With warm Bahá’í love,
R. Rabbani
P.S.—He is very happy to see you are expediting building Mr.
Schopflocher’s grave. The details he leaves to the discretion of
your Assembly, as he is too busy to go into such matters. The most
suitable passages should be chosen from his cable regarding
Freddie at the time of his death, and engraved on the tombstone of
this distinguished Hand of the Cause.
As regards building the grave of Mr. Maxwell,
this
has already
been taken care of by his family. However, he thanks you for
the loving offer.
He approves of your taking steps right away to erect a worthy
monument on the grave of dear and heroic Marion Jack.
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers:
The steady progress of the manifold activities in which the
Canadian Bahá’í Community is now so devotedly and
unflaggingly engaged is a source of great joy and satisfaction
to all who have, in recent years, observed its growth and noted
its consolidation throughout that vast and promising Dominion.
Though some of its most capable and active members have,
urged by a compelling force to forsake their homes and settle
in distant fields, ceased to lend to the members of this brave
and greatly consecrated community their valued support, and
though a few others to be reckoned among its oldest and most
distinguished supporters have passed to the Abhá Kingdom,
leaving a gap difficult indeed to fill, yet the body of the Canadian
believers, far from flinching or relaxing in its noble endeavours,
has amply demonstrated its capacity to assume and
discharge its heavy and multiple responsibilities, has steadily
enlarged the scope of its achievements, has preserved its unity,
and coherence, and set an inspiring example to Bahá’í communities,
both young and old, throughout all the continents
of the globe.
The superb feats achieved by this community’s indomitable
pioneers far beyond the Arctic Circle, in neighbouring
islands of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as in
far off isolated territories; the incorporation of the elected body
of its national representatives; the notable increase in the
number of its members; its response to the urgent needs of the
National Fund; and the rapid enlargement in the scope of its
teaching and administrative activities, are all evidences of the
intense vitality of the faith which animates it, and of the firm
attachment of its members to the Cause which it has espoused.
Though much bas been achieved in various fields, the work
that still remains unaccomplished is so vital and urgent that
none of its members can afford to relax for a moment, or to
lose sight of the significance and sacredness of the immediate
tasks now confronting it.
The virgin areas, so laboriously opened, must, under no
circumstances, be neglected; nay rather constant attention
must be focused upon them in order to consolidate the glorious
historic work initiated in those areas. The island of
Anticosti, the one remaining goal as yet unattained, and the
only island in the Atlantic Ocean as yet unopened in pursuance
of the Ten Year Plan, should continue to be the object of
the special solicitude of the national elected representatives of
this community. The purchase of the site of the Mother Temple
of the Dominion of Canada and the establishment of the national
Hazíratu’l-Quds constitute a double task that can brook
no further delay, as the entire Bahá’í world, having hailed the
erection of such an indispensable institution in no less than
eighteen countries scattered throughout the continents and
oceans of the Globe, is now intently fixing its eyes on this community,
so richly blessed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, eager to witness this
twofold consummation destined to considerably enrich the
record of the services rendered by its members. The acceleration
in the process of incorporating firmly established Local
Assemblies is yet another objective to which the closest attention
must be paid—a task which will, to a very great extent,
contribute, from a legal standpoint, to the consolidation of
these Assemblies. No less important and vital is the multiplication
of isolated centres and groups, the rapid increase in
the number of Local Assemblies, and the steady numerical
growth of the community—the one enduring foundation on
which the security and future prosperity of the community
must ultimately rest.
The sudden and indeed tragic turn of events in the land of
the birth of our Faith
must act
as an unprecedented and powerful
stimulus to the spirit which animates the members of the
Canadian Bahá’í Community. It must not, indeed it cannot
for a moment, dampen their ardour, deflect them from their
purpose, or weaken their resolve to accomplish the tasks assigned
to them under the Ten Year Plan.
Conscious of their inescapable, their sacred and multiple
responsibilities; spurred on by the realization of the great and
varied sacrifices being made, and the vicissitudes experienced,
by the great mass of their long-suffering brethren in
Bahá’u’lláh’s native land; mindful of the prophecies made by
the Centre of the Covenant regarding the spiritual and material
destiny of their country; following the noble and immortal
example set by the founder
of their community and by the
two Hands of the Cause
ranking among its foremost members;
encouraged by their own splendid achievements in recent
years; thankful for the unrestricted freedom enabling them
to proclaim, unreservedly and far and wide, the fundamental
verities of their Faith; and fully aware of the shortness of the
time allotted to them for the performance of their arduous
and mighty task, the members of the Canadian Bahá’í Community
must arise, at this very hour, and evince such a wholehearted
dedication to the mission they have pledged themselves
to carry out as to astonish the entire Bahá’í world, and bring
everlasting consolation to the hearts of the persecuted followers
of the Faith in the land of its birth.
That this community may rise to this occasion, and may
befittingly fulfil this glorious mission, and enrich immeasurably
the record of its splendid and unforgettable achievements
is the object of my constant prayer and the dearest wish of my
heart.
Your true brother,
Shoghi
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