He hopes your Assembly will devote special, constant
attention to encouraging the friends in their teaching work, and facilitate
their tasks. As the new National Assemblies are being formed, he feels it
incumbent upon him to issue a word of warning to avoid rules and regulations
and tying the believers’ work up in red tape. Over-administration can be even
worse for the Faith at this time than under-administration. The believers are,
for the most part, young in the Cause, and if they make mistakes it is not half
as important as if their spirit is crushed by being told all the time—do this
and don’t do that! The new National Body should be like a loving parent,
watching over and helping its children, and not like a stern judge, waiting for
an opportunity to display his judicial powers. The reason he points this out to
you is that constantly, for the past twenty years and more, he has been
pointing this out to the old and tried National Assemblies, and he does not want
the younger bodies to make the same mistakes. Individual cases should be dealt
with as they arise, according to the Teachings, of which the believers have
quite sufficient available to handle all of their problems at this time, and no
more additional rules and regulations need be introduced.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated
30 June 1957 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to National Spiritual Assembly
of the Bahá’ís of Alaska; ’High Endeavours – Messages to Alaska)
