Transcript:Ruhiyyih Khanum/On Pioneering: Challenge to Bahá’í Youth, 1970
| Transcript of: On Pioneering, Challenge to Bahá’í Youth, 20 June 1970 by |
| Ruhiyyih Khanum speaking at the National Bahá’í Youth Conference in Evanston, Illinois, on Pioneering: Challenge to Bahá’í Youth, 20 June 1970 (from a cassette tape published by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust).Download: mp3, Source: © Gregory C. Dahl |
[0:00] I want to tell you why Violette and I put these costumes on. These are worn very commonly in Africa. All of East Africa, a great many of the women wear dresses exactly like this. And in the Congo and some parts of West Africa, Central African Republic, Chad and so on, you will see costumes similar to this. It is a typical African costume of nowadays, and I think it is very beautiful and very dignified. And I thought that it might be an inducement for some of the young people to go pioneering to Africa. It shows the girls what they can do if they go there. [Applause]
[0:49] You know, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote these wonderful words. He said:
- O that I could travel, even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and, raising the call of “Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá” in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the divine teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! Please God, ye may achieve it.
[1:23] And I assure you friends it is these words of the Master that keep me going. Because it is not always easy, these trips. And I am not as young as I once was. And I get very, very tired. I also get very, very discouraged. And then I say, I am not doing it for what is in front of me. I am doing it for the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. And if the Master could voice His desire that He wanted to go and raise the call of Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá, look what a modest request He had, He didn't say, I want to go and conquer nations and enroll millions and become famous and become the new chairman of the National Assembly and this that and the other thing. [Laughter] He said, I want to go to these regions and, raising the call of "Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá" even on foot, in deserts and oceans and mountains and villages and cities, promote the divine teachings. I cannot do it. I hope that you will be able to do it. And I think that this is the very essence of pioneering that we should want to go in the place of the Master. That we should listen to His words that He spoke when He was an old man broken from years of imprisonment and privation, an endless sea of sorrow because He very seldom had anything in life to sustain Him but sorrow, and that we should arise and follow in His footsteps. And we have such a perfectly marvelous pattern before us. We have the words of the Guardian. We have His inspiration. We have His... the divine plan of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the detailed plans of the Guardian, now the Nine Year Plan of the House of Justice. When this is finished, we will have other plans. It isn't as if there was no way that we could do these things. It was all vague when I was a girl. It was just a pious admonition and really nobody knew how to apply it to themselves. But today it's all possible. Its been made easy for you.
[3:29] You know, it has come to my attention since I began these travels after the passing of Shoghi Effendi, you see you must remember I'm a city child. Perhaps some of you are country children, but I'm not. I was born in a city and raised in a city and lived in cities in Germany and married and lived in Haifa, which is one of the biggest cities, and I'm still living there. So that I don't know anything but cities. And I never knew anything but this civilization that surrounds us. And I never had any contact with anybody. Neither the Negroes in the South, I had many Negro friends in New York and Montreal, but I never went to the South and never went to the Canadian Indians, I didn't know anything about these things. And when I began to go out on these trips after Shoghi Effendi's passing, I had the most extraordinary experience because I suddenly discovered that my world was the little one, not the big one. And it's well worth thinking about. It's as if I've come to visualize it to myself. There are two wheels in motion. You know if you open a watch you often see that there is one big wheel, and that big wheel is turning around very, very slowly. And then there's a little tiny thing that's going "mhm-mhm-mhm-mhm-mhm" as fast is it can. Well our civilization, the kind of people most of us in this room and in Europe and other places, not the rural people, not the Indians out on their reservation, not the poor black population in the deep South, but this whatever we are, this type of thing, we are that little wheel. We're the people that know how they got to the moon and came back. And we're the people that know all these modern details. We're the people that see the television. We're the people that read the newspapers. We're the people in that immensely fast, sophisticated, technological, ultra-irradiated with science world.
[5:35] And outside of it is two and a half billion people, probably. In other words, over to 2/3 of the world's population that are that big wheel. And they're going around an entirely different orbit very, very slowly. Different values, different mentality. They don't know that anybody got to the moon. A few of them may have heard. And they would not have the scientific knowledge to explain how anybody got to the moon. They'd take your word for it, probably. But they don't know. It's really marvelous. The Bolivian Indians way up in the Andes, they don't know that we clever people can destroy the planet on which they live without even consulting them, and they'll never know what hit them. I think we have to recognize the fact, and as Baháʼís we have to get it firmly fixed in our heads that this religion of Bahá’u’lláh is not going to be an American religion. It's not going to be a Persian religion. It's not going to be a religion that wells out of the corrupt springs of our decaying civilization necessarily. This religion is going to be something that all men are going to bring their contribution to, this world faith of Bahá’u’lláh, this world order of Bahá’u’lláh. It's going to be built by everybody.
[7:00] And perhaps when the day comes that the American Indian, the African villager, the Asiatic villager has come forward in the service of the Faith and his voice is more often heard in our councils, then perhaps we will begin to get a glimmering of what the outline of the future world order is. But it is not what we have, neither what our civilization has nor what we have as American Baháʼís nor what the Persian Baháʼís have as Persian Baháʼís. It doesn't exist. It has just put its head above the ground. In our administrative order is the germ of the world order. And even our administrative order is only very slowly developing. It's becoming understood, according to Baháʼí administration as talked to us by Shoghi Effendi, it is becoming increasingly understood by people who are used to thinking in terms of administrating. But it doesn't mean that that's the whole of the Baháʼí Faith or the only way that it can be understood. There are going to be contributions made to the Baháʼí administration and to the world order by all the people of the world who enter into the Baháʼí Faith.
[8:28] And I think that as pioneers we must understand this. Too often we go and we think that what we have at home and what we were taught at home is the answer. And it is not the answer at all. Now Shoghi Effendi, in his great... [audio drops off] of the local people. What did we go there for? We didn't go there to force them into a mold like a sausage machine. We went there to encourage them as Baháʼís, to help them to teach the Faith, and to be constructive and unify the community.
[9:03] If anyone should ask me what is the most important characteristic for a Baháʼí pioneer, any age, any color, any sex, anywhere, I would say to be a peacemaker. And I wish you would really all remember. This is a supremely important thing when you go out to teach the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, is to carry the essence of it in your own nature and in your dealings with other people, and that is to produce unity and harmony. And I hate to say that all too often, pioneers not necessarily American pioneers, but pioneers go out and they produced inharmony, and the community either never progresses or it regresses. You know friends, the whole emphasis of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is on peace and unity, to produce peace in the world and above all to produce unity. But I don't think that we as Baháʼís analyze what this means, and I don't think we take it seriously at all. He has warned us against the dangers of backbiting. Says that you can kill a person with your tongue and the result will last for centuries, it's worse than murder in a way because if a man is murdered well at least he died in the condition he was in. But if you murder somebody with your gossip or your backbiting you can defame his reputation for centuries after he's dead.
[10:38] Now all of these teachings of Bahá’u’lláh are focused on unity and I think that one reason that our society is so sick is this incessant inharmony. It is a disease all too often in our Baháʼí communities. Most important thing in the world for your health is unity. I have come to realize that part of the sickness, mental and physical in the world is this incessant inharmony. Inharmony when Bahá’u’lláh, the Manifestation of God tells us that we must unite and love each other. We must have harmony. He's not just talking. He is telling us a law. And when we break that law in the world we come to the brink of another atomic war. And when we break it inside of our nation we're living in chaos. But we never seem to think that when we break it in our personal lives we're making ourselves and our society sick. Now when people go out to teach the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, be a peacemaker. Carry love for the people that you are going to work with. Carry love for your fellow pioneers. Carry love for the new Baháʼís and the old Baháʼís. And have that relationship towards other people, which is enjoined upon us by Shoghi Effendi. He says the Master is our example.
[12:02] We are not supposed to go around dealing with justice to each other, we're supposed to be fair to each other. But it is not our job to deal out justice. Justice is the function of bodies, not of individuals. The place for justice is with the House of Justice. The place for trying to iron out the problems in national communities is the National Assembly. When you have a spiritual assembly, if you have to have things brought to a head because there's some decision that has to be made, that should, of course, be treated in the light of justice, but also in the light of great love. And I wonder if it ever occurs to the friends that your House of Justice is dealing with you with love, and not justice. They're not unjust to you. But you're not getting justice, you couldn't stand it. [Laughter and applause].
[12:52] Justice is the whole basis of the future order of God. And it is being introduced and it is growing. But we make a great mistake when we think that justice is what we should meet out to each other. We should meet out love and forgiveness, and more love and more forgiveness, more patience and more understanding. And wherever you see pioneers that are united, you have a heavenly atmosphere in the whole city. And wherever you see a community where the pioneers are fighting, and I'm sorry to say they exist, the whole community is poison, nothing is really progressing at all. The African Baháʼís when they find that there is a community with inharmony, real inharmony in the community, they just drop away, they can't take it. The Indians can't take it when they find that there's inharmony in a local community as I say, alas, often produced by the pioneers themselves because they're fighters. And they see this, they just wither because these people are too polite, too courteous, too used to trying to solve their problems in an amicable way, and they just can't stand it. So that to me, one of the primary objectives that every single pioneer, young or old is go out and be a peacemaker. Carry such a load of love and goodwill and tenderness and understanding that you will attract all the hearts, and maybe you'll succeed in healing breaches that may exist in communities that you go into.
[14:31] Obviously, we're not going out to carry the the controversies of our civilization into new areas. You know I was in Guyana at the time when Stokely Carmichael was there. And I was so glad that when he was singing hymns of hate, the Baháʼís would come on the programs on the air and in my public talk in the town hall, and the convention and other Baháʼís giving lectures and appearing on programs on the air, just breathing the opposite atmosphere. And I used to call the attention to the people in that part of the country and that part of the world to this fact: that what we need is not hymns of hate and separation. What we need is hymns of love and cooperation. We're not going to get anywhere by the other process. You see if you figure out, I'm not talking particularly now about black powers identified with this leader or that leader or the other background in the United States, please forget that I'm just taking one word "black power". If you consider that a word like black power is a good word, well then remember that the logical conclusion is that white power would be a good word too. No reason why one should have it, if there could be black power then there can be white power. Then there can be yellow power. Then there can be a three-cornered world. How would we like that as human beings? Not as Baháʼís, obviously. We don't want any of it. [Applause]
[16:09] So that it seems to me that the Baháʼís must understand that the kind of power that we're interested in is the power of oneness and the power of unity. The power of love, the power of consultation, the power of harmony, the power of understanding, and of course abolition of all prejudices and so on. And I think that as we go out to teach the Baháʼí Faith, especially the youth because they will come in contact with other youth. Youth attracts youth. And when you go out as pioneers, you're going to a great deal of the time attract automatically, by the association of people that have an affinity for each other, people of your own age group. And this is a divisive society as you know. Everything is splintered into smaller and smaller pieces, and I strongly advise you to just close it all and say, look, I'm not interested in splintered groups. I'm only interested in oneness. I'm only interested in solving the problems of the world in a way that is the only way left. And that is through equality and love and cooperation. If they say, "Well, where do you get that?", say "You get it in the Baháʼí Faith." When I spoke very much in this vein in the West Indies, in public meetings and on the radio, do you know the people wouldn't go home? The meeting would come to an end. The reception would come to an end. They just sat on and on and on and on. They are so hungry for these standards. They are so lost. They need so desperately what we Baháʼís have to give them.
[17:51] And I think that instead of throwing the whole works at people nowadays and saying oh the Baháʼí Faith, it has 13 principles. It has this. It began in 1844 and so on, giving them as I say the whole works that if you would teach them, all right give them something about the Baháʼí Faith. But see what that society that you are talking to needs and give them that answer. And these are things that I am learning friends. If I had been brighter I might have known it 40 years ago. It took me 40 years to figure it all out. I'm beginning to understand myself a little. And I found that when I said to the audience, now look, you people in the West Indies have a multiracial society, so are we in America for that matter. But I was in the West Indies. You have a great opportunity to make a workshop for world unity. You can give an example of how people can live in one country together of different races equally, harmoniously, building up their own country, building up their future together. And you can set such an example that other nations will take heart from your example. You know, the hunger of the audience to hear things like that was pitiful. In some places I had young people that were avowed black power people, black power movement supporters in those countries in the West Indies. And when I went and sat down with them and talk to them in this vein, they understood because they're intelligent. One of the reasons that they joined black power is because they are distressed over the condition of the world. And they are intelligent and they want it to change. But they have to understand what that kind of change leads to. And that you don't have to waste time on all of these byways and highways. Just get into the main thing and change it from the ground up by the right spirit and by the right concepts. And those of course are given to us by Bahá’u’lláh.
[19:58] Now, I tell people all right you don't have to become a Baháʼí, but take what is good that you can use out of these teachings because, believe me, you need it. Don't you need this kind of thing instead of what you've got? All right, take it home. And they love it and they take it home. And maybe that will be the thing that we'll grow in their heart and bring them back to the Baháʼí Faith. Without as I say throwing the whole works in their face. Maybe it's too much. They don't want the works. They'll want something they can take away and use right away.
[20:26] Another thing that I have been telling my audiences, and I pass it on to you because I think that is of very great importance, I've been telling them that we have a principle in the Baháʼí Faith not only of people being all accepted equally as human beings and irrespective of any background or color or creed or what not, but that we believe in the rights of the minority and to such an extent that we protect the rights of the minority. And then, you know, the principle in Baháʼí elections that if you have a tie and one of those people for that particular purpose of that particular assembly or national community, whatever the scope of the thing is, that the person who is the minority automatically has the benefit of the vote and you don't recast the vote. I think that one of the important things about pioneering is this: that we should go in the framework of understanding that a lot of what people have they have because there's no other way of having it. Like people who have no water. We criticize them because they're dirty but there isn't any water. If you had to walk two miles with a gallon of water on your head from the spring somewhere, you learn to value water and you, strangely enough, don't have running water in your hut or take a lot of unnecessary baths because that much water is precious, you see. You have to understand that people live in different ways from the way we live.
[22:00] I remember once going and sitting in the hut of a Kuna chief in San Blas Islands, and I was waiting for him to come and others to join him. And I got intrigued by this hut. And it was 30 meters long and 30 yards in other words, and 10 yards wide. And very beautifully built, very suitable for the climate. Cool and shady, airy, a lovely hut. So when he came I was full of the hut, and I talked him about the hut. I said, "You realize what a perfectly wonderful building you've got here. And it's so suitable for the climate and so comfortable." And I expatiated on his hut. And then we talked about other things in the Cause, and the Baháʼís and other matters. And then at the end of it he said, "You know, you are the only person that has ever praised anything that we had. Come back. I'd like to see you again." And so seldom we go to people with any enthusiasm about what they have. A mud hut is an ideal building. The only disadvantage is if you drive a nail in the wall, it's very difficult to hang something on it because the mud is soft, it crumbles. But that's really the only disadvantage I've ever found in a mud hut. They're cool. They're comfortable. They're inexpensive. They're very clean. Their lovely, lovely building. I slept in many of them. I hope someday to have one of my own. But we have all kinds of ideas about our way of eating. Well you must remember that strangely enough, those people standing in front of you, the picture of health with children that are just bursting with health, they actually got that way by about 30,000 years or 10,000 whatever it is of their own kind of food. Now I know that overpopulation is creating problems in the food systems of people that had a balanced diet, however strange it may seem to us. But the point is, don't go out full of your North American prejudices and preconceived ideas and thrust those on the other people. And also don't think that you can necessarily live the way they do because it may not agree with you. It isn't quite as simple as that. Don't go out and corrupt people with the American standards of money. I have seen in many places American tourists making the population beggars, I think it is scandalous. And they do it out of the goodness of their heart, they don't know what they're doing.
[24:26] What I'm trying to say is that all of our standards bear some relationship to the betterment of mankind. But they are not necessarily, from the standpoint of medicine or health or food or housing or monetary system or anything else, the ideal picture in relation to the countries in which we're going to teach. And it would be wise if people were briefed by pioneers who have been there and learned the hard way and had experience. And listen to the older pioneers. When you go out pioneering, listen to the older pioneers. I listened to them. One of the first things I do when I arrive in a place is to sit down and carefully talk over the whole local picture with the people who pioneered there. Been there one year, two years, ten years because they know better than I do, not less, more. They're beginning to be experts. I'm a novice. I don't know anything about it. I better learn.
[25:25] Another thing that I think... speaking of pioneers I'd just like to tell you one thing here that I think is so very beautiful. You know, in Dahomey and Togoland and probably parts of Nigeria, maybe to some extent contiguous parts of Ghana, there's a tremendous amount of juju, which is what in Haiti is voodoo, black magic in other words, African magic. It's very, very strong. Every house has some juju emblems in front of it. We went to one village and there was a petrol pump pumping water and in front of the shed where the pump was working was a little clay, what do you call it? Sort of an altar and on top of it was the juju that belonged to the pump. Now that juju was all pieces of metal, which I thought was highly reasonable. Metal pump, metal juju. [Laughter]. Anyway, the point is that it is so predominant, so powerful this ancient concepts of the African medicine, part of it witchcraft, part of it a way of life, part of it medicine, part of it tribal custom, part of it superstition, a great deal of it undoubtedly superstition, but part of it truth, you see, that's the trouble. That these people, many, many tribes have resisted Christianity for over 100 years. They have not become Christianized because they would not or could not give up the juju, the religion that they were brought up in. And they believe in it. And a great deal of it, unfortunately, is based on fear. But whatever it is, we have in that area two very lovely Haitian Baháʼí pioneers from Haiti. And lovely people, and they've taught hundreds of Baháʼís. So I said, "Well, what do you do about this juju business?" And this woman pioneer with a radiant smile, she said, "Oh, I tell them, 'Now you are Baháʼís. You must remember that from now on it's only going to be good juju. No more bad juju.'" That's wisdom. [Applause]
[27:42] You see how wise that was? And they had lovely Baháʼís there. And you find Baháʼís in all degrees of progress, just like all of you out here. You find Baháʼís that have been Baháʼís, became Baháʼí yesterday or today. And then you find Baháʼís that have been Baháʼís for 3 or 4 years or 5 years, 10 years even, they're the old believers of that area. They're all in a different state of progress but they are wonderful Baháʼís. And I'd like to just cite a question that one of those villagers asked me. I had never heard this question put and I never had it put to me in my entire Baháʼí life. He looked at me. He said, "How does one know one is a Baháʼí?" Well, I thought and I said, "The answer is no one knows. You don't know whether you're Baháʼí or not. Only Bahá’u’lláh knows if you are a Baháʼí." You hope that you are a Baháʼí and you think that I'm a Baháʼí. And I probably think that you are a Baháʼí. But the only person that really knows whether one is a Baháʼí or not is Bahá’u’lláh. But in the light of that concept, we have to do our best to be acceptable to Him. But it's not one person to judge if another's a Baháʼí. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't have to have people enrolled as Baháʼís, obviously. They have to. They enter an organic thing when they register as Baháʼís, become a part of a living whole. But who knows if you are really a Baháʼí or not? Only Bahá’u’lláh. Only God. And you see these are the kinds of thoughts that go on in the minds of these ignorant villagers. This is the depth of their thinking. I had discussions with young people in Niger, in Dahomey. I have never in my entire Baháʼí life heard of discussions like that or participated in them. I was so uplifted at the end of each one of these meetings, from the thrilling nature of the discussion with these young people, most of them young people. It was absolutely thrilling, the depth of their minds, the soundness of their minds. It's really a very marvelous thing to go out and teach the Cause because you have such wonderful rewards in meeting other people.
[30:08] There are some other things I'd just like to say briefly about pioneering. One of them is this. You know, it's somewhere in the teachings, I have not been able to trace it down but I remember once Shoghi Effendi translating the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, just a short sentence about pioneering, serving. And he said, "To whom every foreign land is a home land." And every homeland I think he ended up by saying it was a foreign land. I have not, as I said been able to find out just where this quotation is. But I remember distinctly the Master saying to whom every foreign land is a home land. Now I know that people go out with different motives for pioneering and in a different framework, each from the other. But it would be a very good thing if some people would go out, young or old, and pioneer in the true sense of the oneness of mankind by saying that I am going to that country not for a tour of duty, not for a nice holiday to bring in a few people and come home with the scalps hanging at my belt. [Laughter]. I'm going out and I'm going to live there and if possible die there. And if I have children I'm going to put them into the school system of that country. I met two young pioneers, a couple who had just come from here somewhere, I think Seattle area. Perfectly lovely young couple, both about 24 or 25. And really I could've wept that she'd been there with her husband about a week or so. And she just fell in love with the Indians and fell in love with Ecuador. And she said, "Do you think I could change my citizenship? Do you think we can become Ecuadorian so that they can never put us out of this country?" Well, I said, "Inquire and see whether that is possible. Maybe you could become naturalized." You see this to me is the upper reaches of pioneering. She couldn't wait to learn Quichua. I heard one of our best Indian teachers get up in the Panama conference, and he looked at that audience of about 500 Baháʼís. And he said, with that wonderful politeness that characterizes almost everything but the white race, he said, "You know, our languages must be very difficult because so far, no pioneer has ever learned to speak one of our languages." Well, of course the answer is they never really seriously tried. If they were working on a language as hard is they're working on their PhD or their bachelor of economics or whatever it is, believe me, they'd learn the language. [Applause]
[32:57] Orient yourselves to pioneering now before it is too late. I have met so many fine Baháʼís who are longing to serve the Cause of God and who would be perfectly willing to go to the difficult places in the world and serve. And they have been entirely disqualified from doing so because of their education. I remember a young man that came to Haifa, and after meeting with the members of the House of Justice and being there, his nine days, he came to me with a radiant face. He said, "You know, Rúhíyyih Khánum, I just want you to know before I leave, I'm leaving early tomorrow. I'm going to pioneer." Well I said, "That's marvelous." He said, "And I want to go to Africa." I think it was. I said, "What are you studying?" He said, "When my studies are finished." I said, "What are you studying?" He said, "Electronical engineering." I said, "Goodbye. Forget Africa." He said, "What do you mean?" I said, "Because there are not any electronics in Africa." If you want to go to a developing country, if you want to go to the places where the people can be brought in by the hundreds and the thousands and there's no limit except just Baháʼís to go and teach them and bring them into the Cause, you have got to have some kind of a profession eventually you can practice in that country. And it's not electronics. And it's not feeding a computer. If you want to pioneer, prepare now.
[34:21] Now lots of people have asked me and I've put those questions aside. They say, "What should we do? Should we give up our education? Should we stop now and go out and pioneer? Shall we give up our higher education?" The answer is, "I don't feel that I have a right to tell you individually what you should do. I know certain things. I know that eventually you'll probably have to earn your living. That's one thing. I know that you should decide, obviously, if you're going to get at least one degree, or first degree, that you should decide if you're serious about pioneering what that should be in that will lead you to get a, some kind of job possibility when you do go to these other countries. And I know that if you wait too long, the probability is you will never go. Because, alas and alas, so many Baháʼís are just going to get one more degree and one more this and one more that. And they take different turnings on the road. And then when they look back, they see that well back there I was going pioneering, and the road leads that way. But now I'm over here and I haven't got the time or opportunity in life to go back to that crossroads.
[35:46] You have to think very carefully about where life is going to lead you, what you want to do. You don't want to be foolish and flighty. On the other hand, if you wait too long you may find you never do get out and pioneer. I know something else and I know the members of the National Assembly sitting in this room are well aware of it. And that is that in mass conversion, the only kind of pioneering that is possible is full time. If a person has not got some kind of financial backing, I mean their parents or money of their own which very few young people have, then they will have to go out on the fund. And in order to bring people into the Cause of God, it is a full time occupation in any of the difficult areas. In the cities of course you're just like here. You have your weekend free, only in Latin America you don't have such a long weekend. But you have some free time, and you give it to the Cause of God if you have the strength after long working hours that in countries that isn't the type of paradise that this is. If you have any strength left, why you can devote it to the Cause. But for bringing in the masses, you have to be entirely free. And I think there are two kinds of pioneers in these mass teaching areas that are necessary. One is young people who are unattached and who can take it because it is often very hard. I mean, not everybody can go into a mud hut and sleep at night and eat a little bit of boiled banana that your host will be able to give you and live on it and manage. But some people can, and you're probably better fitted to do that when you're young and preferably boys. Girls must realize that in a great many parts of the world you cannot go out alone. And you cannot, under any circumstances, go out with another man. A man that you're not married to. This is scandal. People are very moral. They are very proper. And you must not... you don't go to shock them and alienate them and make them think that the Baháʼís are loose-living indecent people. You go out to teach them that the standards of Bahá’u’lláh are higher than what they've got. And you have to accept the fact that in vast, vast places in this world where mass teaching is possible, a girl cannot go alone. And she must, under no circumstances go with the young man unless she's married to. The girls can get jobs in towns. They can go out on weekends. They can teach in summer schools, sometimes under some circumstances at the instruction of a wise National Assembly locally they will be sent somewhere, perhaps as school teachers in a Baháʼí school or something like that. But don't think that you girls are going to have the freedom in the pioneering area that the young men have. Now, you can go home and take a message to your parents.
[38:46] The next best pioneers to the very young ones who can stand the roughing are elderly people. And I have seen this over and over again. People that are, well between 50 and 70, can make wonderful pioneers because they have finished with all the fervor of life. Their children are grown up. They have survived that long. Their health has relatively stabilized. [Laughter] And often they have wisdom and love and patience, and all of those things help them to pioneer. Now to get back to the story. I wanted to tell you a story about well, something as I say that came to me in a letter the other day. They had in the Guajira Peninsula which is half Venezuela and half Colombian, has 80,000 Guajira Indians in it. They have tremendous progress being made in teaching work. They have many, many Baháʼís. And now we have Guajira members on the National Assembly. We have Guajira teachers that are outstanding. And the sky's the limit. All they need is some funds and some help. But preferably, of course, the Guajira speaking people could do much more than anybody else. But still Spanish-speaking people could help too. Point is that they've had an immense development there in the last year or so. Now, like so many of these areas, as we have to elect a spiritual assembly on April 21st within a 24-hour period according to the teachings, and can't get away from it, it makes it very, very difficult to get ever enough people to get to these villages to supervise the election, especially if the people are illiterate. Well, a little girl, nine years old, formed four spiritual assemblies there. [Applause] So you see that's what the Baháʼí youth can do. And Baháʼí youth that are even too young to be in this meeting. And it is really marvelous, the sky's the limit for what they can do.
[41:00] I wonder whether there are any questions? [Reading:] Some of us here in non-Baháʼí families who are very critical of the Faith, what should be the attitude we have towards family unity? Sometimes the attitude of the family can cause one to want to give up. How can we compensate for non-Baháʼí families who do not understand our aims as Baháʼís?
[41:23] Well I wrote innumerable letters on behalf of Shoghi Effendi in which he encouraged Baháʼís in non-Baháʼí families who had non-Baháʼí wife or husband or in the family itself that was non-Baháʼí, to be extremely loving. To try through their changed character and above all, through the extreme love that they showed those non-Baháʼí members of their family to make them, if not become Baháʼís themselves at least to admire the change which had taken place in the member of the family that had become a Baháʼí. And I think that this is something that we should all bear in mind. The purpose of our becoming Baháʼís is not to fight with other people and exacerbate things. It's to create peace and unity. Now they can't ask us to give up the Cause. That is more than we can be expected to do. We cannot give up what we know is the truth for this day because our family is prejudiced or bigoted or has some particular reason for not wanting us to have that in our lives. But we should be very, very patient, very loving. Pray for them. If necessary, ask other people to pray for them as well. Join us in prayer for our families.
[42:46] Says, "Many of us have young children or will be having them soon. How are parents to discipline their children? Also, how is respect for parents created?" Don't you think we all give respect to people who command respect because of their own conduct? It's very hard, you know, not to get some degree of respect if you are worthy of it. And I think that if parents have spiritual stability in their own lives and some sense of discipline in relationship to their children, they will get the attention and the respect of the child. But how to discipline children? My understanding is that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá always encouraged them to discipline the child through reward and punishment. You encourage the child to know that if it does what it should do, well there will be something in store for them. Not necessarily something you buy, something you will do for the child. You'll have a... You'll help mother make the cake. Or I'll read you a special bedtime story. Or you can come out for a drive in the car. Or all right, you want to go to that place on Sunday for a picnic? We'll just go there Sunday for that picnic. And if you don't listen to me and you don't obey me and you do what is wrong, and try within bounds to explain to the child what is wrong, then you will not do any of those things. You will not have that little reward, and you should stick to it. But one of the things that is most important of all is that the father and the mother should agree. There should be complete harmony between the parents. Let them go and discuss it and decide what the decision is going to be. Don't discuss it either with the child or in front of the child. That's not fair to the child.
[44:39] [Reading]. "It has been said that early marriages are preferable. Is this so? If so, are there age limits set by Bahá’u’lláh?" Well, I don't know anywhere in the teachings that it says early marriage is preferable, and the limit on age set by Bahá’u’lláh is 15. But of course that is not a legal age in a great many places. One must go by the legal age of the state or the country that they live in. And I think they have to be guided by whether they want to marry. They're serious about it. They think it will be the right step for them to take and whether they have their parents consent. "Is it obligatory to marry?" The answer is no. It is not obligatory to marry. Bahá’u’lláh has given an admonition. Marry that you may raise up people to praise God after you. I can't remember the exact words, but that is the gist of it. He doesn't say that you have to marry. It is not a law that you must marry. You are free to marry or not marry. The thing that you are not free to do is to have an immoral life if you wish to be a good Baháʼí. "What do you say about marrying a non-Baháʼí?" ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that it was often a very good thing to marry non-Baháʼís. But to me, in the present state of our expansion of this Faith and the condition of humanity, young people should think very seriously before they marry a non-Baháʼí because a very, very devoted consecrated, active Baháʼí, if they marry a non-Baháʼí who cannot share that feeling of enthusiasm and devotion with them, may find that it gives them an unhappy marriage rather than a happy marriage. And I think that it is wonderful to marry non-Baháʼís and certainly we are all free to do it. But my personal advice is if you are very active in the Faith, your whole heart is devoted to the service of the Faith, then think twice about who you marry so that you will not impair your own service through a step that is a very serious one. After all, marriage is not something you enter lightly upon.
[47:05] "How do Baháʼís feel towards homosexuality?" I can only give you the answer of Bahá’u’lláh. It is absolutely forbidden in the Baháʼí Faith, and He says... He characterizes it as that which the pen is ashamed to mention. Now, that is no reason why we should be harsh towards other people. We must be very patient with other people. If someone, this is my own feeling on the subject, if someone is so afflicted or inclined, he must be patient with himself. But he must realize that this is not according to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. And through prayer, through effort, if necessary through consultation with wise doctors and psychiatrists, he should try and overcome this because it is not acceptable in the sight of God. We are trying to bring in a new world order, a new civilization, the Kingdom of God on earth, and it's not going to be done by words. It has to be done by deeds. On the other hand, we have to be wise and patient and tolerant, but this is something that is to be not encouraged, to be frowned upon, condemned to be overcome.
[48:25] It says, "Is a Baháʼí obliged to limit their family to two children or not?" Well, I never heard anything in the teachings about how many children you should have, whether you should have to have them, or you shouldn't have to have them, or how many they should be. After all, there are general directives for the whole of mankind but there are no specific instructions about how one person has to live their particular life. We still have quite a lot of freedom individually as Baháʼís.
[48:54] It says, "Could you please explain what the Guardian, the Master and Bahá’u’lláh had to say about chastity as far as the youth go?" Well I don't see that the chastity applies only to youth. It's harder probably in some ways to behave yourself when you're young because you're so full of oats, you're so full of life. It's the period in life when everything is developing and that's part of the development is this tremendous urge towards love and towards sex. It's the most basic thing in the whole of nature. Nothing the matter with it. It's just to try and get it in certain limitations. In other words, everything is good in its proper place. And promiscuity, according to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, is not the place for sex. And we have to accept that fact and try and get it within the proper bounds. You see the sad thing about our days, the period of the world in which we live is that the entire emphasis in the world is on living, I don't want to sound vulgar but it's true, below the belt. Most of man's activities and his interest center below the waistline, his intestinal tract and his sexual life. And his intellect and his heart are above the belt. There has to be some balance between the two. And unfortunately, all of the emphasis in our civilization is constantly carrying people back to their creature comforts, to their sexual satisfaction, and so on. And beating the drum for louder than it needs to be beaten. It's a wonderful part of life. There is no prudery in the Baháʼí teachings. We haven't got in the Baháʼí teachings this idea of original sin, born in sin, conceived in sin, everything to do with sex is sinful. It doesn't exist for the Baháʼís at all. Otherwise, what kind of God would it be that made a system that everything in the whole universe is based on this duality? And then the whole thing is wrong? That doesn't make much sense either. There's nothing the matter with it, but it should be expressed in the proper channels in the right time, the right way. It should be an uplifting thing in life and something that makes life more beautiful in every way, and not a debased or a degraded thing.
[51:29] "Can you talk about nudity and what is expected of the Baháʼís, especially as regards the nude movies and plays?" Well, I think that we have to recognize the fact that what is wrong for some people is right for other people. We were recently in the Republic of Niger and they had a tremendous celebration of the 10th anniversary of the formation of the state. It was a marvelous experience. All the tribes people came in to dance and rejoice on the occasion. For a number of days there were tribes people who were practically stark naked. The women were naked. They had nothing but a little bunch of feathers or something around the middle. They were not immodest, and nobody conceived of it as in any way an immodest or indecent exposition because this is their immemorial custom. They are only doing what is the proper thing in their society. But frankly, if we go out there on the street and decide that a block of this youth is going to dance in that state, it is highly immoral. It is not our society. It's not our background. We're not going to think the things that they think when they do it and they see it. And it is absolutely wrong. We must remember that there are certain frameworks into which things fit.
[52:57] I remember dear Dr. Muhájir, he came to Haifa after the passing of the Guardian and I said, "Muhájir, what are the people like in Mentawai that you have been teaching?" And he said, "It's very hot tropical jungle and the people are stark naked. They have a tattoo on but nothing else." I said, "What do you tell them about being naked?" He said, "Nothing. Why should I?" He said, "I've gone there to tell them about Bahá’u’lláh." [Applause] But if Muhájir had, as a Persian Baháʼí or if it had been one of us perhaps from the Western Hemisphere, if we had started walking around naked in the jungles it would not have been proper for us. It is not our background. It is not our civilization. We have no excuse for doing it. Whatever we did in that connection would not be proper, in my estimation. But it's perfectly proper for them. Now, to get back to the subject. It is not proper knowing all the things we do with our background, which is Christian after all, the Christian faith came from the Almighty God too, being now Baháʼís to condone or have anything to do with these extraordinarily lewd films that are being put on nowadays. You know, I was once invited in Spain to go to a bullfight. And I said, "No, I won't go." Because if I pay for the ticket to go to the bullfight, I'm supporting an institution that I don't believe in. I don't believe in bullfighting. I think it's cruel. And I do not believe in the lewdness of our present day society. I think it is taking us down in the fastest tailspin anybody ever saw. Consequently, if I go to those movies entirely aside from whether I'm going to enjoy it or not or approve of it or not, I am supporting them. And I think the Baháʼís should think very, very seriously about this. There's no use saying, "I'm a Baháʼí and I have a religion with wonderful standards" and then your friends see you queuing up for the dirtiest film in town.
[55:05] "If denied consent to marry by parents for a purely prejudiced reason, is there any recourse?" Well, you see there isn't because laws, if there's a lawyer in the audience, are made for the greatest good of the greatest number. No law is ever going to be 100% just. But it's not for the people for whom the law was made to judge the law and break it. You have to follow it. No use arguing with it. The law of Bahá’u’lláh is that you must have the consent of parents because marriage is supposed to produce concord and unity in the world. And he couldn't make about 100 exceptions. That's one reason that you have no law in the United States. It's because they always find a beautiful loophole. Now this law of Bahá’u’lláh applies to everybody, whether your parents are Baháʼís or non-Baháʼís, prejudiced or not prejudiced, you have to have their consent. Or if you marry without it, you will lose your voting rights because it is the law of God and it is for the entire human race. And I think when we consider the laws of Bahá’u’lláh we must remember they weren't made for the United States strangely enough. They were made for the whole planet. And there are millions of people all over the planet, in tribal societies, in the east, the far East, the near East, in many of the Indian villages, I don't know about this part of America but in the other part of the Americas, that they would never dream of marrying without the blessing and consent of their parents. This law of Bahá’u’lláh is more in accord with the predominating number of the human race than not.
[56:53] "It says in the Baháʼí writings there should be no companionship in marriage." Well, I don't know. I think you mean that is there a companionate marriage in the Baháʼí teachings? And of course there isn't. That means you sample a marital relationship and live with somebody as if you were married to them to see if you think you'd like it if you were married to them. And then maybe you do, and maybe you don't. And that is not according to the Baháʼí teachings. And marriage in the Baháʼí teachings is a perfectly normal relationship, just like anybody else's relationship when they're married.
[57:29] "Do we have to have the permission of our parents in writing or can we just say we have it?" Well, my dear friends, don't be naive. Of course you have to have it in black and white. And if it's somebody who can't read and write, then you have to be very sure that they have witnesses that the parents have given consent. Because I can say almost anything. In my stress I may even think that Mama said I could marry and Mama may say she didn't say it after all. You have to be quite sure that it's there.
[58:05] "Is premarital sex forbidden?" Well yes, it is. But the thing is that one has to struggle against these things. You're not going to be angels in the society that you come out of, we all come out of, overnight. And don't be discouraged if you fall flat on your face. Get up and try again.
[58:28] "How is non-involvement in little pockets of social action to be understood, in other words in view of our specific duty to help alleviate human suffering?" Now I can only give you an example that I have given many, many times. One of the Baháʼí women got up at one of our conventions here in Chicago, and she told the story of a dream she had. And I think that this dream answers so perfectly this question that I'm going to give you this mental image too. She said that she dreamt that the whole world was sinking in a flood of mud. It looked like the last days. And the seas had turned into just a flood of mud, and they were rising all the time and engulfing solid land. And people of course were being drowned by the thousands. And there was a terrible, terrible chaos. People were crying for help, and people on the shore would throw them ropes or give them their hands to try and save them. Sometimes they pulled them out. Sometimes they were themselves were pulled in and drowned. They could do no good. And the situation was getting worse by the minute. And this Baháʼí rushed around frantically trying to find ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. She couldn't find Him anywhere. Finally, she went up on a little hill, and she saw that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was leaning at work over something as if He were working on a table and she called Him, He paid no attention. She went closer and said, "Master, Master! ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!" He paid no attention. So finally she went up to Him and she got ahold of the edge of His robe and she pulled it a little bit. And she said, "‘Abdu’l-Bahá"! And he said, "What is it?" She said that people are dying, everything is being lost. This flood is rising and it is engulfing the whole of the world. Come and save the people. He looked at her and He said, "‘Abdu’l-Bahá is working on an instrument that will make the flood go down." It's a very marvelous thought. This is what we do as Baháʼís in serving the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh, in helping to build up the administrative order, in helping to bring humanity under the shadow of this Cause. In name, in fact, into the Cause of God. We are helping that instrument to be completed which will remove the flood.
[1:01:07] Now when you go out into these little pockets of society, whether it's a demonstration of this kind or it's social work or it's charitable work or it's some kind of a do-good thing and you want to demonstrate and you want to voice your public opinion along with all the other people that are in that particular group, complaining or expressing peacefully if you like their public opinion, all you are doing fundamentally is to stand on the edge of that sea that is rising, and you're throwing in ropes and you're holding out your hands. Maybe you'll be pulled in. Maybe you'll pull someone else. It won't solve anything because the solution has to be fundamental. You have to remedy the whole thing. As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, you have to make the flood go down. And this is what Shoghi Effendi used to explain to us. By being Baháʼís, by concentrating our forces on the work of the Cause that no one else can do, no non-Baháʼí can do what we're doing. Whereas all the non-Baháʼís can go into those little pockets and do what they want to. No one is stopping them. And many of the causes, they are good causes, let them do it. They haven't got to do what we have. We have the answer. They're still searching. We have the solution, but we're very few with our eyes open in the world. Who is going to solve the problems of this world except us? If we carry this message to the people of the world and bring them in under the shadow of Bahá’u’lláh's message into His world order. No one else could do it. So that for the Baháʼís to rush around wasting time on these other things is futile.
[1:02:58] I remember my mother saying that when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in Paris there were two very, very outstanding social workers that were attracted to Him and they were always coming to His meetings. And they wanted Him to say, of course, that this was a solution. And He said that what they were doing was very good, very praiseworthy but it was not the solution. That it was a never-ending pit, so to speak, to which they would never fill up because it's not solving the problem. Now, that doesn't mean you can't take up social work as a profession, but it means let us Baháʼís concentrate on our work. We've got plenty of it. You as a Baháʼí have enough to do to try and change your own character, improve yourself, be an example, teach the cause of God. That will keep you more busy than demonstrations, and demonstrations frankly are much easier. After all, anybody can get out and demonstrate. [Applause]
[1:03:59] This is another question that I think shows real thoughtfulness. "How much can one interfere or help another to obey Bahá’u’lláh's teachings as an individual? I have a dear friend who has trouble on sex morals. This is one example, and I don't know what to say or do outside of consulting the local assemblies. It's very distressing." Well, I think that if we are very close to another person, if there is any way that we can help them to progress and to overcome some serious problem in their own life, it is a very wonderful thing if we can do it. But we must remember that we're not always going to be able to overcome other people's problems for them. That's one of the great mysteries of life that even our parents, who have such a love for their children, that many of them would gladly die for the sake of the child. Still, they can't live that child's life. Life is an individual experience. We should try and help others all we can. We shouldn't force our help on others. But of course that's not right. But we should always be willing to help others all we can. But we may not succeed because they have to help themselves too, to some extent.
[1:05:20] "It is being said that the Californian Indians and the black Baháʼís have special powers. This is somewhat disturbing because it does not seem to unify us but create separateness." Well, I don't know if they've got separate powers, more power to them. They're lucky. But I doubt it. "Are whites discouraged to go down south and teach blacks?" No. But you have to do it through the proper agencies because otherwise, through unwisdom you could queer the whole pitch. For the first time, we are getting mass conversion in the United States and we are getting it in the south. And people who have experience and some wisdom and insight into the problems have been appointed as the committees and as those responsible for carrying out the work. And it's imperative that there should be proper consultation because otherwise, an unwise act, and we all know how very unwise each one of us is on some occasions, could set back the work that means so much to all of our hearts.
[1:06:34] "What is the greatest test a Baháʼí has as a youth?" Well, when I was a youth almost everything was a test to me. [Laughter]. But tests are something you're always going to have because they're needed. Don't think you're going to grow out of them.
[1:06:55] It says, "For the sake of new Baháʼís, to what extent should Baháʼís participate in activities of other religions?" Well, I think that what we are trying to do is to get people who come, for instance, of a very Orthodox church background and whose families may still be very firmly rooted in church ceremonies to understand that as they have accepted Bahá’u’lláh, usually this question applies to Christians, all Christians as far as I know, most of them have the concept that the Jesus Christ, the return of Christ in other words, the Glory of God coming in the world and what not, and because they believe that that is going to come that is one of the fundamental doctrines of their faith. Now, as Shoghi Effendi used to point out to the friends, we are Baháʼís. We believe He has come. It's really the fundamental difference. They think He hasn't; we think He has. Well, if we think He has and are convinced that Bahá’u’lláh has come into the world and the Christian prophecies are fulfilled, then what are we doing in a church, most of whose doctrines and many of the sacraments are associated always with the return of Christ? It's really hypocritical because we're no longer in the same state that those people are in that church. They are oriented to something that is always going to happen, and we believe that it's happened. And I think this is one of the reasons that the Baháʼís should try and give up all association with church practices. It doesn't mean you're not going to go to the funeral of your family, to the wedding of your brother or sister, you're not going to go to attend a mass or a service with someone you love because it will make them happy. Why not? But disassociate yourself from the activities of the church. It's really hypocritical to continue in that mold.
[1:08:58] "Please explain what it means to fear God." Well I think these are very deep subjects, but in the Baháʼí teachings there is the fear of God and the love of God, and both are necessary. Fear is a word that people don't like. They don't mind talking about the love of God, but if you talk about the fear of God, they get very upset and nervous because they don't think that they should have any fear. Well, fear is a very salutary thing. You see just because people have a current idea it doesn't mean they are right. We as Baháʼís have to understand that the thing that is right is the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. And the thing that is wrong is the current concept that doesn't dovetail with it, whatever the nature of it may be, whether it's in psychology or science or health or anything. If it is fundamentally different from the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, Bahá’u’lláh is right, and that science or philosophy or whatever it is is wrong. Eventually, it will be disproved. The Cause is right; the other things are wrong. We must understand that. Bahá’u’lláh says society is erected, supported by two pillars: reward and retribution. And God also deals with us in this manner. He rewards us and He punishes us. He gives us things and He deprives us, just like a parent. That's why a parent is really the symbol of God in some ways. And we should be afraid, wholesomely afraid of losing rewards and losing love. I can't picture anything more terrible than to lose love. No one wants to lose love. I don't want God to stop loving me. I don't want Bahá’u’lláh to stop loving me. Well that puts a very healthy fear of God in my heart. I personally love more than I fear. It's not my nature to be living in an atmosphere of fear all the time. But fear is a very salutary thing. We should be afraid of doing the wrong thing. We should be afraid of losing the good pleasure of God, just exactly the same way that we are afraid that if we're run over by a truck, we may be killed. We are afraid if we put our hand in the fire we will be burned. These are laws and fear is a great protection. And fear of God is a very salutary protection in our lives.
[1:11:35] This says, "Should Baháʼís give money to beggars?" Well I think that this is optional. Begging is forbidden in the Baháʼí teachings. But it is not a law which is so severely enforced that if I see someone that is in great need, I feel that I am doing wrong to help them. But I personally very seldom give to beggars. Sometimes I give to people that I know need something. But I don't give to beggars, generally speaking, because it is only encouraging begging. And there's so many professional beggars in the East, in the many countries... that they're just like flies. They just land on you and that's it.
[1:12:20] Now this question is very important. It says, "Should Baháʼís obey their government when it is against the teachings?" The answer is yes because the only time you don't obey your government is when it tells you to recant your faith. You know, I lived in Germany two years before war broke out before I was married. And the Baháʼís had to bow before every single edict of the government of Hitler. All their literature was confiscated. All their meetings were banned. They were forbidden to come together. They were forbidden to teach the Baháʼí Faith. And Shoghi Effendi said they must obey all of these edicts. They had a government. The government of the country passed these laws. They had to obey them. But, when it came to asking me to get up and say, "I deny Bahá’u’lláh", then I'm willing to be killed or go to prison or anything you like. But I will obey the laws of my country because we don't believe in anarchy. We don't believe in revolution. We don't believe in causing civic troubles. Not the spirit of the Baháʼí Faith. We believe in law and order and you can't have it if every man is going to be allowed to judge his government. It's one of the great maladies of the world. It's why you have so much crime in America and why you have so much unrest in America. It's because every single person considers that he has the right to decide what is right or wrong. Who gave it to him? What does he know to decide what is right or wrong? What he means is, he thinks he has the right to impose his personal opinion on society, and Bahá’u’lláh says he hasn't. These are very, very deep topics, and I'm sure that in Baháʼí summer schools and from mature teachers if you have the opportunity of listening to the Hands of the Cause of God, to the Counselors, to the Board members, to many very fine Baháʼí teachers you have in this country, you can find out all of these things. You can go into this subject very thoroughly. We can't go into it here.
[1:14:28] "Is it more important for American youth to pioneer in other countries than in the United States?" I think it is very important to win all of our goals. But if I know anything about it, it is always very, very much easier to get pioneers for the home front than for abroad for many reasons. So if you feel seriously that you might be qualified or willing to pioneer abroad, I would suggest that those of you who are very sincere in this desire, think of pioneering abroad because I think that they will find pioneers for the home front easier than for the foreign fields.
[1:15:20] "Is hitchhiking a form of begging?" I don't know anything about that, but I understand that hitchhiking can be very dangerous for everybody concerned.
[1:15:30] So called backward people, primitive people, simple people are very much more conservative than we are. They are much more polite. They are paying much more attention to protocol. They pay much more attention to the niceties of life. And as I say, don't go anywhere ever to damage the very thing that you are trying to help. You are going there to bring these people to Bahá’u’lláh, not to drive them away. If your long hair is going to be a test to them, cut it. If they don't mind it, well then think about it or postpone until next year, your next birthday or some other time.
[1:16:16] Well how can one learn about the customs and morals of a country before going there? I think that if we want to start that sort of thing, you better go get a PhD and by the time you finish that the country may not exist anymore. I again refer you to the fact that in almost every country where one could go now as a pioneer, it is under the jurisdiction of an experienced National Assembly. There are Counselors. There are Board members who've been there for a long time, that's usually why they were appointed, it's because they have had a lot of experience. There are excellent pioneers who should, if they don't, they usually do, know the customs of the people, listen to what they tell you and don't immediately think they're wrong. Give what they tell you a good long try. And then if in the light of your own judgment and experience you think that they were too conservative or prejudiced or silly, then change a little. But get the benefit of the man on the spot who's had experience and take it. Just accept it because it is usually the right thing to do, and you don't lose anything by doing it. It's perfectly natural that the experienced should tell him such matters.
[1:17:32] This says, "If after arriving at a pioneering post and staying for a time, two years, is it all right to leave that post when no progress has been made and the pioneers are exhausted through seemingly feeble efforts?" Well, I think this is all an individual thing. I think that we need people who would go out and want to become a part of the place that they're going to. That is the ideal pioneer. Maybe everybody can't do that. Then go on your own terms. If you find that you're bitterly unhappy there and you can't, for some reason, mature spiritually or adjust to the climate or its diseases or its food or something or other, all right go away. But we can have ideals that we try to live up to in pioneering. And do the best we can and not be flighty about it. Be serious about it. Pray about it, consult about it before we go and before we return.
[1:18:35] I had a question, if one could not in pioneering go and study in another university, and a university abroad, and I remember Sam Lynch, the pioneer in Ghana said, "Please tell the Baháʼí youth that there are many very good universities all over Africa." And he was speaking, of course, of Africa because he lives there now. But there are many universities all over the world that you can study in and at the same time continue your education and serve the Cause. And you would be very welcomed by the Baháʼí communities in those countries. And I'm sure that the committees in charge of pioneering have information on these subjects but I think the young people should bear it in mind. And all over Africa there are institutions of learning where one could go and study, and that is equally true of South America. And as we desperately need pioneers who would speak Spanish, it would be a great advantage if some of the young people could get into universities that are Spanish-speaking and perfect themselves in that language. Because there's a whole world of Spanish-speaking people and Indians who are also taught in Spanish in the schools. And that is the language in which you can teach the Faith and spread it. And without it you could do almost nothing in Latin American countries. So I recommend to the young people that they consider this in making their plans.
[1:20:08] I want particularly to thank the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the United States for their love and their kindness, and above all that they invited me to take part in this wonderful conference. It's been a very, very great privilege and a great blessing. And I never dreamed that I would have this joy seeing so many of the Baháʼí young people. And you must always remember that eventually you may be my age, and I was once your age, and that the strange thing is that as you grow older your heart often stays exactly the same age. My mother put it so beautifully once. She said, you know... And she was practically an invalid, she said "I never see a flight of stairs that I don't run up them mentally." And I thought that expressed, I never thought that I would feel that way, I can still run up stairs, but I mean mentally so often people find that they're just as young as the young people. And then the young people look at you and they think of your age and they think of your wrinkles, and maybe you've lost your shape, you look sort of saggy and baggy and immediately they think, "Oh", you know, "they're old." When I was a girl, anything of 40 seemed terribly, terribly old. And then when I had my 40th birthday I resented it very, very much. [Laughter]. And I gave myself a present. I can recommend it to you, maybe someday you will give it to yourselves. When I was 40, I was mad about it and I gave myself a gift. I said, "Now I'm not going to worry anymore about what other people think. I'm going to try and do the best I can, of course, and do it in the framework of the Baháʼí teachings and standards. But I'm no longer going to be hampered all my life about what somebody else is thinking." [Applause]
[1:22:30] Someone suggested to me that I say who I am. I thought that people had a rough idea. But it seems you don't know that I'm half Canadian, half American. And that I was born in New York and brought up in Canada till I was 25. And then I went to Europe for two years. And then the beloved Guardian did me the great honor of telling me that he was going to marry me. [Laugher]. And then I have lived for 33 years in Haifa, Israel. And I should be 60 next month. No, in August. So I think you know all about me now. [Applause]
