March 27, 2017

“one way every Bahá'í can spread the Faith”

Not all of us are capable of serving in the same way, but the one way every Bahá'í can spread the Faith is by example. This moves the hearts of people far more deeply than words ever can.

The love we show others, the hospitality and understanding, the willingness to help them, these are the very best advertisements of the Faith. They will want to hear about it when they see these things in our lives. 
- Shoghi Effendi   (From a letter dated 17 March 1943 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Living the Life)

March 18, 2017

Prayer for Assistance - “each one who endeavors for the erection of the House of the Lord”

1920 -- Boring commenced at the 
site of Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, Chicago
O God! O God! I implore Thee with throbbing heart and streaming tears, to aid each one who endeavors for the erection of the House of the Lord (Mashriqu’l-Adhkar), the Building wherein Thy Name is mentioned every morn and eve. Send down Thy benediction on whomsoever endeavors for the uprising of this Edifice among the sects and religions, and confirm him in every good deed of mankind; open the doors of riches and wealth unto him and make him an inheritor of the treasures of the Kingdom which perish not; make him the sign of giving among the peoples and reinforce him by the sea of Thy generosity and bounty, which is surging with the waves of grace and favor.

Verily, Thou art the Generous, the Merciful and the Bountiful!

‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Star of the West, vol. 5, no. 5, June 5, 1914)

March 14, 2017

To “realize our imperfection”

We must realize our imperfection and not permit ourselves to get too upset over the unfortunate things which occur, sometimes in Conventions, sometimes in Assemblies or on Committees, etc. Such things are essentially superficial and in time will be outgrown. 
- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 17 March 1943 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, Living the Life)

March 9, 2017

To free oneself from “worldliness in its essence”

Say:  He from whom, in this day, the sweet savours of the remembrance of His Lord, the All-Merciful, have not been diffused, is indeed unworthy of the station of man. He, verily, is of them that have followed their own desires, and shall erelong find himself in grievous loss. Doth it behove you to relate yourselves to Him Who is the God of mercy, and yet commit the things which the Evil One hath committed? Nay, by the Beauty of Him Who is the All-Glorified! could ye but know it. Purge your hearts from love of the world, and your tongues from calumny, and your limbs from whatsoever may withhold you from drawing nigh unto God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. Say: By the world is meant that which turneth you aside from Him Who is the Dawning-Place of Revelation, and inclineth you unto that which is unprofitable unto you. Verily, the thing that deterreth you, in this day, from God is worldliness in its essence. Eschew it, and approach the Most Sublime Vision, this shining and resplendent Seat. Blessed is he who alloweth nothing whatsoever to intervene between him and his Lord. No harm, assuredly, can befall him if he partaketh with justice of the benefits of this world, inasmuch as We have created all things for such of Our servants as truly believe in God. 
- Baha'u'llah  (Tablet to Napoleon III, Suriy-i-Haykal [Tablet of Temple]; ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)

March 3, 2017

April 1930: Martha Root with Baha'is of Shiraz, Iran

Martha Root (standing, back row, center) was the honored guest at a celebration for the Twelfth Day of Ridvan, Shiraz, Iran, 1930

March 1, 2017

The “sun” and “moon” of the “religion of God”

Verily, the religion of God is like unto heaven; fasting is its sun, and obligatory prayer is its moon.
- Baha’u’llah  (Compilation: 'The Importance of Obligatory Prayer and Fasting', prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)