to main pageThe following is an article by Betty Reed, which will be serialised. The subject is particularly apt, as, only a few weeks ago the International Teaching Centre was officially opened and the Arc was completed. No doubt we will all hear soon from the House of Justice with regard to this historic period. We thank Betty for her willingness to share her own particular thoughts at this time. (Editor)
Individual and collective transformation and the role of the Bahá'í Community at this time are linked closely together. These links can be seen more clearly when we consider that the Universal House of Justice wrote in a letter of July 13th 1972. "The fundamental purpose or the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh is the realisation of the organic unity of the entire human race" and that unity is 'the glorious destiny" of humanity.
This is not just an intellectual concept - it is something to be felt in the blood the nerves and the sinews! The House of Justice adds: "we must not allow the fear of rejection by our friends and neighbours to deter us from our goal to live the Bahá'í life…" And, "if we allow prejudice of any kind to manifest itself in us, we shall be guilty before God or causing a set-back to the progress and real growth of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh…. - It is incumbent upon every believer to endeavour with a fierce determination to eliminate this detect from his thoughts and acts….. We shall be distinguished from our non-Baha' associates if our lives are adorned with this principle."
Can we remember that we know what is going to happen both in the Bahá'í Community and in the world? Let us look again at some letters from the beloved Guardian and from the Universal House of Justice - these letters make things clearer.
(i) In its message of 4th July 1983 to the International Youth Conference held in Innsbruck. Austria. the House of Justice said:
"You will live your lives in a period when the forces of history are moving to a climax, when mankind will see the establishment or the Lesser Peace, and during which the Cause of God will play an increasingly prominent part in the reconstruction of human society. It is you who will be called upon in the years to come to stand at the helm of the cause in face of conditions and developments which can, as yet, scarcely be imagined."
The Lesser Peace will be established. Exactly when it will be and exactly how it will be brought about we do not know, but those Youth - and the ones who follow them - can look forward to living their lives at the time when mankind will see it. Thereafter generations of children will live and grow up in peace.
(ii) Although what will ultimately develop will be completely different from what exists now, there is direct continuity between what we are doing now and the life of the future. On October 14th 1941 Shoghi Effendi wrote top an individual: "The Bahá'í Administration is only the first shaping of what in future will come to be the social life and laws or community living"
An indication of the way in which the Bahá'í Community will develop is in the Message from the Universal House or Justice to the Conference for the Baha'is of North America (the United states, Canada. Alaska and Greenland) held in Montreal, Canada in September 1982: "ln their respective homefronts the Bahá'ís of North America should intensify the drive to attract the masses to God's Holy cause, to provide the means for their integration into the work or the Faith, and should become standard-bearers of an embryonic Bahá'í society which is destined gradually to emerge under the influence of the integrating and civilizing forces emanating from the Source of God's Revelation. Such noble objectives cannot be fully achieved unless and until local communities become those collective centres of unity ordained in our writings, and every individual earnestly strives to support the structure and ensure the stability of the Administrative Edifice of the Faith"
The Universal House of Justice looks to the emergence of "an embryonic Bahá'í society". Is this not another step in the unfolding pattern of Baha' life? Individual transformation and collective transformation can be seen as essential prerequisites, part of the preparation for the future, a preparation that cannot be delayed. This is an area in which we cannot hang back as "the forces of history move to a climax."
(end of part 1.)
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