Baha'i bodies, but also by prospective teachers, as well as by other
individual believers, deprived of the privilege of visiting those shores
or of settling on that continent, to seize every opportunity that presents
itself to make the acquaintance, and awaken the genuine interest, of such
people who are either citizens of these countries, or are in any way
connected with them, whatever be their interests or profession. Through
the kindness shown them, or any literature which may be given them, or any
connection which they may establish with them, the American believers can
thereby sow such seeds in their hearts as might, in future circumstances,
germinate and yield the most unexpected results. Care, however, should, at
all times, be exercised, lest in their eagerness to further the
international interests of the Faith they frustrate their purpose, and
turn away, through any act that might be misconstrued as an attempt to
proselytize and bring undue pressure upon them, those whom they wish to
win over to their Cause.
I would particularly direct my appeal to those American believers,
sore-pressed as they are by the manifold, the urgent, and ever-increasing
issues that confront them at the present hour, who may find it possible,
whatever be their calling or employment, whether as businessmen, school
teachers, lawyers, doctors, writers, office workers, and the like, to
establish permanently their residence in such countries as may offer them
a reasonable prospect of earning the means of livelihood. They will by
their action be relieving the continually increasing pressure on their
Teaching Fund, which in view of its restricted dimensions must provide,
when not otherwise available, the traveling and other expenses to be
incurred in connection with the development of this vast undertaking.
Should they find it impossible to take advantage of so rare and sacred a
privilege, let them, mindful of the words of Baha'u'llah, determine, each
according to the means at his or her disposal, to appoint a deputy who, on
that believer's behalf, will arise and carry out so noble an enterprise.
"Center your energies," are Baha'u'llah's words, "in the propagation of
the Faith of God. Whoso is worthy of so high a calling, let him arise and
promote it. Whoso is unable, it is his duty to appoint him who will, in
his stead, proclaim this Revelation, whose power hath caused the
foundations of the mightiest structures to quake, every mountain to be
crushed into dust, and every soul to be dumbfounded."
As to those who have been able to leave their homes and country, and to
serve in those regions, whether temporarily or permanently, a special
duty, which must continually be borne in mind, devolves upon them. It
should be one of their chief aims to keep, on the one hand, in constant
touch with the National Committee specifically entrusted with the
promotion of their work, and to cooperate, on the other, by every possible
means and in the utmost harmony, with their fellow-believers in those
countries, whatever the field in which they labor, whatever their
standing, ability, or experience. Through the performance of their first
duty they will derive the necessary stimulus and obtain the necessary
guidance that will enable them to prosecute effectively their mission, and
will also, through their regular reports to that committee, be imparting
to the general body of their fellow-believers the news of the latest
developments in their activities. By fulfilling their other duty, they
will insure the smooth efficiency, facilitate the progress, and avert any
untoward incidents that might handicap the development of their common
enterprise. The maintenance of close contact and harmonious relationships
between the Inter-America Committee, entrusted with the immediate
responsibility of organizing such a far-reaching enterprise, and the
privileged pioneers who are actually executing that enterprise, and
extending its ramifications far and wide, as well as among these pioneers
themselves, would set, apart from its immediate advantages, a worthy and
inspiring example to generations still yet to be born who are to carry on,
with all its increasing complexities, the work which is being initiated at
present.
It would, no doubt, be of exceptional importance and value, particularly
in these times when the various restrictions imposed in those countries
make it difficult for a considerable number of Baha'i pioneers to
establish their residence and earn their livelihood in those states, if
certain ones among the believers, whose income, however slender, provides
them with the means of an independent existence, would so arrange their
affairs as to be able to reside indefinitely in those countries. The
sacrifices involved, the courage, faith, and perseverance it demands, are
no doubt very great. Their value, however, can never be properly assessed
at the present time, and the limitless reward which they who demonstrate
them will receive can never be adequately depicted. "They that have
forsaken their country," is Baha'u'llah's own testimony, "for the purpose
of teaching Our Cause--these shall the Faithful Spirit strengthen through
its power.... By My life! No act, however great, can compare with it,
except such deeds as have been ordained by God, the All-Powerful, the Most
Mighty. Such a service is indeed the prince of all goodly deeds, and the
ornament of every goodly act." Such a reward, it should be noted, is not
to be regarded as purely an abstract blessing confined to the future life,
but also as a tangible benefit which such courage, faith and perseverance
can alone confer in this material world. The solid achievements, spiritual
as well as administrative, which in the far-away continent of Australasia,
and more recently in Bulgaria, representative believers from both Canada
and the United States have accomplished, proclaim in terms unmistakable
the nature of those prizes which, even in this world, such sterling
heroism is bound to win. "Whoso," Baha'u'llah, in a memorable passage,
extolling those of His loved ones who have "journeyed through the
countries in His Name and for His praise," has written, "hath attained
their presence will glory in their meeting, and all that dwell in every
land will be illumined by their memory."
I am moved, at this juncture, as I am reminded of the share which, ever
since the inception of the Faith in the West, the handmaidens of
Baha'u'llah, as distinguished from the men, have had in opening up,
single-handed, so many, such diversified, and widely scattered countries
over the whole surface of the globe, not only to pay a tribute to such
apostolic fervor as is truly reminiscent of those heroic men who were
responsible for the birth of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, but also to stress
the significance of such a preponderating share which the women of the
West have had and are having in the establishment of His Faith throughout
the whole world. "Among the miracles," 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself has testified,
"which distinguish this sacred Dispensation is this, that women have
evinced a greater boldness than men when enlisted in the ranks of the
Faith." So great and splendid a testimony applies in particular to the
West, and though it has received thus far abundant and convincing
confirmation must, as the years roll away, be further reinforced, as the
American believers usher in the most glorious phase of their teaching
activities under the Seven Year Plan. The "boldness" which, in the words
of 'Abdu'l-Baha, has characterized their accomplishments in the past must
suffer no eclipse as they stand on the threshold of still greater and
nobler accomplishments. Nay rather, it must, in the course of time and
throughout the length and breadth of the vast and virgin territories of
Latin America, be more convincingly demonstrated, and win for the beloved
Cause victories more stirring than any it has as yet achieved.
To the Baha'i youth of America, moreover, I feel a word should be
addressed in particular, as I survey the possibilities which a campaign of
such gigantic proportions has to offer to the eager and enterprising
spirit that so powerfully animates them in the service of the Cause of
Baha'u'llah. Though lacking in experience and faced with insufficient
resources, yet the adventurous spirit which they possess, and the vigor,
the alertness, and optimism they have thus far so consistently shown,
qualify them to play an active part in arousing the interest, and in
securing the allegiance, of their fellow youth in those countries. No
greater demonstration can be given to the peoples of both continents of
the youthful vitality and the vibrant power animating the life, and the
institutions of the nascent Faith of Baha'u'llah than an intelligent,
persistent, and effective participation of the Baha'i youth, of every
race, nationality, and class, in both the teaching and administrative
spheres of Baha'i activity. Through such a participation the critics and
enemies of the Faith, watching with varying degrees of skepticism and
resentment, the evolutionary processes of the Cause of God and its
institutions, can best be convinced of the indubitable truth that such a
Cause is intensely alive, is sound to its very core, and its destinies in
safe keeping. I hope, and indeed pray, that such a participation may not
only redound to the glory, the power, and the prestige of the Faith, but
may also react so powerfully on the spiritual lives, and galvanize to such
an extent the energies of the youthful members of the Baha'i community, as
to empower them to display, in a fuller measure, their inherent
capacities, and to unfold a further stage in their spiritual evolution
under the shadow of the Faith of Baha'u'llah.
Faithful to the provisions of the Charter laid down by the pen of
'Abdu'l-Baha, I feel it my duty to draw the special attention of those to
whom it has been entrusted to the urgent needs of, and the special
position enjoyed by, the Republic of Panama, both in view of its relative
proximity to the heart and center of the Faith in North America, and of
its geographical position as the link between two continents. "All the
above countries," 'Abdu'l-Baha, referring to the Latin States in one of
the Tablets of the Divine Plan, has written, "have importance, but
especially the Republic of Panama, wherein the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
come together through the Panama Canal. It is a center for travel and
passage from America to other continents of the world, and in the future
it will gain most great importance." "Likewise," He again has written, "ye
must give great attention to the Republic of Panama, for in that point the
Occident and the Orient find each other united through the Panama Canal,
and it is also situated between the two great oceans. That place will
become very important in the future. The teachings, once established
there, will unite the East and the West, the North and the South." So
privileged a position surely demands the special and prompt attention of
the American Baha'i community. With the Republic of Mexico already opened
up to the Faith, and with a Spiritual Assembly properly constituted in its
capital city, the southward penetration of the Faith of Baha'u'llah into a
neighboring country is but a natural and logical step, and should, it is
to be hoped, prove to be not a difficult one. No efforts should be spared,
and no sacrifice be deemed too great, to establish even though it be a
very small group in a Republic occupying, both spiritually and
geographically, so strategic a position--a group which, in view of the
potency with which the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha have already endowed it,
cannot but draw to itself, as soon as it is formed, the outpouring grace
of the Abha Kingdom, and evolve with such marvelous swiftness as to excite
the wonder and the admiration of even those who have already witnessed
such stirring evidences of the force and power of the Faith of
Baha'u'llah. Preference, no doubt, should be given by all would-be
pioneers, as well as by the members of the Inter-America Committee, to the
spiritual needs of this privileged Republic, though every effort should,
at the same time, be exerted to introduce the Faith, however tentatively,
to the Republics of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa
Rica which would link it, in an unbroken chain, with its mother Assemblies
in the North American continent. Obstacles, however formidable, should be
surmounted, the resources of the Baha'i treasury should be liberally
expended on its behalf, and the ablest and most precious exertions should
be consecrated to the cause of its awakening. The erection of yet another
outpost of the Faith, in its heart, will constitute, I firmly believe, a
landmark in the history of the Formative Period of the Faith of
Baha'u'llah in the New World. It will create limitless opportunities,
galvanize the efforts, and reinvigorate the life, of those who will have
accomplished this feat, and infuse immense courage and boundless joy into
the hearts of the isolated groups and individuals in the neighboring and
distant Republics, and exert intangible yet powerful spiritual influences
on the life and future development of its people.
"SUCH, DEARLY BELOVED FRIENDS, IS THE VISTA THAT STRETCHES ..."
Such, dearly beloved friends, is the vista that stretches before the eyes,
and challenges the resources, of the American Baha'i community in these,
the concluding years of the First Century of the Baha'i Era. Such are the
qualities and qualifications demanded of them for the proper discharge of
their responsibilities and duties. Such are the requirements, the
possibilities, and the objectives of the Plan that claims every ounce of
their energy. Who knows but that these few remaining, fast-fleeting years,
may not be pregnant with events of unimaginable magnitude, with ordeals
more severe than any that humanity has as yet experienced, with conflicts
more devastating than any which have preceded them. Dangers, however
sinister, must, at no time, dim the radiance of their new-born faith.
Strife and confusion, however bewildering, must never befog their vision.
Tribulations, however afflictive, must never shatter their resolve.
Denunciations, however clamorous, must never sap their loyalty. Upheavals,
however cataclysmic, must never deflect their course. The present Plan,
embodying the budding hopes of a departed Master, must be pursued,
relentlessly pursued, whatever may befall them in the future, however
distracting the crises that may agitate their country or the world. Far
from yielding in their resolve, far from growing oblivious of their task,
they should, at no time, however much buffeted by circumstances, forget
that the synchronization of such world-shaking crises with the progressive
unfoldment and fruition of their divinely appointed task is itself the
work of Providence, the design of an inscrutable Wisdom, and the purpose
of an all-compelling Will, a Will that directs and controls, in its own
mysterious way, both the fortunes of the Faith and the destinies of men.
Such simultaneous processes of rise and of fall, of integration and of
disintegration, of order and chaos, with their continuous and reciprocal
reactions on each other, are but aspects of a greater Plan, one and
indivisible, whose Source is God, whose author is Baha'u'llah, the theater
of whose operations is the entire planet, and whose ultimate objectives
are the unity of the human race and the peace of all mankind.
Reflections such as these should steel the resolve of the entire Baha'i
community, should dissipate their forebodings, and arouse them to
rededicate themselves to every single provision of that Divine Charter
whose outline has been delineated for them by the pen of 'Abdu'l-Baha. The
Seven Year Plan, as already stated, is but the initial stage, a
stepping-stone to the unfoldment of the implications of this Charter. The
impulse, originally generated through the movement of that pen, and which
is now driving forward, with increasing momentum, the machinery of the
Seven Year Plan, must, in the opening years of the next century, be
further accelerated, and impel the American Baha'i community to launch
further stages in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan, stages that will
carry it far beyond the shores of the Northern Hemisphere, into lands and
among peoples where that community's noblest acts of heroism are to be
performed.
Let anyone inclined to doubt the course which this enviable community is
destined to follow, turn to and meditate upon these words of 'Abdu'l-Baha,
enshrined, for all time, in the Tablets of the Divine Plan, and addressed
to the entire community of the believers of the United States and Canada:
"The full measure of your success," He informs them, "is as yet
unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended. Erelong, ye will, with
your own eyes, witness how brilliantly every one of you, even as a shining
star, will radiate, in the firmament of your country, the light of Divine
Guidance, and will bestow upon its people the glory of an everlasting
life.... The range of your future achievements still remains undisclosed.
I fervently hope that in the near future the whole earth may be stirred
and shaken by the results of your achievements. The hope, therefore, which
'Abdu'l-Baha cherishes for you is that the same success which has attended
your efforts in America may crown your endeavors in other parts of the
world, that through you the fame of the Cause of God may be diffused
throughout the East and the West, and the advent of the Kingdom of the
Lord of Hosts be proclaimed in all the five continents of the globe." "The
moment," He most significantly adds, "this Divine Message is carried
forward by the American believers from the shores of America, and is
propagated throughout the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa, and of
Australasia, and as far as the islands of the Pacific, this community will
find itself securely established upon the throne of an everlasting
dominion. Then will all the peoples of the world witness that this
community is spiritually illumined and divinely guided. Then will the
whole earth resound with the praises of its majesty and greatness."
No reader of these words, so vibrant with promises that not even the
triumphant consummation of the Seven Year Plan can fulfill, can expect a
community that has been raised so high, and endowed so richly, to remain
content with any laurels it may win in the immediate future. To rest upon
such laurels would indeed be tantamount to a betrayal of the trust placed
in that community by 'Abdu'l-Baha. To cut short the chain of victories
that must lead it on to that supreme triumph when "the whole earth may be
stirred and shaken" by the results of its achievements would shatter His
hopes. To vacillate, and fail to "propagate through the continents of
Europe, of Asia, of Africa, and of Australasia, and as far as the islands
of the Pacific" a Message so magnificently proclaimed by it in the
American continent would deprive it of the privilege of being "securely
established upon the throne of an everlasting dominion." To forfeit the
honor of proclaiming "the advent of the Kingdom of the Lord of Hosts" in
"all the five continents of the globe" would silence those "praises of its
majesty and greatness" that otherwise would echo throughout "the whole
earth."
Such vacillation, failure, or neglect, the American believers, the
ambassadors of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, will, I am firmly convinced,
never permit. Such a trust will never be betrayed, such hopes can never be
shattered, such a privilege will never be forfeited, nor will such praises
remain unuttered. Nay rather the present generation of this blessed, this
repeatedly blessed, community will go from strength to strength, and will
hand on, as the first century draws to a close, to the generations that
must succeed it in the second the torch of Divine Guidance, undimmed by
the tempestuous winds that must blow upon it, that they in turn, faithful
to the wish and mandate of 'Abdu'l-Baha, may carry that torch, with that
self-same vigor, fidelity, and enthusiasm, to the darkest and remotest
corners of the earth.
Dearly beloved friends! I can do no better, eager as I am to extend to
every one of you any assistance in my power that may enable you to
discharge more effectively your divinely appointed, continually
multiplying duties, than to direct your special attention, at this
decisive hour, to these immortal passages, gleaned in part from the great
mass of Baha'u'llah's unpublished and untranslated writings. Whether in
His revelation of the station and functions of His loved ones, or His
eulogies of the greatness of His Cause, or His emphasis on the paramount
importance of teaching, or the dangers which He foreshadows, the counsels
He imparts, the warnings He utters, the vistas He discloses, and the
assurances and promises He gives, these dynamic and typical examples of
Baha'u'llah's sublime utterance, each having a direct bearing on the tasks
which actually face or lie ahead of the American Baha'i community, cannot
fail to produce on the minds and hearts of any one of its members, who
approaches them with befitting humility and detachment, such powerful
reactions as to illuminate his entire being and intensify tremendously his
daily exertions.