Messages to America Part 11

PREPARATIONS FOR THE CENTENARY

The latest evidences of the magnificent success that has marked the activities of the members of the American Baha'i community have been such as to excite the brightest hopes for the victorious consummation of the collective undertaking they have so courageously launched and have so vigorously prosecuted in recent years. As the first Baha'i Century approaches its end, the magnitude and quality of their achievements acquire added significance and shed increasing l.u.s.ter on its annals. The proceedings of the recently held annual Convention; the formation of twenty-eight a.s.semblies in the course of the year that has just elapsed; the splendid progress achieved in the Latin-American field of Baha'i activity; the superb spirit evinced by the pioneers holding their lonely posts in widely scattered areas throughout the Americas; the exemplary att.i.tude shown by the entire body of the faithful towards the machinations of those who have so sedulously striven to disrupt the Faith and pervert its purpose-these have, to a marked degree, intensified the admiration of the Baha'i communities for those who are contributing so outstanding a share to the enlargement of the limits, and the enhancement of the prestige, of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. The preparations which the American believers are undertaking for the celebration of the Centenary of the Faith must be such as to crown with immortal glory the fifty-year long record of their stewards.h.i.+p in the service of that Faith. Such a celebration must, in its scope and magnificence, fully compensate for the disabilities which hinder so many Baha'i communities in Europe and elsewhere, and even in Baha'u'llah's native land, from paying a befitting tribute to their beloved Faith at so glorious an hour in its history. The few remaining months of this century must witness a concentration of effort, a scale of achievement, a spirit of heroism that will outs.h.i.+ne even the most daring exploits that have already immortalized the Seven Year Plan and covered with glory its valiant prosecutors. The plea I addressed to them, at this late hour, will, I am sure, meet with a response no less remarkable than their past reactions to the appeals I have felt impelled to make to them ever since the inception of the Plan.

He Who, at every stage of their collective enterprise, has so abundantly blessed them, will, no doubt, continue to vouchsafe the blessings until the seal of unqualified victory is set upon their epoch-making task.

August 8, 1943

THE BELOVED FAITH IS SURGING FORWARD

My heart is overflowing with joyous grat.i.tude at the magnificent advance made in numerous spheres of Baha'i activity. The formation of an a.s.sembly in the few remaining areas of the North American continent, the consolidation of the foundation of the newly-established a.s.semblies, and the preservation of the status of the Baha'i centers in all Republics of Latin America, imperatively demand vigilant care, concentrated attention and further self-sacrifice from the vanguard of the valiant army of Baha'u'llah. The beloved Faith is surging forward on all fronts. Its undefeatable, stalwart supporters, both teachers and administrators, are steeling themselves for n.o.ble tasks, braving acute dangers, sweeping away formidable obstacles, capturing new heights, founding mighty inst.i.tutions, winning fresh recruits and confounding the schemes of insidious enemies.

The American Baha'i community must, and will at whatever cost, despite the pressure of events and the desolating war, maintain among its sister communities the exalted standard of stewards.h.i.+p incontestably set during the concluding years of the first Baha'i Century. The confident spirit, unfaltering resolution animating its members, their tenacious valor, elevated loyalty, n.o.bleness of spirit and mighty prowess, will, ere the expiry of the century, crown with complete victory the monumental enterprises undertaken during the course of the fifty years of its existence.

October 5, 1943

A STILL MORE COMPELLING DISPLAY

The vigorous action promptly taken by your a.s.sembly to insure the success of the forthcoming Centenary Celebrations is highly commendable, and provides a fresh demonstration of the magnificent response made by the American believers to every call demanding renewed exertion on their part in the service of the Cause of Baha'u'llah. The progress recently achieved in building up Spiritual a.s.semblies in the virgin areas of the North American continent has been truly remarkable. To consummate so vast an enterprise, however, a still more compelling display of the vitality of the spirit animating the American Baha'i community is required, a still greater concentration of effort is needed, an even more stirring evidence of the daring boldness of its members is imperative. Whoever will arise, in these concluding, fast-fleeting months of the last year of the first Baha'i Century, to fill the remaining posts, and thereby set the seal of total victory on a Plan so pregnant with promise, will earn the lasting grat.i.tude of the present generation of believers in both the East and the West, will merit the acclaim of posterity, will be vouchsafed the special benediction of the Concourse on High, and be made the recipient of the imperishable bounties of Him Who is the Divine Author of the Plan itself.

Whoever will rush forth, at this eleventh hour, and cast his weight into the scales, and contribute his decisive share to so gigantic, so sacred and historic an undertaking, will have not only helped seal the triumph of the Plan itself but will also have notably partic.i.p.ated in the fulfillment of what may be regarded as the crowning act of an entire century. The opportunity that presents itself at this crucial hour is precious beyond expression. The blessings destined to flow from a victory so near at hand are rich beyond example. One final surge of that indomitable spirit that has carried the American Baha'i community to such heights is all that is required, as the first Baha'i century speeds to a close, to release the flow of those blessings that must signalize the termination of the first, and usher in the dawn of the second, Baha'i Century.

November 16, 1943

THE AUSPICIOUS YEAR

The auspicious year destined to witness the Centenary of the Birth of the Faith of Baha'u'llah is brilliantly opening. The last year of the first Baha'i Century is more than half spent. The tempo of organized, concerted activities of the members of the worldwide Baha'i community is correspondingly accelerating. Teaching campaigns, enterprises of inst.i.tutional significance, publicity measures, publication projects, and celebration plans are rapidly multiplying. Inter-community compet.i.tion is steadily mounting. The world-desolating conflict, now in its fifth year, is powerless to cloud the splendid prospect of the triumphant termination of the first, most s.h.i.+ning century of the Baha'i Era. ?ihran reports thirty-four a.s.semblies const.i.tuted, fifty-four groups reinforced, fifty-eight new centers established. Messages from Delhi indicate that Baha'is have established residence in over sixty localities in India and eighteen a.s.semblies are already functioning. To the National Baha'i Headquarters previously founded in ?ihran, Wilmette and Ba_gh_dad, are now added similar centers in Cairo, Delhi and Sydney, officially registered in the names of their respective National a.s.semblies, and representing an addition to Baha'i national endowments amounting to approximately eighteen thousand pounds. The Baha'i international endowments have been further enriched by a recent acquisition on Mount Carmel in the vicinity of the Bab's Shrine transferred to the name of the Palestine Branch of the American National a.s.sembly. Twenty-five acres of land situated in the Jordan Valley have just been dedicated to the Tomb of Baha'u'llah. The recent acquisition of land adjacent to the site of the projected ?ihran Temple raises the holding to over three and a half million square meters.

The Seven Year Plan, providing the chief impulse to the extraordinary expansion of these magnificent activities, must, during the remaining five months, as befitting thanksgiving act for continued outpouring of G.o.d's unfailing grace, surge ahead to dazzling victory surpa.s.sing our highest expectations. The prosecution of the Plan, whose scope transcends every other enterprise launched by Baha'i communities throughout the whole century, must, ere the hundred years run out, culminate in one last, supreme effort whose repercussions will resound throughout the Baha'i world.

January 4, 1944

ADDITION TO ENDOWMENTS

Since the transmission of my recent message conveying news of the magnificent progress achieved by Baha'i communities, a substantial addition to the endowments dedicated to the Shrines raises the holdings in the Jordan Valley to over five hundred acres. The extension of teaching enterprises East and West, the multiplication of Baha'i endowments, national and international, the consolidation of administrative inst.i.tutions, above all the superb evidences of incorruptible loyalty to 'Abdu'l-Baha and His Will, equally proclaim the unyielding determination of the world community to seal with triumph the first Baha'i Century.

January 16, 1944

PARTIc.i.p.aTION OF LATIN AMERICAN BELIEVERS

The partic.i.p.ation of Latin American believers in the Baha'i Centennial Convention is vital to the future development of the Faith in the Americas. I urge individuals as well as the National a.s.sembly to extend a.s.sistance, financial and otherwise, to enable as many representatives as possible to join the North American believers in the proceedings of a gathering of such momentous importance and historic significance in the evolution of the Faith of Baha'u'llah in the western hemisphere.

January 29, 1944

BEFITTINGLY CONSUMMATE THE ENTERPRISES

The brilliant achievements of the heroic pioneers, the itinerant teachers, the indefatigable administrators of Baha'i teaching activities whether local, regional or national, set the seal of total victory on the Seven Year Plan, befittingly consummate the fifty year long enterprises undertaken by the American Baha'i Century. My heart is filled with joy, love, pride and grat.i.tude at the contemplation of the stupendous s.h.i.+ning deeds immortalizing the valiant prosecutors of the greatest collective enterprise ever launched in the course of the history of the Faith of Baha'u'llah.

April 2, 1944

TURNING POINT IN BAHa'i HISTORY

The one remaining and indeed the most challenging task confronting the American Baha'i Community has at long last been brilliantly accomplished.

The structural basis of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah has, through this superb victory, and on the very eve of the world-wide celebrations of the Centenary of His Faith, been firmly laid by the champion-builders of His World Order in every state of the Great Republic of the West and in every Province of the Dominion of Canada. In each of the Republics of Central and South America, moreover, the banner of His undefeatable Faith has been implanted by the members of that same community, while in no less than thirteen Republics of Latin America as well as in two Dependencies in the West Indies, Spiritual a.s.semblies have been established and are already functioning-a feat that has outstripped the goal originally fixed for the valiant members of that Community in their inter-continental sphere of Baha'i activity. The exterior ornamentation of the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the West-the culmination of a forty year old enterprise repeatedly blessed and continually nurtured by 'Abdu'l-Baha has, furthermore, through a remarkable manifestation of the spirit of Baha'i solidarity and self-sacrifice so powerfully animating the members of that stalwart community, been successfully completed, more than a year in advance of the time set for its termination.

The triple task undertaken with such courage, confidence, zeal and determination-a task which ever since the inception of the Seven Year Plan has challenged and galvanized into action the entire body of the American believers and for the efficient prosecution of which processes of a divinely appointed Administrative Order had, during no less than sixteen years, been steadily evolving-is now finally accomplished and crowned with total victory.

The greatest collective enterprise ever launched by the Western followers of Baha'u'llah and indeed ever undertaken by any Baha'i community in the course of an entire century, has been gloriously consummated. A victory of undying fame has marked the culmination of the fifty year long labors of the American Baha'i community in the service of Baha'u'llah and has shed imperishable l.u.s.tre on the immortal records of His Faith during the first hundred years of its existence. The exploits that have marked the progress of this prodigious, this three-fold enterprise, covering a field stretching from Alaska in the North to the extremity of Chile in the South, affecting the destinies of so great a variety of peoples and nations, involving such a tremendous expenditure of treasure and effort, calling forth so remarkable a spirit of heroism and self-sacrifice, and undertaken notwithstanding the vicious a.s.saults and incessant machinations of the breakers of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Covenant, and despite the perils, the trials and restrictions of a desolating war of unexampled severity, augur well for the successful prosecution, and indeed a.s.sure the ultimate victory, of the remaining stages of the Plan conceived, a quarter of a century ago, by 'Abdu'l-Baha for the followers of Baha'u'llah in the North American continent.

To the band of pioneers, whether settlers or itinerant teachers, who have forsaken their homes, who have scattered far and wide, who have willingly sacrificed their comfort, their health and even their lives for the prosecution of this Plan; to the several committees and their auxiliary agencies that have been entrusted with special and direct responsibility for its efficient and orderly development and who have discharged their high responsibilities with exemplary vigor, courage and fidelity; to the national representatives of the community itself, who have vigilantly and tirelessly supervised, directed and coordinated the unfolding processes of this vast undertaking ever since its inception; to all those who, though not in the forefront of battle, have through their financial a.s.sistance and through the instrumentality of their deputies, contributed to the expansion and consolidation of the Plan, I myself, as well as the entire Baha'i world, owe a debt of grat.i.tude that no one can measure or describe.

To the sacrifices they have made, to the courage they have so consistently shown, to the fidelity they have so remarkably displayed, to the resourcefulness, the discipline, the constancy and devotion they have so abundantly demonstrated, future generations viewing the magnitude of their labors in their proper perspective, will no doubt pay adequate tribute-a tribute no less ardent and well-deserved than the recognition extended by the present-day builders of the World Order of Baha'u'llah to the Dawn-Breakers, whose s.h.i.+ning deeds have signalized the birth of the Heroic Age of His Faith.

To the elected representatives of all the Baha'i communities of the New World, a.s.sembled beneath the Dome of the Mother Temple of the West, on the occasion of the historic, first All-American Baha'i Convention-a Convention at which every state and province in the North American continent is represented, in which the representatives of every Republic of Latin America have been invited to partic.i.p.ate, whose delegates have been elected, for the first time in American Baha'i history, by all local communities already possessing a.s.semblies, by all groups and isolated believers throughout the United States and Canada, and whose proceedings will be for ever a.s.sociated with the celebration of the Centenary of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of 'Abdu'l-Baha, of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Baha'i Faith in the Western Hemisphere, and of the completion of the exterior ornamentation of the First Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the West, to all the privileged attendants of such an epoch-making Convention, I, on my own behalf, as well as in the name of all Baha'i Communities sharing with them, at this great turning point in the history of our Faith, the joys and triumphs of this solemn hour, feel moved to convey the expression of our loving admiration, our joy and our grat.i.tude for the brilliant conclusion of what posterity will no doubt acclaim as one of the most stirring episodes in the history of the Formative Age of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, as well as one of the most momentous enterprises undertaken during the entire course of the first Century of the Baha'i Era.

April 15, 1944