Transcript of: Speaking at the Bahá’í World Congress in London
John Robarts
1963
|
|
Note: the text below this box was generated by a computer and will contain many errors. The computer generated transcript has been added to reduce the work of transcribing the talk, and enable some limited search capability. If you would like to help proofread the transcript you can edit this page and make corrections as you listen.
|
Beloved friends, 110 years ago, Baháʼu'lláh was in the Síyáh-Chál, the dreadful subterranean pestilential, pit, his feet in stocks, heavy chains about his body, suffering untold physical torment. In addition, many of his companions had been put to death. Others had deserted the cause. He must have been in even greater mental torment. Then you will remember, He heard those words of the Holy Spirit speaking to him, saying Fear not Thou art In safety erelong God will raise up the treasures of the earth men who will give these victory by Thyself and by Thy pen. Beloved friends, there are some six thousands of these treasures of the earth registered at this World Congress. And there are innumerable other thousands throughout the world. I think it is our sacred duty, our glorious challenge to really be those treasures of the earth which the Holy Spirit promised to Baháʼu'lláh. Now 110 years later, as Baháʼu'lláh surveys the scene of the whole of mankind, I wonder just how pleased He is with the numbers of the treasures of the earth. Certainly our beloved Guardian must be very happy with a triumphant conclusion of his 10 year spiritual crusade. We can imagine the message of loving gratitude that he would write to us on this glorious occasion, expressing his joy, his pride, his gratitude for the great victories that have been attained. How he must love the pioneers who went all over the world to fulfill his goal, as well as all the workers who did so much to make this great victory possible. How overjoyed Shoghi Effendi must be with this most glorious, this most great jubilee with the many races, tribes, classes represented here to hear the prayers in so many languages. The beautiful singing to hear these thrilling stories of the pioneers, the expressions of devotion to him and to his cause. Shoghi Effendi was always so happy to learn of the winning of the goals. A pioneer arriving at his post, a new tribe, a new language, a new assembly an incorporation, the purchase of a temple site, a Haziratu'l-Quds. All these great victories made him so happy. And yet how sad, How often? Very sad. When there was a loss. Know the beloved Guardian carried a little note in his pocket, and in it he recorded all the goals that had been achieved. And he was proud of this little book. Pilgrims often told of how he would bring it out and explain the victories that had been won. And we are told by Rúhíyyih Khánum that one time there was a goal that was very dear to his heart, which had been lost because through no fault of her own, one of the pioneers was obliged to leave that island. And he didn't cross that off from his books, and when asked why, he said he just couldn't bear to cross it off, so he left it on. While we can be sure of his joy at the triumphant conclusion of a 10 year crusade, I feel that Shoghi Effendi is watching us now wondering just what we are going to do. Are the pioneers going to remain at their goals? Are we going to push forward to greater victories to consolidate our gains? To increase the momentum to reach for fresh conquest, we must remember that the beloved Guardian's 10 year spiritual crusade was the beginning of the beginning. The ultimate goal, as we all know is the spiritual conquest of the entire planet. I want to read to you a few quotations from the writings of Shoghi Effendi in which he appeals to us to arise, to serve the faith. He made so many beautiful, strong, wonderful appeals. But now to re-read them is very stimulating. We really should all re-read re-study the letters, the messages from Shoghi Effendi. We only have to read a few of them to become so inspired that we just must go out to teach the faith. Here are a few very brief quotations. You will remember them all. "The field is so immense, period so critical, the Cause so great, the workers so few, the time so short, the privilege so priceless that no follower of the Faith of Baháʼu'lláh worthy to bear his name can't afford a moment. Hesitation.The field is indeed so immense, the period so critical, the Cause so great, the workers so few, the time so short, the privilege so priceless, that no follower of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh worthy to bear His name, can afford a moment’s hesitation." For 36 years, beloved Guardian guided, inspired, implored us in the strongest conceivable language to arise to serve a Cause. He gave us the plans. He showed us something of his great vision of a cause. He brought to us many of the inspired writings of Baháʼu'lláh and Abdu'l-Baha. He fired us with the determination to arise and go forth, to be detached from all save him, to give our lives in his service. He reminded us of many of the promises of assistance, the amazing rewards in this world and the next for those faithful servants. He told us of the yearning of the Hosts on High, to be able themselves to come back to this earth to serve it in this day. Listen to this one. "The Lord of Hosts, the King of Kings has pledged unfailing aid to every crusader battling for His cause. Invisible battalions are mustered rank upon rank, ready to pour forth reinforcements from on high." and he quoted Baháʼu'lláh "Teach ye the cause of God. Oh, people of Baha for God has prescribed unto everyone the duty of proclaiming his message and regarded it as the most meritorious of all deeds. Should anyone arise for the triumph of our cause him will, God render victorious though tens of thousands of enemies be leagued against him." Again, he wrote upon every participator, in this concerted effort rests the spiritual obligation to make of the mandate of teaching the all pervading concern of his life." The all pervading concern of his life, and Shoghi Effendi was so well able to understand the position and the feelings of all the people. He knew that there were many devoted, dedicated believers who would give their lives to be able to teach the cause but just weren't able to. I'm sure there aren't any of those in this hall, but in order to give them comfort and encouragement, these people who felt inadequate to teach fearing that they did not know enough, he told us in these words, how often have the lowliest adherents of the Faith, unschooled and utterly inexperienced and with no standing whatever and in some cases devoid of intelligence, been capable of winning victories for their cause, before which the most brilliant achievements of the learned, the wise and the experienced have failed. And, Abdu'l-Baha said, conveying the message or teaching is accomplished today by the confirmation of the Holy Spirit, and not by any fund of knowledge or by persuasion of facts. The confirmations of the Holy Spirit are obtained by the attractions of the heart. Haven't we seen that in these days of this glorious World Congress, where we can see that the teaching is done from the heart. At the same time, Shoghi Effendi made it very clear that we are to study the teachings in these words, he said. They the believers must thoroughly familiarize themselves with the various aspects of the history and teachings of their faith. They must study for themselves conscientiously and painstakingly, the literature of their faith, delve into its teachings, assimilate laws and principles, ponder its admonitions, tenets and purposes, commit to memory certain of its exhortations and prayers, master the essentials of the administration and keep abreast of its current affairs and latest development. Friends, The question of teaching is one that is in all our hearts. I one time heard a description of just what we are doing when we are serving the cause, which I would like to pass on to you. It was stated that here is abyss an abyss of despair. We know that the manifestations of God have come to this earth to uplift man from the abyss of despair. So here is the abyss on this side is man on the other side of the abyss is God. We have on this side the darkness of man And here the illumination and the glory of God. Now what we are doing is to build a bridge across this abyss. Every Baha'i in the world is called upon to work in the construction of this bridge. Someday it is going to have to carry hundreds of millions of people across from the darkness of man to this glorious illumination of God. Every one of us has some part to play in the constructing of this bridge .Abdu'l-Baha said know all your time must be concentrated in teaching the faith. Teaching is like constructing. Everything else is like drawing a design. What a difference there is between drawing a design and constructing the edifice. So beloved friends we are building this edifice according to the design given to us by Abdu'l-Baha in his tablets of the divine plan. Shoghi Effendi, implemented, elaborated and unfolded them before our eyes. The successive stages of that divine plan, with his remarkable writings to guide us, with our love for him in our hearts, with the wonderful fields of service now open before us, we cannot but go forth to new victories greater than those ever achieved before. Friends, when I think about holding the love of our beloved Shoghi Effendi in our hearts. My mind goes back, to an occasion almost 10 years ago, I had the privilege of serving on the Pioneer Committee of the New Delhi Conference in October 1953. You may remember, and there are many of you here who were at that conference and some of you who were on that committee. In response to theappeals of the beloved Gaurdian for pioneers to go out to those goals. My recollection is that there were 75 applicants who were ready to go, willing to go, many of whom perhaps all of them wanted to go. The committee was set up to interview these applicants. Quite complete descriptions of the goals had been provided, and some of them to me seem to be desperately desolated places. I wondered how anybody could really want to go there, but I remember the joy on the faces of these souls as they were chosen by the committee and assigned a goal. It was as though God himself had embraced them and assigned them to their new territory. When asked if they had any special goal in mind to volunteer for very often the reply came back "Wherever the beloved Guardian would wish us to go." One couple I remember so well. They were a peculiarly desirable couple of applicants because they had the right passports because they could go immediately. They had a little money and they could find employment in almost any territory. He was a tailor and she was a cook they had been married for, I think they said 25 years, and I remember so well, our chairman asking this dear devoted couple if they would like to go to one goal together or if they would be willing to go to separate goals. Oh, how I groaned at the thought of sending them to two separate goals. And at that time I see the chairman down here in the front row, smiling at me now. But I couldn't bear the thought of having them separated and going to different islands hundreds of miles apart. But they considered it and they came back and said yes. If it were the wish of the beloved Guardian, they would be willing to go to separate goals. Friends, this staggered me. I just couldn't accept this as being right. But the chairman turned to me and he said, John, you don't seem to realize that this is the greatest privilege that God has ever given to man. And these people have such a love for God, Baháʼu'lláh, for Shoghi Effendi in their hearts that they are glad to go anywhere to serve. So I was comforted but also happy to find later that they both went to the same goal. I often wonder where that couple are, but I'm sure from the spirit they showed they are serving with great devotion. But friends, it is this love in our hearts for the beloved Guardian. It is a love for Baháʼu'lláh in our hearts that sent you pioneers all over the world into these goals, and it is the same love that is going to keep you there. It is that same love that is going to now open up new goals. Time is pressing on, so I must head for the conclusion of my address. But I do want to say now another thing that is with our beloved Shoghi Effendi's remarkable writings to guide us, with our love for him in our hearts, we shall now turn with the devotion and dedication through that infallibly guided institution of God, the Universal House of Justice. Of it, Abdu'l-Baha wrote. "Obedience to it is obligatory, necessary and indispensable whenever it unanimously or by majority vote lays down laws not explicitly revealed in the book, all must obey and whoever says why or wherefore has indeed opposed God in his sovereignty, disputed his proofs, challenged his signs and repudiated his commands." I'm afraid my time I had three or four most beautiful favorite stories of mine. But I'll tell him to you in the next world Congress that is, if I'm invited to it, or to speak at it. But finally, friends just one last remaining quotation from the pen of our beloved Shoghi Effendi. This one says a great deal, and once again I appeal to members of all communities to arise and enlist ere the present opportunity is irretrievably lost in the army. Of Baháʼu'lláh's crusaders. The hour is right to disencumber themselves of worldly vanities, to mount the steed of steadfastness, unfurl the banners of renunciation, don the armor of utter consecration to God's cause, gird themselves with girdle of a chase and holy light unsheath the sword of Baháʼu'lláh's utterance, buckle on the shield of His love, carry a solid provision implicit trust in his promise, flee their homelands and scattered far and wide to capture the unsurrendered territories of the entire planet. Beloved friends. The field is so immense, the period so critical, the cause so great, the time so short, the privilege so priceless that no follower of the Faith of Baháʼu'lláh worthy to bear His name can afford a moment's hesitation. Friends, It is our sacred duty, our glorious challenge to really be the treasures of the earth promised to Baháʼu'lláh.
