1919: A group of Western pilgrims with some local Baha'is in the Garden of Ridvan near Akka

A group of Western pilgrims with some local Baha'is in the Garden of Ridvan, near Akka, 1919

Becoming “imbued with the spirit and truths of the Bahá'í Writings”

Your accomplishments have prepared the way for even more spectacular successes in the years immediately ahead. Now as never before should you strive mightily to free yourselves from the obstacles of apathy, attachment to worldly pursuits, and lethargy, which stand in the way of so glorious a realization. As the people around you yearn increasingly for a society in which rectitude of conduct prevails, which is animated by a nobility of moral behaviour, and in which the diverse races are firmly united, your challenge is to demonstrate the efficacy of the Message of Bahá'u'lláh in ministering to their needs and in recreating the very foundation of individual and social life. The whole of North America stands in desperate need of the inspiring vision, the dynamic sense of purpose and the idealism, which can be provided only by those who are imbued with the spirit and truths of the Bahá'í Writings. (The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 153, 1996 - To the Followers of Bahá'u'lláh in North America: Alaska, Canada, Greenland and the United States)

To imbue: To inspire or influence thoroughly

Calligraphic arrangement of part of the opening sentence of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha

Calligraphic arrangement of part of the opening sentence of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha: 'All Praise to Him Who, by the Sheild of His Covenant, hath gaurded the Temple of His Cause'. (The Baha'i World 1976-1979)

The “human world will adapt itself to a new social form” as a result of the “manifestation of spiritual forces” brought forth by Baha’u’llah

Still today, can anyone claim to have glimpsed anything but an intimation, distant and indistinct, of the future society to which the Revelation of Baha'u'llah is destined to give rise? For let none suppose that the civilization towards which the divine teachings impel humankind will follow merely from adjustments to the present order. Far from it. In a talk delivered some days after He laid the cornerstone of the Mother Temple of the West, 'Abdu'l-Baha stated that "among the results of the manifestation of spiritual forces will be that the human world will adapt itself to a new social form," that "the justice of God will become manifest throughout human affairs". These, and countless other utterances of the Master to which the Baha'i community is turning time and again in this centennial period, raise awareness of the distance that separates society as it is now arranged from the stupendous vision His Father gifted to the world. (The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2012 message to the Baha’is of the world)

1989: The "Peace Chariot"

1989: The Baha'i Mobile Deepening Institute in the State of Uttar Pradesh, India, is drawn from village to village on a bullock cart. The Institute has become known as 'The Shati-Rath' (Peace Chariot). (Baha'i News, December 1989)

Baha’u’llah identifies “the highest and most laudable” virtues that each human being should strive for

• “trustworthiness,”
• “truthfulness,”
• “purity of heart while communing with God,”
• “forbearance,”
• “resignation to whatever the Almighty hath decreed,”
• “contentment with the things His Will hath provided,”
• “patience, nay, thankfulness in the midst of tribulation, and”
• “complete reliance, in all circumstances, upon Him[God]”

Evidences of “moral decadence, invading both the East and the West …”

Not only must irreligion and its monstrous offspring, the triple curse that oppresses the soul of mankind in this day, be held responsible for the ills which are so tragically besetting it, but other evils and vices, which are, for the most part, the direct consequences of the "weakening of the pillars of religion," must also be regarded as contributory factors to the manifold guilt of which individuals and nations stand convicted. The signs of moral downfall, consequent to the dethronement of religion and the enthronement of these usurping idols, are too numerous and too patent for even a superficial observer of the state of present-day society to fail to notice. The spread of lawlessness, of drunkenness, of gambling, and of crime; the inordinate love of pleasure, of riches, and other earthly vanities; the laxity in morals, revealing itself in the irresponsible attitude towards marriage, in the weakening of parental control, in the rising tide of divorce, in the deterioration in the standard of literature and of the press, and in the advocacy of theories that are the very negation of purity, of morality and chastity — these evidences of moral decadence, invading both the East and the West, permeating every stratum of society, and instilling their poison in its members of both sexes, young and old alike, blacken still further the scroll upon which are inscribed the manifold transgressions of an unrepentant humanity. (Shoghi Effendi, "The Promised Day is Come", The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Divorce)

A “dynamic coherence between the spiritual and practical requirements of life on earth” -- Mashriqu’l-Adhkar and its dependencies

The oneness of mankind, which is at once the operating principle and the ultimate goal of His Revelation, implies the achievement of a dynamic coherence between the spiritual and practical requirements of life on earth. The indispensability of this coherence is unmistakably illustrated in His ordination of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, the spiritual centre of every Baha’i community round which must flourish dependencies dedicated to the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific advancement of mankind. (The Universal House of Justice, ‘Letter to the Baha’is of the World,’ Haifa, Israel, October 20, 1983)

Baha’u’llah identifies “the king of all acts”

The first and foremost duty prescribed unto men, next to the recognition of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, is the duty of steadfastness in His Cause. Cleave thou unto it, and be of them whose minds are firmly fixed and grounded in God. No act, however meritorious, did or can ever compare unto it. It is the king of all acts, and to this thy Lord, the All-Highest, the Most Powerful, will testify.... (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah)

Some praiseworthy qualities exhibited by Baha’i youth -- identified by the Universal House of Justice

• zeal,
• enthusiasm,
• steadfastness,
• devotion,
• good character,
• selfless service, and
• determined effort

(Extracted from a message dated 9, 1968 from the Universal House of Justice to the “Baha’i Youth in every Land”; Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986) (To read the entire message please visit Messages to the Baha'i World Community - by the Universal House of Justice)