Spiritual Food for Thought - from the Writings of Shoghi Effendi and Universal House of Justice

5/3/25

May 3

At this time, faithful friends, when the earth is caught in the grip of chaos, confusion, and instability, and its political, economic, and social order is ever more volatile and out of control; when the peoples of the world are seized by various ordeals and hardships and are struggling against incurable ills; when despair and hopelessness and a lack of confidence about the future and the erosion of the bonds of trust have led to a widespread crisis, particularly among many young people in the world—at this time, the people of Bahá across the globe, though themselves exposed to some of the same ordeals and hardships, are laying, with determination and firm resolve, the basis of a new society. They direct their efforts and endeavours towards releasing in ever-greater measures the mighty society-building power that exists in the inmost reality of the Faith; they pursue the glorious process of learning in which all the peoples and nations of the world have a share; and they are ready to collaborate with everyone and encourage them to participate in this process and assist it.

- The Universal House of Justice (Naw-Ruz 2025 message to the Baha’is in Iran; authorized translation; online Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)

5/1/25

May 1

In reflecting on the years of effort invested in this daunting project, [Terraces on Mount Carmel] we are moved to express to the people of Haifa the warmth of the feeling in our hearts. Their city will for all time be extolled by the Bahá’ís everywhere as the place in which the mortal remains of the youthful Prophet-Herald of their Faith finally found refuge, and this after half a century of having to be secretly moved for protection from one place to another in His native land. The patience and cordiality shown towards the Bahá’ís throughout the most difficult years of the construction work exemplify the spirit of goodwill in which so much of the world stands so greatly in need. Haifa is providentially situated on Mount Carmel, with its immortal associations with saintly visionaries, whose concern throughout the ages was largely focused on the promise of peace. May Haifa achieve wide renown not just as a place of natural beauty but more especially as the city of peace.

Let the word go forth, then, from this sacred spot, from this Mountain of the Lord, that the unity and peace of the world are not only possible but inevitable. Their time has come.

- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 22 May 2001 “On the occasion of the official opening of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb”; Messages from the Universal House of Justice 2001-2022)

4/29/25

April 29

In answer to your fourth question the House of Justice instructs us to say that an element of judgement is required in deciding what are and what are not "administrative" matters. Immoral actions of believers, for example, generally become subjects for administrative action only when they are blatant or flagrant, and reflect on the good name of the Faith. If a believer turns to an assistant or Auxiliary Board member for advice on a personal matter it is for the assistant or Auxiliary Board member to decide whether he should advise the believer to turn to his Spiritual Assembly, whether he should himself give advice and, in either case, whether he should report the matter to the Counsellors, or to the Local Assembly, which, of course, would depend upon the degree of confidentiality he had undertaken to observe. Likewise, it is for the Counsellor to decide whether it is a matter of which the National Assembly should be informed. All this is, of course, within the general context that, apart from matters which ought to remain confidential, the more freely information is shared between the institutions of the Faith the better.

National Assembly members themselves must exercise such discretion, and it should be clear to the believers that they are not justified in assuming that because a matter is known to individual members of the Assembly it is therefore before the Assembly itself. If a believer wishes to bring a matter to the Assembly's attention he should do so explicitly and officially. If a member of the Assembly knows of a personal problem, and if he has not undertaken to keep it confidential, he may bring it to the Assembly's attention if he feels it would be in the interests of the Faith for him to do so, but he is not obliged to.

- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 2 August 1982, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

4/27/25

April 27

The Shrine of the Báb stands as a symbol of the efficacy of that age-old promise, a sign of its urgency. It is, as well, a monument to the triumph of love over hate. The gardens which surround that structure, in their rich variety of colours and plants, are a reminder that the human race can live harmoniously in all its diversity. The light that shines from the central edifice is as a beacon of hope to the countless multitudes who yearn for a life that satisfies the soul as well as the body.

This inextinguishable hope stems from words such as these from the Pen of Bahá’u’lláh: "This is the Day in which God’s most excellent favours have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace has been infused into all created things.” May all who strive, often against great odds, to uphold principles of justice and concord be encouraged by these assurances.

4/25/25

April 25

Let anyone inclined to either belittle the unique station conferred upon this community, [1] or to question the role it will be called upon to play in the days to come, ponder the implication of these pregnant and highly illuminating words uttered by ‘Abdu’l Bahá, and addressed to it at a time when the fortunes of a world groaning beneath the burden of a devastating war had reached their lowest ebb. “The continent of America,” He so significantly wrote, “is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide, and the free assemble.”

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)

[1] “the blessed community of the followers of the Most Great Name in the North American continent”

4/23/25

April 23

The sufferings sustained by the Báb so as to arouse humanity to the responsibilities of its coming age of maturity were themselves indications of the intensity of the struggle necessary for the world’s people to pass through the age of humanity’s collective adolescence. Paradoxical as it may seem, this is a source of hope. The turmoil and crises of our time underlie a momentous transition in human affairs. Simultaneous processes of disintegration and integration have clearly been accelerating throughout the planet since the Báb appeared in Persia. That our Earth has contracted into a neighbourhood, no one can seriously deny. The world is being made new. Death pangs are yielding to birth pangs. The pain shall pass when members of the human race act upon the common recognition of their essential oneness. There is a light at the end of this tunnel of change beckoning humanity to the goal destined for it according to the testimonies recorded in all the Holy Books.

4/21/25

April 21

The cornerstone of the foundation of all Baha'i activity is teaching the Cause. As 'Abdu'l-Baha has categorically proclaimed in His Will and Testament, "the guidance of the nations and peoples of the world" is "the most important of all things," and "Of all the gifts of God the greatest is the gift of Teaching.

The friends likewise are in varying degrees aware of the repeated exhortations found in the Writings of our Faith that divine confirmations are dependent upon the active pursuit of the teaching work. In the words of the beloved Master, "confirmations from the unseen world are encompassing all those who deliver the divine Message." He further states, "should the work of teaching lapse, these confirmations would be entirely cut off, since it is impossible for the loved ones of God to receive assistance unless they teach."

- The Universal House of Justice (From a message dated 3 March 1977 to all National Spiritual Assemblies; Messages from the Universal 1963-1986)

4/19/25

April 19

The arrival of Bahá'u'lláh in the Najibiyyih Garden, subsequently designated by His followers the Garden of Ridvan, signalizes the commencement of what has come to be recognized as the holiest and most significant of all Bahá'í festivals, the festival commemorating the Declaration of His Mission to His companions. So momentous a Declaration may well be regarded both as the logical consummation of that revolutionizing process which was initiated by Himself upon His return from Sulaymaniyyih, and as a prelude to the final proclamation of that same Mission to the world and its rulers from Adrianople.

Through that solemn act the "delay," of no less than a decade, divinely interposed between the birth of Bahá'u'lláh's Revelation in the Siyah-Chal and its announcement to the Báb's disciples, was at long last terminated. The "set time of concealment," during which as He Himself has borne witness, the "signs and tokens of a divinely-appointed Revelation" were being showered upon Him, was fulfilled. The "myriad veils of light," within which His glory had been wrapped, were, at that historic hour, partially lifted, vouchsafing to mankind "an infinitesimal glimmer" of the effulgence of His "peerless, His most sacred and exalted Countenance." The "thousand two hundred and ninety days," fixed by Daniel in the last chapter of His Book, as the duration of the "abomination that maketh desolate" had now elapsed. The "hundred lunar years," destined to immediately precede that blissful consummation (1335 days), announced by Daniel in that same chapter, had commenced. The nineteen years, constituting the first "Vahid," preordained in the Persian Bayan by the pen of the Báb, had been completed. The Lord of the Kingdom, Jesus Christ returned in the glory of the Father, was about to ascend His throne, and assume the sceptre of a world-embracing, indestructible sovereignty. The community of the Most Great Name, the "companions of the Crimson Colored Ark," lauded in glowing terms in the Qayyúmu'l-Asmá', had visibly emerged. The Báb's own prophecy regarding the "Ridvan," the scene of the unveiling of Bahá'u'lláh's transcendent glory, had been literally fulfilled.

- Shoghi Effendi (God Passes By)

4/17/25

April 17

Addressing Siyyid Yahyáy-i-Darábí surnamed Vahíd, the most learned, the most eloquent and influential among His followers, the Báb utters this warning: “By the righteousness of Him Whose power causeth the seed to germinate and Who breatheth the spirit of life into all things, were I to be assured that in the day of His manifestation thou wilt deny Him, I would unhesitatingly disown thee and repudiate thy faith.… If, on the other hand, I be told that a Christian, who beareth no allegiance to My Faith, will believe in Him, the same will I regard as the apple of Mine Eye.”

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah’ included in ‘The World Order of Baha’u’llah’)

4/15/25

April 15

The Major Plan of God is at work throughout the world, hastening the disintegration of the old order as the new one unfolds. While it is propelling forward a social transformation of a magnitude never before witnessed, fear and uncertainty grip the consciousness of a majority of the world’s people, who remain unaware of God’s purpose in this Day. There is a growing sense of a fundamental change of far-reaching dimensions that chills preoccupation with the pleasures and comforts of material existence. In the midst of this turmoil, the Divine Will for humankind is being achieved.

The progress being made by the community of the Greatest Name is a cause for the deepest satisfaction. Its members, undismayed by the surrounding distraction and distress, labour to provide reassurance and insight to those with whom they come in contact, making sure that the confident vision that informs their actions is not clouded by the limited perspective of the mass of humanity. Current world events offer Bahá’ís an opportunity to demonstrate the application of the remedy brought by the Divine Physician.

- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 12 November 2001to the Bahá’ís of the World; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 2001-2022’)

4/13/25

April 13

A century and a half have passed since that unspeakable tragedy in the northwest of Persia when the Báb faced the volley fired at Him from the rifles of 750 soldiers. The soldiers had followed the orders of the highest authorities in the land. The Báb’s mangled body was then thrown on the side of a moat outside the city, abandoned to what His cold-blooded persecutors thought would be a dishonourable fate. They had hoped thus to put an end to the growing influence of His teachings on masses of people throughout the country. These masses had accepted, in the face of intense persecution, the Báb’s claim to prophethood, and their lives were being transformed spiritually and morally as He prepared them for what He said was the dawn of a new age in which a world civilization would be born and flourish. The expectations that stirred countless hearts were heightened even more sublimely by the Báb’s announcement that One greater than He would soon arise. One who would reveal the unparalleled character of the promised world civilization that would signify the coming of age of the entire human race.

4/11/25

April 11

In the relationship between assistants and the National Spiritual Assembly no problems should arise, because the functions are entirely separate. An assistant is appointed by an Auxiliary Board member to help him in a specified area of the territory and he functions as an assistant only in relation to that area. Assistants, like Auxiliary Board members, function individually, not as a consultative body. Assistants who are members of a National Assembly or a national committee do not function as assistants in relation to that body, and they have the same duty to observe the confidentiality of its consultations, and of matters considered by the Assembly to be confidential, as does any other member. An assistant can, of course, be a member of a Local Spiritual Assembly, but his task here as an assistant is to help the Spiritual Assembly to function harmoniously and efficiently in the discharge of its duties and this will hardly succeed if he gives the Assembly the feeling that he is reporting privately everything it does to the Auxiliary Board member. He should, on the contrary, do all he can to foster an atmosphere of warm and loving collaboration between the Local Assembly and the Board member.

4/9/25

April 9

…you instance the difficulties of local communities which are faced with the task of reorienting and integrating into the Cause new believers who enter with all sorts of immoral and even criminal tendencies from their former life. This is indeed difficult, but this is the very stuff of the work of the Cause. The Baha'i Faith not only provides teachings in accordance with which the behaviour of human beings can be reformed, but also makes available a spiritual power which reinforces the devoted efforts of every believer, whether veteran or neophyte. Arising to serve the Cause has, itself, a transforming effect upon believers, as the beloved Guardian wrote with respect to service upon Spiritual Assemblies: "If we but turn our gaze to the high qualifications of the members of Baha'i Assemblies, as enumerated in 'Abdu'l-Baha's Tablets, we are filled with feelings of unworthiness and dismay, and would feel truly disheartened but for the comforting thought that if we arise to play nobly our part every deficiency in our lives will be more than compensated by the all-conquering spirit of His grace and power." Thus, what is most imperative for the promotion of the spiritual life of local Baha'i communities is the stimulation of the believers to increase their devotion to Baha'u'llah, their absolute reliance upon Him and upon His love, and their determination to apply His teachings in every aspect of their lives. This stimulation can be conveyed from heart to heart and mind to mind by devoted Baha'is without the need of formal training. ...

- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated December 1976 to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986)

4/7/25

April 7

...In the first place every believer is free to follow the dictates of his own conscience as regards the manner in which to spend his own money. Secondly, we must always bear in mind that there are so few Bahá’ís in the world, relative to the world’s population, and so many people in need, that even if all of us gave all we had, it would not alleviate more than an infinitesimal amount of suffering. This does not mean we must not help the needy, we should; but our contributions to the Faith are the surest way of lifting once and for all time the burden of hunger and misery from mankind, for it is only through the System of Bahá’u’lláh—Divine in origin—that the world can be gotten on its feet, and want, fear, hunger, war, etc., be eliminated. Non-Bahá’ís cannot contribute to our work or do it for us; so really our first obligation is to support our own teaching work, as this will lead to the healing of the nations.

- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi; ‘Directives from the Guardian’)

4/5/25

April 5

The Guardian wishes to emphasize the importance of avoiding (reference to civil courts) of cases of dispute between believers, even in non-Bahá’í issues. It is the Assembly’s function to endeavor to settle amicably such disputes, both in order to safeguard the fair name and prestige of the Cause, and to acquire the necessary experience for the extension of its functions in the future.

- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi; ‘Directives from the Guardian’)

4/3/25

April 3

It should be borne in mind, however, that Bahá’u’lláh has not restricted the delivery of His Message to a few individual sovereigns, however potent the scepters they severally wielded, and however vast the dominions which they ruled. All the kings of the earth have been collectively addressed by His Pen, appealed to, and warned, at a time when the star of His Revelation was mounting its zenith, and whilst He lay a prisoner in the hands, and in the vicinity of the court, of His royal enemy.

- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Promised Day Is Come’)

4/1/25

April 1

It is too bad that some of the Friends have left the Faith due to the pressure of the Church leaders. Of course, it was inevitable that Church leaders would oppose us. The Master has predicted that this would occur; and likewise the very nature of events whereby the Faith grows and develops taking members away from the Church will cause a reaction of the Church against us. We must bear in mind that every attack from the religious leaders in the past has been a means for the development of the Faith itself because those who listen to the attacks can't help but be affected by the purity and sincerity of the Faith.

- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 19 June 1957 to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. 1, Crisis and Victory)

3/30/25

March 30

3/28/25

March 28

How clearly and strikingly the following words of ‘Abdu’l Bahá are being demonstrated at this hour: “The darkness of error that has enveloped the East and the West is, in this most great cycle, battling with the light of Divine Guidance. Its swords and its spears are very sharp and pointed; its army keenly bloodthirsty.” “This day,” He, in another passage has written, “the powers of all the leaders of religion are directed towards the dispersion of the congregation of the All-Merciful, and the shattering of the Divine Edifice. The hosts of the world, whether material, cultural or political are from every side launching their assault, for the Cause is great, very great. Its greatness is, in this day, clear and manifest to men’s eyes.”

- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter written in 1938, known as ‘The Advent of Divine Justice’)