N.S.A. of Australia and New Zealand, Secretary, Mrs. Mariette G. Bolton.
Haifa, Dec. 30th, 1948.
Dear Baha'i Sister:
The letter written by our dear Baha'i brother, Mr. Jim Heggie, as
secretary at that time, and dated May 5th, as well as those written by
you, and dated July 17th, Dec. 4th, 6th (two of this date), and 9th,
together with their various enclosures, have been received, and our
beloved Guardian has instructed me to answer your assembly on his behalf.
He was very happy to hear of your meeting held in Melbourne, as he feels
sure this was a great stimulus to the local community, and he hopes that
circumstances will permit the N.S.A. to meet in other communities and
inspire and encourage the friends in different parts of the country by
this personal contact with them and their work.
In regard to the various matters raised in your letters: He would be
pleased to receive reports of the Teaching Work, the Annual Convention and
Annual Reports, and, of course, the minutes of your N.S.A. meetings.
He does not feel it advisable to combine more than one town area in an
Assembly, as you have suggested might be done. It is better for the
friends to move, if possible, into one town's limits, and form their
Assembly that way, or concentrate on their teaching work and wait until
they have the requisite 9 members.
Unfortunately it is not feasible for the believers to elect or constitute
an Assembly and also elect and send delegates to the Annual Convention of
the same year, as both events take place in the Ridvan period.
The Guardian is striving to build up uniformity in essentials all over the
Baha'i World, and this frequently involves a small measure of delay in
achieving our various goals set locally. But he considers it sufficiently
important to warrant the sacrifices it sometimes involves:
In this connection he would like to mention your Local By-Laws: He feels
that they should conform much more closely to the original one of the New
York Assembly. What is absolutely essential was incorporated in those, and
all other local assemblies being incorporated should follow this pattern
as closely as local legal technicalities permit. This again is in order to
maintain international uniformity in essentials. It is not a question here
of whether the By-Laws drawn up by your Legal Committee are not more up to
date and do not represent the last word, undoubtedly they are and do, but
if every country, when drawing up its Local By-Laws, continue this process
of elaboration, in the end uniformity will be lost. The Eastern Assemblies
have adhered to the original By-Laws so carefully that they have
practically translated them word for word and adopted them. He feels sure
Mr. Dive will understand this, and he would like you to please express to
him his deep appreciation of the excellent work he has done in this
connection, truly a labour of love to the Faith.
There is also another, perhaps even more pertinent reason, why he does not
want anything more added to these New York By-Laws, and that is that he is
everywhere urging the believers--the Americans included--to not add
procedures and rulings to the Cause. He considers that what he has laid
down in Baha'i Administration is essential, but that practically
everything else is secondary and he wishes the Assemblies, your own
included, to deal with things with elasticity, as they come up, case by
case, and not by continually passing new rulings to cover all similar
cases.
The efforts being made by your Assembly to carry out the Teaching Plan for
Australia and New Zealand, and the ever-increasing response of the
believers in both places to this all-important work, greatly encourage and
cheer him. He feels sure a very great future lies in store for our beloved
Faith in those distant regions, but much more still remains to be done by
the friends in order to complete this first, historic and vital, organized
Plan of theirs. He feels sure they will see it through to victory; just as
their brothers and sisters in other lands, working also on Plans of their
own, are determined to achieve all their goals at the appointed time, so
must they persevere and ensure a resounding victory for the Faith there in
the Antipodes.
His loving prayers are offered in the Holy Shrines very often for the
success of your work, and that God may bless you and all the members of
the National Assembly in the discharge of your important duties.
With Baha'i love,
Yours in His Service,
R. Rabbani.
P.S. I wish to also acknowledge receipt of the letter of your Assembly's
Treasurer, dated Dec. 23rd, and to thank you, on behalf of the Guardian,
for your loving contribution to the International Fund here in Haifa. He
regrets the delay in getting this off to you, but has been too busy to
attend to it owing to work in connection with the Shrine here. Kindly give
the enclosed receipt to Mr. Tunks.
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers:
Recent communications and reports from your Assembly have revealed, in a
very striking manner, the magnificent progress achieved by the alert, the
faithful, and truly distinguished communities of the followers of the
Faith of Baha'u'llah in Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. The range of
their labours, the rapid consolidation of their swiftly multiplying
institutions, the soundness and solidity of the foundations, on which they
are erecting these institutions, the exemplary loyalty they demonstrate,
the solidarity and self-sacrifice, the courage and confidence they display
in their incessant and manifold activities, prove, beyond the shadow of a
doubt that the Faith they love and serve so nobly and efficiently has at
last been firmly and unassailably established in the Antipodes, and that
its upholders and defenders in those far-away yet highly promising islands
are contributing a notable and never-to-be-forgotten share to the onward
march and unfoldment of its world Administrative Order.
I desire to offer the members of this high-minded, this resolute and
dearly-beloved community, and particularly its elected representatives, my
heartfelt congratulations on their splendid achievements which posterity
will recognize as deeds that have truly enriched and adorned the annals of
the Faith in the opening years of the second Baha'i century.
As the processes impelling a rapidly evolving Order on the highroad of its
destiny multiply and gather momentum, attention should be increasingly
directed to the vital need of ensuring, by every means possible, the
deepening of the Faith, the understanding and the spiritual life of the
individuals who, as the privileged members of this community, are called
upon to participate in this glorious unfoldment, and are lending their
assistance to this historic evolution. A profound study of the Faith which
they have espoused, its history, its spiritual as well as administrative
principles; a thorough understanding of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah and of
the Will of 'Abdu'l-Baha, a deeper realization of the implications of the
claims advanced by the Founders of the Faith; strict adherence to the laws
and principles which they have established; a greater dedication to the
fundamentals and verities enshrined in their teachings--these constitute, I
feel convinced, the urgent need of the members of this rapidly expanding
community. For upon this spiritual foundation must depend the solidity of
the institutions which they are now so painstakingly erecting. Every
outward thrust into new fields, every multiplication of Baha'i
institutions, must be paralleled by a deeper thrust of the roots which
sustain the spiritual life of the community and ensure its sound
development. From this vital, this ever-present need, attention must at no
time be diverted; nor must it be, under any circumstances, neglected, or
subordinated to the no less vital and urgent task of ensuring the outer
expansion of Baha'i administrative institutions. That this community, so
alive, so devoted, so strikingly and rapidly developing, may maintain a
proper balance between these two essential aspects of its development, and
march forward with rapid strides and along sound lines toward the goal of
the Plan it has adopted, is the ardent hope of my heart and my constant
prayer.
Your true and grateful brother,
Shoghi.