Summer 2024 issue of Bahá’í Canada
The Universal House of Justice’s 2024 Ridván message has been a tremendous source of inspiration and energy this summer. At the 74th Bahá’í National Convention—a description of which is included in this issue—delegates spoke about how open this message is, with one delegate sharing “It addresses each one of us.” It has been studied with parents whose children are engaged in classes for moral education, youth serving their communities, elders who, through meaningful conversation, are bridging generational divides, and individuals working with like-minded organizations.
The imperative that “All must surge, but the youth must soar” was particularly stirring, prompting several youth conferences across the country, including on Vancouver Island, B.C., in Waterloo, Ont. and in Sackville, N.B. Several stories and a selection of photographs from these occasions have already been published on the Bahá’í Canada website.[i]
The “From the history of the Faith” section of this issue looks to the past for insight into two undertakings the Bahá’ís of Canada are currently pursuing—raising up Canada’s National House of Worship and the identification, training and deployment of international and homefront pioneers.
“Temple-builder: Hájí Mírza Muhammad-Taqí, the Afnán,” from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Memorials of the Faithful describes the qualities of an individual who was instrumental in the erection of the first Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, someone who nearly “expended everything he possessed to rear this building” and who exemplified “what it means to be faithful.”
The Canadian Bahá’í community has a rich history of pioneering, including during the Ten Year Crusade.[ii] In the story “Shoghi Effendi illustrates the role of pioneers,” a car ride involving John, Audrey and Patrick Robarts became an analogy of how pioneers should remain in the background as the local population takes charge of its own development. This issue also includes an article regarding the experience of a team of present-day pioneers from Canada to Dominica. It demonstrates how pioneering is a way for learning to be disseminated throughout the world.
An excerpt from the article “Rising to the challenge of reconciliation,” originally published on the Bahá’í World website, is published here. It investigates the systems of oppression against Indigenous peoples embedded in Canada’s colonial past; this is an issue that recently came to the forefront of our national discourse. The article explores how addressing injustices requires making them “seen.”
This resonates with our feature article, which chronicles how a group of Indigenous youth from Thunder Bay, Ont. travelled 15 hours by bus to attend a regional conference. They were encouraged by community members to use their voice to speak out and shared a statement that brought tears to many of those present. Acknowledging injustice in their lives helped them to see how, through an educational process, steps can be taken to build a better world.
This year’s Ridván message states, “Heartfelt concern must prompt sustained effort to build communities that offer hope in place of despair, unity in place of conflict.” In the article “An expanding nucleus in Oak Bay, B.C.” the author reflects on how the efforts of two friends through an initial English Corner led to the engagement of an increasing number of people in community-building activities: a junior youth group, Ruhi Book 1 study circle, regular devotional gathering and now a children’s class. The members of 15 families are currently acting as protagonists in this process and are seeing change in their individual and collective lives.
This issue also includes a short account of conservation efforts to plant over 800 tree saplings that will mature and eventually be planted on the grounds of Canada’s future House of Worship. The spirit of service with which this work is being undertaken is an expression of the sacrificial contributions of the national community and beyond as we move forward in this historic undertaking, raising a Temple “dedicated to uniting the worship of God and service to humanity, both vital to the regeneration of the world.”[iii]
[i] https://bahaicanada.bahai.ca/
[ii] The article “Canada’s Knights of Bahá’u’lláh” was published in the Summer 2019 issue and can be found online here: https://bahaicanada.bahai.ca/ canadas-knights-of-bahaullah/
[iii] From the Universal House of Justice to the Friends Gathered in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, for the Dedication of the House of Worship, 25 March 2023.
