Every follower of Bahá’u’lláh knows well that the purpose of
His Revelation is to bring into being a new creation. No sooner had “the First
Call gone forth from His lips than the whole creation was revolutionized, and
all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the
depths.” The individual, the institutions, and the community—the three protagonists
in the Divine Plan—are being shaped under the direct influence of His
Revelation, and a new conception of each, appropriate for a humanity that has
come of age, is emerging. The relationships that bind them, too, are undergoing
a profound transformation, bringing into the realm of existence
civilization-building powers which can only be released through conformity with
His decree. At a fundamental level these relationships are characterized by cooperation
and reciprocity, manifestations of the interconnectedness that governs the
universe. So it is that the individual, with no regard for “personal benefits
and selfish advantages,” comes to see himself or herself as “one of the servants
of God, the All-Possessing,” whose only desire is to carry out His laws. So it
is that the friends come to recognize that “wealth of sentiment, abundance of
good-will and effort” are of little avail when their flow is not directed along
proper channels, that “the unfettered freedom of the individual should be
tempered with mutual consultation and sacrifice,” and that “the spirit of
initiative and enterprise should be reinforced by a deeper realization of the
supreme necessity for concerted action and a fuller devotion to the common
weal.” And so it is that all come to discern with ease those areas of activity
in which the individual can best exercise initiative and those which fall to
the institutions alone. “With heart and soul”, the friends follow the
directives of their institutions, so that, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains, “things
may be properly ordered and well arranged”. This, of course, is not a blind obedience;
it is an obedience that marks the emergence of a mature human race which grasps
the implications of a system as far-reaching as Bahá’u’lláh’s new World Order.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 28 December 2010
addressed to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)
