Bahai Faith -- North America; Shoghi, Effendi, 1897-1957 -- Correspondence
Faithful to the provisions of the Charter laid down by the pen of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, I feel it my duty to draw the special attention of those to
whom it has been entrusted to the urgent needs of, and the special
position enjoyed by, the Republic of Panama, both in view of its relative
proximity to the heart and center of the Faith in North America, and of
its geographical position as the link between two continents. “All the
above countries,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, referring to the Latin States in one of
the Tablets of the Divine Plan, has written, “have importance, but
especially the Republic of Panama, wherein the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
come together through the Panama Canal. It is a center for travel and
passage from America to other continents of the world, and in the future
it will gain most great importance.” “Likewise,” He again has written, “ye
must give great attention to the Republic of Panama, for in that point the
Occident and the Orient find each other united through the Panama Canal,
and it is also situated between the two great oceans. That place will
become very important in the future. The teachings, once established
there, will unite the East and the West, the North and the South.” So
privileged a position surely demands the special and prompt attention of
the American Bahá’í community. With the Republic of Mexico already opened
up to the Faith, and with a Spiritual Assembly properly constituted in its
capital city, the southward penetration of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh into a
neighboring country is but a natural and logical step, and should, it is
to be hoped, prove to be not a difficult one. No efforts should be spared,
and no sacrifice be deemed too great, to establish even though it be a
very small group in a Republic occupying, both spiritually and
geographically, so strategic a position—a group which, in view of the
potency with which the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá have already endowed it,
cannot but draw to itself, as soon as it is formed, the outpouring grace
of the Abhá Kingdom, and evolve with such marvelous swiftness as to excite
the wonder and the admiration of even those who have already witnessed
such stirring evidences of the force and power of the Faith of
Bahá’u’lláh. Preference, no doubt, should be given by all would-be
pioneers, as well as by the members of the Inter-America Committee, to the
spiritual needs of this privileged Republic, though every effort should,
at the same time, be exerted to introduce the Faith, however tentatively,
to the Republics of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa
Rica which would link it, in an unbroken chain, with its mother Assemblies
in the North American continent. Obstacles, however formidable, should be
surmounted, the resources of the Bahá’í treasury should be liberally
expended on its behalf, and the ablest and most precious exertions should
be consecrated to the cause of its awakening. The erection of yet another
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