You express a longing for greater openness and deeper ties among the believers, for more tolerance of authentic diversity and for greater discipline on the part of the individual and the community. You draw attention to the need for greater sensitivity and cite the importance of cultivating the art of listening, and for enhanced attention to the practical applications of our Faith in all arenas, and to the objectives of the Six Year Plan. These concerns are indeed urgent and compelling, but depend for their successful prosecution upon individual grassroots initiative, forbearance, and resolve, perhaps even more than upon administration, vital as that is.
The following admonitions of the beloved Guardian may be relevant to your meditations:
“The friends must be patient with each other and must realize that the Cause is in its infancy and its institutions are not yet functioning perfectly. The greater the patience, the loving understanding and the forbearance the believers show toward each other and their shortcomings, the greater will be the progress of the whole Bahá’í community at large.” (From a letter dated February 27, 1943, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer.)
Moreover, we are urged to "study deeply the teachings, teach others, study with those Bahá’ís who are anxious to do so, the deeper teachings of our Faith, and through example, effort and prayer, bring about a change." (From a letter dated September 30, 1949, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 24 December 1990, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer; ‘The American Bahá'í, March 1991; Baha’i Library Online)
