Part 6

To these words, written on my behalf, and in answer to your particular questions relating to the administrative issues that confront you in these days, I wish to add my own tribute to the magnificent manner in which you face the problems, both spiritual and administrative, which the expansion of the Faith is continually raising, and to the way in which you resolve them, explain their nature, and derive fresh strength from your experience of any one of them. The text of the annual reports demonstrates this fact and establishes for all time the high standard according to which the administrative machinery of the Faith is functioning, developing and consolidating itself under your able and energetic direction. As the administrative processes expand, as their operation steadily improves, as their necessity is more fully and strikingly demonstrated, and their beneficent influence correspondingly grows more apparent and evident, so will the blessings, the strength and guidance bestowed by Him Who animates and directs these processes be more abundantly vouchsafed to those who have been called upon to utilize them, in this age, for the execution of God's Purpose and for the ultimate redemption of a sore-stricken travailing humanity. Many will be the setbacks, the shocks and the disturbances, which the commotions of a convulsive age must produce; yet no force, however violent and world-wide in its range and catastrophic in its immediate consequences, can either halt these processes or deflect their appointed course. How great, then, the privilege, and how staggering the responsibility, of those who are destined to guard over them and to bring them eventually to full fruition. Nothing short of utter, of continuous consecration to His Will and Purpose can enable them to fulfil their high destiny.

May 15, 1940

EMERGENCE OF SPIRITUAL WORLD ORDER

The stupendous struggle now convulsing the major part of the European continent is progressively revealing the ominous features, and increasingly assuming the proportions, of the titanic upheaval foreshadowed seventy years ago by the prophetic Pen of Baha'u'llah. The disruptive forces associated with humanity's world-shaking ordeal are closely interrelated with the constructive potentialities inherent in the American believers' Divinely-ordained Plan. Both are directly hastening the emergence of the spiritual World Order stirring in the womb of a travailing age. I entreat the American Baha'i Community, whatever the immediate or distant repercussions of the present turmoil on their own continent, however violent its impact upon the World Center of their Faith, to pledge themselves anew, before the Throne of Baha'u'llah, to discharge, with unswerving aim, unfailing courage, invincible vigor, exemplary fidelity and ever-deepening consecration, the dual responsibility solemnly undertaken under the Seven Year Plan. I implore them to accelerate their efforts, increase their vigilance, deepen their unity, multiply their heroic feats, maintain their distant outposts in the teaching field of Latin America and expedite the termination of the last stage in the ornamentation of the Temple. I am praying continually with redoubled fervor.

Cablegram June 13, 1940

SUPREMELY CHALLENGING HOUR

The long-predicted world-encircling conflagration, essential pre-requisite to world unification, is inexorably moving to its appointed climax. Its fires, first lit in the Far East, subsequently ravaging Europe and enveloping Africa, now threaten devastation both in Near East and Far West, respectively enshrining the World Center and the chief remaining Citadel of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. The Divinely-appointed Plan must and will likewise pursue undeflected its predestined course. Time is pressing. The settlement of the two remaining Latin Republics, the sounder consolidation through formation of firmly-knit groups in newly-opened territories, the provision of adequate means for the ornamentation of last six faces of first story of Temple, stand out as vital requirements of approaching supremely challenging hour. My eyes and heart are anxiously, longingly turned to the New World to witness the evidences of a new, still more heroic phase of enterprise confidently entrusted to vigilant care of the American believers by the ever-watchful, powerfully-sustaining Master. I refuse to believe that a community so richly endowed, so greatly envied, so repeatedly honored, will suffer the slightest relaxation of its resolution to jeopardize the spiritual prizes painstakingly and deservedly won throughout the States and Provinces of the Republics of the Western Hemisphere.

Cablegram July 21, 1940

CHAOS AND REDEMPTION

Present world chaos, exhibiting the impetuosity, follies, rebelliousness characteristic of humanity's adolescent stage of development, and harbinger of the long-promised Golden Age of the maturity of the human race, is relentlessly spreading and distressingly intensified. The alternating victories and reverses, heralding parallel transition of proscribed Cause of Baha'u'llah struggling towards emancipation, world recognition and spiritual universal dominion, are simultaneously multiplying. The recrudescence of the chronic persecution afflicting the cradle of the Faith, the grave danger threatening the appropriated Temple and disbanded centers in Turkistan and Caucasus, the repressive measures successively choking the life and paralyzing the action of both the long-standing and the newly-fledged communities of Central, Western and South-Eastern Europe, the intermittent outbursts of religious fanaticism directed against the North African Assemblies, and the aggravation of the situation at the world Spiritual and Administrative Center, contrast with, and are outweighed by, the surging spirit, the startling expansion, the sweeping conquests, the superb consolidation of the swiftly-accumulating resources of the one remaining community singled out for the proclamation of the Administrative Order throughout the length and breadth of the Western Hemisphere. I appeal to the New World champions of the New World Order of Baha'u'llah to stand fast at this tragic hour in the fortunes of mankind and the challenging state of the evolution of the Faith. I beg them to close their ranks jointly, severally and vow themselves to incomparably sublime task whose operation must hasten the ascendancy of the beloved Cause and the spiritual redemption of a reconstructed mankind.

Cablegram October 29, 1940

TORCHBEARER OF WORLD CIVILIZATION

My heart is thrilled with delight as I witness, in so many fields, and in such distant outposts, and despite such formidable difficulties, restrictions, obstacles and dangers, so many evidences of the solidarity, the valor, and the achievements of the American Baha'i community. As the end of the First Century of the Baha'i Era approaches, as the shadows descending upon and enveloping mankind steadily and remorselessly deepen, this community, which can almost be regarded as the solitary champion of the Faith in the Western World, is increasingly evincing and demonstrating its capacity, its worth, and ability as the torchbearer of the New, the World Civilization which is destined to supplant in the fulness of time the present one. And more particularly in the virgin and far-flung territories of Latin America, it has in recent months, abundantly given visible evidence of its merits and competence to shoulder the immense responsibilities which the carrying of the sacred Fire to all the Republics of the Western Hemisphere must necessarily entail.

Through these initial steps, which, in pursuance of the Plan conceived by 'Abdu'l-Baha, this community has taken, through the settlement in each of these sovereign states of the New World of American Baha'i pioneers, through the formation of Baha'i groups and the establishment of two Assemblies in Buenos Aires and Bahia, the American National Assembly, as well as its Inter-America Committee, and all subsidiary agencies, no less than the individual members of the North American Baha'i community who have sacrificed and are still sacrificing so much in their support of this Divine and momentous Plan, have earned the unqualified admiration and the undying gratitude of sister Assemblies and fellow-workers throughout the Baha'i World.

Their work, however, is only beginning. The dispatch of pioneers, the provision of adequate means for their support, their settlement and initiation of Baha'i activities in these far-off lands, however strenuous and meritorious, are insufficient if the Plan is to evolve harmoniously and yield promptly its destined fruit. The extension by the Parent Assembly--the immediate source from which this vast system with all its ramifications is now proceeding--of the necessary support, guidance, recognition and material assistance to enable these newly-fledged groups and Assemblies to function in strict accordance with both the spiritual and administrative principles of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, would seem as essential and urgent as the preliminary task already achieved. To nurse these tender plants of the Vineyard of God, to foster their growth, to direct their development, to accord them the necessary recognition, to help resolve their problems, to familiarize them with gentleness, patience and fidelity with the processes of the Administrative Order and thus enable them to assume independently the conduct of future local and national Baha'i activities, would bring the plan to swift and full fruition and would add fresh laurels to the crown of immortal glory already won by a community that holds in these days of dark and dire calamities, valiantly and almost alone, the Fort of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. Fortified by these reflections, let them gird up their loins for still mightier exertions and more brilliant victories.

December 3, 1940

THIS VETERAN WARRIOR

I share your sorrow in the loss, and participate in your rejoicings for the triumph of beloved Father Dunn. The magnificent career of this veteran warrior of the Faith of Baha'u'llah reflects the purest luster of the world historic mission conferred upon American community by 'Abdu'l-Baha. To the three heroines whose dust reposes in the heart of Persia, in the Pacific Islands and southern extremity of the American continent, a fourth witness in far-off Australasia is now added, attesting the first vital sparks of far-flung spiritual dominion American believers have been commissioned to establish. I am moved to congratulate them for the resplendent successes of the Plan destined to encircle the entire globe. Advise hold National Memorial Gathering in Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar befitting the rank of Australia's spiritual conqueror.

Cablegram February 21, 1941(3)

THE ANGER OF GOD AND HIS CORRECTION

The internecine struggle, now engulfing the generality of mankind, is increasingly assuming, in its range and ferocity, the proportions of the titanic upheaval foreshadowed as far back as seventy years ago by Baha'u'llah. It can be viewed in no other light except as a direct interposition by Him Who is the Ordainer of the Universe, the Judge of all men and the Deliverer of the nations. It is the rod of both the anger of God and of His correction. The fierceness of its devastating power chastens the children of men for their refusal to acclaim the century-old Message of their promised, their Heaven-sent Redeemer. The fury of its flames, on the other hand, purges away the dross, and welds the limbs of humanity into one single organism, indivisible, purified, God-conscious and divinely directed.

Its immediate cause can be traced to the forces engendered by the last war of which it may be truly regarded as the direct continuation. Its first sparks were kindled on the eastern shores of the Asiatic continent, enveloping two sister races of the world in a conflagration which no force seems able to either quench or circumscribe. This cataclysmic process was accelerated by the outbreak of a fierce conflict in the heart of Europe, fanning into flame age-long animosities and unchaining a series of calamities as swift as they were appalling. As the turmoil gathered momentum, it swept remorselessly into its vortex the most powerful nations of the European continent--the chief protagonists of that highly-vaunted yet lamentably defective civilization. The mounting tide of its havoc and devastation soon overspread the northernmost regions of that afflicted continent, subsequently ravaged the shores of the Mediterranean, and invaded the African continent as far as Ethiopia and the surrounding territories. The Balkan countries, as predicted by 'Abdu'l-Baha, were soon to sustain the impact of this tragic ordeal, communicating in their turn the commotions to which they had been subjected to both the Near and Middle East, wherein are enshrined the heart of the Faith itself, its Cradle, its chief center of Pilgrimage, and its most sacred and historic sites.

Its menace is overleaping the limits of the Old World and is plunging into consternation the Great Republic of the West, as well as the peoples of Central and South America. The New World as well as the Old is experiencing the terrific impact of this disruptive force. Even the peoples of the Antipodes are trembling before the approaching tempest that threatens to burst on their heads.

The races of the world, Nordic, Slavonic, Mongolian, Arab and African, are alike subjected to its consuming violence. The world's religious systems are no less affected by the universal paralysis which is creeping over the minds and souls of men. The persecution of world Jewry, the rapid deterioration of Christian institutions, the intestine division and disorders of Islam, are but manifestations of the fear and trembling that has seized humanity in its hour of unprecedented turmoil and peril. On the high seas, in the air, on land, in the forefront of battle, in the palaces of kings and the cottages of peasants, in the most hallowed sanctuaries, whether secular or religious, the evidences of God's retributive act and mysterious discipline are manifest. Its heavy toll is steadily mounting--a holocaust sparing neither prince nor peasant, neither man nor woman, neither young nor old.

The Faith of Baha'u'llah--that priceless gem of Divine Revelation enshrining the Spirit of God and incarnating His Purpose for mankind in this age--can neither aspire nor expect to escape unhurt amid the hurricane of human disasters that blows around it. By most men unnoticed, scorned and ridiculed by some, feared and challenged by others, this world redemptive Faith, for whose precious sake the world is undergoing such agonies, finds its virgin strength assailed, and its infant institutions hemmed in, by the dark forces which a godless civilization has unloosed over the face of the planet. In the Old World, whether in Europe, Asia or Africa, it is being buffeted about, ostracized, arraigned and repressed. In certain countries its community life is being extinguished, in others a ban is severely imposed on its propagation, in still others its members are denied all intercourse with its World Center. Dangers, grave and unsuspected, confront its cradle and surround its very heart.

Not so, however, with the countries of the Western Hemisphere. The call of Baha'u'llah summons, at this challenging hour, the peoples of the New World, and its leaders to redress the balance of the old. "O Rulers of America," He thus addresses the Chief Magistrates of that continent, "and the Presidents of the Republics therein.... Adorn the temple of your dominion with the ornament of Justice and of the fear of God, and its head with the crown of the remembrance of your Lord, the Maker of the heavens." The Great Republic of the West, an object of special solicitude throughout the ministry of the Center of the Covenant, whose soil has been hallowed by His footsteps, and the foundation of whose edifice--the Mother Temple of the West--has been consecrated by His hand, has been singled out through the operation of His Will, and been invested by His Pen with an unique, an inescapable, a weighty and most sacred responsibility. The Mission entrusted to the community of the North American believers in the darkest days of the last war, is, after a period of incubation of well nigh twenty years, and through the instrumentality of the administrative agencies erected after 'Abdu'l-Baha's passing, efflorescing under our very eyes. Already, since the inception of the Seven Year Plan, this community can well claim to have attained, through its deeds, a stature that dwarfs its sister communities, and can glory in a parentage that embraces every Republic of Latin America. The first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of the West, its beauteous and noble handiwork, is virtually completed. A nucleus for a future flourishing local community is already formed in every state and province in North America. The administrative structure, following the pattern of its prototype in the U.S.A. is, through the agency of that same Plan, raising its triumphant head in the Central and South American Republics. The Plan itself, propelled by the agencies released by those immortal Tablets which constitute its charter, bids fair, in the fifth year of its operation, to exceed the highest expectations of those who have so courageously launched it. Its consummation, coinciding with the termination of the first century of the Baha'i Era, will mark the opening of yet another phase in a series of crusades which must carry, in the course of the succeeding century, the privileged recipients of those epoch-making Tablets beyond the Western Hemisphere to the uttermost ends of the earth, to implant the banner, and lay an unassailable basis for the administrative structure of the Faith of Baha'u'llah.

The quality and magnitude of the work already achieved by these stalwart champions of God's New World Order are inexpressibly exhilarating and infinitely meritorious. The immensity of the task still to be performed staggers our fancy and inflames our imagination. The potentialities with which these tasks are endowed elude our shrewdest calculations. The promise they enshrine is too dazzling to contemplate. What else can we do but bow our heads in thanksgiving and reverence, steel our hearts in preparation for the strenuous days ahead, and intensify a hundredfold our resolution to carry on the task to which our hands are set at present.

May 25, 1941

FATE-LADEN WORLD ORDEAL

The fate-laden world ordeal is moving in steady, pre-ordained crescendo. The blaze of a seemingly uncontrollable fire is leaping, ravaging last remaining great Power on European continent. Shadows of God's retributive act are fast gathering. As the arena of world convulsing contest broadens; as wounds it inflicts deepen; as issues it raises aggravate and multiply, so will the operation of the spiritual forces, destined to cast the burden of a travailing age, be accelerated. As the old world sinks beneath the weight of a crumbling old order, so must new world exponents of Baha'u'llah's nascent, integrating World Order climb loftier summits of their sublime calling. I urgently, insistently plead that all American believers, particularly the National Teaching and Inter-America Committees, above all the National elected representatives, arm their souls, labor more resolutely, cooperate more closely, scatter more widely, sacrifice more abundantly, to insure, during remaining years of Seven Year Plan, the brilliant discharge of the one remaining obligation of their dual task, whose consummation must signalize the termination and seal the triumph of First Baha'i Century.

Cablegram July 4, 1941

ELIZABETH GREENLEAF

Share deep grief of bereaved community at passing of Elizabeth Greenleaf, beloved handmaid of Baha'u'llah. Her radiant spirit, staunch loyalty, noble character, effective teaching method were distinguishing features of her consecrated life. Praying abundant blessings in life beyond.

Cablegram August 7, 1941

UNCONQUERABLE POWER

As I survey the activities and accomplishments of the American believers in recent months, and recall their reaction to the urgent call for service, embodied in the Seven Year Plan, I feel overwhelmed by a three-fold sense of gratitude and admiration which I feel prompted to place on record, but which I cannot adequately express. Future generations can alone appraise correctly the value of their present services, and the Beloved, whose mandate they are so valiantly obeying, can alone befittingly reward them for the manner in which they are discharging their duties.

The virtual completion of a thirty year old enterprise, which was initiated in His days and blessed by His Hand, is the first and foremost accomplishment that must shed imperishable luster not only on the administrative annals of the Formative Age of the Faith, but on the entire record of the signal achievements performed in the course of the First Century of the Baha'i Era. The steady expansion and consolidation of the world mission, entrusted by that same Master, to their hands and set in operation after His passing, constitutes the second object of my undying gratitude to a community that has abundantly demonstrated its worthiness to shoulder the superhuman tasks with which it has been entrusted. The spirit with which that same community has faced and resisted the onslaught of the enemies of the Faith who, for various reasons and with ever-increasing subtlety and malice, have persistently striven to disrupt the administrative machinery of an Order, foreshadowed by the Bab, enunciated by Baha'u'llah, and established by 'Abdu'l-Baha, is yet another testimony to the unrivalled merits and the eminent position attained by its privileged members since the ascension of the Center of the Covenant.

The extinction of the influence precariously exerted by some of these enemies, the decline that has set in in the fortunes of others, the sincere repentance expressed by still others, and their subsequent reinstatement and effectual participation in the teaching and administrative activities of the Faith, constitute in themselves sufficient evidence of the unconquerable power and invincible spirit which animates those who stand identified with and loyally carry out the provisions and injunctions of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha.

And now more particularly concerning the prime mover of this latest agitation, which, whatever its immediate consequences, will sooner or later come to be regarded as merely one more of those ugly and abortive attempts designed to undermine the foundation, and obscure the purpose, of the Administrative Order of the Faith of Baha'u'llah. Obscure in his origin, ambitious of leadership, untaught by the lesson of such as have erred before him, odious in the hopes he nurses, contemptible in the methods he pursues, shameless in his deliberate distortions of truths he has long since ceased to believe in, ludicrous in his present isolation and helplessness, wounded and exasperated by the downfall which his own folly has precipitated, he, the latest protagonist of a spurious cause, cannot but in the end be subjected, as remorselessly as his infamous predecessors, to the fate which they invariably have suffered.

Generated by the propelling and purifying forces of a mysterious Faith, born of delusion or malice, winning a fleeting notoriety derived from the precarious advantages of wealth, fame or fortune, these movements sponsored by deluded, self-seeking adventurers find themselves, sooner or later, enmeshed in the machinations of their authors, are buried in shame, and sink eventually into complete oblivion.