Message from the National Spiritual Assembly, 20 November 2017

To the Bahá’ís of Canada

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

What marvels you have accomplished in honour of this powerful moment in history! Your reports of the celebration of the bicentenary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh continue to arrive, transporting us on the wings of inspiration from one part of the country to another, to settings of every kind. We have been taken to Pond Inlet, Nunavut, to the grandmothers’ gathering; to the Provincial Legislature in Ontario where an historic tribute to Bahá’u’lláh was made by a Minister of the Government and representatives of the two other Parties; to the small Brandon community’s dramatic presentations of the life of Bahá’u’lláh that attracted over 100 townspeople; to the Cowichan Valley cluster in British Columbia, where a bench with a beautifully hand-carved panel of Bahá’u’lláh’s words in the Hul’q’umi’num and English languages was presented as a gift to the elders’ residence in honour of the bicentenary; to Cut Knife, Saskatchewan, a town of 600 people in which 100 gathered to celebrate the Holy Day; to Quebec City, where a choir lifted the hearts of participants in the celebration; to Whitehorse, Yukon where the Dakhká Khwáan dancers drew the children into a dance of unity amidst a beautiful art display; to a myriad home-based Holy Day celebrations, family gatherings, film screenings and studies of the October 2017 message about Bahá’u’lláh. The range of ways that you have brought His “soul-entrancing glory”[1] to the minds and hearts of every kind of person is breathtaking. To hold a worthy mirror to your joyful, creative efforts is impossible.

Yet, while the numbers are truly countless from a national perspective, they are surely not to each of you. In most of your reports, the count of friends and neighbours who participated in the celebrations has surpassed the number of Bahá’ís. Seeing in each soul who accompanied you a potential protagonist in the community-building process, you are also seeing the next simple steps that will connect them more deeply to the transformative power of the Revelation. As you continue to act, these simple steps are widening a path for the tens of thousands with whom you are already connected and the circle of friends around them. This is the work of the next eight cycles of the Plan, until the 200th anniversary of the Birth of the Báb in 2019.

Each Holy Day presents a special opportunity to continue to draw in the widest possible cross- section of society. For example, in a few short days might the Day of the Covenant extend the pattern of invitation to a range of spaces and meaningful conversations that has now been so clearly established? In what ways might those with whom you celebrated the bicentenary, and who you view as your companions on the path of service, contribute to the change in the way that Holy Days are celebrated, as part of their deepening engagement with the Word of God and participation in community life?

The energy, focus and confidence you have abundantly demonstrated in the months leading up to the bicentenary have built new capacities and changed the landscape in which the Cause is growing in Canada. Steadfastness and the fortitude mentioned by the Universal House of Justice in its joyous 31 October 2017 message to the Bahá’ís of the world will ensure that the seeds you have lovingly planted will flower. The National Assembly’s study of that message brought to mind this stirring passage from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh with which we close, with the deepest love and our assurance of grateful, constant prayers: Centre your attention unceasingly upon that which will cause the Word of God to be exalted. In this Most Great Revelation goodly deeds and a praiseworthy character are regarded as the hosts of God, likewise is His blessed and holy Word. These hosts are the lodestone of the hearts of men and the effective means for unlocking doors. Of all the weapons in the world this is the keenest.[2]

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF CANADA

[signed: Karen McKye, Secretary]

[1] Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world, 31 October 2017

[2] Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 256