The following is the FINAL part of an article by Betty Reed. The subject is particularly apt, as, only a few months ago the Seat of the International Teaching Centre was officially opened and the Arc was completed. We thank Betty for her willingness to share her own particular thoughts at this time.
The Bahá’í Community’s Role in the Age of Transition: Conclusion:
In a letter of December 8th 1967 the Universal House of Justice wrote:
We are told by Shoghi Effendi that two great processes are at work in the world: the great Plan of God, tumultuous in its progress, working through mankind as a whole, tearing down barriers to world unity and forging humankind into a unified body in the fires of suffering and experience. This process will produce, in God's due time, the Lesser Peace, the political unification of the world. Mankind at that time can be likened to a body that is unified but without life. The second process, the task of breathing life into this unified body - of creating true unity and spirituality culminating in the Most Great Peace is that of the Bahá 'ís, who are labouring consciously, with detailed instructions and continuing Divine guidance, to erect the fabric of the Kingdom of God on earth, into which they can their fellow men, thus conferring upon them eternal life. ("Wellspring of Guidance", pp.133-134).
Does this not give new meaning to the conscious efforts we are now making, guided by the Universal House of Justice, to achieve a new spirituality, to bring about individual transformation, collective transformation, and to upbuild the structure of the Kingdom of God? The task of the Bahá’ís of the future is to breathe life - spirituality, true unity - into the body of mankind that has achieved political unification but is without life .The mightiest efforts of each generation of Bahá'ís, from childhood to old age, are needed to speed up the process What we, in our turn, achieve will be the foundation upon which following generations will build. Let us make sure that our contribution to that foundation is firm and true.
EXPLANATION OF "LESSER PEACE" (Given on pp.745-746 or The "Glossary" situated at the end of the Compilation “Messages from the Universal House of Justice” l963~1986: “The Third Epoch of the Formative Age”)
"The first of two major stages in which Bahá'ís believe peace will be established. The Lesser Peace will come about through a binding treaty among the nations for the political unification of the world. It will involve fixing every nation's boundaries, strictly limiting the size of armaments, laying down the principles underlying the relations among governments, and ascertaining all international agreements and obligations. Its inception will synchronize with two processes operating within the Bahá’í Faith - the maturation of local and national Bahá'i institutions and the completion of specified buildings around the Arc on Mount Carmel - and will portend the coming of he Most Great Peace."
EXPLANATION OF "MOST GREAT PEACE" (p: 747 of the "Glossary")
"The second of two major stages in which Bahá’ís believe peace will be established. The Most Great Peace will be the practical consequence of the spiritualisation of the world and the fusion of all its races, creeds, classes and nations. It will rest on the foundation of, and be preserved by, the ordinances of God.”