Ridván 1998
1 At
this halfway mark in the Four Year Plan, we affirm with uplifted Hearts that
the worldwide Bahá'í community is breaking new ground at a dynamic stage in its
evolution. The process of entry by troops, upon which its energies are focused,
is clearly advancing.
2 Three developments brighten our expectations. One is in
the solid results being produced wherever training institutes are in operation.
Tens of thousands of individuals have over the last two years completed at
least one institute course. The immediate effects upon them have been a greatly
strengthened faith, a more conscious spiritual identity, and a deepened
commitment to Bahá'í service. The second pertains to the notable improvement in
the conditions affecting the establishment and renewal of Local Spiritual
Assemblies. The decision to form these institutions only on the first day of
Ridvan, and to do so principally at the initiative of the communities to which
they belong, was put into effect in 1997. While there was an immediate but not
unexpected drop in the number of Local Assemblies worldwide, the decrease was
not very large; in fact, increases were recorded in some countries. This
outcome indicates that the process of maturation of these divinely ordained
institutions is on course. The third is that a new confidence in teaching is
stirring the friends, yielding impressive results in various regions. The
potential for a steady and ever-expanding influx of new believers has always
been great, and we are able to say with assurance that the capacity to
actualize it is methodically being developed more than ever before with the
prosecution of the current Plan.
3 Further to these signs of progress, we are gratified by
the marvellous speed with which the construction projects on Mount Carmel
proceeded to fulfil the schedule which had been set for the year just ended.
Immediately ahead are the establishment in May of three new National Spiritual
Assemblies --Sabah, Sarawak, and Slovakia -- and the re-establishment of the
National Spiritual Assembly in Liberia, raising to 179 the pillars of the
Universal House of Justice. In contemplating the divine favours being bestowed
on our community, we acknowledge with deep gratitude the constancy of the acts
of service being performed by the individual Hands of the Cause of God, by the
International Teaching Centre, and by the Counsellors and their auxiliaries on
all continents. The increasing strength of National Spiritual Assemblies also
bolsters our certitude in the imminence of resounding victories.
4 Against this salutary picture of the community's
prospects is the confused background of a planet at odds with itself. And yet,
amid the widespread desolation of the human spirit, it is apparent that at some
level of consciousness there is among the peoples of the world a growing sense
of an irresistible movement towards global unity and peace. This sense is being
aroused as the physical barriers between peoples are being virtually eliminated
by breathtaking advances in science and technology. Nevertheless, a mixed
catalogue of world-shaking tribulations and world-shaping developments keeps
humanity concurrently dazed and dazzled. The storms and stresses battering the
social fabric are incomprehensible to all except the relatively few of the
planet's inhabitants who recognize God's purpose for this Day.
5 Our fellow human beings everywhere are insensibly
subjected at one and the same time to the conflicting emotions incited by the
continuous operation of simultaneous processes of "rise and of fall, of
integration and of disintegration, of order and chaos".[1] These
Shoghi Effendi identified as aspects of the Major Plan and Minor Plan of God,
the two known ways in which His purpose for humankind is going forward. The
Major Plan is associated with turbulence and calamity and proceeds with an
apparent, random disorderliness, but is, in fact, inexorably driving humanity
towards unity and maturity. Its agency for the most part is the people who are
ignorant of its course and even antagonistic towards its aim. As Shoghi Effendi
has pointed out, God's Major Plan uses "both the mighty and the lowly as
pawns in His world-shaping game, for the fulfilment of His immediate purpose
and the eventual establishment of His Kingdom on earth."[2] The
acceleration of the processes it generates is lending impetus to developments
which, with all the initial pain and heartache attributable to them, we Bahá'ís
see as signs of the emergence of the Lesser Peace.
6 Unlike His Major Plan, which works mysteriously, God's
Minor Plan is clearly delineated, operates according to orderly and well-known
processes, and has been given to us to execute. Its ultimate goal is the Most
Great Peace. The four-year-long campaign, at the mid-point of which we have
arrived, constitutes the current stage in the Minor Plan. It is to the
achievement of its purpose that we must all devote our attention and energies.
7 At times it may seem that the operation of the Major Plan
causes a disruption in the work of the Minor Plan, but the friends have every
reason to remain undismayed. For they recognize the source of the recurrent
turbulence at play in the world and, in the words of our Guardian,
"acknowledge its necessity, observe confidently its mysterious processes,
ardently pray for the mitigation of its severity, intelligently labour to
assuage its fury, and anticipate, with undimmed vision, the consummation of the
fears and the hopes it must necessarily engender."[3]
8 Even a cursory survey of the global scene in recent years
cannot but lead to observations fraught with special significance for a Bahá'í
viewer. For one thing, amid the din of a society in turmoil can be discerned an
unmistakable trend towards the Lesser Peace. An intriguing inkling is provided
by the greater involvement of the United Nations, with the backing of powerful
governments, in attending to long-standing and urgent world problems; another
derives from the dramatic recognition by world leaders in only recent months of
what the interconnectedness of all nations in the matter of trade and finance
really implies -- a condition which Shoghi Effendi anticipated as an essential
aspect of an organically unified world. But a development of even greater
moment to the Bahá'í community is that a massive number of people are searching
for spiritual truth. Several recently published studies have been devoted to
this phenomenon. The ideologies that dominated the larger part of this century
have been exhausted; at their waning in the century's closing years, a hunger
for meaning, a yearning of the soul, is on the rise.
9 This spiritual hunger is characterized by a restlessness,
by a swelling dissatisfaction with the moral state of society; it is also
evident in the upsurge of fundamentalism among various religious sects, and in
the multiplication of new movements posing as religions or aspiring to take the
place of religion. Here are observations that enable one to appreciate the
interaction between the two divinely propelled processes at work on the planet.
The manifold opportunities thus providentially provided to present the Message
of Bahá'u'lláh to searching souls create a dynamic situation for the Bahá'í
teacher. The implications for the task at hand are immensely encouraging.
10 Our hopes, our goals, our possibilities of moving forward
can all be realized through concentrating our endeavours on the major aim of
the Divine Plan at its current stage -- that is, to effect a significant
advance in the process of entry by troops. This challenge can be met through
persistent effort patiently pursued. Entry by troops is a possibility well
within the grasp of our community. Unremitting faith, prayer, the promptings of
the soul, Divine assistance -- these are among the essentials of progress in
any Bahá'í undertaking. But also of vital importance to bringing about entry by
troops is a realistic approach, systematic action. There are no shortcuts.
Systematization ensures consistency of lines of action based on well-conceived
plans. In a general sense, it implies an orderliness of approach in all that
pertains to Bahá'í service, whether in teaching or administration, in
individual or collective endeavour. While allowing for individual initiative
and spontaneity, it suggests the need to be clear-headed, methodical,
efficient, constant, balanced and harmonious. Systematization is a necessary
mode of functioning animated by the urgency to act.
11 Towards ensuring an orderly evolution of the community, a
function of Bahá'í institutions is to organize and maintain a process of
developing human resources whereby Bahá'ís, new and veteran alike, can acquire
the knowledge and capacity to sustain a continuous expansion and consolidation
of the community. The establishment of training institutes is critical to such
effort, since they are centres through which large numbers of individuals can
acquire and improve their ability to teach and administer the Faith. Their
existence underscores the importance of knowledge of the Faith as a source of power
for invigorating the life of the Bahá'í community and of the individuals who
compose it.
12 The facts at hand confirm that the Four Year Plan works
where a systematic approach is understood and applied. These same facts show
that the institutions of the Faith, in their collaborative efforts at national,
regional, and local levels, have clearly been adhering to this understanding.
However, with individuals, on whom rests the ultimate success of the Plan, this
understanding is less clear. For this reason, we must emphasize to our
fellow-believers the importance to their individual effort of this prerequisite
of success in teaching and in other undertakings.
13 As translated into programmes and projects by national
and local institutions, the Plan, among other things, gives direction,
identifies goals, stimulates effort, provides a variety of needed facilities
and materials to benefit the work of teachers and administrators. This is of
course necessary for the proper functioning of the community, but is of no
consequence unless its individual members respond through active participation.
In so responding, each individual, too, must make a conscious decision as to
what he or she will do to serve the Plan, and as to how, where and when to do
it. This determination enables the individual to check the progress of his
actions and, if necessary, to modify the steps being taken. Becoming accustomed
to such a procedure of systematic striving lends meaning and fulfilment to the
life of any Bahá'í.
14 But beyond the necessity of responding to the call of the
institutions, the individual is charged by Bahá'u'lláh Himself with the sacred
duty of teaching His Cause, described by Him as the "most meritorious of
all deeds."[4] So long
as there are souls in need of enlightenment, this duty must surely remain the
constant occupation of every believer. In its fulfilment, the individual is
directly responsible to Bahá'u'lláh. "Let him not wait for any
directions," Shoghi Effendi urgently advises, "or expect any special
encouragement, from the elected representatives of his community, nor be
deterred by any obstacles which his relatives, or fellow-citizens may be
inclined to place in his path, nor mind the censure of his critics or
enemies."[5] The
writings of the Central Figures and of our Guardian are replete with advice and
exhortations concerning the individual's irreplaceable role in the advancement
of the Cause. So it is inevitable that we should feel impelled, at this
particular time in the life of humanity as a whole, to appeal directly to each
member of our community to ponder the urgent situation facing us all as the
helpers of the Abha Beauty.
15 Our lot, dear brothers and sisters, is to be consciously
involved in a vast historic process the like of which has not ever before been
experienced by any people. As a global community, we have, thus far, attained a
unique and magnificent success in being representative of the full spectrum of
the human race -- thanks to the inestimable expenditure of life, effort and
treasure willingly made by thousands of our spiritual forebears. There is no
other aggregation of human beings who can claim to have raised up a system with
the demonstrated capacity to unite all of God's children in one world-embracing
Order. This achievement places us not only in a position of incomparable
strength, but more particularly in one of inescapable responsibility. Does not
every one of us therefore have a divine obligation to fulfil, a sacred duty to
perform towards every other one who is not yet aware of the call of God's
latest Manifestation? Time does not stop, does not wait. With every passing
hour a fresh affliction strikes at a distracted humanity. Dare we linger?
16 In a mere two years the Four Year Plan will be concluded,
just some months before the end of an unforgettable century. Looming before us,
then, is a twofold date with destiny. In extolling the unprecedented potential
of the twentieth century, the beloved Master averred that its traces will last
forever. Seized with such a vision, the mind of the alert follower of the
Blessed Beauty must undoubtedly be astir with anxious questions as to what part
he or she will play in these few fleeting years, and as to whether he or she
will, at the end of this seminal period, have made a mark among those enduring
traces which the mind of the Master perceived. To ensure a soul-satisfying
answer, one thing above all else is necessary: to act, to act now, and to
continue to act.
17 Our heartfelt plea at the Holy Threshold on behalf of us
all is that we may be divinely aided and richly confirmed in whatever we do
towards meeting the urgent aim of the Divine Plan at so fate-laden a moment in
human history.
THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE of JUSTICE