Ridván greetings, guidance and inspiration
To all believers in Aotearoa
Dearly loved friends,
Tēnā koutou
Nga mihi aroha kia koutou katoa
As we enter the blessed period of Ridván, the National Spiritual Assembly wishes to send loving greetings and best wishes to each of you and to convey a Ridván gift of five video recordings of talks given at Summer School in the North Island in December 2019 by three illustrious speakers, Dr Firaydoun Javaheri (three talks), Dr Augusto Lopez-Claros (one talk) and Mr Paul Hanley (one talk).
The talks are available on this page:
https://sites.google.com/bahai.org.nz/deepeningtalks/summer-schools
The talks are:
Dr Javaheri: Promoting the well-being of humanity
Dr Javeheri: Non-involvement in partisan politics
Dr Javaheri: Our love for the House of Justice
Dr Lopez-Claros: Global governance and institutions
Mr Hanley: "Eleven": the changes needed for a viable civilisation
As we enter the final year of the Five Year Plan, the National Spiritual Assembly also takes this opportunity to reiterate guidance from the Universal House of Justice that is worthy of continuing contemplation and application in the lives of each of us.
The message from your National Convention, which conveyed a clear sense of purpose and heightened resolve among the delegates, filled us with confidence that your much-loved community is poised to greatly widen the circle of those participating in the community-building process under way. At a time when divisions within the human family seem so intractable, Bahá’u’lláh’s message of oneness offers the only source of hope to your society.
Be assured of our heartfelt supplications in the Holy Shrines that the efforts of the friends may be blessed and confirmed as they reach out to others and invite them to join together in cultivating communities untainted by prejudice or discord.
(The Universal House of Justice, 26 May 2019 in response to the message from National Convention 176 B.E.)
As you will recall, the House of Justice sent a key message at Naw-Rúz this year. The National Spiritual Assembly can do no better than to quote the beloved Universal House of Justice in its Naw-Rúz message for 177, which stated: “Suffice it to say that, four years into the current Plan, the tireless supporters of the Cause have brought the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh to the strongest position in which it has ever been in its history. Everything you have done and are now doing is preparing the global Bahá’í community for the next stage in the unfoldment of the Divine Plan.”
The National Assembly has a strong conviction that the efforts of the believers in Aotearoa have most definitely brought the Faith in this country “to the strongest position in which it has ever been in its history.” The galvanising effects of the national teaching conferences and summer schools, and the preparations for the bicentenary led to some valuable re-assessment and re-evaluations, where everyone was seen as a potential collaborator. The special potency of the bicentenary period combined with the increased devotional character of the whole country led to the release of spiritual forces that generated a strong spirit in Aotearoa. There is a new coming together across each of the regions, a new coherence and dynamism.
The Naw-Rúz message and the Ridvan Message of the Universal House of Justice give us what we need to go forward. By modelling the qualities, attributes, and spiritual strengths described by the House, we will face the current challenge with assurance and resolve. The Supreme Institution tells us that “The world stands more and more in need of the hope and the strength of spirit that faith imparts” and that the House of Justice is praying earnestly “for the Almighty to bestow upon you assurance, stamina, and staunch spirits.” Armed with these qualities of the soul, we are urged to have our minds “ever bent upon the needs of the communities to which you belong, the condition of the societies in which you live, and the welfare of the entire family of humanity, to whom you are all brothers and sisters. And in your quiet moments, when no course of action other than prayer seems possible, then we invite you to add your supplications to our own and ardently pray for the relief of suffering.”
It is with heroism, self-sacrifice, courage, and indomitable hope that the Army of Light in Aotearoa will be a positive source of influence to our wider society. Many friends are finding that the period of “lockdown” has resulted in many distractions being removed and this has opened up new possibilities for engagement with others, and for looking afresh at how we can serve humanity. How can we ensure that when some semblance of “normality” resumes those previous distractions do not assert themselves again?
‘Abdu’l-Bahá is quoted in the Naw-Rúz message as follows:
In a day such as this, when the tempests of trials and tribulations have encompassed the world, and fear and trembling have agitated the planet, ye must rise above the horizon of firmness and steadfastness with illumined faces and radiant brows in such wise that, God willing, the gloom of fear and consternation may be entirely obliterated, and the light of assurance may dawn above the manifest horizon and shine resplendently.
And the message ends with this beautiful prayer of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s:
O Thou Provider! Assist Thou these noble friends to win Thy good pleasure, and make them well-wishers of stranger and friend alike. Bring them into the world that abideth forever; grant them a portion of heavenly grace; cause them to be true Bahá’ís, sincerely of God; save them from outward semblances, and establish them firmly in the truth. Make them signs and tokens of the Kingdom, luminous stars above the horizons of this nether life. Make them to be a comfort and a solace to humankind and servants to the peace of the world.
May God bless and sustain all the dear friends in our beautiful country.
Arohanui
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF AOTEAROA
