Winter/Spring 2023 issue of Bahá’í Canada
Friends across the country are continuing their study of the 30 December 2021 message, in which the Universal House of Justice lays out the mandate for the Nine Year Plan—the first year of which will soon draw to a close. Paragraphs 11 and 12, under the subheading “Learning from the most advanced clusters,” were a particular focus for friends serving in centres of intense activity as well as cluster agencies and institutions.
In paragraph 11, the House of Justice describes “the characteristics of a cluster where the friends have passed the third milestone along the continuum of growth,” noting, “To have come this far implies intense activity occurring in specific neighbourhoods or villages, but also concerted effort being made by the generality of the believers living across the cluster—in other words, a rising spirit of universal participation in the work of community building…It entails families and individual believers working together and making a conscious decision to see themselves as belonging to an expanding nucleus.”
The House of Justice continues its description in paragraph 12, writing, “Within each centre of intense activity, collaborative arrangements emerge among groups of families, who organize community-building activities among themselves with a view to widening the embrace of such activities to many nearby households; an informal network of friends provides encouragement and support to the endeavours under way.” This issue, titled Widening the embrace, is inspired by these paragraphs and loosely based around the theme of families. The feature article is based on a conversation during which a handful of friends working to engage entire families in Montreal, Que., Nanaimo, B.C., and Ottawa, Ont., share insights into the nature of this work. Sleepaway camps for families allow each member to progress in their study of institute materials, participate in recreational activities, and deepen friendships.
For the “From the History” section, we turned to the volumes The Maxwells of Montreal, by Violette Nakhjavani, to string together a series of excerpts that make up the article “The spiritual motherhood of May Maxwell.” This article looks at how a mother who was frequently away from her daughter facilitated her spiritual education with excellence. It draws our attention to the spiritual dimensions of motherhood, highlighting how she instructed her child with a language mined from teaching the Cause and the example of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.
Also in this issue is an article titled “Increasing the institutional capacity of Area Teaching Committees,” that sheds light on the functioning of Area Teaching Committees in two of Canada’s most advanced clusters: Toronto and Vancouver. As complexity has increased in response to the demands of growth, particularly as more friends arise to participate in the community-building process, these Committees have taken on new challenges.
As youth mature into adults, they must make decisions regarding their studies, work, and family life. The article “Coherence in the lives of young people entering work,” looks at recent guidance around the challenges that youth face and the nature of the support they require as they strive to develop capacities in light of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. It is the first in a series of articles on this topic, which will later share the experiences of several youth who have recently entered their working lives, and are, along with their peers, trying to apply the guidance of the House of Justice.
Living a coherent life also extends to one’s financial affairs. The issue also contains an article, “Huqúqu’lláh workshops engage families,” about how a series of workshops offered by the Board of Trustees of Huqúqu’lláh in Canada are involving groups of families in conversations about how the spiritual and material aspects of their lives can be harmonized. In many cases, this is increasing family unity and fostering collective action toward the goals of the Nine Year Plan.
Clearly, there is much to study and understand regarding the Nine Year Plan, and it is envisioned that many more articles will be generated as Bahá’ís and their friends across Canada “alive to the greatness of this Day and the significance of their actions, strive for the emergence of a society shaped by the divine teachings.”[i]
[i] From the Universal House of Justice to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, 30 December 2021.
