The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahai Community Part 97

The splendid work achieved, in such a short s.p.a.ce of time, in a field so distant, and amongst a race so alien in its background, outlook and customs, must, if the significance of that Mission is to be properly a.s.sessed, be regarded as only a prelude to the series of future campaigns which the privileged members of the British Baha'i community, residing and firmly rooted in the heart of a far-flung Commonwealth and Empire, will, if faithful to such a Mission, launch, in the years ahead, in the islands of the North Sea and of the Mediterranean, as well as in the remote territories situated in the Pacific area-campaigns which, in their range and significance, must throw into shade the feats performed in the African Continent.

To be enabled to rise to this occasion, to ensure the energetic, the systematic and uninterrupted conduct of so vast and diversified an enterprise, amidst peoples and races fully as promising, and even more remotedly situated, and presenting them with a challenge more severe than any which has faced them in the past, the small band of the ardent, the high minded, the resolute followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, charged by Destiny and by virtue of the enviable position they occupy, with so glorious a responsibility for the future awakening of the great ma.s.ses, living under the shadow of, or whose governments are directly a.s.sociated with, the British Crown, must needs in the years immediately ahead, acquire greater coherence, increase more rapidly in numbers, definitely emerge from obscurity, plumb greater depths of consecration, enrich its store of administrative experience, become definitely self-supporting, and a.s.sociate itself more closely, through the body of its elected representatives and its future Hands, with the National and Regional Spiritual a.s.semblies on the European mainland and in all the other continents of the globe, and particularly with the Hands already appointed in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

The sooner these prime requisites, so essential for a further unfoldment of the mighty potentialities inherent in so splendid a Mission, are fulfilled, the sooner will the call be raised for the opening of a new chapter in the history of British Baha'i achievements overseas.

The rapid multiplication of isolated centres, groups and local a.s.semblies, particularly in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Eire; the incorporation of firmly grounded local spiritual a.s.semblies; a greater measure of publicity; a wider dissemination of Baha'i literature; a quick and substantial rehabilitation of the vitally important national Fund; a firmer grasp of the essential verities of the Faith; a more profound study of its history and a deeper understanding of the genesis, the significance, the workings, and the present status and achievements of its embryonic World Order and of the Covenant to which it owes its birth and vitality-these remain the rock-bottom requirements which alone can guarantee the opening and hasten the advent, of that blissful era which every British Baha'i heart so eagerly antic.i.p.ates, and the glories of which can, at present, be but dimly discerned.

Now, of a certainty, is not the time for the members of this gallant band, so thinly spread over the length and breadth of its island home, and reaching out, so laboriously yet so determinedly to the inhospitable islands fringing its northern and western coasts, to dwell, however tentatively, on the nature of the tantalising task awaiting them in the not distant future, or to seek to probe into its mysterious, divinely guided operation. Theirs is the duty to plod on, however tedious the nature of the work demanding their immediate attention, however formidable the obstacles involved in its proper execution, however prolonged the effort which its success necessitates, until the signs of its ultimate consummation, heralding the launching of what is sure to be the most spectacular phase of their Mission, are clearly discerned.

A responsibility, at once colossal, sacred and highly challenging, faces not only the body of the elected representatives of this community, but each and every one of its members. As the world spiritual Crusade, to the successful prosecution of which the British followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah have, singly and collectively, so markedly contributed, approaches its mid-point, the evidences of this indispensable quickening of the tempo of Baha'i activity all over the British Isles and the islands situated in their neighbourhood and far beyond their confines, must become more manifest and rapidly multiply. The admiration and esteem in which a community, relatively small in numbers, strictly limited in resources, yet capable of such solid and enduring achievements, is held by its sister and daughter communities in every continent of the globe, far from declining must be further enhanced. The historic process originated as far back as the year which witnessed the formulation of the Six Year Plan on the occasion of the Centenary of the Declaration of the Bab in _Sh_iraz, which gathered momentum, as a result of the inauguration of the Two Year Plan which followed the Centenary of the Bab's Martyrdom in Tabriz, which received a tremendous impetus, in consequence of the launching of the Ten Year Crusade, commemorating the centenary celebrations of the birth of Baha'u'llah's Mission in ?ihran-such a process must, as the centenary celebrations designed to commemorate the Declaration of that same Mission in Ba_gh_dad approaches, be so markedly accelerated, and yield such a harvest, as will astonish the entire Baha'i world, and give the signal for the inauguration, by those who have so spontaneously set this process in motion, more than a decade ago, of a blissful era designed to carry the chief builders of Baha'u'llah's embryonic World Order, throughout the unnumbered, the diversified and widely scattered Dependencies of the British Crown, to still greater heights of achievements in the service and for the glory of His Faith.

May they, as they forge ahead along the high road leading to ultimate, total and complete victory, receive as their daily sustenance, a still fuller measure of the abounding grace, promised to the believers of an earlier generation by the Centre of the Covenant, the Author of the Divine Plan, Himself, on the occasion of His twice-repeated visit to their sh.o.r.es, and which has been unfailingly vouchsafed to themselves, in the course of over three decades, since the birth of the Formative Age of the Faith and the rise of its Administrative Order in their homeland.

Shoghi

Letter of 7 September 1957

7 September 1957

Dear Baha'i Brother,

On behalf of our beloved Guardian I acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your letter of 17th August enclosing the minutes of the meeting of the British N.S.A. held at the Summer School on August 8th....

Letter of 14 September 1957

14 September 1957

WELCOME DETERMINATION a.s.sEMBLED FRIENDS SUMMER SCHOOL PRAYING FERVENTLY FRIENDS ATTAIN GOALS SCALE n.o.bLER HEIGHTS PATH SERVICE CAUSE BAHa'U'LLaH.

SHOGHI

Letter of 2 October 1957

2 October 1957

Dear John:

In "The Voice of Youth" for July, page ten, there is an article by David Solomon in which he quotes some very significant pa.s.sages from the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Guardian would like to have the exact source of these pa.s.sages, and the quotations in the paragraphs in which they occur, written out in full....

Letter of 11 October 1957

11 October 1957(91)

CONFIDENT BRITISH COMMUNITY RICHLY DESERVES NEW HONOUR.

SHOGHI

THE GUARDIAN'S MESSAGES TO LOCAL SPIRITUAL a.s.sEMBLIES

The a.s.semblies are listed in alphabetical order but their letters are chronologically arranged.

Belfast Bristol Cardiff Dublin Eccles Edinburgh Glasgow Leeds Liverpool London Manchester Northampton Norwich Nottingham Oxford Portsmouth Reading

Letter of 23 April 1950

23 April 1950

To the Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha'is of Belfast

Dear Baha'i Friends,

Your letter of April 12th, conveying such heartening news, was received by our beloved Guardian, and he has instructed me to answer you on his behalf.

He feels your a.s.sembly, a hard-won prize, and occupying an important position as representative of the Faith in Northern Ireland, is one of the key a.s.semblies in the British Isles, and he is immensely proud of your achievement in at last forming it.

You may be sure he will pray for your protection and success in the Holy Shrines, and that your numbers may increase in Belfast and your s.h.i.+p weather every storm triumphantly!

With loving greetings,

[From the Guardian:]

May the Almighty bless sustain and guide you in your meritorious activities, remove every obstacle from your path and enable you to win still greater victories in the service of His glorious Faith.