The first half of the two-year austerity period, inaugurated at so anxious
an hour in the fortunes of the Second Seven Year Plan, has been
successfully traversed, and deserves to be regarded as a memorable episode
in the history of the Faith and the unfoldment of the Plan in the North
American continent. An effort, prodigious, nation-wide, sustained, and
reminiscent in its heroism and consecration of the immortal exploits of
the dawn-breakers of the Apostolic Age of the Baha'i Dispensation, has
been exerted by their spiritual descendants, in circumstances which,
though totally different in character, are yet no less challenging and for
a cause as meritorious--an effort that has indeed outshone the high
endeavors that have distinguished for so long the record of service
associated with the American Baha'i Community. All of its members who have
participated in this collective undertaking should be heartily
congratulated, particularly those who, by their acts of self-abnegation,
have emulated the example of the heroes of our Faith at the early dawn of
its history. The entire Baha'i world is stirred when contemplating the
range of such an effort, the depth of consecration reached by those who
have participated in it, the results it has achieved, the noble purpose it
has served. My heart overflows with gratitude for the repeated evidences
of worthiness demonstrated by this generous-hearted, valiant and dedicated
community which has, no matter how onerous the task, how challenging the
issue, how distracting the external circumstances with which it has been
surrounded, never shirked its duty or hesitated for a moment.
The high watermark of so gigantic an exertion, however, still remains to
be reached. The year now entered, ushered in and consecrated by the
Centenary of the tragic execution of the Martyr-Prophet of our Faith, and
packed with poignant memories of the persecutions of Zanjan which stained
its history a hundred years ago and carried its fortunes to almost its
lowest ebb, and were a prelude to the most ghastly holocaust ever
experienced by its followers, must witness as it rolls forward to its
close, a still more striking demonstration of the tenacity of the members
of this community, a still nobler display of acts of self-sacrifice, a
still more inspiring manifestation of solidarity, and evidences of a
grimmer determination, of a greater courage and perseverance in response
to the triple call of this present hour.
The vital needs of the most holy House of Worship reared in the service
and for the glory of the Most Great Name, though virtually met, still
require the last exertions to ensure its completion as the hour of its
Jubilee approaches. The Latin-American enterprise, initiated thirteen
years ago, and marking the initial collective undertaking launched by the
American Baha'i Community beyond the confines of the great republic of the
West, and under the mandate of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan, still in a
state of emergency and rapidly advancing towards its initial fruition,
demands unrelaxing vigilance, and calls for still more strenuous exertions
and self-sacrifice on the part of those who have so enthusiastically
embarked upon it, who have so conscientiously and painstakingly shepherded
it along its destined course and throughout the early stages of its
unfoldment, and who are now, as a result of their ceaseless exertions,
witnessing the first efflorescence of their mammoth pioneer labors. The
construction of the superstructure of the Holy Sepulcher of the Blessed
Bab, now, at this anxious and urgent hour, superimposed on the manifold
responsibilities shouldered by members of the American Baha'i Community,
affording them the first historic opportunity of directly sustaining,
through their contributions, the most sacred enterprise ever undertaken in
the history of the Faith, the first and most holy edifice reared at its
World Center, and the initial international institution heralding the
establishment of the supreme legislative body at the World Administrative
Center, requires the immediate and sustained attention of the members of a
community whose destiny has been linked, ever since its inception, with
the various stages marking the rise and consolidation of this divinely
appointed, unspeakably holy enterprise.