The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahá'í Community : the Messages from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'ís of the British IslesShoghi, Effendi
Religion
The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahá'í Community : the Messages from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'ís of the British Isles
Shoghi, Effendi
Bahai Faith -- Great Britain -- History -- Sources; Shoghi, Effendi, 1897-1957 -- Correspondence
Does not ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wish us, as He looks down upon us with loving
expectation from His glorious Station, to obliterate as much as possible
all traces of censure, of conflicting discussions, of cooling remarks, of
petty unnecessary observations that impede the onward march of the Cause,
that damp the zeal of the firm believer and detract from the sublimity of
the Bahá’í Cause in the eyes of the inquirer? In order, however, to insure
fair and quick and vigorous action whenever such an evil activity is
revealed and has been carefully ascertained, the best and only means would
appear to be, for the careful observer, once he is assured of such an evil
action, and has grown hopeless of the attitude of kindness and
forbearance, to report it quietly to the Spiritual Assembly representative
of the friends in that locality and submit the case to their earnest and
full consideration. Should the majority of the members of that Assembly be
conscientiously convinced of the case—and this being a national issue
affecting the body of the friends in America—it should, only through the
intermediary of that Assembly, be cautiously communicated to that greater
body representing all the Assemblies in America, which will in its turn
obtain all the available data from the local Assembly in question, study
carefully the situation and reserve for itself the ultimate decision. It
may, if it decides so, refer to the Holy Land for further consideration
and consultation.
This clearly places heavy responsibilities on the local as well as
national Assemblies, which in the course of time will evolve, with the
Master’s power and guidance, into the local and national Houses of
Justice. Hence the vital necessity of having a local Spiritual Assembly in
every locality where the number of adult declared believers exceeds nine,
and of making provision for the indirect election of a Body that shall
adequately represent the interests of all the friends and Assemblies
throughout the American Continent.
A perusal of some of the words of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on the
duties and functions of the Spiritual Assemblies in every land (later to
be designated as the local Houses of Justice), emphatically reveals the
sacredness of their nature, the wide scope of their activity, and the
grave responsibility which rests upon them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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