The desire of the German believers to participate in the construction of
the Holy Tomb of the Báb touches him very much; and he would suggest that,
as it is not feasible at present for any funds to be sent out of that
country, you accept contributions for this Fund and spend them at present
in Germany, until such future time as it will be possible to remit the sum
to Haifa.
Naw-Rúz and Ridván are celebrated all over the Bahá’í world according to
the solar calendar—there is no difference in the dates in the east or the
west.
In regard to your publishing work: It is most unfortunate that, through
the delay in printing “God Passes By”, you now require such an exorbitant
sum to be expended on it, if it is gotten out in England. The Guardian has
explained to Mr. Hofman that he feels that unless some arrangement can be
made with your Assembly to get out this book with the sum already
forwarded by him for this purpose, that it is not possible to go on with
the publication at this time, as the funds of the Cause, limited as they
are, must now be concentrated on building the upper parts of the Shrine of
the Báb. If there is any way that your Assembly can arrange with Mr.
Hofman to receive a certain number of copies—perhaps unbound—at this time,
and have them bound in Germany, he would approve of this, and suggests you
look into the matter. Of course, if there was any way Mr. Hofman could
transmit to you the money he has received, and you could publish the book
in Germany, the Guardian would approve of this.
He thinks that “Some Answered Questions” is more important in the teaching
work than “Paris Talks”, and recommends to get “Some Answered Questions”
out first.
The Guardian has already written to ..., asking him to reconcile himself
with your Assembly and to entirely forget this episode, which he considers
to have been due to a misunderstanding, and certainly not worth the amount
of feeling that was expended upon it on all sides. He hopes that your
Assembly will accept any overtures he and his dear Father may make, and
assist them to put the whole thing behind them, and go on with their
active service in the Cause to which we know they are both so attached at
heart.
In this connection, the Guardian would like to point out to your Assembly
that, although it is sometimes necessary to take away the voting rights of
a believer for purposes of discipline, that this prerogative of the
National Assembly should be used only in extreme cases. It is very bad for
the believers to have the feeling that their Assembly will deal too
harshly with them, and the net result can only be that a feeling of fear
or alienation or resentment may grow up in their hearts towards the body
that they should look to as being, not only their elected representatives,
but their helper,—one might almost say their father—and the one to whom
they can confidently take their problem, and whose wishes and decrees they
will respect and obey unhesitatingly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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