|
<<previous |
next>> |
|
|
Citadel of Faith
|
Pages 102-104
|
|
OBJECTIVES OF SECOND SEVEN YEAR PLAN LARGELY ATTAINED
| |
1 |
The objectives of the Second Seven Year Plan, the concluding
phase of which has synchronized with this period of nation-wide
austerity, have, it must be recognized, been in the main, attained. The
pillars which must needs add their strength in supporting the future
House of Justice have, according to the schedule laid down, been
successively erected in the Dominion of Canada and in Latin America.
The European Teaching Campaign--the second outstanding enterprise
launched, beyond the confines of the North American continent,
in pursuance of the Mandate, issued by `Abdu'l-Bahá to Bahá'u'lláh's
valiant "Apostles"--has not only achieved its original aims, but exceeded
all expectations through the formation of a local spiritual
assembly in the capital city of each of the ten goal countries included
within its scope. The interior ornamentation of the Mother Temple of
the West has, before its appointed time, been completed. Other tasks,
no less vital, still remain to be carried, in the course of a fast shrinking
period, to a successful conclusion. The landscaping of the area surrounding
a structure whose foundations and exterior and interior
ornamentation have demanded, for so many years, so much effort and
such constant sacrifice, must, under no circumstances, and while there
is yet time, be neglected, lest failure to achieve this final task mar the
beauty of the approaches of a national shrine which provide so suitable
a setting for an edifice at once so sacred and noble. The responsibilities
solemnly undertaken to consolidate and multiply the administrative
institutions throughout all the states of the Union--a task that has
of late been allowed to fall into abeyance, and has been eclipsed by the
spectacular success attending the shining exploits of the American
Bahá'í Community in foreign fields--must be speedily and seriously
reconsidered, for upon the constant broadening and the steady reinforcement
of this internal administrative structure, which provides the
essential base for future operations in all the continents of the globe,
must depend the vigor, the rapidity and the soundness of the future
crusades which must needs be launched in the service, and for the glory
of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, and in obedience to the stirring summons
issued by the Center of His Covenant in some of His most weighty
Tablets. Above all, the accumulating deficit which has lately again
thrown its somber shadow on an otherwise resplendent record of
service, must, through a renewed display of self-abnegation, which,
though not commensurate with the sacrifice of so many souls immolated
on the altar of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh, may at least faintly reflect its
poignant heroism, be obliterated, once and for all, from the record of
a splendid stewardship to His Faith.
| |
2 |
There can be no doubt--and I am the first to proudly acknowledge
it--that, ever since the launching of the Second Seven Year Plan, and
in consequence of unexpected developments both in the Holy Land
and elsewhere, the American Bahá'í Community, ever ready to bear the
brunt of responsibility, under the stress of unforeseen circumstances,
has considerably widened the scope of its original undertakings and
augmented the weight shouldered by its stalwart members. At the
World Center of the Faith, in response to the urgent call for action,
necessitated by the imperative needs of the rising Sepulcher of the Báb,
the formation of the Bahá'í International Council, and the establishment
of the State of Israel, as well as in the continent of Africa, where
the appointed, the chief trustees of a divinely conceived, world-encompassing
Plan could not well remain unmoved by the sight of the
first attempts being made to introduce systematically the Faith of
Bahá'u'lláh and to implant its banner amongst its tribes and races, the
American Bahá'í Community have assumed responsibilities well exceeding
the original duties they had undertaken to discharge. This twofold
opportunity that providentially presented itself to them, to contribute
to the rise and consolidation of the World Center of their Faith,
and to the spiritual re-awakening of a long-neglected continent, must,
however, be exploited to the fullest extent, if the early completion of
the most sacred edifice, next to the Qiblih of the Bahá'í world, is to be
assured, and if the executors of `Abdu'l-Bahá's Plan are to retain
untarnished the primacy conferred upon them by its Author.
| |
3 |
That primacy will be demonstrated and re-emphasized as the
representatives of this privileged community take their place, and
assume their functions, at each of the four Intercontinental Bahá'í
Teaching Conferences which are to be convened in the course of, and
which must signalize, the world-wide celebrations of the Centenary of
the Year Nine. Playing a preponderating role, as the custodians of a
Divine Plan, in the global crusade which all the Bahá'í national
spiritual assemblies, without exception, must, in various degrees and
combinations, launch on the morrow of the forthcoming Centenary,
and during the entire course of the ten-year interval separating them
from the Most Great Jubilee, they must, upon the consummation of
their present Plan, deliberate, together with their ally the Canadian
National Assembly, and their associates, the newly formed National
Spiritual Assemblies of Central and South America, on the occasion of
the convocation of the approaching All-American Teaching Conference,
on ways and means whereby they can best contribute to the
establishment of the Faith, not only throughout the Americas and their
neighboring islands, but in the chief sovereign states and dependencies
of the remaining continents of the globe.
| |
|
|
|