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Abstract: A lengthy response inspired by the US community's 1994 "Vision in Action" initiative, addressing the slowness of the growth of the Faith in America and the impact of negative trends in American society on the nation's Bahá'í community. Notes: |
Letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, May 19 1994
1994-05-19
The Universal House of Justice Bahá'í World Centre 19 May 1994
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States
Dear Bahá'í Friends,
We recall with much joy and deep gratitude to Bahá'u'lláh your presence in the
Holy Land only a short while ago during the month of the Fast. Your urgent request
to which we acceded by meeting with all nine of your members in intensive
consultations over a period of three days--a new fact of history in itself--initiated another phase in the evolution of your Assembly and reinforced the bonds
that bind the American Bahá'í community to the World Centre of the Faith. Our
hearts were touched by the candour, courage, and sincerity with which your
members presented your concerns, as well as by the spirit of optimism you
displayed despite the overwhelming challenges and burdens which prompted your
request for a meeting with us.
Having considered the various points and queries you raised, we are now able to
respond to those which fall under the broad categories of teaching, relations
between your National Spiritual Assembly and the Continental Counsellors, and the
functioning of your Assembly.
* * *
Regarding your "Vision in Action" initiative, you reported evidences of a
tremendous response, some movement, and some expansion furthermore, the
stimulus of the recent Atlanta conference spearheaded by the Continental
Counsellors caused a marked acceleration of activities. In sum, the friends have
seldom been more visibly active, but growth is slow you feel the community has
for some time been on the threshold of a breakthrough which remains elusive. The
degeneration of society, as manifested by the breakdown of moral standards and
the alarming increase of violence, you feel, is exerting a debilitating effect on the
individual believer. You yearn for a way to free the teaching potential which to a
large extent is locked up in the individual in the face of these dreadful
circumstances.
We feel that an over-anxiousness on your part about a breakthrough and an undue
worry over the state of society can be counter-productive. While there are
opportunities for greater growth than is occurring, neither your Assembly nor the
friends must burden themselves with feelings of failure or disappointment, for
such feelings are self-fulfilling and can easily cause stagnation in the expansion
of the Cause. The tendency toward frustration, sometimes induced by a desire for
instant gratification, must be resisted by an effort to gain deeper appreciation of
the divine process. In exhorting the individual concerning the spiritual obligation
resting upon him "to make of the mandate of teaching, so vitally binding upon all,
the all-pervading concern of his life", Shoghi Effendi said that "ever y bearer of
the Message of Bahá'u'lláh should consider it not only an obligation but a privilege
to scatter far and wide the seeds of His Faith, and to rest content in the abiding
knowledge that whatever be the immediate response to that Message, and however
inadequate the vehicle that conveyed it, the power of its Author will, as He sees
fit, enable those seeds to germinate, and in circumstances which no one can
foresee enrich the harvest which the labour of His followers will gather." You may
rest assured that your particularly blessed community will not be denied a
triumphant expansion if its members remain constant and confident in their
teaching activities.
Paradoxical as it may seem, the prospects toward the breakthrough you anticipate
in the teaching field are conspicuous in the current, distressing state of society.
You must realize that the worse conditions become, the more plentiful are the
opportunities to teach the Cause, the greater the degree of receptivity to the
Divine Message. Bahá'u'lláh certainly gave ample foreknowledge about the radical,
worldwide disturbance which His Revelation is creating as a part of the transition
toward the unity and peace that are the ultimate goal of His Faith. Your awareness
of this inevitable transition should enable your members to detach themselves
from the debilitating emotions aroused by the turmoil which characterizes this
process and to equip your Assembly as the highest governing body of the Bahá'í
community in the United States to demonstrate to the friends a confident outlook,
which the persistence and vigour of their teaching activities will fully justify.
Such detachment as exemplified by your Assembly and practiced by the friends
throughout the community will, moreover, signify a spiritual achievement which
was anticipated by Shoghi Effendi in his warning to your community, when he said:
"The glowing tributes, so repeatedly and deservedly paid to the capacity, the
spirit, the conduct, and the high rank, of the American believers, both individually
and as an organic community, must, under no circumstances, be confounded with
the characteristics and nature of the people from which God has raised them up."
In other words, by the attainment of a "sharp distinction between that community
and that people," you and the friends who rely upon your guidance will recognize
that American society cannot be exempted from the rigours and consequences of
the transition affecting all the world.
Painful as may be the decadent scene, deep as is your sympathy for those who
suffer from the terrible decline of society, you must see the possibilities which
are thus provided for augmenting the healing forces of an emerging World Order.
Shoghi Effendi advised the North American community plainly in this regard. "The
opportunities which the turmoil of the present age presents, with all the sorrows
which it evokes, the fears which it excites, the disillusionment which it produces,
the perplexities which it creates, the indignation which it arouses, the revolt
which it provokes, the grievances it engenders, the spirit of restless search which
it awakens, must," he asserted, "be exploited for the purpose of spreading far and
wide the knowledge of the redemptive power of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and for
enlist ing fresh recruits in the ever-swelling army of His followers."
Commenting further on the global spectacle of upheavals, cataclysms and
tribulations which the worsening affairs of humanity evoke at the impending
approach of the Kingdom of God on earth, Shoghi Effendi addressed these words of
insight and encouragement to the North American friends: "Far from yielding in
their resolve, far from growing oblivious of their task, they should, at no time,
however much buffeted by circumstances, forget that the synchronization of such
world-shaking crises with the progressive unfoldment and fruition of their
divinely appointed task is itself the work of Providence, the design of an
inscrutable Wisdom, and the purpose of an all-compelling Will, a Will that directs
and controls, in its own mysterious way, both the fortunes of the Faith and the
destinies of men. Such simultaneous processes of rise and of fall, of integration
and of disintegration, of order and chaos, with their continuous and reciprocal
reactions on each other, are but aspects of a greater Plan, one and indivisible,
whose Source is God, whose author is Bahá'u'lláh, the theatre of whose operations
is the entire planet, and whose ultimate objectives are the unity of the human race
and the peace of all mankind."
Moreover, the beloved Guardian felt that: "Reflections such as these should steel
the resolve of the entire Bahá'í community, should dissipate their forebodings, and
arouse them to rededicate themselves to every single provision of that Divine
Charter whose outline has been delineated for them by the pen of 'Abdu'l-Bahá." By
being attuned to this divine perspective, your Assembly will be able to assist the
friends to see that they will not merely be able to cope with the alarming
incidents of social decline they are daily witnessing, but even better than that,
they will be inspired to arise with renewed vision to recruit to Bahá'í membership
an increasing number of men and women whose minds and hearts are ready to
respond to the Divine Message and who will join them in dispelling the
bewilderment and despair gripping their fellow citizens and undermining the
structure of their country.
It is also vital for your Assembly to keep in mind that the mental anguish which
the prevailing situation induces can and must be overcome through prayer and a
conscious attention to teaching the Cause and living the Bahá'í life with a world
embracing vision. Certainly, the members of such a well established community as
yours, one enjoying the special favours providentially conferred upon it by the
Tablets of the Divine Plan, do realize the urgency and seriousness of their task.
Surely they see with what patient endurance the dear friends in the Cradle of the
Faith are meeting their God-given challenges even to the extent of sacrificing
their life's blood so that the world may become a better place. Undoubtedly, the
highly esteemed American believers, who bear the designation "spiritual
descendants of the Dawn-breakers," know quite well that they must now seize
their chance at this critical time to prove their own capacity to endure that living
sacrifice which, as Shoghi Effendi said, in contrast to dying, is required of them in
the scriptures of our Faith. May they be granted the celestial strength to pass,
over and over again, the mental tests which 'Abdu'l-Bahá promised He would send
to them to purify them, thus enabling them to achieve their divinely conferred
potential as a force for change in the world.
In the arena of teaching, your indispensable terms of reference and the unerring
resource to which you have ready access are the Master's Tablets of the Divine
Plan. They invest your community with extraordinary powers shared by your sister
community in Canada. It is in reacquainting the American friends with the special
mission, both at home and abroad, assigned to them in these seminal and timeless
documents, and in relating their contents to current conditions, that you will find
the key to the revitalization of the teaching work and the winning of outstanding
victories on the home front. In this effort you will be powerfully aided by the
explanations provided in the letters of our dear Guardian, such as "The Advent of
Divine Justice," "The Challenging Requirements of the Present Hour," "American
Bahá'ís in the Time of World Peril." We have every confidence that, together with
the Continental Counsellors and the Auxiliary Board members, you can discover the
way further to release the enormous energies of the friends and to intensify the
zeal which they have so splendidly displayed in the teaching field on so many
occasions in the past.
* * *
We were very pleased by the sense you conveyed of an ever-closer relationship
between your Assembly and the Continental Counsellors, and we were even more
deeply impressed by your eagerness to know how you might strengthen this
relationship. A beginning toward achieving your desire would be for you to obtain
an integrated understanding of the Counsellors' responsibilities and sphere of
action in relation to your own.
As you know, a distinguishing feature of the Administrative Order is the
existence of elected institutions, on the one hand, which function corporately with
vested legislative, executive and judicial powers, and of appointed, eminent and
devoted believers, on the other hand, who function primarily as individuals for the
specific purposes of protecting and propagating the Faith under the guidance of the
Head of the Faith. The two sets of institutions collaborate in their functions so as
to ensure the progress of the Cause. You are undoubtedly aware of the previous
exposition of this subject however, we offer the following comments to assist
your further understanding of the matter.
The Continental Boards of Counsellors and the National Spiritual Assemblies
share in the functions of propagation and protection, but the Counsellors
specialize in these functions from a different level and in a different manner.
From a continental vantage point, the Counsellors bring a perspective to their
functions which, when offered to a National Assembly in the form of counsel,
advice, recommendations, suggestions or commentary, enriches the latter's
understanding, acquaints it with a broader experience than its own, and encourages
it to maintain a world embracing vision.
An aspect of the difference in the manner of functioning of the Counsellors
derives from the instructions given in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to
the Hands of the Cause of God, the extension into the future of whose functions of
protection and propagation are the responsibility of the Counsellors. As appointees
of the Universal House of Justice, the Counsellors assist the Head of the Faith to
broaden the base, foster the strength and ensure the security of the National
Spiritual Assemblies and the institutions and communities under their
jurisdiction. Through their Auxiliary Boards, the Continental Counsellors spread
the benefits of their functions to the local Spiritual Assemblies and grassroots of
the community. These functions are shaped by their obligations, in the words of
the Will and Testament, "to diffuse the Divine Fragrances, to edify the souls of
men, to promote learning, to improve the character of all men and to be, at all
times and under all conditions, sanctified and detached from earthly things." It can
be seen, then, that through their work in propagating and protecting the Faith, the
Counsellors play a major role in knitting and bolstering the entire fabric of the
Bahá'í community.< P>
The flexibility and speed with which the Counsellors and their Auxiliary Board
members can respond to a perceived need in the community--such as a need for
encouragement, explanation of plans, deepening in the Teachings, protection of the
Covenant--are elements of their functioning which distinguish them from
Spiritual Assemblies this flexibility enables them to operate as occasions
demand, whether it is in giving counsel at a meeting, or advising an individual in
private, or helping the friends to understand and obey a ruling of the Spiritual
Assembly, or dealing with issues of the Covenant. In such different modes these
officers of the Faith are able to draw attention to relevant Texts, to impart
information, explore situations, and acquaint themselves with conditions in ways
not possible to a Spiritual Assembly but important to the success of its plans.
They are able then to share with Spiritual Assemblies, as deemed necessary,
ideas, analyses, perceptions and advice which inevitably enhance the ability of
these Assemblies to serve their communities. They thus assist Assemblies to
mature. Where local Assemblies are new or weak, Auxiliary Board members help
them to understand their functions, encourage them to organize their work, and
rally the local believers in support of their Assemblies' initiatives.
Through the various modes of their activities, the Counsellors aided by their
Auxiliary Boards spark and buttress the growth and development of Spiritual
Assemblies and local and national communities. With this perspective, Shoghi
Effendi's regarding of the Auxiliary Board members as "a prop and mainstay to the
often overworked and overburdened National Spiritual Assemblies" becomes clear.
The indispensability of the involvement of Continental Counsellors and Auxiliary
Board members in the planning stages of the teaching work and the benefits of
acquainting them with the hopes and concerns of National Spiritual Assemblies
and of seeking their advice are also obvious.
With the opening of the fourth epoch of the Formative Age, a procedure was
activated by which the goals of national plans are formulated in joint
consultations of National Spiritual Assemblies and Continental Counsellors. It
initiated a new phase in the maturation of the Administrative Order. This
development ensures two significant benefits in particular: It enables each
institution to draw on the experiences and insights particular to the other, thereby
making available to the planning process two distinct channels of information
from two levels of Bahá'í administration and it also assures to the Counsellors a
necessary familiarity with the background, rationale, and content of national
plans, which as a matter of principle they are expected to support. Both
institutions obtain strength from such collaboration, and we are particularly
pleased that the designing of the Three Year Plan in the United States followed a
pattern which involved the two arms of the administration in the manner you
described to us.
While the Counsellors and their Auxiliary Boards, in addition to the discharge of
their specific responsibilities, will support the initiatives adopted by a National
Spiritual Assembly, the Assembly should recognize that the Counsellors must be
free to determine, according to their own best judgment, in what manner that
support will be given. There is a great difference between the functions of
national committees and Auxiliary Board members in this respect. Whereas the
committees may be required by the Assembly to follow particular procedures,
Auxiliary Board members are not similarly bound yet they should not act in a
manner that undermines the operations of the National Assembly or its agencies.
This does not mean that Auxiliary Board members may not decide, upon request or
not, to participate in the execution of a particular program or educational project
devised by a national committee, or even to contribute toward the
conceptualization and fruition of the project. It does mean, however, that their
prerogative to proceed within a wider latitude than that accessible to the national
committee should be respected.
By working at the grassroots of the community, an Auxiliary Board member is
often able to satisfy a need not being met by any national or local program, but
which if dealt with by the Auxiliary Board member will better equip the local
friends to achieve the established goals of the community. Such a flexibility on
the part of the Auxiliary Board member in dealing with immediate situations, such
a freedom for independent action, should be taken for granted by all concerned.
However, a pattern of activity on the part of the Auxiliary Board member, or even
of a Counsellor, which appears to the National Assembly to be seriously diverting
attention from the adopted plans of the community should unhesitatingly be made
a matter for remedial consultation with the Counsellors.
The Counsellors are members of a continental, as distinct from a national,
institution, and they occupy a rank higher than that of the National Spiritual
Assembly. Apart from any other consideration, their rank is, in a practical sense, a
functional necessity if these officers of the Faith are to be accorded freedom of
the community at all levels and their advice and other functions are to be taken
seriously. We have said in an earlier letter that "the existence of institutions of
such exalted rank, comprising individuals who play such a vital role, who yet have
no legislative, administrative or judicial authority, and are entirely devoid of
priestly functions or the right to make authoritative interpretations, is a feature
of Bahá'í administration unparalleled in the religions of the past." It is a difficult
concept to grasp. But with the passage of time since the first contingent of
Continental Counsellors was appointed, much understanding has surely been
acquired.
Shoghi Effendi stated categorically to your Assembly: "There can be no conflict of
authority, no duality under any form or circumstances in any sphere of Bahá'í
jurisdiction whether local, national or international." The authority of a National
Assembly is therefore not diminished but, rather, enhanced by the existence of the
Continental Counsellors, who are duty bound by the very character of their
responsibilities as protectors of the Faith to uphold the rank and to support the
authority of Spiritual Assemblies. Similarly, the National Assembly must, on the
basis of principle and in its own best interest, ensure that Counsellors and
Auxiliary Board members are not hampered in carrying out their sacred
responsibilities and that their right and freedom to function are upheld.
The attitude of these two institutions toward each other should be motivated not
merely by a legalistic application of the rules of their functional relationship. Far
more is required, for they must, in the first place, approach their joint
responsibilities within the framework of the spiritual requisites for all
successful Bahá'í relationships. Where love, respect and courtesy are genuinely and
mutually expressed, estrangement finds no accommodation and problems become
soluble challenges. Bahá'u'lláh's admonition is highly instructive in this regard He
says: "Abase not the station of the learned in Baha and belittle not the rank of such
rulers as administer justice amidst you."
Achieving a closer and more effective relationship between you and the
Continental Counsellors will depend on the cultivation of an incrementally
harmonious attitude and on an openness in your dealings with them which this
attitude will certainly facilitate. The relationship between you should be one of
fellowship informed with a sense of respect but devoid of the rigid formalities
associated with so many social organizations. When you have doubts and concerns
about your own plans, confide in the Counsellors when something they do causes
you worry, talk to them in the proper spirit of Bahá'í consultation. Remember that
they, like yourselves, are burdened with the work of the Cause and are beset with
many concerns in its service, and they need your sympathetic understanding of the
challenges they face. Open your hearts and your minds to them regard them as your
confidants, your loving friends. And be ever ready to extend to them your hand in
support.
The existence of a loving, trusting and informal atmosphere in your dealings with
the Counsellors should not, however, be allowed to relax adherence to the rules
governing the working relationship between the Continental Board of Counsellors
and their Auxiliary Boards, on the one hand, and the National Spiritual Assembly
and its committees, on the other. These matters are explained in detail in our
letter of October 1,1969, which you have published.
* * *
We now wish to address the manner of your functioning as a National Spiritual
Assembly. Your analysis of the situation identified the issues of immediate
concern about the national administration of the Faith, such issues as: over-
centralization, particularly with regard to the administration of the teaching work
your fear that you may be exercising a level of administrative control that may be
stifling individual initiative throughout the country and the relation of your
Assembly to the community.
You live in a society caught in the tightening grip of moral decadence on a vast
scale. But this should come as no surprise to you. It is the unavoidable consequence
of a pervasive godlessness its symptoms and repercussions were described in
painful detail by Shoghi Effendi in several of his letter s to the Western friends.
Inevitably, the American Bahá'í community is affected by this condition to some
extent. The corrosive influence of an overbearing and rampant secularization is
infecting the style of administration of the Faith in your community and
threatening to undermine its efficacy.
The aggressiveness and competitiveness which animate a dominantly capitalist
culture the partisanship inherent in a fervidly democratic system the suspicion of
public-policy institutions and the skepticism toward established authority
ingrained in the political attitude of the people and which trace their origins to
the genesis of American society the cynical disregard of the moderating principles
and rules of civilized human relationships resulting from an excessive liberalism
and its immoral consequences--such unsavory characteristics inform entrenched
habits of American life, which imperceptibly at first but more obviously in the
long run have come to exert too great a sway over the manner of management of
the Bahá'í community and over the behavior of portions of its rank and file in
relation to the Cause. This unwholesome influence must be arrested by immediate,
deliberate effort--an effort which must surely begin with your Assembly itself.
Further accommodation of it will severely impede the progress of your community,
despite the abundant possibilities of an imminent breakthrough. It was due to this
concern in particular that we anxiously welcomed your request for a meeting with
us.
The guarantee of well-being and success in all your endeavors to serve the Cause
of God can be stated in one word: unity. It is the alpha and omega of all Bahá'í
objectives. Among the first admonitions addressed to National Spiritual
Assemblies by Shoghi Effendi was the following assertion: "It is, I firmly believe,
of the utmost urgent importance that, with unity of purpose and action firmly
established in our midst, and with every trace of animosity and mistrust of the
past banished from our hearts, we should form one united front, and combat,
wisely and tactfully, every force that might darken the spirit of the Movement,
cause division in its ranks, and narrow it by dogmatic and sectarian belief." He
then stated that "it is primarily upon the elected members of the National
Spiritual Assemblies throughout the Bahá'í world that this highly important duty
devolves," warning that "should such a representative and responsible body fail to
realize this fundamental requisite for all successful achievement, the whole
structure is sure to crumble."
Unity within the Assembly itself is, of course, of immediate importance to the
wider unity your actions are intended to foster and sustain. At no time can any
member of your Assembly afford to be unmindful of this basic requirement nor
neglect to work toward upholding it. Of particular relevance is the attitude that
the members adopt toward their membership on that exalted body. There needs to
be a recognition on their part of the Assembly's spiritual character and a feeling
in their hearts of respect for the institution based upon a perception of it as
something beyond or apart from themselves, as a sacred entity whose powers they
have the privilege to engage and canalize by coming together in harmony and act in
accordance with divinely revealed principles. With such a perspective the members
will be able better to acquire an appropriate posture in relation to the Assembly
itself, to appreciate their role as Trustees of the Merciful and to counteract any
impression that the y have assumed ownership and control of the institution in the
manner of major stockholders of a business enterprise.
Also relevant to effecting unity is the attitude of the friends, whether serving on
any Assembly or not, toward the exercise of authority in the Bahá'í community.
People generally tend to be suspicious of those in authority. The reason is not
difficult to understand, since human history is replete with examples of the
disastrous misuse of authority and power. A reversal of this tendency is not easily
achievable, but the Bahá'í friends must be freed of suspicion toward their
institutions if the wheels of progress are to turn with uninterrupted speed. A
rigorous discipline of thought and action on the part of both the friends and the
National Assembly will succeed in meeting this challenge both must live up to
their responsibilities in this regard by recognizing some fundamental realities.
The oneness of humanity, which is the primary principle and ultimate Goal of the
Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, implies, as Shoghi Effendi said, an "organic change in the
structure of present-day society." So fundamental a change in the structural
conception of society must also imply a new pattern for the administration of
community affairs in a Bahá'í context. The insights offered by the beloved
Guardian, as conveyed by his secretary in a letter dated October 14,1941, shed
light on this critical subject:
"The friends must never mistake the Bahá'í administration for an end in
itself. It is merely the instrument of the spirit of the Faith. This Cause is a Cause
which God has revealed to humanity as a whole. It is designed to benefit the entire
human race, and the only way it can do this is to reform the community life of
mankind, as well as seeking to regenerate the individual. The Bahá'í administration
is only the first shaping of what in future will come to be the social life and laws
of community living."
Shoghi Effendi's advice to an individual in another instance provides a further
perspective: "He urges you to do all you can to promote unity and love amongst the
members of the Community there, as this seems to be their greatest need. So often
young communities, in their desire to administer the Cause, lose sight of the fact
that these spiritual relationships are far more important and fundamental than the
rules and regulations which must govern the conduct of community affairs."
It can therefore be deduced that the importance of the Bahá'í administration is its
value in serving as a facilitator of the emergence and maintenance of community
life in a wholly new mode, and in catering to the requirements of the spiritual
relationships which flow from love and unity among the friends. This touches upon
a distinguishing characteristic of Bahá'í life which such spiritual relationships
foster, namely, the spirit of servitude to God, expressed in service to the Cause, to
the friends and to humanity as a whole. The attitude of the individual as a servant,
an attitude preeminently exemplified in the life and person of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, is a
dynamic that permeates the activities of the Faith it acquires collective,
transformative force in the normal functioning of a community. In this reward, the
institutions of the Faith stand as channels for the promotion of this salient
characteristic. It is in this framework that the concepts of rulership and
leadership, authority and power are properly understood and actualized.
The appearance of a united, firmly based and self-sustaining community must be a
major goal of a Spiritual Assembly. Composed of a membership reflecting a
diversity of personalities, talents, abilities and interests, such a community
requires a level of internal interaction between the Assembly and the body of the
believers based on a commonly recognized commitment to service, and in which a
sense of partnership based on appreciation of each other's distinctive sphere of
action is fully recognized and unfailingly upheld, and no semblance of a dichotomy
between the two appears. In such a community leadership is that expression of
service by which the Spiritual Assembly invites and encourages the use of the
manifold talents and abilities with which the community is endowed, and
stimulates and guides the diverse elements of the community toward goals and
strategies by which the effects of a coherent force for progress can be
realized.
The maintenance of a climate of love and unity depends largely upon the feeling
among the individuals composing the community that the Assembly is a part of
themselves, that their cooperative interactions with that divinely ordained body
allow them a fair latitude for initiative and that the quality of their relationships
with both the institution and their fellow believers encourages a spirit of
enterprise invigorated by an awareness of the revolutionizing purpose of
Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation, by a consciousness of the high privilege of their being
associated with efforts to realize that purpose, and by a consequent, ever-present
sense of joy. In such a climate, the community is transformed from being the mere
sum of its parts to assuming a wholly new personality as an entity in which its
members blend without losing their individual uniqueness. The possibilities for
manifesting such a transformation exist most immediately at the local level, but
it is a major responsibility of the National Assembly to nurture the conditions in
which they may flourish.
The authority to direct the affairs of the Faith, locally, nationally and
internationally, is divinely conferred on elected institutions. However, the power
to accomplish the tasks of the community resides primarily in the mass of the
believers. The authority of the institutions is an irrevocable necessity for the
progress of humanity its exercise is an art to be mastered. The power of action in
the believers is unlocked at the level of individual initiative and surges at the
level of collective volition. In its potential, this mass power, this mix of
individual potentialities, exists in a malleable form susceptible to the multiple
reactions of individuals to the sundry influences at work in the world. To realize
its highest purpose, this power needs to express itself through orderly avenues of
activity. Even though individuals may strive to be guided in their actions by their
personal understanding of the Divine Texts, and much can be accomplished thereby,
such actions, untempered by the over-all direction provided by authorized
institutions, are incapable of attaining the thrust necessary for the unencumbered
advancement of civilization.
Individual initiative is a pre-eminent aspect of this power it is therefore a major
responsibility of the institutions to safeguard and stimulate it. Similarly, it is
important for individuals to recognize and accept that the institutions must act as
a guiding and moderating influence on the march of civilization. In this sense, the
divine requirement that individuals obey the decisions of their Assemblies can
clearly be seen as being indispensable to the progress of society. Indeed,
individuals must not be abandoned entirely to their own devices with respect to
the welfare of society as a whole, neither should they be stifled by the assumption
of a dictatorial posture by members of the institutions.
The successful exercise of authority in the Bahá'í community implies the
recognition of separate but mutually reinforcing rights and responsibilities
between the institutions and the friends in general, a recognition that in turn
welcomes the need for cooperation between these two interactive forces of
society. As was stated in advice given by Shoghi Effendi: "The individuals and
assemblies must learn to cooperate, and to cooperate intelligently, if they desire
to adequately discharge their duties and obligations towards the Faith. And no such
cooperation is possible without mutual confidence and trust."
Direction comes from Assembly decisions, but its effectiveness depends not only
on the clarity with which it is given but also on a number of spiritual and moral
factors which must be blended in the general attitude of the individual believers,
on the one hand, and the manner and style of the functioning of the Assembly, on
the other. The following advice of Shoghi Effendi, addressed in an early letter to
the Western friends, deals with these two aspects:
"Let us also bear in mind that the keynote to the Cause of God is not dictatorial
authority, but humble fellowship, not arbitrary power, but the spirit of frank and
loving consultation. Nothing short of the spirit of a true Bahá'í can hope to
reconcile the principles of mercy and justice, of freedom and submission, of the
sanctity of the right of the individual and of self-surrender, of vigilance,
discretion and prudence on the one hand and fellowship, candour and courage on the
other.
"The duties of those whom the friends have freely and conscientiously elected as
their representatives are no less vital and binding than the obligations of those
who have chosen them. Their function is not to dictate, but to consult, and consult
not only among themselves, but as much as possible with the friends whom they
represent. They must regard themselves in no other light but that of chosen
instruments for a more efficient and dignified presentation of the Cause of God.
They should never be led to suppose that they are the central ornaments of the
body of the Cause, intrinsically superior to others in capacity or merit, and sole
promoters of its teachings and principles. They should approach their task with
extreme humility, and endeavour by their open-mindedness, their high sense of
justice and duty, their candour, their modesty, their entire devotion to the welfare
and interests of the friends, the Cause, and humanity, to win not only the
confidence and the genuine support and respect of those whom they should serve,
but also their esteem and real affection."
These instructions of the beloved Guardian get to the very heart of what must be
more deeply internalized by the members of your Assembly at this time. We repeat
for emphasis the terms "extreme humility, "open-mindedness," "candour,"
"modesty" and we underscore the openness which is implicit in candour, because
the cooperation which must be fostered between your Assembly and the friends
will depend significantly on the degree to which, with wise discretion, you share
your concerns with the community. Your greatest opportunity for this is the annual
National Convention, when the representatives of the entire community come
together to consult with you. It is not sufficient that you give only good news and
encouraging statistics to the delegates. Do as Shoghi Effendi advised you:
"Banishing every vestige of secrecy, of undue reticence, of dictatorial aloofness,
from their midst, they should radiantly and abundantly unfold to the eyes of the
delegates, by whom they are elected, their plans, their hopes, and their cares. They
should familiarize the delegates with the various matters that will have to be
considered in the current year, and calmly and conscientiously study and weigh the
opinions and judgements of the delegates."
Even if the delegates find themselves unable to offer useful recommendations
toward the resolution of particular issues, by your bringing them into your
confidence they will develop an appreciation, as would be impossible otherwise, of
the serious matters confronting the Cause. With this understanding, they will be
equipped to assist the community to respond effectively to your decisions, no
matter how challenging these may turn out to be. Moreover, it will relieve you of
any overwhelming sense of burden to know that such a responsible body of
believers shares your inner-most concerns, and even more than that, the effect of
your openness will be to strengthen the delegates' support of your authority, which
it is their sacred duty to give. Besides, as it is neither possible nor practicable for
your Assembly to meet with all the believers, nor for the members to be
constantly traveling throughout the community, the friends' feeling that you are
remote can be ameliorated, though not entirely removed, by the effectiveness of
your interactions with the delegates.
In your openness and candour you will, no doubt, avoid ineptitudes that pass as
norms in the freedom of speech practiced in your nation. In a society where
"telling it like it is" employs a style of expression which robs language of its
decorum, and in a time when stridency is commonly presumed to be a quality of
leadership, candour is crass, and authority speaks in a loud and vulgar voice.
People are frequently obliged to receive direction from their leaders in such
disrespectful modes this is a reason for resentment and suspicion toward those in
authority. By contrast, Bahá'í institutions have the task of accustoming the friends
to recognizing the expression of authority in language at a moderate pitch.
It would be impossible to overestimate the obligation resting upon you to refine
your dealings with the community in the ways already described. You cannot at any
time afford to forget that the manner of the use of authority is critical to the
success of your work. With this in mind, you must also attend seriously to the
behavior of those more particularly your officers, who must of necessity act on
your behalf in carrying out your decisions and conveying your instructions to
others. Further, it is sometimes the case that staff members at your National
Centre, in their eagerness to be exactly and completely obedient, carry out the
instruction of your Assembly with a sharpness of manner and tone that hurts
people and provokes resentment against the very body the staff are striving to
serve with loyalty and devotion. The staff should be sensitized to the situation and
made to realize, through your loving and persistent guidance, that the spiritual
requisites for good and respectful relations with others must be conscientiously
applied in their interactions with the friends because to do so is not only virtuous
in itself but will also minimize the incidence of bad feeling toward your
Assembly.
The temperament of authority in the administration of justice varies according to
the degree of the gravity of each case. Some cases require that the Assembly take
action that is firm or drastic. Even so, Assembly members have always to be
mindful that the authority they wield must in general be expressed with love,
humility and a genuine respect for others. Thus exercised, authority strikes a
natural note and accords with that which is acceptable to spiritually attuned and
fair-minded souls. The following guidance of Shoghi Effendi, as conveyed by his
secretary, is especially relevant: "The administrators of the Faith of God must be
like unto shepherds. Their aim should be to dispel all the doubts,
misunderstandings and harmful differences which may arise in the community of
the believers. And this they can adequately achieve provided they are motivated by
a true sense of love for their fellow-brethren coupled with firm determination to
act with justice in all cases which are submitted to them for their
consideration."
Do clearly bear in mind that our emphasis of the spiritual requisites of your
functioning is not a mere expression of pious idealism. Far, far from it. Their
exclusion from public discourse and from the considerations of the world leaders
largely accounts for the current state of society. Indeed, they are as practical in
effect as they are spiritual in essence. Employ them consciously, constantly,
confidently and see how your actions will attract the confirmations of the Holy
Spirit in the response of the community.
As to your worry about over-controlling the friends: by appreciating the nature of
the power of action which they possess, you will be able to gauge how best to
guide an d direct them. A wide latitude for action must be allowed them, which
means that a large margin for mistakes must also be allowed. Your National
Assembly and the local Assemblies must not react automatically to every mistake,
but distinguish between those that are self-correcting with the passage of time
and do no particular harm to the community and those which require Assembly
intervention. Related to this is the tendency of the friends to criticize each other
at the slightest provocation, whereas the Teachings call upon them to encourage
each other such tendencies are of course motivated by a deep love for the Faith, a
desire to see it free of any flaw. But human beings are not perfect. The local
Assemblies and the friends must be helped through your example and through
loving counsel to refrain from such a pattern of criticism, which stunts the
growth and development of the community. You should also be fearful of laying
down too many rules and regulations. The Cause is not so fragile that a degree of
mistakes cannot be tolerated. When you feel that certain actions may be come
trends with harmful consequences, you may instead of making a new rule, discuss
the matter with the Counsellors, enlisting their support in educating the friends in
a manner that will improve their understanding and their conduct.
A new burst of energy would accrue to the operation of the Three Year Plan if the
friends, both individually and collectively, could feel a greater sense of freedom
to engage in a wide range of activities originating with themselves. Even if you
are doing nothing deliberately to discourage such freedom, their accumulated
expression of institutional disapproval, however derived, and their fear of
criticism are, to a considerable extent, inhibiting their exercise of initiative. At
this exact time in history when the peoples of the world are weighed down with
soul-crushing difficulties and the shadow of despair threatens to eclipse the light
of hope, there must be revived among the individual believers a sense of mission, a
feeling of empowerment to minister to the urgent need of humanity for guidance
and thus to win victories for the Faith in their own sphere of life. The community
as a whole should be involved in efforts to resolve such issues. A single answer
would, of course, be inadequate, there being so many diverse elements and
interests in the community. These matters require not only your own independent
consultation but consultation with the Counsellors as well. Although Spiritual
Assemblies are good at specifying goals, they have not yet mastered the art of
making use of the talents of individuals and rousing the mass of the friends to
action in fulfillment of such goals. Removing this deficiency would be a mark of
the maturation of these institutions. May your Assembly lead the way.
A further decentralization of the national administration would increase the
possibility of loosening control at the top and encouraging the involvement of
individuals in the work of the community at the grassroots. We therefore welcome
your intention to take such action. However, you may wish to do this in
incremental steps rather than in one sweeping motion. The matter is left entirely
to your judgment. It may encourage you to know that in a few countries where the
challenge of administering the teaching work and providing other administrative
services assumed formidable proportions, various approaches have been used to
achieve a measure of decentralization. A detailed description of some of these
approaches will be sent to you separately.
* * *
Having said all the foregoing, we pause to assure you of our full awareness of the
great burdens you carry and of the ceaseless calls upon you to render services in
the absence of adequate resources. Do not despair. Your capacity to respond will
match any challenge that may confront you in these troubled times you have only
to act on principle. Your community's past has been glorious its future is great
beyond calculation. The divine promises to your community are certain the
blessings of Bahá'u'lláh are assured as you strive to fulfill His purpose. The wings
of the beloved Master remain spread over you that you may succeed in discharging
the tasks He has especially entrusted to your care. And our love ever surrounds you
and your cherished community, growing stronger at every moment. Step forward
then to meet the requirements of the hour with undiminished hope and
confidence.
The power released by Bahá'u'lláh works at a quickening pace, speeding the
processes of change which must usher in the new order He proclaimed. The
declining state of society demonstrates it, the global yearning for new solutions
to human problems confirms it. Much is at stake the fortunes of humankind hang
precariously in the balance. The Bahá'í community bears grave responsibilities
toward the near and far future as movement toward the Lesser Peace accelerates.
Now is the time for the friends to seize new opportunities to extend this range and
influence of the Faith, to reach a new level of action in expanding the community
and fortifying its foundations. It is indeed time for audacious action undeterred by
a fear of mistakes, fired by the urgency of ministering to the pressing needs of
humanity. Will the American Bahá'í community not see its chance to meet the
challenge? Will its members not once again blaze a trail that can set in motion a
myriad victories?
Our ardent petition at the Holy Threshold is that the response of the champion-builders of the New World Order will be immediate, wholehearted and abundantly confirmed.
With loving Bahá'í greetings, The Universal House of Justice
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