The Atrocity in America
The Atrocity in America |
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13 September 2001
Beloved Friends
The deeply shocking and tragic events which have taken place in the United States in recent days have weighed heavily on our hearts and will no doubt have caused us to worry about the future peace and well-being of humanity. They may have also prompted us to consider afresh our response as Bahá'ís at this very critical time in history.
In contemplating the implications of these heart-breaking events for the worldwide Bahá’í community, we may wish to reflect on these words of the beloved Guardian which were penned at another very dark hour in humanity's fortunes.
"Not ours, puny mortals that we are, to attempt, at so critical a stage in the long and checkered history of mankind, to arrive at a precise and satisfactory understanding of the steps which must successively lead a bleeding humanity, wretchedly oblivious of its God, and careless of Bahá'u'lláh, from its Calvary to its ultimate resurrection. Not ours, the living witnesses of the all-subduing potency of His Faith, to question, for a moment, and however dark the misery that enshrouds the world, the ability of Bahá’u’lláh to forge, with the hammer of His Will, and through the fire of tribulation, upon the anvil of this travailing age, and in the particular shape His mind has envisioned, these scattered and mutually destructive fragments into which a perverse world has fallen, into one single unit, solid and indivisible, able to execute His design for the children of men.
Ours rather the duty, however confused the scene, however dismal the present outlook, however circumscribed the resources we dispose of, to labour serenely, confidently, and unremittingly to lend our share of assistance, in whichever way circumstances may enable us, to the operation of the forces which, as marshalled and directed by Bahá’u’lláh, are leading humanity out of the valley of misery and shame to the loftiest summits of power and glory."
(Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p 124)
Dearly loved Friends, we should be confident that whatever may happen in the days, weeks and months ahead is part of God's Major Plan for the ultimate unification of the world. Tempting as it may be to speculate on the precise nature of what this may involve, tempting as it may be to involve ourselves in potentially controversial discussions of what actions the governments of the world need to take at this stage, we should instead move forward in the knowledge that we have a divine mandate to pursue, a divine Plan for the redemption of mankind to prosecute, a divine summons to assist the peoples of the world to open their minds and hearts to the one and only Power that can fulfil their ultimate longing and bring about the peace and unity of all mankind.
With loving Baha'i greetings.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United
Kingdom.