Messages to America: Selected Letters and Cablegrams Addressed to the Bahá'í's of North America 1932–1946Shoghi, Effendi
Religion
Messages to America: Selected Letters and Cablegrams Addressed to the Bahá'í's of North America 1932–1946
Shoghi, Effendi
Bahai Faith -- North America; Shoghi, Effendi, 1897-1957 -- Correspondence
Let them as they gird up their loins, as they deliberate in their council
chambers, as they embark on their bold and holy mission, as they encounter
the hazards, and suffer the setbacks, and are confronted with the
formidable obstacles, which so vast, so complex, so arduous an enterprise
must necessarily involve, call to mind the illuminating, the comforting,
the sustaining words enshrined for all time in those epoch-making Tablets
wherein the unerring pen of their Master has traced the course of their
mission: “May America become the distributing center of spiritual
enlightenment, and all the world receive this heavenly blessing! For
America has developed powers and capacities greater and more wonderful
than other nations... May the inhabitants of this country ... rise from
their present material attainments to such a height that heavenly
illumination may stream from this center to all the peoples of the world.”
And again: “O ye apostles of Bahá’u’lláh! May my life be sacrificed for
you!... Behold the portals which Bahá’u’lláh hath opened before you.
Consider how exalted and lofty is the station you are destined to attain;
how unique the favors with which you have been endowed... The full measure
of your success is as yet unrevealed, its significance still
unapprehended. Ere long ye will, with your own eyes, witness how
brilliantly every one of you, even as a shining star, will radiate in the
firmament of your country the light of Divine Guidance, and will bestow
upon its people the glory of an everlasting life.... The range of your
future achievements still remains undisclosed. I fervently hope that in
the near future the whole earth may be stirred and shaken by the results
of your achievements. The Almighty will no doubt grant you the help of His
grace, will invest you with the tokens of His might, and will endue your
souls with the sustaining power of His Holy Spirit.” And again: “Be not
concerned with the smallness of your numbers, neither be oppressed by the
multitude of an unbelieving world... Exert yourselves; your mission is
unspeakably glorious. Should success crown your enterprise, America will
assuredly evolve into a center from which waves of spiritual power will
emanate, and the throne of the Kingdom of God will, in the plenitude of
its majesty and glory, be firmly established.... The hope which
‘Abdu’l-Bahá cherishes for you is that the same success which has attended
your efforts in America may crown your endeavors in other parts of the
world, that through you the fame of the Cause of God may be diffused
throughout the East and the West and the advent of the Kingdom of the Lord
of Hosts be proclaimed in all the five continents of the globe.... Thus
far ye have been untiring in your labors. Let your exertions henceforth
increase a thousandfold. Summon the people in these countries, capitals,
islands, assemblies and churches to enter the Abhá Kingdom. The scope of
your exertions must needs be extended.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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