Consolidation process of teaching a seeker: Nurturing “the seeker’s newly awakened faith” - the Guardian explains
- Let him remember the example set by ‘Abdu’l Bahá, and His
constant admonition to shower such kindness upon the seeker, and exemplify to
such a degree the spirit of the teachings he hopes to instill into him, that
the recipient will be spontaneously impelled to identify himself with the Cause
embodying such teachings.
- Let him
refrain, at the outset, from insisting on such laws and observances as might
impose too severe a strain on the seeker’s newly awakened faith, and endeavor
to nurse him, patiently, tactfully, and yet determinedly, into full maturity,
and aid him to proclaim his unqualified acceptance of whatever has been
ordained by Bahá’u’lláh.
- Let him,
as soon as that stage has been attained, introduce him to the body of his
fellow-believers, and seek, through constant fellowship and active
participation in the local activities of his community, to enable him to
contribute his share to the enrichment of its life, the furtherance of its
tasks, the consolidations of its interests, and the coordination of its
activities with those of its sister communities.
- Let him
not be content until he has infused into his spiritual child so deep a longing
as to impel him to arise independently, in his turn, and devote his energies to
the quickening of other souls, and the upholding of the laws and principles
laid down by his newly adopted Faith.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Advent of Divine
Justice’)
