Haifa, Israel, July 18, 1957.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada.
Your Assembly's communications with their enclosures have all arrived safely, and the beloved Guardian has instructed me to answer you on his behalf...
MOST URGENT TASKS
It is a pity that the Canadian believers are having so much difficulty settling the question of both their Temple land and their National Headquarters. He was very surprised and distressed to learn that the Temple site you had chosen has entirely fallen through, and that you have to begin all over again looking for a Temple site. He feels that your Assembly should appreciate the fact that the important thing at this time is to acquire a Temple site. It does not have to be a very large piece of land, and, if the worst comes to the worst, at a future date, when the time comes to build a Temple in Canada, it can be exchanged or sold and a better site procured; but the question for this present National Body to settle once and for all is the purchase of a Temple plot as a beginning in order to remove from the Ten Year Plan one of its most important goals, and one the accomplishment of which has been dragging too long. He feels that your Assembly should also look around for a suitable and permanent Haziratu'l-Quds in Toronto, and try and dispose of the one you have without loss, if possible, in order to enable you to acquire the new and he hopes permanent one at once.
As regards the matter of those who have withdrawn from the Faith ....: as you know, no one has the right to excommunicate anybody except the Guardian of the Faith, himself. Those people who have withdrawn from the Faith, though critical of it and disgruntled, are not necessarily Covenant-breakers. If they were associating with A?mad Sohrab(58) and upholding his claims actively, then they would come into an entirely different category. If this is the case, you should inform the Guardian, but otherwise the friends should be advised to just leave these people alone, for their influence can be nothing but negative and destructive, and the less they breathe the breath, so to speak, of those who have turned their back on the light of this Faith, the better.
It is not enough to bring people into the Faith, one must educate them and deepen their love for it and their knowledge of its teachings, after they declare themselves. As the Baha'is are few in number, especially the active teachers, and there is a great deal of work to be done, the education of these new believers is often sadly neglected, and then results are seen such as the resignations you have had recently. In this respect, the Summer Schools can be of the greatest help to the friends, new and old Baha'is alike, for in them they can study, and enjoy the feeling of Baha'i companionship which is, alas, usually lacking in their home communities, owing to the smallness of their numbers.
He is very happy to see that the friends are making every effort to execute the provisions of the Ten Year Plan, as they apply to the Canadian Community. The most urgent of all tasks facing them in connection with the execution of their part of the Ten Year Plan is to increase the number of Spiritual Assemblies.
DEADLY INFLUENCE OF MATERIALISTIC CIVILIZATION
The Baha'is should realize that today's intensely materialistic civilization, alas, most perfectly exemplified by the United States, has far exceeded the bounds of moderation, and, as Baha'u'llah has pointed out in His Writings, civilization itself, when carried to extremes, leads to destruction. The Canadian friends should be on their guard against this deadly influence to which they are so constantly exposed, and which we can see is undermining the moral strength of not only America, but indeed of Europe and other parts of the world to which it is rapidly spreading.
The fortuitous combination of British solidity and good judgment and American get-up-and-go and enthusiasm, which has characterized Canada, must not be lost in the Canadian Baha'i Community. Its members must demonstrate their outstanding abilities, and, through a greater vision, more consecration and renewed self-sacrifice, arise and attain their goals.
He is very happy over the work in the Pacific region in general, and was glad to receive word recently of the formation of the Samoan Assembly, a feat of which your Assembly can be duly proud. However, the situation in the Marquesas needs immediate attention, and every effort should be exerted to reinforce the work initiated there, at the cost of much self-sacrifice, by the first pioneer(59).
INFERTILE FIELDS EQUALLY VITAL
The work in the north should likewise be consolidated, and every effort made to get more pioneers to join those heroic souls already labouring in such an infertile field. This applies equally to Labrador and Greenland, where Bill Carr(60), the lone Canadian pioneer, is demonstrating the Baha'i spirit in such an exemplary manner. It is hard for the friends to appreciate, when they are isolated in one of these goal territories, and see that they are making no progress in teaching others, are living in inhospitable climes for the most part, and are lonesome for Baha'i companionship and activity, that they represent a force for good, that they are like a light-house of Baha'u'llah shining at a strategic point and casting its beam out into the darkness. This is why he so consistently urges these pioneers not to abandon their posts. Apropos of this, he hopes that it will again be possible in the near future to get someone into Anticosti. It is a great pity that the friend(61) who went there could not remain.
The beloved Guardian sends all the members of your Assembly his loving greetings and assures you all of his ardent prayers for your success.
With warm Baha'i love, R. RABBANI.
Dear and Valued Co-workers:
The opening of the second year of the third phase of the Ten Year Baha'i Spiritual Crusade presents the entire Canadian Baha'i Community, and, particularly, its elected representatives, with an opportunity, and brings them face to face with a challenge, unique since its inception over half a century ago.
The achievements that have distinguished the record of its stewardship, ever since its founding, and particularly since the launching of the World Baha'i Crusade, both on the homefront and beyond its confines, have been such as to ennoble the annals of the Faith to which it is so whole-heartedly dedicated, and to arouse in the hearts of all those who have watched, throughout succeeding decades, the rise, its emergence into independent existence, and its rapid consolidation, feelings of profound admiration, of pride and of thankfulness.
The distance that has been traversed, in the course of the four brief years since the inauguration of the Ten Year Plan, by a community, still highly restricted in numbers and circumscribed in resources, and faced with tremendous responsibilities, as a result of the colossal task it has willingly shouldered, is admittedly great, and augurs well for its further advancement along the path traced for it by the Pen of the Centre of Baha'u'llah's Covenant in His immortal Tablets(62).
VINDICATE INDEPENDENT CHARACTER OF THE FAITH
The utmost care and vigilance, however, should be exercised by this youthful and dynamic community, so richly laden with the prizes it has so deservedly won, lest the momentum, so painstakingly gained in recent years, in both the teaching and administrative spheres of Baha'i activity, be lost or reduced. The standard of dedication and of efficiency, attained, while pursuing the goals it has pledged itself to achieve, must never be allowed, through apathy, neglect or faint-heartedness, to be lowered. The vision that has fired its members, on the occasion of the centenary celebrations which witnessed the launching of the Ten Year Plan must, no matter how prolonged or arduous the task, never grow dim. Their unswerving fidelity to the Covenant established by the Author of their Faith, and their attachment to the ideals and precepts enshrined in His Revelation, should, under no circumstances, no matter how active and subtle the machinations of its enemies, both within and without, be weakened. The momentous and highly exacting task, initiated far beyond the confines of their homeland,-a task which posterity will recognize as the opening chapter of their glorious Mission overseas-must be pursued with undiminished diligence, nay with redoubled zeal, and renewed determination and dedication. The no less vital obligation to expand, and consolidate the manifold activities conducted on the homefront, from the Atlantic to the Pacific seaboard, and from the northern confines of the Great Republic of the West to the fringes of the Arctic Ocean, must be faithfully discharged. The setbacks and difficulties that have, unexpectedly and most unfortunately, been recently experienced in connection with the acquisition of both the National Haziratu'l-Quds and the site of the future Mother Temple of Canada, must be faced with resolution and vigour, and a definite and permanent solution be found which will ensure the full attainment of these twofold primary objectives. The long overdue conversion of the American Indians, the Eskimos and French Canadians, as well as the representatives of other minorities permanently residing within the borders of that vast Dominion, must receive, in the months immediately ahead, such an impetus as to astonish and stimulate the members of all Baha'i communities throughout the length and breadth of the Western Hemisphere. The independent character of the Faith they profess and champion must, moreover, be fully vindicated through a closer adherence, on the part of the rank and file of the believers, to its distinguishing tenets and precepts, as well as through a fuller recognition by the civil authorities concerned, of the Baha'i Marriage Certificate and of the Baha'i Holy Days. The integrity of the fundamental teachings of the Faith, its security, the healthy and steady development, and ultimate fruition, of its nascent institutions, must, above all, be ensured and safeguarded, for upon these will depend the consummation of the Mission with which the Author of the Tablets of the Divine Plan has chosen to entrust them.
THIS COMMUNITY MUST FORGE AHEAD
The few remaining years, separating the steadfast and high-minded members of the Canadian Baha'i Community, striving so assiduously to achieve their goals, from the time fixed for the termination of a swiftly unfolding Crusade, are rapidly slipping by. A community which, ever since its inception, has, through the instrumentality of its most distinguished members, and particularly its founder(63) and those nearest to her, as well as a number of her spiritual children and associates, won such prizes at the World Centre of the Faith, in Latin America, in Europe, in Africa and in the Pacific area-such a community, at this crucial hour, cannot afford to either stand still, falter or hesitate. As this World Crusade sweeps majestically forward and draws nearer to its close, exploits as superb as those its sons and daughters have successively achieved in widely scattered areas of the globe, must continue to distinguish and ennoble the imperishable record of its services.
'Abdu'l-Baha's prophetic words regarding the future of its homeland, spiritually as well as materially-the initial evidences of which are becoming more apparent every day, must not be lost sight of for a moment, however exacting and all-absorbing the strenuous task ahead, however complex the problems its prosecution involves, however burdensome the preoccupations which it must needs engender.
Afire with that same love that burned so brightly in the hearts of its earliest pioneers, holding fast to the strong cord of the spiritual precepts and administrative principles of the Faith it has so whole-heartedly espoused, confident of its ability to achieve, in its entirety, the Mission entrusted to it by the Author of the Tablets of the Divine Plan, this community must forge ahead, with undeviating loyalty, with indomitable courage, with unbreakable unity, and exemplary consecration, striving to scale loftier heights, and widening constantly the range of its operations, on the American mainland as well as in neighbouring and distant islands, until each and every objective of its allotted task has been triumphantly attained.
SHOGHI.
FOOTNOTES
1 Mrs. May Ellis Maxwell-spiritual mother of the Canadian Baha'i community, became a believer in 1898, visited 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1899 and returned to Paris to found the first Baha'i centre on the European continent, married Sutherland Maxwell and settled in Montreal in 1902, achieved "the priceless honor of a martyr's death"
in Argentina in 1940. For a review of the vast range of her contributions to the Faith in Europe and America, see "Baha'i World"
Vol. VIII, In Memoriam.
2 The Tablets of the Divine Plan, revealed by 'Abdu'l-Baha in 191617, and addressed severally to the Baha'is of the United States and Canada, constitute the authority for the successive Plans inaugurated by the Guardian for the spread of the Faith and the establishment of its Institutions throughout the world.
3 The city of Montreal, Quebec, visited by 'Abdu'l-Baha August 30-September 12, 1912.
4 Mrs. May Ellis Maxwell-spiritual mother of the Canadian Baha'i community, became a believer in 1898, visited 'Abdu'l-Baha in 1899 and returned to Paris to found the first Baha'i centre on the European continent, married Sutherland Maxwell and settled in Montreal in 1902, achieved "the priceless honor of a martyr's death"
in Argentina in 1940. For a review of the vast range of her contributions to the Faith in Europe and America, see "Baha'i World"
Vol. VIII, In Memoriam.
5 The Bill to incorporate the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada was passed by both Houses of the Canadian Parliament, and given Royal assent on April 30, 1949.
6 The Bill to incorporate the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada was passed by both Houses of the Canadian Parliament, and given Royal assent on April 30, 1949.
7 William Sutherland Maxwell-architect of the Shrine of the Bab, appointed a Hand of the Cause of God in 1951, died in Montreal in 1952. His "saintly life" is described in "Baha'i World" Vol. XII, In Memoriam.
8 The first pioneers to Newfoundland, arriving in 1949, were Miss Margaret Reid, Miss Dorothy Sheets, and Miss Doris Skinner (who remained there until 1955).
9 Miss Nancy Gates-American pioneer to Denmark who attempted to pioneer to Greenland, but was unable to do so.
10 James and Mrs. Melba Loft-believers who pioneered from the United States to the Tyendinaga (Mohawk) Indian Reserve, near Shannonville, Ontario, 1949-.
11 Miss Nan Brandle-beginning in 1950 served several years as a pioneer to the Indians in Department of Indian Affairs hospitals at Fisher River, Hodgson, Manitoba and at Moose Factory and Ohsweken, Ontario.