October 29. On this date in 1986, the Universal House of Justice wrote a letter "to the meeting of the Senior Officers of the United Nations Office and the Office of Public Information."
The Universal House of Justice
29 October 1986
To the meeting of the Senior Officers of the United Nations Office and the Office of Public Information
THE
GATHERING IN NEW YORK ON 31 OCTOBER OF THE SENIOR STAFF OF THE OVERSEAS
OFFICES OF THE BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MARKS A NEW, POTENT STAGE
IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE WORLDWIDE BAHÁ’Í
COMMUNITY. THIS STAGE BETOKENS THE PROMINENCE ATTAINED BY THE CAUSE OF
GOD IN ITS EMERGENCE FROM OBSCURITY AND IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE NEW,
INESCAPABLE CHALLENGES IMMEDIATELY TO BE MET AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THE
OPERATION OF THE ONRUSHING PROCESSES THROUGH WHICH ARE EVOLVING THE
RECONSTRUCTIVE INFLUENCES OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH’S WORLD ORDER. A STRIKING
MANIFESTATION OF THE NEW SITUATION CAN BE SEEN IN THE ACCUMULATING
EVIDENCE OF THE SALUTARY RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPING BETWEEN THE BAHÁ’Í
COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD AT LARGE. THIS RELATIONSHIP MUST BE EXPANDED. AS
WINDOWS OF THE BAHÁ’Í COMMUNITY TO THE WORLD, THESE OFFICES MUST
DISPLAY EVER MORE CLEARLY THE UNIFYING PRINCIPLES, THE HOPE, THE
PROMISE, THE MAJESTY OF THIS EMERGING ORDER.
A
GLANCE BACKWARD TO THE EMBRYONIC EFFORTS 39 YEARS AGO TO ASSOCIATE THE
INTERESTS OF THE FAITH WITH THE WORK OF THE UNITED NATIONS CANNOT BUT
AROUSE IN EVERY OBSERVANT BAHÁ’Í A DEEP SENSE OF PRIDE AND WONDERMENT AT
THE MOMENTOUS PROGRESS ACHIEVED. THE FOUNDATION OF EIGHT NATIONAL
SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES ON WHICH THOSE EFFORTS WERE LAUNCHED HAS, BY THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF 148 NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES, BROADENED NEARLY
NINETEENFOLD. FROM THAT SMALL BEGINNING TO THE HISTORIC MOMENT IN 1970
WHEN THE BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WAS ACCORDED CONSULTATIVE STATUS
WITH THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, FOLLOWED BY A SIMILAR
ACCREDITATION WITH THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND IN 1976, TO THE
REMARKABLE OCCASION IN DECEMBER 1985 WHEN THE NAME OF THE FAITH WAS
RECORDED IN A RESOLUTION PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ITSELF, THE
WORLD ORDER OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH HAS SURELY JUSTIFIED ITS PROMISE TO COME
FORTH AS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH IN THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE
TWENTIETH CENTURY.
YOU
HAVE WITNESSED IN THE LAST THREE YEARS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICE
OF PUBLIC INFORMATION, THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND
THE CREATION OF THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UNIT IN THE UNITED
NATIONS OFFICE, AND THE ENLARGEMENT OF THE GENEVA BRANCH OF THAT OFFICE
WITH THE TRANSFER FROM NEW YORK OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS UNIT.… THESE
ORGANIZATIONAL INITIATIVES AND REFINEMENTS BESPEAK AN ADMINISTRATIVE
RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES POSED BY THE FAR-REACHING
DIPLOMATIC AND PUBLIC RELATIONS PROSPECTS OPENING BEFORE THE BAHÁ’Í
WORLD COMMUNITY.
CLARITY
AND UNITY OF VISION BETWEEN THE OFFICES OF THE BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY MUST BE ACHIEVED. A HIGHER LEVEL OF COOPERATION WITHIN AND
BETWEEN THESE OFFICES IS IMPERATIVE. EQUALLY ESSENTIAL IS A GREATER
PARTICIPATION IN THE BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY’S PROGRAMS AND
OBJECTIVES BY PERTINENT INSTRUMENTS OF THE BAHÁ’Í ADMINISTRATION
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, PARTICULARLY NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES, WHOSE
GROWING GOOD RELATIONS WITH GOVERNMENTS AND INCREASING CONTACTS WITH
PROMINENT ELEMENTS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTRIES OFFER A WIDE FIELD OF
ACTIVITY TO BE CHERISHED AND ENCOURAGED ON THE ONE HAND, AND EXPLORED
AND EXPLOITED ON THE OTHER, BY THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AND THE OFFICE
OF PUBLIC INFORMATION. FOSTERING A HARMONIOUSLY FUNCTIONING NETWORK
COMPRISING THE VARIOUS ENTITIES OF A MATURING, FAR-FLUNG BAHÁ’Í
SYSTEM—INDEED, THE WISE, SKILLFUL, STRATEGIC COLLABORATION OF THESE
ENTITIES IN PROGRAMS BEING PURSUED BY THESE OFFICES CAN CONDUCE TO A
DEPLOYMENT OF BAHÁ’Í INFLUENCE NOT YET EXPERIENCED.
YOUR
AIM NOW IS TO VALIDATE SUCH PROSPECTS THROUGH LOVING, UNITED,
EFFICIENT, SELFLESS, AND CEASELESS ENDEAVOR. DIFFICULTIES OF THE PAST
MUST YIELD TO THE URGENT DEMANDS OF THE PRESENT; INCONGRUITIES OF
PERSONALITY MUST DISSOLVE IN A WIDENING RANGE OF EFFECTIVE ACTIONS; ALL
PARTICULARISMS MUST BE SUBORDINATED TO THE COMMON GOOD OF THE CAUSE.
ONLY THUS CAN SUCCESS BE ASSURED.
IT
IS WITH A COMMITMENT TO SUCH RESOLVES THAT YOU WILL NOT ONLY MEET AMONG
YOURSELVES AS COWORKERS IN THE OFFICES OF THE BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO INVITE THE PARTICIPATION OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, WHICH
WERE AMONG THE EIGHT NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES WHICH CONFIGURED THE
BAHÁ’Í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AS AN ENTITY IN THE EYES OF THE UNITED
NATIONS, WITH THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THE SPEARHEAD. THESE
REPRESENTATIVES WILL COME FROM COMMUNITIES WHICH CONSTITUTE A BULWARK OF
HARD-WON BAHÁ’Í EXPERIENCE, RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR
INTERNATIONAL ACTION, AND WHICH, AS IS WIDELY RECOGNIZED, SHOULDER
EXTRAORDINARY RESPONSIBILITIES BY VIRTUE OF THE UNIQUE BLESSINGS
BESTOWED ON NORTH AMERICA THROUGH ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ’S DIVINE PLAN. SUCH
BLESSINGS WILL IN GOD’S APPOINTED TIME MAKE EVIDENT THE PREPONDERATING
INFLUENCE WHICH THAT CONTINENT MUST AND WILL EXERT ON THE REALIZATION OF
PEACE ON EARTH. AS THE RISE IN THE STATUS OF THE AMERICAN AND CANADIAN
COMMUNITIES ALSO SIGNIFIES TO A GREAT EXTENT A RISE IN THE STATUS OF THE
BAHÁ’Í WORLD COMMUNITY, IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT THE COLLABORATION OF
THEIR NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLIES WITH THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AND
THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION SHOULD BE WELCOMED, REAPPRAISED AND
REINFORCED. THEY WILL IN TURN, NO DOUBT, EXTEND TO THOSE OFFICES EAGER
HANDS OF SUPPORT AND THE WHOLEHEARTED WILL TO COOPERATE, AS MUCH WITH
THE OFFICES AS BETWEEN THEMSELVES.
WE
LOOK TO THE FUTURE, CONFIDENT THAT BY WORKING UNITEDLY TOGETHER, AND
WITH DUE APPRECIATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ROLE ASSIGNED TO THE
ADMINISTRATOR-GENERAL, YOU WILL MAKE A NOTABLE CONTRIBUTION TO A PERIOD
OF UNPRECEDENTED ADVANCEMENT FOR THE FAITH OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH. WITH THIS
ASSURANCE WE OFFER OUR SUPPLICATIONS AT THE HOLY SHRINES THAT HE WHO
WATCHES OVER THE DESTINY OF HIS WONDROUS CAUSE AND CONFIRMS THE HUMBLE
EFFORTS OF HIS DEVOTED SERVANTS MAY GRANT YOU A FRESH MEASURE OF HIS
GRACE AND BOUNTY.
UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE
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