Message from the National Spiritual Assembly to the Bahá’ís of Canada, 12 October 2017

Aerial view of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, Mansion of Bahjí and surrounding gardens. Photo: Bahá’í International Community.

To the Bahá’ís of Canada

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

Over the last year, a joyful conversation has unfolded about the bicentenary. Through messages to the Feasts, to the Bahá’ís of Canada and to the thousands working at your side, the National Spiritual Assembly has participated in this conversation in an unusually direct way, our consultations inspired and informed by this exchange.

In just a few short days, the first phase of the Five Year Plan will yield to the next. From the pen of the Universal House of Justice or on its behalf, a stream of messages have guided us towards the Twin Holy Days, the precious moments this year when the world will celebrate the Birth of the Báb and the next day, the bicentenary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh. Beyond these events, however, has always been another horizon, one which now urgently beckons. Having introduced the Person of Bahá’u’lláh to an unprecedented number of friends and acquaintances representing a wide cross-section of society, how will the friends use the days and weeks following the Holy Days to deepen their love for Him? How then will the flame of their longing to arise and serve Him be fanned?

The thrilling October 2017 message addressed to “All who celebrate the Glory of God” has provided new language for these conversations and a context in which to consider Bahá’u’lláh’s life and mission, as well as the weighty implications of the teachings He brought for humanity. One of the friends recounted an experience of sharing the letter’s concepts with a fellow-passenger, who eagerly asked for a copy of the letter, which in turn led them to pass the cross-country flight in study of the message. In countless conversations that are taking place in every kind of space, with every kind of person, the themes of that letter and the stimulating questions it poses are being explored. For these conversations to deepen and bear fruit, for the state of enkindlement they engender to be sustained, a veritable flood of devotional gatherings, firesides, home visits, children’s classes, junior youth groups and study circles must be opened up to every receptive soul. To meet this need, no less than a thousand tutors and a similar number of children’s class teachers and animators must quickly arise.

Both the October 2017 letter and the film Light to the World are powerful supports to these new friendships. On 18 October, the dubbed version of the film will be available in English, French and Persian, as well as a version with Chinese subtitles, on the Bahá’í Community of Canada’s website at https://www.ca.bahai.org/. May these wonderful instruments be used not only during the Holy Days themselves, but to perhaps even greater effect in intimate settings in the days that follow and indeed, throughout the whole of this year.

In closing this final letter to you before the bicentenary celebrations, we wish to add a word about youth, a generation called into being by a merciful Creator in this peerless Day. Around the circle of friends you have nurtured through your efforts are a host of young people who are deeply affected by “the inevitable foam and spray cast up as wave after wave convulses a turbulent and divided society”[i], who see clearly the perils of this age, whose hope in the future of humanity is ready to be awakened and whose energy and enthusiasm are waiting to be channeled. It is our prayer that every one of these souls — the youth, their siblings and parents — will through you advance along their path to Bahá’u’lláh and taste the sweetness of service at your side.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF CANADA

[signed: Karen McKye, Secretary]

_____________________

[i] Ridván 2017 message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the World.