Jamál, 09 Jalál (Glory), 179 B.E

Seen

Spring colors: common blue violet (Viola sororia) and dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Done

The second offering in the “Quoted” section of yesterday’s post referenced the Riḍván 2008 message. In the “Quoted” section below are two extracts from it which speak directly to a spiritual mandate for Bahá’ís to actively pursue “…a greater involvement in the life of society,” and ”to contribute to the betterment of the world.” This includes “participation in the public discourse on issues of concern to humanity, such as peace, the elimination of prejudices of all kinds, the spiritual and moral empowerment of youth, and the promotion of justice.” Such effort, combined with many related endeavors in progress by Bahá’ís, generation to generation, “contribute to social transformation” — and the title of the eleventh slide in the presentation, Let Your Vision Be World-Embracing:

Noted

Astral Prospecting on Instagram and Astral Prospecting on Facebook

Marc Bosserman on Instagram Marc Bosserman on Facebook, and Marc Bosserman Music and Musings on YouTube

Tab’s Galaxy on YouTube

Quoted

‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s treatise The Secret of Divine Civilization amply demonstrates the Faith’s commitment to promoting social change without entering into the arena of partisan politics. So too, innumerable passages in the Bahá’í Writings encourage the believers to contribute to the betterment of the world. “Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in,” Bahá’u’lláh states, “and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.” 1 ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá urges the friends to “become distinguished in all the virtues of the human world—for faithfulness and sincerity, for justice and fidelity, for firmness and steadfastness, for philanthropic deeds and service to the human world, for love toward every human being, for unity and accord with all people, for removing prejudices and promoting international peace.” 2 3

When the Bahá’í community was small, its contribution to social well-being was naturally limited. In 1983 the House of Justice announced that the growth of the Faith had given rise to the need for a greater involvement in the life of society. Bahá’ís began to engage more systematically in the work of social and economic development through activities of varying degrees of complexity. Efforts to contribute to social transformation also include participation in the public discourse on issues of concern to humanity, such as peace, the elimination of prejudices of all kinds, the spiritual and moral empowerment of youth, and the promotion of justice. These two types of activity have steadily increased over the past twenty-five years and will grow in scope and influence in the future. 4

  1. Bahá’u’lláh. The Tabernacle of Unity: Bahá ̕u̕ Lláh’s Responses to Mánikchí Ṣáḥib and Other Writings. Haifa: Bahá’i World Centre, 2006. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/tabernacle-unity/3#553038498 [return]
  2. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 190. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/14#331882631. [return]
  3. Universal House of Justice. “Letter to an Individual.” Bahá’í Reference Library, December 23, 2008. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20081223_001/1#883189035 [return]
  4. Ibid. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20081223_001/1#282465619 [return]