Letter to the Universal House of Justice from the National Convention

From the delegates of the 66th Canadian National Convention to the Universal House of Justice:

Our Dearly loved Universal House of Justice,

We, the delegates at the sixty-sixth Canadian National Convention have had the bounty of electing our beloved National Spiritual Assembly, the ninth pillar of the Supreme Body of the Faith. We bow down before the Blessed Beauty and pledge to rededicate ourselves to the imperatives of the remaining two years of the Five Year Plan.

The proceedings of the Convention benefited from wise insights from member of the Continental Board of Counsellors Dr. Ann Boyles who at the outset of the Convention helped us reflect on a “worthy etiquette of expression” that is gradually distinguishing the conversations of the Bahá’í world.

After a close reading of the Riḍván message, the delegates shared stories and drew upon learning points as hearts were stirred and minds awakened to fresh insights gleaned from guidance and experience. We found ourselves flooded with admiration as we surveyed the dialectic of crisis and victory rooted in the framework of the Plan from north to south, from coast to coast.

The Convention benefitted from the wise insights of Dr. Ann Boyles, member of the Continental Board of Counsellors. Photo: Louis Brunet

While maintaining the momentum of the youth movement, the national community has initiated the process of broadening the spectrum of community members who are warmly welcomed and accompanied to participate in the community-building activities. Such an undertaking bespeaks not only the gradual rise in capacity of the three protagonists of the Plan, but also a mode of learning that views the clusters as moving along a continuum of growth. Far from searching for a “rigid formula,” the delegates explored rigorous and diverse lines of action in manifold fields of service in which “nascent capacities” lead to a new vista for collaboration, and temporary periods of lull become a prelude to renewed labour.

The advancement of the Faith among the Indigenous populations proved to be close to the hearts and minds of the delegates. In reference to the oppression experienced by the Indigenous peoples and the friends in Iran, the Counsellor called to mind the power of the institute to disable every instrument of oppression, and encouraged the Convention to re-examine such cases of injustice in light of “the movement of an entire population,” thereby transforming hurt into healing, victims into victors.

The Fund and material needs of the Faith received the Convention’s enthusiastic attention. With immense appreciation, we were the recipients of a profound letter from the Board of Trustees of Huqúqu’lláh in Canada explicating this weighty ordinance of Bahá’u’lláh that will “give rise to a transformation of society far beyond our present capacity to comprehend.” We applauded the silent sacrifices of the youth as well as the community’s whole-hearted support to allay the expenses associated with growth. Judicious allocation of resources figured greatly in anecdotes shared by our honoured guest, Mr. Douglas Martin, who showcased the wisdom of the National Body more than half a century ago in relying on Divine assistance and obeying the Guardian’s guidance.

Participants at the Convention greet each other. Photo: Don Long

A gift of a visual presentation from the northern territories offered a glimpse of the Master’s vision that if this land is “touched with the heat of the love of God, that territory will become a divine rose garden and a heavenly paradise.”

By the end, enraptured by the dynamic rhythm of the Plan, whether from the vibrant tempo of a junior youth group in a focused neighbourhood or the soft beat of a children’s class in a rural cluster, the ambience of the National Convention built into a joyful crescendo expected to echo across this vast land such that, in the words of the Master, it would “tear asunder the veils, remove the obstacles, proffer the life-giving waters, and point out the path of salvation.”

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

The Sixty-Sixth Canadian National Convention