Sanguani, who is a world-famous Tanzanian wood-carver.
Yvor Stoakley is an American Bahá’í youth who recently completed a travel-teaching trip through several nations in Africa.
LOAD CARRIED AT harvest time. Hohokam Culture, 1000-1200 A.D., Arizona.
Members UHJ visited USA[edit]
Two members of the Universal House of Justice visited the National Bahá’í Center during October. Dr. David Ruhe arrived in Wilmette October 13. Mr. Hugh Chance followed a week later, arriving October 21.
Both Dr. Ruhe and Mr. Chance spent an evening during their visits meeting with friends in Foundation Hall. In these photographs they appear with some of the hundreds of Bahá’ís who traveled to the National Center to greet them. Mr. Chance is at the left in the photograph above. Dr. Ruhe is at the left in the photograph below.
Chase Memorial[edit]
The 61st annual memorial service for Thornton Chase was held on a lovely, warm, Sunday afternoon on September 30, in Inglewood, California.
Approximately 200 friends gathered around the gravesite in the Inglewood Park Cemetery to honor the wish of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that Bahá’ís meet there annually to pray and tell of Thornton Chase’s service to and love for his Faith.
Many beautiful flowers and plants were placed on the grave, as the friends sang “Alláh’u’Abhá.” A framed picture of Mr. Chase was placed on view at the head of the gravestone.
Read WORLD ORDER, share it with your friends, Bahá’ís and seekers alike.
Bahá’í representative is active at UN[edit]
The United States Bahá’í community is informed about United Nations activities through a UN representative of the National Spiritual Assembly.
The representative attends briefings and other meetings at the UN and US Mission conducted for members of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The sessions focus on the goals of the UN Charter: peace, economic and social advancement of all peoples, and the promotion of universal human rights.
The opening UN briefing on September 18 included a presentation by Virginia Saurwein of the UN Development Program. Literature, posters, and films describing the aims and achievements of the UNDP were highlighted. A showing of a film on world trade emphasized the interdependence of nations and peoples. Other films on the human environment, education, housing, and narcotics control were cited.
Robert Muller, director of the office of the secretary-general, spoke on the “Salient Features of the World Situation.” He compared the UN’s first problems of peacekeeping with today’s peace-building goals. Problems range from the sea bottoms to outer space, from the environment and energy crisis to famine and population control.
The September 18 briefing coincided with the opening of the 28th General Assembly. F. Bradford Morse, liaison between the office of the secretary-general and the NGOs, introduced the assembly’s proposed agenda and committee chairmen.
On September 26, world disarmament was discussed by Sweden’s delegate. His remarks included the idea that the Indian Ocean be declared a neutral zone where military traffic would be prohibited.
Future briefings will include progress reports on the UN’s economic and social work—work that comprises 85 percent of the UN’s activities.
In preparing for Human Rights Day (December 10) and other UN occasions, the friends should consult the “Guide to Planning UN Events” which appeared in the September/October 1973 issue of National Bahá’í Review.
News Briefs[edit]
DTC’s briefed[edit]
Between September 15 and October 21, the National Teaching Committee conducted 21 briefings for District Teaching Committees around the country.
The purpose of the briefings was to orient the committees to their duties and responsibilities, and to discuss the teaching needs of this interim year before the launching of a new global teaching plan.
The briefings were conducted by members of the National Teaching Committee. For many of the briefings, Auxiliary Board members were also present.
The Regional Teaching Committees in South Carolina and California were briefed during this period as well.
The photograph at lower right was taken during the briefing of California District Teaching Committees in Fresno in September. Above right is a photograph of the offices of the California Regional Teaching Committee. Mrs. Joan Bulkin, the Committee’s secretary, is seated at the right.
Miss Chris Christian, the Office secretary, is next to her. The Directory shows the other tenants in the same office building.
Fine Fair Fare[edit]
These panels are part of a Bahá’í fair booth constructed by the Local Assembly of Fresno Judicial District, California, their sister community of Fresno, California, and several nearby groups. The booth received an award as the outstanding entry in the Commercial Exhibition division.
Green Acre School[edit]
The Green Acre Winter School session will be held from December 26 through December 31. Registration is open to 75 adults and youth. The first 40 applicants will stay on the Green Acre campus; the rest will be lodged at area motels.
Classes will be given by National Spiritual Assembly members Miss Magdalene Carney and Mr. Richard Betts, and by Auxiliary Board member Dr. Jane McCants. Winter sports will also be organized.
Room and board will be $40 for persons assigned to bedrooms, and $32 for persons assigned to dormitory facilities.
Pioneers please[edit]
The State College, Pennsylvania, borough is in urgent need of homefront pioneers. The main point of interest is, of course, the University. The Pennsylvania State University is a Land Grant College, and this fall semester there are 29,000 students on the campus. There are job opportunities with the University itself, and in the prosperous communities nearby, for professionals, and for people in such occupations as maintenance operations, food servicing, office personnel, librarians, teachers, etc.
Due to the graduation of some of the Assembly members, the Local Spiritual Assembly is in jeopardy. For further information, please write: Mrs. Ruth Dunbar, 210 E. Hamilton Street, State College, Pennsylvania 16801; or Bahá’ís of State College, Pennsylvania 16801.
State Park campout[edit]
At New Salem State Park in the heart of Illinois’ Lincoln-Land, over 120 friends shared an August weekend campout with Dr. Stanwood Cobb. He spoke on Saturday evening by sunset; later by lantern-light, to an audience eager to hear his stories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. On Saturday, beneath the trees, he fascinated the friends with his knowledge, his vitality, his stamina.
Bulletin Board[edit]
Manual mailed[edit]
Copies of the Local Spiritual Assembly Secretary’s Manual and the Bahá’í Treasurer’s Manual have been mailed to all new Local Spiritual Assemblies, in addition to a directory of Local Spiritual Assembly secretaries. Any Assembly that has not received this material should write the National Bahá’í Center, 112 Linden Ave., Wilmette, Ill. 60091.
[edit]
The Bahá’ís were well represented at the Navajo National Fair, held at Window Rock, Arizona, September 5–9.
The Navajo Teaching Committee sponsored a booth in one of the exhibit halls, and the Northern New Mexico District Teaching Committee brought their Bahá’í booth-on-wheels to the Fair.
At least 250,000 people attended the Fair, according to local press estimates. Many people requested information on the Bahá’í Faith.
Carolina journey[edit]
There is a need for travel-teachers in South Carolina to assist with teaching and consolidation activities. Any interested Bahá’í should contact his District Teaching Committee, Mrs. Alberta Lansdowne, Secretary, Box 337, Goose Creek, South Carolina 29445, for additional information.
Papua pioneering[edit]
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Papua and New Guinea is looking for a pioneer couple in Lae. Housing will be provided. Employment is probably available in Lae. Responsibilities include supervision of the house and grounds, participation in Bahá’í community activities, and serving as hosts at the Ḥaẓíratu’l-Quds.
For further details write to: International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091.
Southern Winter[edit]
The Georgia-Alabama Bahá’í Winter School will be held in Gallant, Alabama, from December 28 until January 1. The cost for the four days is $30. To register, please write: Mr. John Haynes, 1338 Surrey Lane, Bldg. 4-C, Marietta, Georgia 30060.
A MEMORIAL MARKER for Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler was placed in the St. Joseph, Michigan, cemetery by her husband. Mrs. Ransom-Kehler is buried in Isfahan, Iran, where she died while on a mission for the Guardian. In the photograph above, Bahá’ís visit the cemetery to view the memorial.
Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler:
Public-spirited vocal activist[edit]
Forty years ago, Mrs. Keith Ransom-Kehler, the first American Bahá’í martyr, died of smallpox in Isfahan, Iran, where she had traveled on a mission for Shoghi Effendi.
On the anniversary of her passing, October 23, Mrs. Carol Handy, a Bahá’í from St. Joseph, Michigan, wrote a tribute to Mrs. Ransom-Kehler, which was published in a daily newspaper there.
Behind the legend of Keith Ransom-Kehler, she wrote, “is a woman who possessed beauty, feminine charm, personality, force, courage, and intelligence, and who laid them at the feet of her God without any regret save only that perhaps she had not done enough.”
Below is part of the article written by Mrs. Handy.
It began, the granite marker says, in Dayton, Kentucky, in 1876, when Nanny Keith Bean was born there, the daughter of W. Worth Bean, who was known to local residents as “Colonel” Bean and who was part of the corporation that laid the original streetcar tracks in the twin cities at the turn of the century.
As a young woman, Keith Bean married Ralph Ransom, a local artist of some reputation. They had one daughter, Julia, who grew up here, later moved to New York, and subsequently died there.
When Keith Ransom was 32 years old, her husband died, and she later married Mr. Kehler of Chicago, who came to be known as the father of modern advertising.
From her earliest youth, Keith Ransom-Kehler was public-spirited, active, and vocal. She gave a speech at the local YWCA during the First World War exposing the shabby practices of the Red Cross and was severely criticized as unpatriotic and fanatic. Later, however, when WWI veterans returned home, they began to tell the same stories all over the United States, and the exposure became a nationwide scandal, and the criticism ceased.
She later became a Bahá’í and began to travel, teaching the Bahá’í beliefs of one God, one world, one mankind, eventually traveling throughout the world on these missions.
In Persia, the government, in spite of a new constitution that guaranteed religious freedom, continued to persecute the members of this new Faith, which seemed to them to pose a threat to Islam.
The Persian Bahá’ís had no source of their literature or scriptures except the United States. But as fast as the literature was shipped into Persia, it was confiscated at the borders and burned.
Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith residing at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, asked Keith Ransom-Kehler to go to Persia and plead with the Shah for the relaxation of this persecution.
She went, and for many long months engaged in reiterations with the Prime Minister, explaining that the Bahá’í Faith was not hostile to either Islam or the Persian government, and that Bahá’ís were, in fact, pledged to accept all revealed religions, venerate all of God’s Great Teachers, and to obey the governments in whatever nations they found themselves.
Over and over, the Prime Minister assured her of his cooperation and denied any knowledge of the persecutions or the literature confiscations.
Meanwhile, it continued. Finally, he admitted to some knowledge of the book-burnings and promised her that it would cease immediately. She asked him if it would be safe for her to send for her own books from America, and he assured her it would be.
The books arrived in due time and were immediately confiscated and burned. Whereupon Mrs. Ransom-Kehler unpacked (she had been ready to leave for another country as soon as her literature arrived) and proceeded to negotiate for another appointment with the Prime Minister.
While she was awaiting the date of the next interview, she was suddenly stricken with a little-known form of pox, more virulent even than our smallpox, and within a few days was dead.
The first word the Western world had of this was October 28, when word was received at the Bahá’í World Centre from the Bahá’í friends in Persia. She was buried lovingly by them, and a beautiful memorial shrine is there today for travelers from all over the world to see.
The Guardian sent word to the Bahá’í world that there are three ways to be martyred. One is to be murdered for your beliefs by the enemies of your faith, another is to burn your life slowly to its end in service, and the third is to die while in the service of your faith, in a manner in which you would not have otherwise died.
“Keith Ransom-Kehler gave her life for her Bahá’í brothers in Persia, and for this deserves the rank of the first American martyr and the first Bahá’í martyr of the Western World,” he said.
Later, a letter to the Guardian came from Keith Ransom-Kehler, written in the last hours of her life. In closing, she wrote: “Months of effort with nothing accomplished is the record that confronts me. If anyone in the future should be interested in this thwarted adventure of mine, he alone can say whether near or far from the seemingly impregnable heights of complaisance and indifference my tired body fell. Nothing in the world is meaningless, suffering least of all. Sacrifice and its attendant agony is an organism. Man cannot blight its fruition as he can the seeds of earth. Once sown it becomes, I think forever, in the sweet fields of eternity. Mine will be a very modest flower.”
BAHÁ’Í BOOKS AND MATERIALS[edit]
BAHÁ’Í LITERATURE[edit]
Bahá’í Comprehensive Deepening Program
All five books of the Comprehensive Deepening Program are again available. These special deepening materials have been designed to assist the Bahá’í community in “accelerating and strengthening its efforts to consolidate,” especially during this year of preparation for the next global plan of the Universal House of Justice. The books may be ordered separately or as a complete set packaged in an attractive, heavy-duty, three-ring binder.
The Meaning of Deepening | $2.50 |
The Supreme Gift of God to Man | $1.00 |
Knowledge, Volition, and Action | $0.75 |
The Bahá’í Electoral Process | $1.75 |
A Fortress for Well-Being | $2.50 |
Three-ring binder for CDP materials | $2.50 |
Complete package (5 books with binder) | $8.00 |
Bahá’í Lesson Plans, Grade 7
This booklet, as all others in this lesson plan series, covers history, teachings for the individual, and social teachings. “History of Religions” traces the various Dispensations from the earliest religions through Islám. “Covenants of God” covers the renewals of the Ancient Covenant, the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, and the effects of the Covenant on individuals and groups in the Bahá’í community. “Justice” discusses reward and punishment and social, international, and economic justice.
- Paper/$1.40
Christ’s Promise Fulfilled
This excerpt from Some Answered Questions is again available. Christ’s Promise Fulfilled contains ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s explanations of many subjects of interest to Christians, such as baptism, communion, the trinity, the birth, resurrection, and return of Christ, and the station and power of the Manifestations.
- Paper/$0.50
The Bahá’í House of Worship
A revised edition of The Bahá’í House of Worship is now available. This pamphlet is highlighted by the addition of beautiful four-color photographs of the House of Worship in Wilmette as well as the Temples in Frankfurt, Kampala, Sydney, and Panama City. A spring garden of the House of Worship in Wilmette is depicted in yet another color photograph. In black and white, there is an aerial view of the Wilmette House of Worship and its surroundings and an impressive view of the auditorium framed on either side by the inscriptions gracing the entryways and alcoves. The brochure contains two complementary essays—“The Meaning of the Temple” and “The Bahá’í Faith and Its Teachings” (which also appears in the Basic Facts pamphlet). The basic and informative style of the two essays, combined with the international flavor of the photographs, make this revised edition of The Bahá’í House of Worship a valuable teaching aid for the friends throughout the United States.
- 20/$1.00
- 100/$4.00
The Environment and Human Values: A Bahá’í View
This pamphlet, which was prepared by the Bahá’í International Community for presentation at the United Nations Conference on the human environment held in Stockholm, is now available at new prices. It pinpoints the cause of current environmental problems as social structures and value systems that cannot meet human needs. The pamphlet contains an outline of Bahá’í principles concerning the human environment, which are necessary for bringing about a world civilization capable of tackling environmental problems with united action on a worldwide scale. Excellent for groups interested in the environment and for special events associated with the United Nations.
- 10/$0.50
- 100/$4.00
Below: New nine-pointed enamel lapel pins come in five colors, all packaged in attractive clear-plastic boxes.
Above: A new color pamphlet tells the story of the Bahá’í House of Worship, and contains a long article on the Faith. Color photographs of the other four Bahá’í Temples are included.
SPECIAL MATERIALS[edit]
Bahá’í Lapel Pins
Handsome enamel lapel pins, in the form of nine-pointed stars, are the latest addition to Bahá’í jewelry carried by the Publishing Trust. The word “Bahá’í,” the surrounding circle, and the perimeter of the stars are gold-colored. The pins are available in five colors—red, green, blue, black, and white—and are packaged in clear-plastic boxes.
6-61-61 Red Lapel Pin | $0.75 |
6-61-62 Green Lapel Pin | $0.75 |
6-61-63 Blue Lapel Pin | $0.75 |
6-61-64 Black Lapel Pin | $0.75 |
6-61-65 White Lapel Pin | $0.75 |
FILMSTRIP PROGRAMS[edit]
6-01-23 A Testimony of Love: The Story of the Bahá’í Fund in America
A Testimony of Love traces the development of three important institutions—the Bahá’í House of Worship, the National Spiritual Assembly, and the National Bahá’í Fund. This colorful audio-visual filmstrip program also shows the role the Fund has played in achieving and consolidating the victories called for by several teaching plans and the increasing demands that new global plans will make on it in the future. A short list of questions at the end of the narration booklet will be helpful in guiding consultation on the importance of the Bahá’í Fund. This program is for Bahá’ís only and is designed for use at Feasts, conventions, institutes, summer schools, deepenings, and personal study. It should not be used for teaching or proclamation events. Color, 126 frames.
Filmstrip, cassette, narration book/$8.00
Conifer Hill: unity through work and study[edit]
1. A GRANDMOTHER and her granddaughters at Conifer Hill; 2. Bahá’ís attending the work/study session; 3. A new Bahá’í smiles happily; 4. Friends praying at dusk; 5. The Colorado countryside around Conifer Hill.
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Mohonk Mountain House on Mohonk Lake, New York Did you know that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave a talk here in 1912? This sprawling resort in the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains of Southern New York State was dreamed of and built in 1869 by Albert K. Smiley, a Quaker school teacher and humanitarian. It was a place, he thought, where the “eternal values” would be stressed and promoted. In 1895, Smiley and some prominent friends initiated a Conference on International Arbitration, which became a yearly event attended by hundreds of influential figures, until it was interrupted by the dreadful events of World War I. In 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was invited to address this conference. In April 1931, Bahá’í News, in a lengthy survey, recalled some of the details of that visit. “...The first evening He delivered an address, and the audience, composed of some of the leading men and women of America, as well as representatives of other lands, clapped and clapped, asking for more. But ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had to decline, because He was tired and had to rest His voice. When He left to return to New York He made a gift of an exquisite Persian rug to the President of the Conference.” Dr. Zia Baghdadi, a companion of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on that visit, volunteered to make the near impossible one-night journey to New York City to fetch that rug so it might be presented to Mr. Smiley when the Bahá’í party left the resort. He departed from Lake Mohonk at 9 p.m. and raced by carriage to the New Paltz railroad station. There being no scheduled passenger service that night, he jumped a passing freight train, only to have to plead with the conductor to allow him to remain aboard. The train reached New York at 2:00 a.m. Dr. Baghdadi hurried to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s apartment, selected the best rug he could find, and rushed back to the railroad station, just in time for the morning train to New Paltz. At 9:00 a.m., he stepped off the coach at his destination and looked anxiously about for a carriage to take him to Lake Mohonk. The only vehicle in sight was a mail carriage. He pressed the driver into service and set off to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “We arrived at our destination just at the time when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was shaking hands with Mr. Smiley and preparing to leave. He took the rug with a smile and presented it to Mr. Smiley to keep as a souvenir,” Dr. Baghdadi later explained in a somewhat understated fashion. If you don’t subscribe to Bahá’í News, you probably missed this story, and hundreds of others just as interesting. Bahá’í News receives correspondence from every country and territory in the world where Bahá’ís reside. Every single month, Bahá’í News adds new facts to the story of the conquest of the planet by the new Religion of God. It is a saga you can’t really afford to miss. BAHÁ’Í NEWS... every edition is history. |
[Page 19]
Committees form
(continued from page three)
information materials relating to minority teaching.
The new committees are not encouraged to directly execute teaching projects, but rather to stimulate individuals and local communities to carry out the teaching goals.
Communities may contact the minority teaching committees for assistance by writing the National Teaching Committee.
The National Teaching Committee has also authorized a regional conference on teaching Spanish-speaking people, to be held in California in January. The event will be sponsored by the California Regional Teaching Committee, with the cooperation of the Spanish-Speaking Teaching Committee.
Historians agree
(continued from page three)
than the Báb, for when he was wounded, he turned to the Báb and said: ‘Are you not satisfied with me?’ In brief, at this moment an accidentally discharged bullet hit the rope with which the Báb’s arms were tied, and He was freed, and ran away, and hid in the room of one of the soldiers.
Taken together, the World Order editors wrote, these accounts “give a fair representation of a unique event in the religious history of mankind.”
Greenlake Institute
(continued from page five)
and study the first five texts of the Program.
In addition, the National Assembly is taking steps to develop a stimulating curriculum on Bahá’í family life for Bahá’í summer schools, Miss Carney said.
She spoke on the subject of prejudice, recalling guidance received on the matter during 1972 from The Universal House of Justice (National Bahá’í Review, August 1972).
“When we really looked around we saw that everything was not all right, and that the matter of prejudice will not be settled until the Bahá’ís do it,” she said. “We cannot hope that outside agencies will accomplish these Divine purposes. We have that task to do and no one else can accomplish it for us.”
To address this challenge, the National Assembly has placed special emphasis on this issue, she said. Bahá’í education about the nature of prejudice has been promoted; and special visits to the House of Worship have also been organized to give the friends a helpful perspective on the administrative order of the Cause.
“We have urged them to come to get a feel for that place where the Master walked, and where the National Assembly has met for many years,” she said. “It adds a spiritual dimension to the work of the Bahá’ís, which perhaps would have been missed had they not traveled to the National Center.”
Moreover, a new series for local Spiritual Assemblies is being organized to deepen the understanding of the friends about the role of Bahá’í institutions.
“We hope to upgrade the seminars so that the persons who attended last time will get something from them they didn’t get before,” she said.
Falkland Conference[edit]
The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of East Falkland will be hosting their second Conference in January 1974. The formation of this Assembly was one of the accomplishments of the Nine Year Plan. This Conference will be a reinforcement for teaching activities on the island.
- Conference dates: January 14 to January 21, 1974.
If you are able to attend, please contact the International Goals Committee, 112 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091 (312/256-4400).
JACK RABBIT of Miembres culture. The Indians always left enough food in the fields after the harvest for the little brothers of the animal kingdom.
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Is World Order Really a Bahá’í Magazine? Like any good Bahá’í undertaking, World Order is principally a teaching instrument. It is designed to appeal to thinking people of every educational, social, and economic class. It addresses the complicated issues of contemporary life that torment, inspire, and distract this restless generation. But like all good teaching instruments, it is only effective to the degree that it is used by Bahá’ís for teaching. So the next time your community schedules a proclamation event, or you plan a personal teaching project, consider giving subscriptions to World Order. It is ideal for public libraries; for schools, universities, and public offices; and for all those thoughtful people you have been planning to introduce to the Bahá’í Faith. World Order will be a Bahá’í magazine in your life if you give it a Bahá’í purpose in your teaching work. You will find as you begin to make greater use of World Order that it will help you to deepen in your knowledge of the Bahá’í Faith. Some of the best and most interesting articles on Bahá’í subjects in the English language are printed in World Order and nowhere else. Consider these few titles:
World Order is a Bahá’í magazine, in content and purpose. It is for thinking people—for you. Why not fill out the subscription coupon below and mail it today? It may turn out to be the most thought-provoking decision you’ve made in a long time. |
Inside:
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NEARLY 1,000 PEOPLE attended the thirteenth annual Greenlake Institute at the American Baptist Assembly campgrounds north of Milwaukee. Details begin on PAGE 5. BAHÁ’ÍS THROUGHOUT USA recently attended District Conventions to elect delegates to the Riḍván National Bahá’í Convention. A visual tour of District Conventions begins on PAGE 10. A YOUNG AMERICAN BAHÁ’Í was recently impressed with the warmth and hospitality he found while travel-teaching in several African countries. His story begins on PAGE 12. MRS. KEITH RANSOM-KEHLER was the first American martyr to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. ON PAGE 16, The American Bahá’í reprints some details of her life written by a Bahá’í for a daily newspaper in Michigan. |
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A Conference |
