Citadel Of Faith Part 2

Nor should the valuable and meritorious labors accomplished since the inception of the first Seven Year Plan in Punta Arenas de Magallanes, that far-off center situated not only on the southern extremity of the Western Hemisphere, but const.i.tuting the southernmost outpost of the Faith in the whole world, be for a moment neglected in the course of the second stage in the development of the Divine Plan. The a.s.sembly already const.i.tuted in that city, the remarkable radio publicity secured by the believers there, the a.s.sistance extended by them to the teaching work in other parts of Chile, should be regarded only as a prelude to the work of consolidation which must be indefatigably pursued. This work, if properly carried out, in conjunction with the activities a.s.sociated with the a.s.semblies of Santiago, Valparaso and Vina del Mar, and the groups of Puerto Montt, Valdivia, Quilpue, Temuco, Sewell, Chorrillos, Mulchen and other smaller ones, as well as several isolated localities in that republic, may well hasten the advent of the day when the Chilean followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah will have established the first independent national spiritual a.s.sembly to be formed by any single nation of Latin America.

BAHa'U'LLaH'S SUMMONS TO THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Whoever it may be among these Latin American communities who will eventually carry off the palm of victory, and win this immortal distinction, all without exception, and with equal zeal, must partic.i.p.ate in this vast and collective enterprise which is engaging, in an ever-increasing measure, their attention and challenging their resources.

Let them remember that the Author of their Faith has in His Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Mother-Book of His Revelation, singled out the company of the Presidents of their countries, together with those of the North American continent, and addressed them in terms that sharply contrast with the dire warnings and condemnatory words addressed directly and indirectly, to the King of Prussia, the French and Austrian Emperors and the Sultan of Turkey, who, together with those Presidents, are the only sovereigns and rulers specifically mentioned by Him in that Book.

"Hearken ye, O rulers of America and the Presidents of the Republics therein!" is His summons sounded in that mighty Charter of the future world civilization, "unto that which the Dove is warbling on the Branch of Eternity: There is none other G.o.d but Me, the Ever-Abiding, the Forgiving, the All-Bountiful. Adorn ye the temple of dominion with the ornament of justice and of the fear of G.o.d, and its head with the crown of the remembrance of your Lord, the Creator of the heavens. Thus counselleth you He Who is the Dayspring of Names, as bidden by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. The Promised One hath appeared in this glorified Station, whereat all beings, both seen and unseen, have rejoiced. Take ye advantage of the Day of G.o.d. Verily, to meet Him is better for you than all that whereon the sun s.h.i.+neth, could ye but know it. O concourse of rulers! Give ear unto that which hath been raised from the Dayspring of Grandeur: Verily, there is none other G.o.d but Me, the Lord of Utterance, the All-Knowing. Bind ye the broken with the hands of justice, and crush the oppressor who flourisheth with the rod of the commandments of your Lord, the Ordainer, the All-Wise."

Let them ponder the honor which the Author of the Revelation Himself has chosen to confer upon their countries, the obligations which that honor automatically brings in its wake, the opportunities it offers, the power it releases for the removal of all obstacles, however formidable, which may be encountered in their path, and the promise of guidance it implies for the attainment of the objectives alluded to in these memorable pa.s.sages.

To the eager, the warm-hearted, the spiritually minded and staunch members of these Latin American Baha'i communities who, among the followers of Baha'u'llah, already const.i.tute the most considerable body of recruits from the ranks of the most deeply entrenched and powerful Church of Christendom; whose motherlands have been chosen as the scene of the earliest victories won by the prosecutors of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Divine Plan; launched on their crusade for the spiritual conquest of the whole planet; the establishment of whose projected national spiritual a.s.semblies must const.i.tute a notable landmark in the second epoch of the Formative Age of the Baha'i Dispensation; whose leading spiritual a.s.semblies are now establis.h.i.+ng direct contact with the World Center of the Faith of Baha'u'llah in the Holy Land; the photographs of whose elected representatives, at their chief centers, will soon adorn the walls of His Mansion at Bahji; a few of whose members have already arisen to carry back the torch of divine guidance entrusted to their care to the peoples and races from which they have sprung-to this privileged, this youngest, this dynamic and highly promising member of the organic Baha'i World Community, I feel moved, before I dismiss this aspect of my theme, to direct this general appeal to rise to the heights of the glorious opportunity which destiny is unfolding before its members. Theirs is the opportunity, if they but seize it, to adorn the opening pages of the annals of the second Baha'i century with a tale of deeds approaching in valor those with which their Persian brethren have illuminated the opening years of the first, and comparable with the exploits more recently achieved by their North American fellow-believers and which have shed such l.u.s.ter on the closing decade of that same century.

SPIRITUAL CRUSADE TO BE LAUNCHED IN EUROPE

To the fourth, and by far the most momentous, the most arduous, the most challenging task to be carried out under the Second Seven Year Plan-the systematic launching of a crusade in a mighty, a tormented, a spiritually famished continent, a continent drawn, in recent years through political developments as well as through improvement in the means of transportation, so close to the great republic of the West, and const.i.tuting a stepping-stone on the road leading to the redemption of the Old World-I must now direct the attention of my readers.

This as yet unfought and unbelievably potent crusade, embarked upon in the opening decade of the second century of the Baha'i Era, signalizing the commencement of the second epoch of the Formative Age of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah, and marking the first stage in the propulsion of a divinely conceived Plan across the borders of the Western Hemisphere, must, as its pace augments, reveal the first signs and tokens which, as antic.i.p.ated by the Author of the Plan Himself, must accompany the carrying of His Father's Message across the ocean, at the hands of His "apostles,"

from the sh.o.r.es of their homeland to the European continent. "The moment,"

is His powerfully sustaining, gloriously inspiring promise, "this Divine Message is carried forward by the American believers from the sh.o.r.es of America, and is propagated through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa and of Australia, 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."

The first stage in this transatlantic field of service which those crusading for the Cause of Baha'u'llah in the Western Hemisphere are now entering is a step fraught with possibilities such as no mind can adequately envisage. Its challenge is overwhelming and its potentialities unfathomable. Its hazards, rigors and pitfalls are numerous, its field immense, the number of its promoters as yet utterly inadequate, the resources required for its effective prosecution barely tapped. The races, nations and cla.s.ses included within its...o...b..t are numerous and highly diversified, and the prizes to be won by its victors incalculably great.

The hatreds that inflame, the rivalries that agitate, the controversies that confuse, the miseries that afflict, these races, nations and cla.s.ses are bitter and of long standing. The influence and fanaticism, whether ecclesiastical or political, of potentially hostile organizations, firmly entrenched within their ancestral strongholds, are formidable.

The members of the North American Baha'i Community, to whose care the immediate destinies of this fate-laden crusade have been entrusted, are standing at a new crossroads. Behind them is an imperishable record, brief yet ill.u.s.trious, of feats performed over the entire range of the Western Hemisphere. Before them stretches a vista alluring in its as yet hazy outlines, entrancing in its magnitude, reaching to the far horizons of as yet unconquered territories. They can look back, since that crusade was launched, upon a decade of modest beginnings, of toilsome labors, of richly deserved rewards. They now look forward to successive epochs reaching as far as the fringes of that Golden Age that is to be, glowing in the light of G.o.d-given promises, destined to be traversed at the cost of infinite toil and of heroic self-sacrifice.

They can neither retrace their steps, nor falter, nor even afford to mark time. The sands are running out, the short span of six brief years intervening between the present hour and the termination of the second stage of the enterprise on which they have embarked will soon expire. The hosts on high, having sounded the signal, are impatient to rush forward, and demonstrate anew the irresistible force of their might. Europe, in the throes of the aftermath of a horribly devastating conflict, calls desperately, in one of the darkest hours of its history, for that sovereign remedy which only the Plan, conceived by a divinely appointed Physician, can administer. Sister communities, in the north and in the heart of that continent, alive to the needs, the opportunities and the glorious mission of the vanguard of Baha'u'llah's crusaders, now landing on the sh.o.r.es of that agitated continent, are only too eager to reinforce the stupendous exertions that must needs be made for its ultimate redemption. Nor will other sister communities further afield refrain, for a moment, from lending a helping hand, once the progress of this gigantic movement now set in motion is accelerated. Above and beyond them all, unsleeping, ever-solicitous, unerring, is the Pilot of their bark, the Charterer of their course, the Founder of their spiritual fellows.h.i.+p, the Bestower of that primacy which is the hallmark of their destiny.

EVOLVING STRONGHOLDS IN TEN INITIAL COUNTRIES

The ten countries, const.i.tuting the initial field wherein the prowess of these crusaders must, in the years immediately ahead, be exhibited, and in whose capitals the foundations of the embryonic Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah must preferably be una.s.sailably laid, must each evolve into strongholds from which the dynamic energies of that Faith can be diffused to neighboring territories in the course of the unfoldment of the Plan.

The nuclei that are now being formed, and the groups that are beginning to emerge, must be speedily and systematically reinforced, not only through the dispatch and settlement of pioneers and the visits paid them by itinerant teachers, but also through the progressive development of the teaching work which the pioneers themselves must initiate and foster among the native population in those countries. Any artificially created a.s.sembly, consisting of settlers from abroad, can at best be considered as temporary and insecure, and should, if the second stage of the European enterprise is to be commenced without undue delay in the future, be supplanted by broad-based, securely grounded, efficiently functioning a.s.semblies, composed primarily of the people of the countries themselves, who are firm in faith, unimpeachable in their loyalty and whole-hearted in their support of the Administrative Order of the Faith. The twenty-five pioneers that have already proceeded to Scandinavia and the Low Countries, to the Iberian Peninsula, to Switzerland and Italy, should, in the course of this current year, and while the process of teaching the native population is being inaugurated, be reinforced by as many additional pioneers as possible, and particularly by those who, possessed of independent means, can, either themselves or through their appointed deputies, swell the number of the valiant workers already laboring with such devotion in those fields.

The translation, the publication and dissemination of Baha'i literature, whether in the form of leaflets, pamphlets or books, in the nine selected languages, should, as the work progresses and the demand is correspondingly increased, be strenuously carried out, as a preliminary to its free distribution among the public on certain occasions, and its presentation to both the leaders of public thought and the numerous and famous libraries established in those countries. No time should be lost in establis.h.i.+ng, on however small a scale, initial contact with the press and other agencies designed to invite greater attention on the part of the ma.s.ses to the historic work now being initiated in their respective countries.

No opportunity, in view of the necessity of insuring the harmonious development of the Faith, should be ignored, which its potential enemies, whether ecclesiastical or otherwise, may offer, to set forth, in a restrained and unprovocative language, its aims and tenets, to defend its interests, to proclaim its universality, to a.s.sert the supernatural, the supra-national and non-political character of its inst.i.tutions, and its acceptance of the divine origin of the Faiths which have preceded it. Nor should any chance be missed of a.s.sociating the Faith, as distinct from affiliating it, with all progressive, non-political, non-ecclesiastical inst.i.tutions, whether social, educational, or charitable, whose objectives harmonize with some of its tenets, and amongst whose members and supporters individuals may be found who will eventually embrace its truth.

Particular attention should, moreover, be paid to attendance at congresses and conferences, and to any contacts that can be made with colleges and universities which offer a fertile field for the scattering of the seeds of the Faith, and afford opportunities for broadcasting its message, and for winning fresh recruits to its strength.

Nor should any occasion be neglected by the pioneers of attending, if their personal circ.u.mstances permit, either the British or German Baha'i summer schools, and of forging such links with these inst.i.tutions as will not only a.s.sist them in the discharge of their duties, but enable them to initiate, when the time is ripe, an inst.i.tution of a similar character, under the auspices of the European Teaching Committee-an inst.i.tution which will be the forerunner of the summer schools that will have to be founded separately by the future a.s.semblies in their respective countries. Above all, any a.s.sistance which the two national spiritual a.s.semblies, already established on that continent, and their auxiliary committees, and particularly their publis.h.i.+ng agencies, can extend should be gratefully welcomed and utilized to the full, until such time as the inst.i.tutions destined to evolve in these countries can a.s.sume independently the conduct of their own affairs.

A constant interchange of news between the centers, through the medium of the Geneva Bulletin, whose scope must be steadily enlarged, and close contact with each other through the European office of the European Teaching Committee, functioning as an adjunct to the International Baha'i Bureau, should, furthermore, be maintained and reinforced, whenever circ.u.mstances are favorable, by the convening of conferences, which will bring together as many pioneers laboring in these ten countries, and newly converted believers, as possible, enabling them to jointly consider their plans, problems and activities, concert measures for the progress of the Faith in that continent, and pave the way for the future formation of regional national spiritual a.s.semblies, which must precede the const.i.tution of separate independent national inst.i.tutions in each of these countries. Such summer schools and conferences, initiated and conducted by one of the most important agencies of the highest administrative inst.i.tution in the North American Baha'i Community, gathering together as they will Baha'i representatives of various races and nations on the continent of Europe, will, by reason of their unprecedented character in the evolution of the Faith, since its inception, const.i.tute a historic landmark in the development of the organic world-wide Baha'i community, and will be the harbinger of those epoch-making world conferences, at which the representatives of the nations and races within the Baha'i fold will convene for the strengthening of the spiritual and administrative bonds that unite its members.

INITIATING NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS AND ADAPTING TEACHING METHODS

A beginning, however limited in scope, should be made, ere the present stage of the Divine Plan draws to a close, in the direction of establis.h.i.+ng befitting administrative headquarters for the rising communities and their projected a.s.semblies in the capital cities of Stockholm, of Oslo, of Copenhagen, of The Hague, of Brussels, of Luxembourg, of Madrid, of Lisbon, of Rome and of Bern, through the rental of suitable quarters which, in the course of time, must lead to either the construction or the purchase in each of these capitals of a national Haziratu'l-Quds, as a future seat for independent, elected national spiritual a.s.semblies.

A tentative start, though strictly speaking excluded from the scope of the present Plan, should, I feel, be made, ere the six remaining years have run their course, aiming at the formation, in each of the ten designated countries, of a number of nuclei, however few, however unstable, which will proclaim to the entire Baha'i world the ability of the prosecutors of the Plan to exceed their allocated task, even as they surpa.s.sed, in the Latin American field, the goals which they had originally set before them.

Such a feat, if accomplished, would impart to my overburdened heart a joy that would equal the many consolations which a dearly loved community has showered upon me, in the past, by its signal acts, both within its homeland and abroad, since the pa.s.sing of 'Abdu'l-Baha.

Nor should any of the pioneers, at this early stage in the upbuilding of Baha'i national communities, overlook the fundamental prerequisite for any successful teaching enterprise, which is to adapt the presentation of the fundamental principles of their Faith to the cultural and religious backgrounds, the ideologies, and the temperament of the divers races and nations whom they are called upon to enlighten and attract. The susceptibilities of these races and nations, from both the northern and southern climes, springing from either the Germanic or Latin stock, belonging to either the Catholic or Protestant communion, some democratic, others totalitarian in outlook, some socialistic, others capitalistic in their tendencies, differing widely in their customs and standards of living, should at all times be carefully considered, and under no circ.u.mstances neglected.

These pioneers, in their contact with the members of divers creeds, races and nations, covering a range which offers no parallel in either the north or south continents, must neither antagonize them nor compromise with their own essential principles. They must be neither provocative nor supine, neither fanatical nor excessively liberal, in their exposition of the fundamental and distinguis.h.i.+ng features of their Faith. They must be either wary or bold, they must act swiftly or mark time, they must use the direct or indirect method, they must be challenging or conciliatory, in strict accordance with the spiritual receptivity of the soul with whom they come in contact, whether he be a n.o.bleman or a commoner, a northerner or a southerner, a layman or a priest, a capitalist or a socialist, a statesman or a prince, an artisan or a beggar. In their presentation of the Message of Baha'u'llah they must neither hesitate nor falter. They must be neither contemptuous of the poor nor timid before the great. In their exposition of its verities they must neither overstress nor whittle down the truth which they champion, whether their hearer belong to royalty, or be a prince of the church, or a politician, or a tradesman, or a man of the street. To all alike, high or low, rich or poor, they must proffer, with open hands, with a radiant heart, with an eloquent tongue, with infinite patience, with uncompromising loyalty, with great wisdom, with unshakable courage, the Cup of Salvation at so critical an hour, to the confused, the hungry, the distraught and fear-stricken mult.i.tudes, in the north, in the west, in the south and in the heart, of that sorely tried continent.

EUROPE FEELS STIRRINGS OF SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION

The second century of the Baha'i Era has dawned. The second stage of the Divine Plan has been launched. The second epoch of the Formative Age of the Baha'i Dispensation has opened. The tragedy of a continent, so blessed, so rich in history, so hara.s.sed, is moving towards a climax. The vanguard of the torchbearers of a world-redeeming civilization are landing on its sh.o.r.es and are settling in its capitals. An epoch has commenced, inaugurating the systematic conquest of the European continent by the organized body of the "apostles of Baha'u'llah," destined to unfold its potentialities in the course of succeeding centuries, and bidding fair to eclipse the radiance of those past ages which have successfully witnessed the introduction of the Christian Faith into the continent's northern climes, the efflorescence of Islamic culture that shed such radiance along its southern sh.o.r.es, and the rise of the Reformation in its very heart.

The stage is set. The hour is propitious. The signal is sounded.

Baha'u'llah's spiritual battalions are moving into position. The initial clash between the forces of darkness and the army of light, as unnoticed as the landing, two milleniums ago, of the apostles of Christ on the southern sh.o.r.es of the European continent, is being registered by the denizens of the Abha Kingdom. The Author of the Plan that has set so t.i.tanic an enterprise in motion is Himself mounted at the head of these battalions, and leads them on to capture the cities of men's hearts. A continent, twice blessed by 'Abdu'l-Baha's successive visits to its sh.o.r.es, and the scene of His first public appearance in the West; which has been the cradle of a civilization to some of whose beneficent features the pen of Baha'u'llah has paid significant tribute; on whose soil both the Greek and Roman civilizations were born and flourished; which has contributed so richly to the unfoldment of American civilization; the fountainhead of American culture; the mother of Christendom, and the scene of the greatest exploits of the followers of Jesus Christ; in some of whose outlying territories have been won some of the most resplendent victories which ushered in the Golden Age of Islam; which sustained, in its very heart, the violent impact of the onrus.h.i.+ng hosts of that Faith, intent on the subjugation of its cities, but which refused to bend the knee to its invaders, and succeeded in the end in repulsing their a.s.sault-such a continent is now experiencing, at the hands of the little as yet unnoticed band of pioneers sent forth by the enviable, the privileged, the dynamic American Baha'i Community, the first stirrings of that spiritual revolution which must culminate, in the Golden Age that is as yet unborn, in the permanent establishment of Baha'u'llah's Order throughout that continent.

DIVINE PLAN CHALLENGES NORTH AMERICAN BELIEVERS

One word in conclusion to those to whom the Tablets of so stupendous a Plan have been addressed, to whose care the destinies of so prodigious an enterprise have been committed, and of whom such t.i.tanic efforts are now demanded. I can do no better than recall, nor can I sufficiently emphasize, or refrain from quoting anew, those stirring and pregnant pa.s.sages that illuminate the pages of 'Abdu'l-Baha's epoch-making Tablets.

In one of these Tablets, addressed to the believers in the Northeastern States, these weighty and highly significant words are recorded: "All countries, in the estimation of the one true G.o.d, are but one country, and all cities and villages are on an equal footing... Through faith and cert.i.tude, and the precedence achieved by one over another, however, the dweller conferreth honor upon the dwelling, some of the countries achieve distinction, and attain a preeminent position. For instance, notwithstanding that some of the countries of Europe and of America are distinguished by, and surpa.s.s other countries in, the salubrity of their climate, the wholesomeness of their water, and the charm of their mountains, plains and prairies, yet Palestine became the glory of all nations inasmuch as all the holy and Divine Manifestations, from the time of Abraham until the appearance of the Seal of the Prophets (Mu?ammad), have lived in, or migrated to, or traveled through, that country.

Likewise, Mecca and Medina have achieved illimitable glory, as the light of Prophethood shone forth therein. For this reason Palestine and ?ijaz have been distinguished from all other countries." "Likewise," is His remarkable disclosure, "the continent of America is, in the eyes of the one true G.o.d, the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, the home of the righteous, and the gathering-place of the free."

To those of His followers, dwelling in that enviable and blessed continent, He has chosen to address these no less inspiring words, as recorded in one of those Tablets revealed in honor of the believers of the United States and Canada: "O ye apostles of Baha'u'llah! May my life be sacrificed for you!... Behold the portals which Baha'u'llah hath opened before you! Consider how exalted and lofty is the station you are destined to attain, how unique the favors with which you have been endowed... My thoughts are turned towards you, and my heart leaps within me at your mention. Could ye know how my soul gloweth with your love, so great a happiness would flood your hearts as to cause you to become enamored with each other." "The full measure of your success," He, in another Tablet, addressed to the entire company of His followers in the North American continent these prophetic words: "is as yet unrevealed, its significance unapprehended. Erelong ye will with your own eyes witness how brilliantly every one of you, even as a s.h.i.+ning 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... I fervently hope that in the near future the whole earth may be stirred and shaken by the results of your achievements. The hope 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 G.o.d 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 this Divine Message is carried forward by the American believers from the sh.o.r.es of America, and is propagated through the continents of Europe, of Asia, of Africa and of Australia, 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... Know ye of a certainty that whatever gathering ye enter, the waves of the Holy Spirit are surging over it, and the heavenly grace of the Blessed Beauty encompa.s.seth that gathering... O that I could travel, even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and, raising the call of Ya-Baha'u'l-Abha in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans promote the divine teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! Please G.o.d, ye may achieve it... Thus far ye have been untiring in your labors.

Let your exertions henceforth increase a thousandfold. Summon the people in these countries, capitals, islands, a.s.semblies and churches to enter the Abha Kingdom. The scope of your exertions must needs be extended. The wider its range, the more striking will be the evidence of divine a.s.sistance."