Chapter 38
In this connection he wishes to say that he is very sorry he could not agree to the proposals you sent him so far. As your a.s.sembly is aware, the Baha'is all over the world are building up national inst.i.tutions and purchasing, in various areas, Temple sites, etc. It is only natural that each a.s.sembly should feel justified in making an initial suitable investment for its Temple site or its national Haziratu'l-Quds. However, the Guardian, to whom all the news comes from all over the world, is forced to face the fact that if your a.s.sembly, the Canadian a.s.sembly, the British Community, the Italian-Swiss a.s.sembly etc. etc. each pays as heavy sums for its Baha'i Temple site or national headquarters as they propose to in these reports, which they send him, the Baha'i world would never be able to get out of debt. Desirable as each place is, when considered from a local standpoint, it becomes on an international scale, a program that is financially impossible. That is why he urged your a.s.sembly to drastically curtail the area and the price. He has done the same thing in many other parts of the world. He hopes that you will shortly be able to purchase the land required.
There now remains the important consideration of a design for the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar. It does not matter whether it is executed by a Baha'i or a non-Baha'i architect, but the essential thing is that it must be beautiful and dignified. There must be none of this hideous, exaggerated, bizarre style, which one sees in many modern buildings. It is not befitting for our House of Wors.h.i.+p. He thinks that you should impress this on any architects wis.h.i.+ng to submit drawings. The essentials of the design, as stipulated by 'Abdu'l-Baha are that the building should be nine-sided, and circular in shape. Aside from this, the architect is not restricted in any way in choosing his style of design.
Whenever you have a sufficient collection of drawings, he would be pleased to receive them, and give you his advice.
A very large building at this time is not necessary, as the expense would overtax our resources too heavily; and the Persian Baha'is, who are so much more numerous, will have to, during the coming nine years, build a much larger and more pretentious structure in?ihran, and consequently a more expensive one.
Regarding the matter of...: individual Baha'is are always encouraged to travel and teach, and no doubt he has been of much a.s.sistance in Germany.
The Guardian, however, feels your a.s.sembly was quite right in considering that your limited financial resources should be spent supporting pioneers, rather than a travelling teacher in Germany.
The eagerness of the friends to serve, often carries them away, and they forget that a sound sense of business management is also much needed, if we are to harbour our resources and accomplish all our goals.
He was delighted to see that so many of the Baha'is from Germany were present at the Stockholm Conference, and that they were able to meet with their colleagues from Austria. He hopes that your teaching work in Austria will make marked progress during the present year. The Cause there has been too long neglected, and undoubtedly there is a very fertile field, waiting only to be cultivated, in order to yield a rich harvest.
It has indeed been a great blessing to the German Community to receive the visits of so many Hands of the Cause of G.o.d from abroad during the past year.
He hopes that the auxiliary Board for Europe recently established, will be of great help in the work to be carried out by the administrative bodies throughout Europe.
The most important thing is to keep the pioneer territories which have been settled open. There must be no lapse. The friends must be urged to remain at their posts at all costs. They must remember the glorious example of Marion Jack, who recently pa.s.sed away in Bulgaria, after almost 30 years of devoting her life to teaching the Faith in that country of her choice. As many of you who knew her personally will recall, her health was very bad, as far back as 1935, when she attended the Esslingen Summer School. It certainly never improved. She was bombed, evacuated, she slept in some drafty, cold room in a school in the country, was often, we have reason to believe, almost hungry, and insufficiently clad after the war, due to difficulties in getting money through to her in an Soviet-dominated territory. She never mastered the language, and was without friends of her own country; and yet, she persevered, and, in spite of even the Guardian's pleas that she leave the country during the worst years of the war, remained at her post, and won for herself imperishable fame, her resting-place becoming a shrine in Bulgaria, which the people of that country will increasingly honour and cherish.
It is to this glorious soul that the present generation of pioneers must look for inspiration and example.
He is very happy that the German Baha'is have been able to settle in Crete and the Frisian Islands, a great step
He thanks you for sending him ten copies of each of your new publications, and would like you to continue doing so, as any new literature comes out.
So far he has not received any copies of "G.o.d Pa.s.ses By" in German, but is hoping to do so.
He appreciates very much the sentiments you expressed to him in connection with the loss of our dear Hands of the Cause, Mr. Schopflocher and Mrs.
Baker. The friends everywhere must try and make up for the work these devoted and consecrated souls would have done, had they not pa.s.sed to the Abha Kingdom. In this way they can best express their admiration and grat.i.tude.
He is very happy to see that your National Convention has been so successful, and that the influence of the future Temple is already being felt, and attracting the hearts of the believers, including many previously inactive. It shows what these Baha'i inst.i.tutions are going to do as they develop.
You may be sure that he remembers all the members of your a.s.sembly in his loving prayers in the holy Shrines, and supplicates that the German and Austrian Baha'i Communities may exceed all their past records of achievement during this present Baha'i year....
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers:
The achievements of the German and Austrian Baha'i communities, since the launching of the Ten-Year Global Crusade, embarked upon by the followers of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, mark a notable advancement in the progress and consolidation of the Faith in the heart of the European continent. The weighty and historic task so valiantly shouldered by both of these communities has been splendidly initiated, and must, as the Plan unfolds, be prosecuted with increasing vigilance, unswerving resolve, whole-hearted consecration, complete unity, and exemplary steadfastness.
The greatest, most pressing and sacred enterprise, challenging the spirit and resources of all the members of both of these communities-the purchase of the land, for the first Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar of Europe and the prompt initiation of measures for its construction-demands, during this present phase of the Crusade, the utmost concentration of effort, and the most sublime sacrifice on the part of the German and Austrian believers-an effort and sacrifice in which their brethren, in both the East, and the West, will gladly partic.i.p.ate, as a token of their appreciation of the historic significance of this mighty inst.i.tution destined to be firmly established and radiate its beneficent influence in the very heart of that continent.
The purchase of the site must be expedited, the selection of a befitting design for so glorious an edifice must be made with as little delay as possible, and the preliminary steps for the excavation of the foundations must be undertaken with care, prompt.i.tude and determination.
The rise of this symbol and harbinger of the World Order of Baha'u'llah, as yet in the embryonic stage of its development, amidst the confusion, the anxieties, the rivalries and the recurrent crises that mark the decline of a moribund civilization, will, no doubt, lend a tremendous impetus to the onward march of the Faith in all the continents of the Globe, and will, more than any other single act, direct the attention of the spiritually impoverished, the economically afflicted, the socially disturbed, and the morally disoriented ma.s.ses of a sorely tried continent to its nascent inst.i.tutions.
Parallel with these measures, destined to contribute so effectively to the rise and establishment of the Administrative Order of the Faith in both Germany and Austria, a systematic effort must be exerted by the national elected representatives of the Baha'i communities in these two countries to multiply, as speedily as possible, the a.s.semblies, groups and isolated centres, through a wider dispersal on the part of the believers, and the launching of an intensive campaign of teaching designed to increase, swiftly and steadily the number of the active supporters of the Faith.
The pioneers who have so valiantly settled in the virgin areas a.s.signed to the National Spiritual a.s.sembly of the Baha'is of Germany and Austria, must, however great the sacrifice, safeguard the prizes so laboriously won, and strive, by every means in their power, to consolidate, through extensive teaching work, their splendid and unforgettable achievements.
While this double process of multiplication of Baha'i centres, and development of the newly opened areas, is being a.s.siduously carried out, a no less notable progress must be made in the consolidation of these two communities, through the initiation of local incorporations which will pave the way for the establishment of local Baha'i endowments, and will serve to reinforce the foundations of all local Baha'i communities.
The establishment of a national Haziratu'l-Quds in the capital city of Austria, as well as of national endowments in that country-measures that will herald the formation of an independent National Spiritual a.s.sembly, and the erection of yet another pillar of the Universal House of Justice, in the heart of the European continent-should be regarded as the paramount objectives of this second phase of the Ten-Year Crusade which we are now entering.
No less vital and urgent is the task of establis.h.i.+ng, in the course of this second stage in the unfoldment of this world spiritual Crusade, of a Baha'i Publis.h.i.+ng Trust, similar, in its essentials, to the one already functioning in the British Isles, and of lending a fresh impetus to the translation, the publication and dissemination of Baha'i literature in the German language-a task which will greatly accelerate the all-important teaching work, and enhance the prestige of the Faith, and promote the vital interests of its inst.i.tutions.
The Community of the German and Austrian believers, the recipient of such signal honours from the Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant in the past; born and nurtured in its infancy under His fostering care in the course of the concluding decades of the Apostolic Age of the Faith; eminently successful in laying the foundations of its Administrative Order in the years immediately following His Ascension; emerging, purified and strengthened, from the fire of a severe and prolonged ordeal after the conclusion of the second world war; demonstrating its capacity and resilience through the initiation and prosecution of a carefully designed Plan, despite the exhaustion of a terrible and harrowing conflict that endangered its life and shook it to its foundations,-such a community has now risen to a.s.sume its rightful place in the world-encompa.s.sing Crusade launched by the followers of Baha'u'llah; has splendidly initiated its Ten-Year Plan through the inauguration of its glorious Mission in foreign fields, and is now forging ahead, with magnificent courage, resolution, thoroughness, and fidelity, in its endeavour to win fresh laurels in the course of this second and newly opened stage in the unfoldment of the Plan to which it stands committed.
May the vision of its members remain undimmed, their resolution never flag, their steps never falter. May they, as the years go by, demonstrate afresh the solidity of their faith, the n.o.bility of their motives, the sublimity of their devotion, the tenacity of their resolution, in the service of a Faith they have served so devotedly in the past and which they will, undoubtedly, promote with unabated zeal, in the future,
Your true brother, Shoghi
LETTER OF 28 JUNE 1954
28 June 1954
Dear Baha'i Friends:
Your loving letter of June 9th has come to hand, telling of the activities of the friends in connection with the development of the teaching work in Germany and Austria, as well as in the pioneering fields.
So far as the questions you ask are concerned, the following will answer question Number 1, as this is a matter which the Guardian has elucidated.
The direction of the pioneers is entirely in the hands of the National a.s.semblies under whom they are serving. The Guardian simply enunciates the principle, and then it is up to the National a.s.semblies to apply that principle. The principle is that pioneers entering the pioneer field should realize that they are going there to represent the Cause, in fact, to be the Cause.
Their minds and their hearts should be centered in their new tasks and in their new environment. They should not be thinking of when they can return home, or when they can go somewhere else. Only when the Faith is firmly established should they give any thought to moving, and then, only in consultation with the National a.s.sembly.
So far as pioneers taking a holiday is concerned, that is entirely in the hands of the National a.s.sembly. You can appreciate that all of this depends upon location, and to a certain extent, funds. If a person feels they need a little change for a week or two, that of course is something which should be handled in each case.
The Guardian does not wish to make any hard and fast rules on any of these matters.
I will write you again in response to the other questions when the Guardian has given his advice....
LETTER OF 23 JULY 1954
23 July 1954
Dear Baha'i Friends: