# Empowering Words

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Joanna M. Tahzib-Thomas, Empowering Words, Hong Kong: Juxta Publishing Co., 2012, bahai-library.com.
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> Empowering Words
> Empowering Words
> Extracts from the Letters and Messages
> of Shoghi Effendi for Inspiration,
> Guidance and Vision
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> Had we a thousand lives to live, we could never fully repay Shoghi
> Effendi with enough love and gratitude for the beauty, inspiration and
> perfection of his literary work.
> Ugo Giachery, Shoghi Effendi: Recollections, p. 42
> Photograph by Nayyirih G. de Koning-Tahzib
> 
> In loving memory of
> Hand of the Cause of God
> Ugo Giachery
> and
> Lovingly dedicated to
> my husband Nosrat.
> Through listening to Dr. Giachery speak about Shoghi Effendi and
> his writings, my great love for Shoghi Effendi and his writings was
> born and was deepened.
> Shoghi Effendi (3 March 1896 – 4 November 1957)
> Behold he is this blest and sacred bough that has branched out from the
> twin holy trees. Well is it with him that seeketh the shelter of his shade
> that shadoweth all mankind.
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> Contents
> Preface............................................................................................ 17
> 
> Acknowledgements......................................................................... 21
> 
> Short Biography of Shoghi Effendi ................................................. 23
> 
> Understanding Shoghi Effendi’s Work ............................................ 25
> 
> Playing Our Part ............................................................................ 29
> 1. Bury Our Cares and Teach the Cause .......................................30
> 2. Our Mission Is Most Urgent ....................................................31
> 3. Keep Our Vision Clear.............................................................32
> 4. Live the Life of a True Bahá’í ....................................................33
> 5. The Responsibilities It Is Our Privilege to Shoulder ..................36
> 6. Remodel Our Lives ..................................................................38
> 7. Work Towards Universal Redemption ......................................39
> 8. Consciousness of World Citizenship.........................................40
> 9. Direct Our Immediate and Anxious Attention .........................42
> 10. The Requirements of the Present Hour ..................................44
> 11. The Blessings That Will Be Conferred ....................................45
> 12. What We Have to Manifest ....................................................46
> 13. The Vital, Ever-Present Need of Deepening in the Faith .........48
> 14. Momentous Possibilities .........................................................50
> 15. Contribute to Spiritualization and Material Progress ..............52
> 16. Set an Example.......................................................................53
> 17. Seize Every Opportunity ........................................................54
> 18. Distinguish Ourselves by Deeds of Heroism...........................55
> 19. All Must Arise ........................................................................56
> Our Path of Service ........................................................................ 59
> 20. The Foundation That Must Be Firmly Laid in Our Hearts .....60
> 21. Effectiveness in Serving ..........................................................62
> 22. What We Need to Demonstrate to Our Fellow-Countrymen .63
> 23. How to Ensure Success...........................................................65
> 24. The Object of Our Constant Endeavor ..................................66
> 25. To Teach the Cause Is the Ultimate Purpose ...........................67
> 26. Be Lovers of Mankind ............................................................68
> 27. Concentrate Our Energies on the Teaching Work ..................70
> 28. Empower the Bahá’í Youth .....................................................71
> 29. Be Ambassadors of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh ........................72
> 30. Extend Our Range of Activities ..............................................74
> 31. The Magnet That Will Attract the Promised Blessings ............75
> 32. We Owe a Debt of Gratitude That No One Can Describe .....77
> 33. What Must Have Precedence over All Other Considerations ..79
> 34. The Universal Recognition of the Cause .................................81
> 35. We Must Distinguish Our Record of Stewardship ..................83
> 36. The Spiritual Potentialities That Will Empower Us.................84
> 37. Let Us Place Our Share on the Altar of Sacrifice .....................85
> 38. Our Concerted Exertions Must Be Adequate in Range and Quality .86
> Coping with Tests and Difficulties................................................89
> 39. Severe Mental Tests Will Sweep over the West ........................90
> 40. The Plight of Mankind ...........................................................91
> 41. Problems Will Gradually Be Solved ........................................93
> 42. Be Undismayed ......................................................................94
> 43. The Promise ...........................................................................95
> 44. Pursue the Present Plan ..........................................................97
> 45. Be Not Afraid of Any Criticism..............................................98
> 46. No Sacrifice Can Be Regarded As Too Great ........................100
> 47. Face the Trials of the Present Hour .......................................101
> 48. Adversity Prepares the Hearts of Men ...................................103
> 49. Arise Without Fear ...............................................................104
> 50. So Much Depends Upon Us ................................................105
> 51. Trials and Disappointments May Tax Our Patience ..............107
> 52. We Must Encounter Critical Stages with Unswerving Resolution 109
> 53. So Much Hangs on the Fortunes of the Present Plan ............110
> 54. The Birth of the World Order ..............................................112
> 55. We Are Never to Hesitate .....................................................113
> 56. The Tribulations Suffered by Their Co-Religionists...............115
> 57. Our Faith Must Be Indomitable ...........................................116
> The Course of Change .................................................................. 121
> 58. Looking Towards the Future.................................................122
> 59. If We Fail To Play Our Part ..................................................123
> 60. The Significance of Our Undertaking ...................................125
> 61. The Goal of a New World Order ..........................................127
> 62. The Bedrock on Which This Administrative Order Is Founded 129
> 63. Evidences of a Splendid Power .............................................131
> 64. A New Stage in Concentrated Teaching Activity ..................133
> 65. The Leaven that Must Leaven the Lump ..............................135
> 66. Undreamt of Opportunities Offered ....................................137
> 67. The One Refuge ...................................................................138
> 68. We are Destined to Achieve Memorable Victories ................140
> 69. Great Work To Be Undertaken in the Future........................141
> 70. The Champion-Builders of Bahá’u’lláh’s Embryonic Order ...143
> 71. Torch-Bearers of the Light of Divine Guidance ....................145
> 72. Reap the Full Harvest ..........................................................147
> 73. Carry on the Torch ..............................................................148
> 74. A Still More Convincing Demonstration of Spirit ................150
> 75. A Dedication Reminiscent of the Pledges of the Dawn-Breakers .152
> 76. Not To Be Deflected for a Moment ......................................153
> Abbreviations ............................................................................... 157
> 
> Bibliography................................................................................. 159
> Preface
> T host of letters and messages that Shoghi Effendi wrote to various
> parts of the Bahá’í World during his thirty-six years as Guardian of the
> Bahá’í Faith inspired, praised, advised and guided the Bahá’ís in their
> endeavors. His words, written in eloquent, excellent language, so rich
> in beauty of style, empowered the Bahá’ís to carry out their mission
> with confidence, courage and perseverance. “Empowerment is about
> engaging both the hearts and minds of people so that they can take
> the opportunities made available to them for increased responsibility.”1
> Without his constant support and encouragement, the believers would
> never have been able to accomplish what they did.
> This compilation features extracts that have been selected from
> a great variety of letters and messages which Shoghi Effendi wrote
> to various parts of the globe. The extracts highlight how his words
> empowered the Bahá’ís to carry out and accomplish what was being
> asked of them with increased capacity, vision and enthusiasm. They
> also assist those who have not read Shoghi Effendi’s writings at any
> great length to become more familiar with his writings and pen. The
> extracts illustrate how enlightening the words of Shoghi Effendi are in
> giving us a greater understanding of world events, clarifying the goal
> of humanity, the significance of the mission entrusted to the Bahá’ís,
> the destiny of certain Bahá’í communities and an increased awareness
> of the role each individual plays in bringing about what is destined for
> this age.
> The compilation is divided into four sections relevant to our daily
> lives as Bahá’ís and our services to the Faith: Playing Our Part, Our
> Path of Service, Coping with Tests and Difficulties and The Course of
> Change. The extracts are arranged chronologically. Actions or events
> that took place when Shoghi Effendi wrote the extract are indicated
> at the beginning of the extract.² Each section has nineteen extracts.
> At the end of each extract the reader will find a glossary of difficult
> words. These definitions are geared to the text to the best ability of the
> author of the book, and do not necessarily give a full explanation of all
> possibilities of the words.
> 
> 1.   Michael Armstrong, How To Be An Even Better Manager, p. 139.
> 2.   The events are taken from A Basic Bahá’í Chronology, (Glenn Cameron with Wendi
> Momen, George Ronald Publisher). Permission was given by George Ronald,
> Publisher
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Even though the extracts are taken from his letters addressed to
> different National Spiritual Assemblies, Bahá’í communities and
> individual believers throughout the world, the guiding principles are
> universal and can be applied to anyone anytime anywhere.
> This compilation is also a tool, which, if referred to in times of
> need, can get us “back on track” by nourishing our minds and souls
> to more profoundly understand and cope with the changes taking
> place in the world, in the Faith, in our Bahá’í communities and in our
> individual lives.
> It is my hope that this compilation will serve as an encouragement
> and incentive to pursue a prolonged, systematic study of Shoghi
> Effendi’s writings, especially for the junior youth and the youth. As
> the Universal House of Justice wrote in their telex dated 4 August 1987
> to the participants of the Youth Conference in Manchester, United
> Kingdom:
> Essential that youth through prolonged systematic study writings
> beloved guardian acquire profound understanding operation of
> forces of decline and growth creating universal ferment in world
> today and leading mankind forward to glorious destiny.
> 
> Joanna M. Tahzib-Thomas
> Photograph by Nayyirih G. de Koning-Tahzib
> Acknowledgements
> I  to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. `Ali Nakhjávání for his
> invaluable advice and encouragement. I also want to thank Mr. Robert
> Weinberg, Mr. Pieter Bas Ruiter and Mr. Jan Folkema for their excellent
> suggestions. My heartfelt thanks to my daughters: Bahia Tahzib-Lie for
> her helpful advice and corrections and Nayyirih de Koning-Tahzib for
> her beautiful photographs. My warmest thanks to Ms. Ruth Borah for
> her excellent copy-editing and Mrs. Annette Poort and Mr. Herman
> Poort for reviewing the book and their valuable suggestions. And many
> thanks to my brother-in-law, Mr. Massoud Tahzib, for his great help in
> rendering the compilation in book form.
> My appreciative thanks to Dr. Wendi Momen for her kind
> permission to quote from A Basic Bahá’í Dictionary as well as to use
> information from A Basic Bahá’í Chronology by Glenn Cameron with
> Wendi Momen. My warm thanks also to George Ronald, Publisher, for
> their allowing me to quote from Shoghi Effendi: Recollections by Ugo
> Giachery. And lastly, my everlasting gratitude to my husband Nosrat,
> for his constant encouragement, patience and support.
> 
> Joanna M. Tahzib-Thomas
> Photograph by Nayyirih G. de Koning-Tahzib
> Short Biography of Shoghi Effendi3
> T Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, born on 1 March 1897 in ‘Akká, was
> the son of Díyá’íyyih Khánum, the eldest daughter of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> and Mírzá Hádí Shírazí, a relative of the Báb. He was educated at the
> American University at Beirut and Balliol College, Oxford.
> While at Oxford, Shoghi Effendi was informed of the passing of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and hurried back to Haifa, where he learned that he had
> been appointed Guardian of the Cause of God in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Will
> and Testament:
> After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the
> Aghsán, the Afnán of the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands of the Cause
> of God and the loved ones of the Abhá Beauty to turn unto Shoghi
> Effendi … as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the guardian
> of the Cause of God … He is the expounder of the words of God …
> Unable to bear his grief over the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and
> crushed by the weight of the responsibilities so unexpectedly thrust
> upon him, Shoghi Effendi retired for some time from Haifa leaving
> Bahíyyih Khánum in charge. After about a year he returned to take
> up his office. He married Mary Maxwell, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúhíyyih
> Khánum, in 1937.
> Among the achievements of his ministry, the following stand out
> as the most notable: the establishment of the Administrative Order
> of the Bahá’í Faith (both its elected bodies and the appointed side of
> the administration); the spread of the Faith to all parts of the globe
> in a series of organized Plans; the elaboration of many aspects of the
> Faith and the guidance of the world Bahá’í community through the
> writing of numerous letters; the defence of the Faith from the actions
> of the Covenant-breakers; the translation of numerous passages from
> the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh; the writing of books such as God Passes By
> and the translation of Nabíl’s Narrative; the acquisition of land and the
> planning and supervision of the laying out of the Bahá’í gardens in the
> Haifa-‘Akká area; the supervision of the building of the Shrine of the
> Báb and the International Archives Building.
> Shoghi Effendi passed away on 5 November 1957 while in London
> and is buried in the New Southgate Cemetery there.4
> 
> 3.   Taken from A Basic Bahá’í Dictionary, pp. 208–9 [endnote 16 ommitted].
> 4.   Permission given by George Ronald, Publisher, and Wendi Momen, Author/
> Writer.
> Understanding Shoghi
> Effendi’s Work
> Hand of the Cause, Ugo Giachery, wrote the following in his book
> Shoghi Effendi: Recollections which greatly aids us in understanding
> Shoghi Effendi’s work:
> T  able to understand Shoghi Effendi’s work, one must realize
> what animated him to accomplish the titanic task he did. The laws of
> genetics will perhaps prove that, as the great-grandson of Baha’u’llah,
> he had inherited many virtues and noble characteristics which made
> possible his grasp of far greater powers than are available to the average
> human being, as well as a discernment and spiritual penetration seldom
> encountered in the most brilliant writer or statesman.
> But the true animating forces which permeated all his writings can
> be placed in three classes. The first was his great vision. With all his
> passion and zeal he projected himself into the far, far distant future,
> visualizing the blessings which the World Order of Baha’u’llah would
> bring to mankind. Often we saw his dear face illumined by the glow
> of an inner consuming fire, reflecting the glory of this Order, while
> with a gentle and convincing voice he would tell of the five-hundred-
> thousand-year Cycle over which Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation would extend
> its shield and supremacy.
> The second force was his unfaltering conviction of the ultimate
> triumph of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. Shoghi Effendi’s life was not an
> easy one, but not even for an infinitesimal instant did he ever hesitate
> or delay. ‘If I should be influenced by the chaotic condition which
> exists in the world,’ he said one evening at the dinner-table, ‘I would
> remain passive and accomplish nothing.’ It was at the crucial time of
> the post-war period when nearly all countries of the world were in
> want of statesmanship. this unbounded conviction made him a tower
> of strength, a haven of refuge, and provided him with the power to
> accomplish things which by human standards would be considered
> extremely difficult, even impossible.
> The third animating force was his faith in the accomplishments of
> the Bahá’ís throughout the world. This was one of the most real and
> precious sources of power to him, almost a talisman, something to be
> found only in the Bahá’í Faith. Shoghi Effendi was a part of the great
> body of believers; he was like the lymph in the human body. He was
> well aware that the co-operation of the believers was essential to the
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> unfoldment of Bahá’u’lláh’s divine plan for mankind. Verbally and in
> his written messages he strongly conveyed his acknowledgement of this
> active partnership of the believers in whatever he did. It was deeply
> moving to hear him say: ‘We have accomplished this’; ‘We shall do
> that’.
> 
> Ugo Giachery, Shoghi Effendi: Recollections,pp. 31-32
> (George Ronald)
> Photograph by Nayyirih G. de Koning-Tahzib
> Playing Our Part
> Put your shoulder to the wheel.
> Aesop, Hercules and the Wagoner
> Greek slave & fable author (620 BC - 560 BC)
> 
> E one of us has something unique we can contribute to the Faith.
> We often wonder how and what we can do to serve the Faith. In
> searching for just what we can contribute we need to weigh the various
> aspects involved and what the Faith needs at this particular time.
> This section offers just those guidelines that give a solid basis to
> whatever we are going to do or are doing at the moment.
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 1. Bury Our Cares and Teach the Cause
> I F 1923, the keys to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh were returned
> to Shoghi Effendi; he wrote to the Bahá’ís in America, Great Britain,
> Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Japan and Australasia about Bahá’í
> administration, outlining the process for annual elections of assemblies
> and called for the establishment of local and national funds. In the
> same month he wrote this:
> But let us be on our guard - so the Master continually reminds us
> from His Station on high - lest too much concern in that which
> is secondary in importance, and too long a preoccupation with the
> details of our affairs and activities, make us neglectful of the most
> essential, the most urgent of all our obligations, namely, to bury our
> cares and teach the Cause, delivering far and wide this Message of
> Salvation to a sorely-stricken world.
> (12 March 1923, BA 42)
> 
> Bury our cares     To put problems out of our mind; to blot out
> Salvation          Being saved from danger, loss or harm
> Sorely-stricken    Extemely troubled
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 2. Our Mission Is Most Urgent
> I , shortly after Shoghi Effendi returned from Switzerland, the
> first Local Spiritual Assembly in Australia was formed in Melbourne.
> Shoghi Effendi wrote to the Bahá’ís of Australia and New Zealand:
> Let us pray to God that in these days of world encircling gloom, when
> the dark forces of nature, of hate, rebellion, anarchy and reaction
> are threatening the very stability of human society, when the most
> precious fruits of civilization are undergoing severe and unparalleled
> tests, we may all realize, more profoundly than ever, that though
> but a mere handful amidst the seething masses of the world, are in
> this day the chosen instruments of God’s Grace, that our Mission is
> most urgent and vital to the fate of humanity and, fortified by these
> sentiments, arise to achieve God’s holy purpose for mankind.
> (2 December 1923, LAN 3)
> 
> Gloom              An atmosphere of despair, despondency or
> misery
> Anarchy            A situation in which there is a total lack of
> organization or control
> Severe             Difficult to do or endure
> Unparalleled       Not equaled, matched or paralleled in kind or
> quality
> Profoundly         Showing great perception, understanding or
> knowledge
> Mere               The smallest
> Seething           To be violently agitated or disturbed
> Grace              Generosity of spirit
> Vital              Extremely important and necessary; dispensable
> to the survival or continuing effectiveness of
> something
> Fate               A consequence or final result
> Fortified          Strengthened or encouraged
> Sentiments         Underlying feelings
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 3. Keep Our Vision Clear
> I , shortly after Shoghi Effendi returned to the Holy Land after
> an absence of some six months, he wrote to the English National
> Spiritual Assembly:
> If we all choose to tread faithfully His path, surely the day is not far
> distant when our beloved Cause will have emerged from the inevitable
> obscurity of a young and struggling Faith into the broad daylight of
> universal recognition. This is our duty, our first obligation. Therein
> lies the secret of the success of the Cause we love so well. Therein
> lies the hope, the salvation of mankind. Are we fully conscious of
> our responsibilities? Do we realise the urgency, the sacredness, the
> immensity, the glory of our task?
> I entreat you, dear friends, to continue, nay, to redouble your efforts,
> to keep your vision clear, your hopes undimmed, your determination
> unshaken, so that the power of God within us may fill the world with
> all its glory.
> (24 November 1924, UD 35-36)
> 
> Tread              Walk
> Emerged            Become known
> Inevitable         Unavoidable
> Obscurity          A state of being unknown or inconspicuous
> Immensity          Unable to be measured; enormous
> Unshaken           Steadfast and unwavering
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 4. Live the Life of a True Bahá’í
> I N 1924, the Supreme Court of Iraq decided against the
> Bahá’ís in the dispute over the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad. Shoghi
> Effendi wrote to the English National Spiritual Assembly:
> We have but to turn our eyes to the world without to realise the
> fierceness and the magnitude of the forces of darkness that are
> struggling with the dawning light of the Abhá Revelation. Nations,
> though exhausted and disillusioned, have seemingly begun to cherish
> anew the spirit of revenge, of domination, and strife. Peoples,
> convulsed by economic upheavals, are slowly drifting into two great
> opposing camps with all their menace of social chaos, class hatreds,
> and world-wide ruin. Races, alienated more than ever before, are filled
> with mistrust, humiliation and fear, and seem to prepare themselves
> for a fresh and fateful encounter. Creeds and religions, caught in this
> whirlpool of conflict and passion, appear to gaze with impotence and
> despair at this spectacle of increasing turmoil.
> Such is the plight of mankind three years after the passing of
> Him from Whose lips fell unceasingly the sure message of a fast-
> approaching Divine salvation. Are we by our thoughts, our words,
> our deeds, whether individually or collectively, preparing the way?
> Are we hastening the advent of the Day He so often foretold?
> None can deny that the flame of faith and love which His mighty
> hand kindled in many hearts has, despite our bereavement,
> continued to burn as brightly and steadily as ever before. Who
> can question that His loved ones, both in the East and the West,
> notwithstanding the insidious strivings of the enemies of the Cause,
> have displayed a spirit of unshakable loyalty worthy of the highest
> praise? What greater perseverance and fortitude than that which His
> tried and trusted friends have shown in the face of untold calamities,
> intolerable oppression, and incredible restrictions? Such staunchness
> of faith, such an unsullied love, such magnificent loyalty, such heroic
> constancy, such noble courage, however unprecedented and laudable
> in themselves, cannot alone lead us to the final and complete triumph
> of such a great Cause. Not until the dynamic love we cherish for Him
> is sufficiently reflected in its power and purity in all our dealings
> with our fellowmen, however remotely connected and humble in
> origin, can we hope to exalt in the eyes of a self-seeking world the
> genuineness of the all-conquering love of God. Not until we live
> ourselves the life of a true Bahá’í can we hope to demonstrate the
> creative and transforming potency of the Faith we profess. Nothing
> but the abundance of our actions, nothing but the purity of our lives
> and the integrity of our character, can in the last resort establish our
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> claim that the Bahá’í spirit is in this day the sole agency that can
> translate a long cherished ideal into an enduring achievement.
> (24 November 1924, UD 33-34)
> 
> Without         Outside ourselves; outside our direct
> surroundings
> Fierceness      Characterized by the violence or intensity of the
> forces, activity or participants involved
> Magnitude       Greatness of size, volume or extent
> Disillusioned   Disappointed by destroyed illusion
> Cherish         To value something highly, for example, as a
> right, freedom or privilege
> Convulsed       To cause extreme disruption or disturbance in
> something
> Menace          Something that is a constant source of trouble
> and annoyance
> Alienated       To make somebody feel that he or she does not
> belong to or share in something, or is isolated
> from it
> Gaze            A long, steady look or stare
> Impotence       The lack of strength or power to do anything
> Despair         A profound feeling that there is no hope
> Spectacle       Some strange or remarkable sight, an unusual
> display
> Turmoil         A state of great confusion, commotion or
> disturbance
> Plight          A difficult or dangerous situation, especially a sad
> or desperate predicament
> Unceasingly     Not stopping; continuous
> Salvation       The saving of somebody or something from
> harm, destruction, difficulty o failure
> Kindled         To make something glow, or to become bright
> Despite         Notwithstanding or regardless of something
> Bereavement     To deprive somebody of a beloved erson or a
> treasured thing, especially through death
> Notwithstanding In spite of
> Insidious       Slowly and subtly harmful or destructive
> Fortitud        Strength and endurance in a difficult or painful
> situation
> Untold          Too great or numerous to be properly described
> or counted
> Intolerable     So bad, difficult or painful that it cannot be
> endured
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Staunchness     Showing loyalty, dependability and enthusiasm
> Unsullied       Not spoiled or tarnished
> Magnificent     Exceptionally good of its kind; excellent
> Unprecedented   Having no earlier parallel or equivalent
> Laudable        Admirable and worthy of praise
> Cherish         To feel great love or care for somebody
> Sufficiently    As much as is needed
> Profess         To acknowledge something publicly
> Abundance       A great or plentiful amount of something
> Integrity       The quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering
> to high moral principles or professional standards
> Claim           A statement that something is the case
> Sole            Only; single
> Agency          The action, medium, or means by which
> something is accomplished
> Enduring        Lasting
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 5. The Responsibilities It Is Our Privilege to Shoulder
> T months after Shoghi Effendi’s translation of Nabil’s Narrative
> entitled ‘The Dawnbreakers’ was published in 1932, he wrote to the
> Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada:
> Who, contemplating the helplessness, the fears and miseries of
> humanity in this day, can any longer question the necessity for a fresh
> revelation of the quickening power of God’s redemptive love and
> guidance? Who, witnessing on one hand the stupendous advance
> achieved in the realm of human knowledge, of power, of skill and
> inventiveness, and viewing on the other the unprecedented character
> of the sufferings that afflict, and the dangers that beset, present-day
> society, can be so blind as to doubt that the hour has at last struck
> for the advent of a new Revelation, for a re-statement of the Divine
> Purpose, and for the consequent revival of those spiritual forces that
> have, at fixed intervals, rehabilitated the fortunes of human society?
> Does not the very operation of the world-unifying forces that are
> at work in this age necessitate that He Who is the Bearer of the
> Message of God in this day should not only reaffirm that self-same
> exalted standard of individual conduct inculcated by the Prophets
> gone before Him, but embody in His appeal, to all governments
> and peoples, the essentials of that social code, that Divine Economy,
> which must guide humanity’s concerted efforts in establishing that
> all-embracing federation which is to signalize the advent of the
> Kingdom of God on this earth?
> May we not, therefore, recognizing as we do the necessity for such
> a revelation of God’s redeeming power, meditate upon the supreme
> grandeur of the System unfolded by the hand of Bahá’u’lláh in
> this day? May we not pause, pressed though we be by the daily
> preoccupations which the ever-widening range of the administrative
> activities of His Faith must involve, to reflect upon the sanctity of the
> responsibilities it is our privilege to shoulder?
> (21 March 1932, WOB 60-61)
> 
> Stupendous         Great in extent or degree
> Beset              Trouble continually
> Rehabilitated      Restored to a good condition, state or way of
> living
> Inculcated         Fixed firmly in someone’s mind through forceful
> repetition
> Embody             To gather and organize a number of things into a
> whole
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Concerted   Achieved or performed together
> Supreme     Highest in degree; ultimate
> Grandeur    The quality of being great and very impressive
> Sanctity    Considered holy or sacred; entitled to respect
> and reverence
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 6. Remodel Our Lives
> I , less than a month after Shoghi Effendi gave Queen Marie of
> Romania the gift of a Tablet in the handwriting of Bahá’u’lláh, he wrote
> to the Bahá’ís of the West:
> The onrushing forces so miraculously released through the agency
> of two independent and swiftly successive Manifestations are now
> under our very eyes and through the care of the chosen stewards of
> a far-flung Faith being gradually mustered and disciplined. They are
> slowly crystallizing into institutions that will come to be regarded
> as the hall-mark and glory of the age we are called upon to establish
> and by our deeds immortalize. For upon our present-day efforts,
> and above all upon the extent to which we strive to remodel our
> lives after the pattern of sublime heroism associated with those gone
> before us, must depend the efficacy of the instruments we now
> fashion - instruments that must erect the structure of that blissful
> Commonwealth which must signalize the Golden Age of our Faith.
> (8 February 1934, WOB 98)
> 
> Onrushing         Rushing forward or onward
> Successive        Following one another
> Stewards          Those who actively direct affairs
> Far-flung         Widely distributed; wide-ranging
> Mustered          Gathered together for a particular reason
> Crystallizing     Taking a definite form
> Hall-mark         A distinguishing characteristic, trait or feature
> Immortalize       To make eternal
> Extent            The degree to which something applies
> Strive            To try hard to achieve or get something
> Sublime           Of the highest moral or spiritual value
> Efficacy          The ability to produce the necessary or desired
> results
> Fashion           To give form or shape to something
> Blissful          Characterized by perfect happiness
> Commonwealth      A nation or state governed by the people
> Signalize         To make something conspicuous or remarkable
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 7. Work Towards Universal Redemption
> J a half year after Queen Marie of Romania died, Shoghi Effendi
> penned these words in 1938 to the Bahá’ís of the United States and
> Canada:
> So sad and moving a spectacle, bewildering as it must be to every
> observer unaware of the purposes, the prophecies, and promises of
> Bahá’u’lláh, far from casting dismay into the hearts of His followers,
> or paralyzing their efforts, cannot but deepen their faith, and excite
> their enthusiastic eagerness to arise and display, in the vast field traced
> for them by the pen of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, their capacity to play their part
> in the work of universal redemption proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh.
> (25 December 1938, ADJ 39-40)
> 
> Spectacle           Some strange or remarkable sight, an unusual
> display
> Casting             Causing to fall into a certain state
> Dismay              A complete loss of courage in the face of trouble
> Redemption          Improving something that has declined into a
> poor state
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 8. Consciousness of World Citizenship
> I , four months before World War II began with Britain and
> France declaring war on Germany after Germany invaded Poland,
> Shoghi Effendi wrote to the Bahá’ís of North America:
> Far be it from me to underrate the gigantic proportions of their task,
> nor do I for one moment overlook the urgency and gravity of the
> times in which they are laboring. Nor do I wish to minimize the
> hazards and trials that surround or lie ahead of them. The grandeur
> of their task is indeed commensurate with the mortal perils by which
> their generation is hemmed in.
> As the dusk creeps over a steadily sinking society the radiant outlines
> of their redemptive mission become sharper every day. The present
> world unrest, symptom of a world-wide malady, their world religion
> has already affirmed must needs culminate in that world catastrophe
> out of which the consciousness of world citizenship will be born,
> a consciousness that can alone provide an adequate basis for the
> organization of world unity, on which a lasting world peace must
> necessarily depend, the peace itself inaugurating in turn that world
> civilization which will mark the coming of age of the entire human
> race.
> Fortified by such reflections, the American believers, in whichever
> section of the Western Hemisphere they find themselves laboring,
> whether at home or abroad, and however dire and distressing the
> processes involved in the disintegration of the structure of present-
> day civilization, will, I feel convinced, prove themselves, through
> their lives and deeds, worthy of that priceless heritage which it is their
> undoubted privilege to proclaim, preserve and perpetuate.
> (22 May 1939, MA 45)
> 
> Underrate           To judge the value, degree or worth of someone
> or something to be less than it really is
> Gravity             The seriousness of something considered in terms
> of its unfavorable consequences
> Hazards             Possible sources of danger
> Grandeur            The quality of being great or grand, and very
> impressive
> Commensurate        Of the same size or extent
> Mortal              Marked by great intensity or severity
> Hemmed in           Surrounded and enclosed
> Dusk                Partial or almost complete darkness
> Creeps              To appear, approach or develop gradually
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Outlines         A preliminary account of a project
> Redemptive:      Saving someone or something from error or evil
> Malady           Sickness; an unwholesome condition that
> equires a remedy
> Culminate        Reach a climax; come to completion
> Catastrophe      An occurrence causing widespread destruction
> and distress
> Inaugurating     To initiate something or put it into operation,
> especially in a formal or official manner
> Coming of age    Reaching an advanced stage of development
> Fortified        Strengthened; encouraged
> Reflections      Careful thought, especially the process of
> reconsidering previous actions, events or
> decisions
> Dire             Characterized by severe, serious or desperate
> circumstances
> Distressing      Causing someone to feel extremely upset
> Processes        A series of actions directed toward a specific aim
> Disintegration   The loss of unity, cohesion, or integrity
> Structure        A system or organization made up of interrelated
> parts functioning as a whole
> Perpetuate       To make something continue, usually for a very
> long time
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 9. Direct Our Immediate and Anxious Attention
> I , Shoghi Effendi ordered from Italy twin monuments similar
> in style to that of the Greatest Holy Leaf and sought permission from
> the British authorities to reinter the remains of Navváb and the Purest
> Branch on Mount Carmel near those of Bahiyyíh Khanum and the
> Holy Mother. He wrote to the American Bahá’í community in the
> summer:
> … It is to the fierce struggle, the imperious duties, the distinctive
> contributions which the present generation of Bahá’ís are summoned
> to undertake and render that I feel we should, at this hour, direct our
> immediate and anxious attention. Though powerless to avert the
> impending contest the followers of Bahá’u’lláh can, by the spirit they
> evince and the efforts they exert help to circumscribe its range, shorten
> its duration, allay its hardships, proclaim its salutary consequences,
> and demonstrate its necessary and vital role in the shaping of human
> destiny. Theirs is the duty to hold, aloft and undimmed, the torch of
> Divine guidance, as the shades of night descend upon, and ultimately
> envelop the entire human race. Theirs is the function, amidst its
> tumults, perils and agonies, to witness to the vision, and proclaim the
> approach, of that re-created society, that Christ-promised Kingdom,
> that World Order whose generative impulse is the spirit of none
> other than Bahá’u’lláh Himself, whose dominion is the entire planet,
> whose watchword is unity, whose animating power is the force of
> Justice, whose directive purpose is the reign of righteousness and
> truth, and whose supreme glory is the complete, the undisturbed
> and everlasting felicity of the whole of human kind. By the sublimity
> and serenity of their faith, by the steadiness and clarity of their vision,
> the incorruptibility of their character, the rigor of their discipline, the
> sanctity of their morals, and the unique example of their community
> life, they can and indeed must in a world polluted with its incurable
> corruptions, paralyzed by its haunting fears, torn by its devastating
> hatreds, and languishing under the weight of its appalling miseries
> demonstrate the validity of their claim to be regarded as the sole
> repository of that grace upon whose operation must depend the
> complete deliverance, the fundamental reorganization and the
> supreme felicity of all mankind.
> (28 July 1939, MA 50)
> 
> Fierce              Violent or intense
> Imperious           Urgent; pressing
> Distinctive         Individually characteristic; different from others
> Summoned            Called upon for specific action
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Render             Provide or give
> Avert              To prevent something from occurring
> Impending          About to happen
> Evince             To show a feeling or a quality clearly
> Exert              Apply or bring to bear
> Circumscribe       To limit something
> Allay              To reduce the intensity of; relieve
> Salutary           Of value or benefit to somebody or something
> Aloft              Upwards, high up, or in a higher position
> Animating          Arousing somebody or something into activity
> Felicity           Great happiness; bliss
> Sublimity          Excellence; being particularly impressive
> Clarity            Clearness in what somebody is thinking
> Incorruptibility   Incapable of being morally corrupted, especially
> incapable of being bribed or motivated by selfish
> interests
> Rigor              Forcefulness or extremely strict obedience to
> rules
> Sanctity           The condition of being considered sacred or holy,
> and therefore entitled to respect and reverence
> Haunting           Evoking strong emotion, specially a sense of
> sadness, that persists for a long time
> Devastating        Causing severe or widespread damage
> Languishing        Existing in miserable or disheartening
> conditions, often as a result of being deprived of
> independence, freedom or attention
> Appalling          Shocking and very bad
> Validity           Based on truth or reason; able to be accepted
> Sole               Only; single
> Repository         Entrusted with something special
> Fundamental        Basic or central
> Supreme            Highest in degree
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 10. The Requirements of the Present Hour
> I , when Shaykh Kázim was martyred, Ridá Shah abdicated
> and Muhammad-Ridá Shah acceded to the throne of Iran. Soon after,
> Shoghi Effendi wrote to the National Spiritual Assembly of India:
> … The vastness of the field, the smallness of your numbers, the
> indifference of the masses, must neither discourage nor appal
> you. You should at all times fix your gaze on the promise of
> Bahá’u’lláh, put your whole trust in His creative Word, recall the
> past and manifold evidences of His all-encompassing and resistless
> power and arise to become worthy and exemplary recipients of His
> all-sustaining grace and blessings. I appeal to every Indian and
> Burmese believer, however modest his position, however limited his
> knowledge, however restricted his means, to rise to the height of this
> great opportunity which if missed will not recur again. To disperse,
> to settle, to teach by word and deed, to persevere and sacrifice are the
> requirements of the present hour. May the Almighty, Whose Cause
> you are labouring to advance, endow you and your fellow-workers
> with all the wisdom, the strength, and guidance that you need to
> acquit yourselves worthily of this task.
> (29 June 1941, DND 90-91)
> 
> Vastness           Very great in size, amount, extent, number or
> degree
> Appal              Dismay or shock
> Gaze               A steady, fixed look with unwavering attention
> Manifold           Many and various
> Restricted         Limited
> Recur              Occur again
> Acquit             Behave or perform in a specified way
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 11. The Blessings That Will Be Conferred
> I , the United Nations Committee on Palestine requested a
> statement on the relationship between the Bahá’í Faith and the Bahá’í
> attitude to any future changes in the status of the country. Shoghi
> Effendi replied, setting out the non-political character of the Bahá’í
> Faith and explaining that Palestine is both the administrative and the
> spiritual headquarters of the religion. Several months later he wrote to
> the British National Assembly:
> The gigantic task, now being so energetically and successfully carried
> out by the consecrated and firmly knit British Bahá’í community,
> constitutes a glorious landmark in recent Bahá’í history, and will,
> when viewed in proper perspective, deserve to be regarded as one
> of the most outstanding enterprises launched by the followers of
> Bahá’u’lláh in the opening years of the second Bahá’í century. Alike
> in its magnitude and significance, this momentous undertaking is
> unprecedented in the annals of the Faith in the British Isles, and
> deserves to rank as one of the most compelling evidences of the
> creative power of its Author, marking the rise and establishment of
> His institutions on the European continent. It is yet too early to
> assess the potentialities of this present Plan and those destined to
> follow it, or estimate their future benefits. The blessings they will
> confer, as the forces latent within them are progressively revealed,
> on the people dwelling within those Islands, and subsequently, as
> their sphere is enlarged and their implications are fully disclosed,
> on the diversified peoples and races inhabiting the widely scattered
> dependencies of a far-flung empire, in both the East and the West,
> are unimaginably glorious.
> (24 October 1947, UD 208)
> 
> Consecrated        Dedicated to a sacred purpose
> Firmly knit        Securely united
> Constitutes        Creates or establishes something formally
> Landmark           Important new development
> Rank               To give a particular order or status to something
> Compelling         Attracting strong interest and attention
> Latent             Present, but not evident or active
> Implications       Consequences; influences
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 12. What We Have to Manifest
> I , when the owners of a house near the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh fled
> and the house became government property, Shoghi Effendi restored
> the house and made it into a pilgrim house. In the same year, he wrote
> to the American Bahá’í Community:
> May He Who called them into being and raised them up, Who
> fostered them in their infancy, Who extended to them the blessing of
> His personal support in their years of childhood, Who bequeathed
> to them the distinguishing heritage of His Plan, Whose Will and
> Testament initiated them, during the period of their adolescence,
> in the processes of a divinely appointed Administrative Order, Who
> enabled them to attain maturity through the inauguration of the
> first stage in the execution of His Plan, Who conferred upon them
> the privilege of spiritual parenthood at the close of the initial phase
> in the operation of that same Plan, continue through the further
> unfoldment of the second stage in its evolution to guide their steps
> along the path leading to the assumption of functions proclaiming
> the attainment of full spiritual manhood, and enable them eventually,
> through the long and slow processes of evolution and in conformity
> with the future requirements of a continually evolving Plan, to
> manifest before the eyes of the members of their sister communities,
> their countrymen and the whole world, and in all their plenitude,
> the potentialities inherent within them, and which in the fullness
> of time, must reflect in its perfected form, the glories of the mission
> constituting their birthright.
> (8 November 1948, CF 63)
> 
> Fostered           Promoted the growth or development of
> Bequeathed         Handed something down to future generations,
> for example, knowledge or practice,
> Distinguishing     Special; different
> Heritage           Property that is passed down
> Initiated          Instructed in the principles of something new
> Enabled            Provided somebody with the resources, authority
> or opportunity to do something
> Attain             To achieve a goal or desired state, usually with
> effort
> Inauguration       The act of bringing something into service or
> putting it into operation
> Conferred          To give, to grant
> Assumption         Taking something upon yourself
> Conformity         Following a standard
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Manifest       To show something clearly
> Plenitude      An abundance or plentiful supply of something
> Inherent       Existing as a natural or basic part of something
> Fullness       The quality of being full or complete
> Constituting   Amounting to, or having the status of a
> particular thing
> Birthright     A right or privilege to which a person is entitled
> by birth
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 13. The Vital, Ever-Present Need of Deepening in the Faith
> T name ‘Bahá’í International Community’ was first used in March
> 1948 to refer to the eight existing National Spiritual Assemblies. They
> were recognized collectively as a non-governmental organization which
> took part in its first United Nations conference in May, on human
> rights. Later that year, Shoghi Effendi wrote to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of Australia and New Zealand:
> As the processes impelling a rapidly evolving Order on the highroad
> of its destiny multiply and gather momentum, attention should be
> increasingly directed to the vital need of ensuring, by every means
> possible, the deepening of the Faith, the understanding and the
> spiritual life of the individuals who, as the privileged members
> of this community, are called upon to participate in this glorious
> unfoldment, and are lending their assistance to this historic
> evolution. A profound study of the Faith which they have espoused,
> its history, its spiritual as well as administrative principles; a thorough
> understanding of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh and of the Will of
> ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, a deeper realization of the implications of the claims
> advanced by the Founders of the Faith; strict adherence to the laws
> and principles which they have established; a greater dedication to
> the fundamentals and verities enshrined in their teachings - these
> constitute, I feel convinced, the urgent need of the members of this
> rapidly expanding community. For upon this spiritual foundation
> must depend the solidity of the institutions which they are now so
> painstakingly erecting. Every outward thrust into new fields, every
> multiplication of Bahá’í institutions, must be paralleled by a deeper
> thrust of the roots which sustain the spiritual life of the community
> and ensure its sound development. From this vital, this ever-present
> need, attention must at no time be diverted; nor must it be, under
> any circumstances, neglected, or subordinated to the no less vital and
> urgent task of ensuring the outer expansion of Bahá’í administrative
> institutions. That this community, so alive, so devoted, so strikingly
> and rapidly developing, may maintain a proper balance between
> these two essential aspects of its development, and march forward
> with rapid strides and along sound lines toward the goal of the Plan it
> has adopted, is the ardent hope of my heart and my constant prayer.
> (30 December 1948, LAN 75-76)
> 
> Impelling           Starting or keeping something or somebody
> moving in a particular direction
> Highroad            The easiest or most direct way to somewhere
> Ensuring            Making sure that something will happen
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Espoused        Adopted or supported something as a belief or
> cause
> Implications    The effects that an action or decision will have on
> something else in the future
> Adherence       Holding firmly to a belief, idea or opinion
> Enshrined       Cherished as sacred
> Constitute      To make up the whole or a particular part of
> something
> Solidity        Being solid and reliable
> Painstakingly   Carefully and with attention to detail
> Thrust          A forceful movement or push
> Sustain         To make something continue to exist; support
> Ensure          To make sure that something will happen or be
> available
> Diverted        Distracted; turned aside from a course of action
> Subordinated    Treating something as less important and
> allowing something else to take priority
> Strikingly      Attracting attention, especially in an impressive
> or unusual way
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 14. Momentous Possibilities
> I , during the month when the second European Teaching
> Conference was held in Brussels, Belgium, Shoghi Effendi wrote to the
> National Assembly of Australia and New Zealand:
> The task undertaken is immense, fraught with momentous
> possibilities, highly delicate in nature, and bound to have far-
> reaching repercussions, not only in the West, and particularly in
> the continent of Europe, where the institutions of Bahá’u’lláh’s
> Administrative Order are emerging with such rapidity and showing
> such promise, but on the continent of Asia, where the overwhelming
> majority of the followers of the Most Great Name, have endured
> such grievous afflictions, and are faced with grave peril, and are
> battling so heroically against the forces of darkness with which they
> are encompassed. The nature of the work in which this wide-awake,
> untrammelled unprejudiced, freedom-loving community, is so
> energetically engaged, cannot, therefore, be regarded as a purely local
> and isolated enterprise, but is vitally linked with the fortunes of a
> world-encircling Order, functioning mysteriously in both the Eastern
> and Western Hemispheres, highly organized in its administrative
> machinery, sensitive in its mechanism, far-flung in its ramifications,
> challenging in its features, revolutionizing in its implications, and
> destined to seek increasingly, as it expands and develops, the good-
> will and assistance of the civil authorities in every continent of the
> globe.
> (22 August 1949, LAN 79-80)
> 
> Fraught            Full of or charged with a particular element
> Repercussions      Widespread, indirect or unforeseen effects of an
> act, action or event
> Emerging           Starting to appear, arise, occur or develop
> Endured            Experienced exertion, pain or hardship without
> giving up
> Grievous           Very bad or severe
> Afflictions        Conditions of great physical or mental distress
> Grave              Likely to produce great harm or danger
> Peril              Danger, exposure to risk of harm
> Encompassed        Surrounded, enveloped or encircled
> Untrammelled       Not restricted or restrained
> Enterprise         A project or undertaking that is especially
> difficult, complicated or risky
> Vitally            Of the utmost importance; essentially
> Fortunes           The success or failure of a person or enterprise
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Far-flung         Widespread
> Ramifications     The possible results of an action
> Challenging       Difficult, in a way that tests your ability or
> determination
> Features          Important elements of something
> Revolutionizing   Causing a radical change in something such as a
> method or approach
> Implications      Important and extensive effects
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 15. Contribute to Spiritualization and Material Progress
> I , after Shoghi Effendi announced the establishment of the
> International Bahá’í Council (a forerunner to the Universal House of
> Justice) with its seat in the Western Pilgrim House, and also one day
> before he announced the completion of the restoration of the House of
> `Abbúd, he wrote to the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada:
> May this community, the leaven placed by the hands of Providence
> in the midst of a people belonging to a nation, likewise young
> dynamic, richly endowed with material resources, and assured of a
> great material prosperity by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, play its part not only in
> lending a notable impetus to the world-wide propagation of the Faith
> it has espoused, but contribute, as its resources multiply and as it
> gains in stature, to the spiritualization and material progress of the
> nation of which it forms so vital a part.
> (1 March 1951, MC 23)
> 
> Leaven             An element or agent that works to lighten or
> modify a whole (like yeast in bread)
> Providence         God, perceived as a caring force guiding
> humankind
> Lending            Giving a particular quality or character to
> something
> Notable            Significant, interesting or unusual enough to
> deserve attention or to be recorded
> Impetus            The energy or motivation to accomplish or
> undertake something
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 16. Set an Example
> I , Shoghi Effendi appointed the second contingent of Hands
> of the Cause of God; described the plans for a marble colonnade to
> encircle the Shrine of the Báb as an intermediate step to building a
> superstructure for the Shrine; sent his ideas to Italy for scale drawings
> and a cost estimate; and also announced the enlargement of the
> International Bahá’í Council to eight members. It was in this year that
> he wrote to the German National Spiritual Assembly:
> Time is running out. The work they have to accomplish is immense,
> exacting, thrilling and inescapable. The hosts of the Concourse on
> high will surely lead them onward and assure them a resounding
> victory, if they but keep their vision undimmed, if they refuse to faint
> or falter, if they persevere and remain faithful to both the spiritual
> and the administrative principles inculcated by their Faith.
> That they may discharge nobly their trust, that they may emerge
> triumphant from the first stage of their collective and historic
> undertaking, that they may set an undying example to their brethren
> in East and West, of Bahá’í solidarity, of tenacity of purpose, of
> single-minded devotion, of unrelaxing vigilance, of assiduous labour,
> of harmonious cooperation, of audacity, and of absolute dedication
> to the aims and purposes of their Faith, is the object of my special,
> my loving and constant prayers at the threshold of the Shrine of
> Bahá’u’lláh.
> (30 May 1952, LDG Vol. I, 186)
> 
> Resounding         Clear and unmistakable
> Inculcated         Instilled; taught by frequent instruction
> Tenacity           Very determined
> Vigilance          Alert watchfulness
> Assiduous          Something done with constant and careful
> attention
> Audacity           Willing to take bold risks: daring
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 17. Seize Every Opportunity
> H  the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New
> Zealand in 1952 shortly before he inaugurated The Holy Year, when
> he also announced his decision to launch “the fate-laden, soul-stirring,
> decade-long world-embracing Spiritual Crusade” in the coming year
> and he called upon the Hands of the Cause to appoint during Ridván
> 1954 five Auxiliary Boards to act as their adjuncts or deputies to work
> with the National Spiritual Assemblies to execute the projected national
> plans:
> This community, now standing on the threshold of an era of
> unprecedented expansion, and gazing towards the glorious future
> that awaits it, must seize the priceless opportunities which these fast-
> fleeting months offer it, and must not allow for a moment its vision
> to be dimmed, its resolution to flag, its attention to be distracted or
> its faith in its ultimate destiny to waver.
> With a heart full of hope, and with an affection and fervour which
> every forward step in the progress of its strenuous labours serves to
> intensify, I will supplicate at the threshold of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh
> to enable His stalwart followers championing His Cause in those
> far-away lands to achieve a resounding success in the task they have
> pledged themselves to fulfil.
> (Shoghi Effendi, June 3, 1952, appended to a letter written on his
> behalf to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New
> Zealand, published in “Letters from the Guardian to Australia and
> New Zealand”, p. 106)
> 
> Unprecedented       Never done or known before
> Resolution          A firm decision to do something
> Waver               To become unsure
> Fervour             Extreme intensity of emotion or belief
> Strenuous           Requiring great effort
> Stalwart            Dependable and loyal
> Resounding          Clear and unmistakable
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 18. Distinguish Ourselves by Deeds of Heroism
> I A 1953, Shoghi Effendi, during a moving ceremony, placed
> a silver box containing a fragment of plaster from the ceiling of the
> Báb’s cell in Máh-Kú under a tile in the golden dome of the Shrine
> of the Báb. That year he also announced plans to build a House of
> Worship in Frankfurt, and sent this message to the Hands of the
> Cause, members of the National Spiritual Assemblies, the pioneers, the
> resident believers and visitors attending the European Intercontinental
> Teaching Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, in July:
> May all the privileged participators, enlisting under the banner of
> Bahá’u’lláh for the promotion of so pre-eminent and meritorious
> a Cause, be they from the Eastern or Western hemisphere, of
> either sex, white or coloured, young or old, neophyte or veteran,
> whether serving in their capacity as expounders of the teachings,
> or administrators, of His Faith, as settlers or itinerant teachers,
> distinguish themselves by such deeds of heroism as will rival, nay
> outshine, the feats accomplished nineteen hundred years ago by that
> little band of God-intoxicated disciples who, fearlessly preaching the
> Gospel of a newly-arisen Messiah, contributed so decisively to the
> illumination, the regeneration and the advancement of the entire
> European continent.
> (21 July 1953, UD 320)
> 
> Enlisting          Becoming actively involved in an effort
> Banner             A guiding principle or cause
> Pre-eminent        Highly distinguished or outstanding
> Neophyte           A recent convert to a religion
> Expounders         Those who give an explanation of the meaning
> and implications of a written text
> Itinerant          Traveling from place to place
> Outshine           To surpass somebody or something else,
> especially in terms of excellence or quality
> Feats              Remarkable acts or achievements involving
> courage, skill or strength
> Intoxicated        Intensely excited
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 19. All Must Arise
> I , three months before Shoghi Effendi wrote to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the Benelux Countries, he announced the
> appointments of the third contingent of Hands of the Cause of God:
> Enoch Olinga, William Sears, John Robarts, Hasan Balyuzi, John
> Ferraby, Collis Featherstone, Rahmatu’lláh Muhájir and Abdu’l-Qásim
> Faizi and designated the Hands of the Cause the “Chief Stewards of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic World commonwealth”; four months later
> Shoghi Effendi passed away in London:
> … No sacrifice can be deemed too great, no labour too arduous.
> For the purpose of achieving its goals all must arise, whether young
> or old, however limited their resources or experience, to contribute
> their share to the consummation of this collective task. A concerted
> effort, unexampled in its range and intensity, must needs be exerted
> to augment, to an unprecedented degree, the number of the avowed
> and active supporters of the Faith in each of these three countries,
> whose people stand in such dire need of its life-giving principles and
> ideals as well as its divinely appointed institutions. Simultaneously,
> effective measures must be undertaken, by the elected representatives
> of these communities, as well as by the rank and file of the believers,
> to multiply rapidly the number of isolated centres, groups and local
> assemblies, constituting the bedrock on which a divinely conceived
> order must rest.
> (5 July 1957, DC 151)
> 
> Deemed             Considered to be
> Arduous            Difficult and tiring
> Consummation       Fulfilment; completion
> Concerted          Achieved or performed together
> Augment            Increase
> Avowed             Openly declared
> Dire                Desperately urgent
> Simultaneously     At the same time
> Photograph by Nayyirih G. de Koning-Tahzib
> Our Path of Service
> Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole
> staircase.
> W does it mean to serve the Faith? How should we view our service
> to the Faith? How can we become more effective? How important is
> what we do? And how much time should we give to serving the Faith?
> These kinds of questions are important to address.
> This section sheds light on service and its many aspects.
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 20. The Foundation That Must Be
> Firmly Laid in Our Hearts
> D 1923, Amelia Collins contributed the funds necessary to
> complete the Western Pilgrim House. In the same month that Shoghi
> Effendi sent his early translation of the “Hidden Words” to America, he
> wrote to the Bahá’ís throughout London, Manchester and Bournemouth
> care of the National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles:
> The supreme necessity, and the urgent need of the Cause of God
> at present, is the unity of the friends, and their sustained and
> wholehearted co-operation in their task of spreading the Divine
> Teachings throughout the world. It is the sacred duty of all believers
> to have implicit confidence in, and support heartily, every decision
> passed by their Spiritual Assemblies, whether local or central; and the
> members of these Assemblies must, on their part, set aside their own
> inclinations, personal interests, likes and dislikes, and regard only
> the welfare of the Cause and the well-being of the friends. This is
> surely the foundation which must be firmly laid in the hearts of all
> believers the world over, for upon this only can any constructive and
> permanent service be achieved, and the edifice of the Beloved’s last
> instructions, as revealed in His Will and Testament, be raised and
> established.
> The all-conquering Spirit of Bahá’u’lláh cannot prove effective in
> this world of strife and turmoil, and cannot achieve its purpose for
> mankind, unless we, who are named after His Name, and who are
> the recipients of His Grace, endeavour, by our example, our daily life
> and our dealings with our fellow-men, to reveal that noble spirit of
> love and self-sacrifice of which the world stands in need at present.
> (1 February 1923, UD 13-14)
> 
> Supreme            Greater than or superior to any other, especially
> above all others in power, authority, rank, status
> or skill
> Sustained          Kept up; prolonged
> Implicit           Not affected by any uncertainty or doubt;
> unquestioning
> Heartily           In a full and complete way
> Inclinations       Preferences or tendencies; feelings that make a
> person want to do one thing instead of another
> Welfare            Prosperity; success
> Well-being         The state of being happy, healthy or prosperous
> Edifice            An elaborate structure
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> All-conquering   Victorious; overcoming obstacles or opposition
> Strife           Bitter and sometimes violent conflict, struggle or
> rivalry
> Turmoil          A state of great confusion, commotion or
> disturbance
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 21. Effectiveness in Serving
> I  in May, Queen Marie of Romania wrote three articles as a
> testimonial to the Bahá’í Faith for a syndicated series entitled “Queen’s
> Counsel” which appeared in over 200 newspapers in the United States
> and Canada. Shoghi Effendi wrote this to an individual:
> I strongly urge you to devote, while you are pursuing your studies, as
> much time as you possibly can to a thorough study of the history and
> Teachings of our Beloved Cause. This is the prerequisite of a future
> successful career of service to the Bahá’í Faith in which I hope and
> pray you will distinguish yourself in the days to come.
> (18 May 1926, CC Vol. II, 416)
> 
> Prerequisite       An object, quality, or condition that is required
> in order for something else to happen
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 22. What We Need to Demonstrate to Our Fellow-
> Countrymen
> I , the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and
> Canada drew up and published a “Declaration of Trust” and “By-
> laws of the National Spiritual Assembly”. Shoghi Effendi described it
> as the Bahá’í “national constitution” heralding “the formation of the
> constitution of the future Bahá’í World Community”. It was also in this
> year that Shoghi Effendi translated the “Hidden Words” and wrote to
> the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada:
> Not by merely imitating the excesses and laxity of the extravagant
> age they live in; not by the idle neglect of the sacred responsibilities
> it is their privilege to shoulder; not by the silent compromise of the
> principles dearly cherished by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; not by their fear of
> unpopularity or their dread of censure can they hope to rouse society
> from its spiritual lethargy, and serve as a model to a civilization
> the foundations of which the corrosion of prejudice has well-nigh
> undermined. By the sublimity of their principles, the warmth of
> their love, the spotless purity of their character, and the depth of
> their devoutness and piety, let them demonstrate to their fellow-
> countrymen the ennobling reality of a power that shall weld a
> disrupted world.
> We can prove ourselves worthy of our Cause only if in our individual
> conduct and corporate life we sedulously imitate the example of our
> beloved Master, Whom the terrors of tyranny, the storms of incessant
> abuse, the oppressiveness of humiliation, never caused to deviate a
> hair’s breadth from the revealed Law of Bahá’u’lláh.
> Such is the path of servitude, such is the way of holiness He chose
> to tread to the very end of His life. Nothing short of the strictest
> adherence to His glorious example can safely steer our course amid
> the pitfalls of this perilous age, and lead us on to fulfill our high
> destiny.
> (2 April 1927, BA 131-132)
> 
> Rouse              To stir somebody into action or make them
> become more active
> Lethargy           Lack of energy, activity or enthusiasm
> Piety              A strong, respectful belief in God and strict
> observance of religious principles in everyday life
> Weld               To form a union or a close association
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Disrupted      Destroyed the order or orderly progression of
> something
> Sedulously     Carried out with great care, concentration and
> commitment
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 23. How to Ensure Success
> D March of 1930, when Queen Marie of Romania’s visit to the
> Bahá’í Shrines was thwarted, Shoghi Effendi wrote to the Bahá’ís of the
> West the following:
> How pressing and sacred the responsibility that now weighs upon
> those who are already acquainted with these teachings! How glorious
> the task of those who are called upon to vindicate their truth, and
> demonstrate their practicability to an unbelieving world! Nothing
> short of an immovable conviction in their divine origin, and their
> uniqueness in the annals of religion; nothing short of an unwavering
> purpose to execute and apply them to the administrative machinery
> of the Cause, can be sufficient to establish their reality, and insure
> their success. How vast is the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh! How
> great the magnitude of His blessings showered upon humanity in
> this day! And yet, how poor, how inadequate our conception of
> their significance and glory! This generation stands too close to so
> colossal a Revelation to appreciate, in their full measure, the infinite
> possibilities of His Faith, the unprecedented character of His Cause,
> and the mysterious dispensations of His Providence.
> (21 March 1930, WOB 24)
> 
> Pressing           Needing to be attended to without delay
> Vindicate          Confirm, defend, uphold
> Nothing short      There is no other course of action open to
> somebody
> Unwavering         Steady and firm in purpose
> Machinery          An interconnected series of parts or processes
> that works like a mechanical system to produce a
> result
> Vast               Enormous; very great in size, number or amount
> Magnitude          Greatness of size
> Blessings          God’s help
> Shower             A large flow of something; an outpouring
> Colossal           Unusually large
> Appreciate         Value very highly
> Full measure       Highest degree or largest extent
> Infinite           Not measurable
> Unprecedented      Having no earlier parallel or equivalent
> Dispensations      Divine ordering of affairs and events of the world
> Providence         Divine direction; the care, guardianship and
> control exercised by God
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 24. The Object of Our Constant Endeavor
> I J of 1934, Shoghi Effendi gave a gift of a Tablet in the
> handwriting of Bahá’u’lláh to Queen Marie of Romania. A month later
> he wrote to the Bahá’ís of the West:
> To strive to obtain a more adequate understanding of the significance
> of Bahá’u’lláh’s stupendous Revelation must, it is my unalterable
> conviction, remain the first obligation and the object of the constant
> endeavor of each one of its loyal adherents. An exact and thorough
> comprehension of so vast a system, so sublime a revelation, so sacred
> a trust, is for obvious reasons beyond the reach and ken of our finite
> minds. We can, however, and it is our bounden duty to seek to
> derive fresh inspiration and added sustenance as we labor for the
> propagation of His Faith through a clearer apprehension of the truths
> it enshrines and the principles on which it is based.
> (8 February 1934, WOB 100)
> 
> Strive             To try hard to achieve or get something
> Obtain             To get possession of something, especially
> by making an effort or having the necessary
> qualifications
> Significance       The quality of having importance or being
> regarded as having great meaning
> Stupendous         Impressively large, excellent or great in extent or
> degree
> Unalterable        Permanent
> Conviction         Firmly held belief
> Adherents          Supporters
> Comprehension      The grasping of the meaning of something
> Sublime            So awe-inspiringly beautiful as to seem almost
> heavenly
> Trust              A situation in which things are placed in the
> care of somebody who is expected to behave
> responsibly and honorably
> Reach and ken      Understanding; perception
> Bounden            Morally binding; obligatory
> Derive             To obtain or get something from a source
> Sustenance         Nourishment that supports life
> Apprehension       The power or ability to grasp the importance,
> significance or meaning of something
> Enshrines          Cherishes as sacred; encloses
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 25. To Teach the Cause Is the Ultimate Purpose
> I  the government of Iran took several measures against the
> Bahá’ís throughout the country; towards the end of that year, Shoghi
> Effendi wrote this to an individual:
> I am so glad to note a decided improvement in the administrative
> conduct of Bahá’í affairs in India, and I trust and pray that the
> teaching work will as a result receive a fresh and unprecedented
> impetus. To teach the Cause is the ultimate purpose and the supreme
> objective of all Bahá’í institutions. These are but means to an end.
> May the Beloved grant you strength to enhance the splendid work
> you have already achieved.
> (3 November 1934, DND 189-190)
> 
> Unprecedented     Having no earlier example or equivalent
> Impetus           The energy or motivation to accomplish or
> undertake something
> Grant             Allow something as favor
> Enhance           To improve or add to the strength, worth, beauty
> or other desirable quality of something
> Splendid          Impressive because of quality or size
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 26. Be Lovers of Mankind
> I , a month before Shoghi Effendi wrote this to the Bahá’ís of the
> West, Martha Root met with Queen Marie of Romania for the eighth
> and last time:
> The Faith of Bahá’u’lláh has assimilated, by virtue of its creative, its
> regulative and ennobling energies, the varied races, nationalities,
> creeds and classes that have sought its shadow, and have pledged
> unswerving fealty to its cause. It has changed the hearts of its
> adherents, burned away their prejudices, stilled their passions,
> exalted their conceptions, ennobled their motives, coordinated
> their efforts, and transformed their outlook. While preserving their
> patriotism and safeguarding their lesser loyalties, it has made them
> lovers of mankind, and the determined upholders of its best and
> truest interests. While maintaining intact their belief in the Divine
> origin of their respective religions, it has enabled them to visualize
> the underlying purpose of these religions, to discover their merits,
> to recognize their sequence, their interdependence, their wholeness
> and unity, and to acknowledge the bond that vitally links them to
> itself. This universal, this transcending love which the followers of
> the Bahá’í Faith feel for their fellow-men, of whatever race, creed,
> class or nation, is neither mysterious nor can it be said to have been
> artificially stimulated. It is both spontaneous and genuine. They
> whose hearts are warmed by the energizing influence of God’s creative
> love cherish His creatures for His sake, and recognize in every human
> face a sign of His reflected glory.
> Of such men and women it may be truly said that to them “every
> foreign land is a fatherland, and every fatherland a foreign land.”
> For their citizenship, it must be remembered, is in the Kingdom of
> Bahá’u’lláh. Though willing to share to the utmost the temporal
> benefits and the fleeting joys which this earthly life can confer,
> though eager to participate in whatever activity that conduces to the
> richness, the happiness and peace of that life, they can, at no time,
> forget that it constitutes no more than a transient, a very brief stage
> of their existence, that they who live it are but pilgrims and wayfarers
> whose goal is the Celestial City, and whose home the Country of
> never-failing joy and brightness.
> (11 March 1936, WOB 197-198)
> 
> Assimilated        Integrate somebody into a larger group, so that
> differences are minimized or eliminated, or
> become integrated in this way
> Unswerving         Firm and unchanging in intent or purpose
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Fealty      Loyalty or allegiance shown to someone
> Adherents   Supporters
> Intact      Not having any missing parts
> Temporal    Lasting only for a time; passing
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 27. Concentrate Our Energies
> on the Teaching Work
> T months before Shoghi Effendi wrote this letter in 1938 to the
> National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles, the first Bahá’í of
> the British Isles, Mary Virginia Thornburgh Cropper, passed away in
> Kensington, London, and one month later Munírih Khanum, the Holy
> Mother, wife of `Abdu’l-Bahá, passed away. Shoghi Effendi interred her
> body just west of the Shrine of Bahíyyih Khanum and erected a simple
> monument over her grave.
> I greatly welcome the determination of the English believers to
> concentrate their energies on the teaching work, and I pray from all
> my heart for the success of their high endeavours in this all-important
> field of Bahá’í service. Individuals as well as local Assemblies must
> arise and co-operate and persevere and refuse to allow any obstacle,
> however formidable, to dim their hopes or to deflect them from the
> course they have so spontaneously chosen to pursue. Kindly assure
> them of my constant prayers for their success.
> (17 May 1938, UD 120)
> 
> Formidable         Difficult to deal with or overcome
> Deflect            Direct attention away
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 28. Empower the Bahá’í Youth
> A  end of 1938, just a few months before World War II began with
> Britain and France declaring war on Germany after Germany invaded
> Poland, Shoghi Effendi addressed the Bahá’í youth of the United States
> and Canada:
> To the Bahá’í youth of America, moreover, I feel a word should be
> addressed in particular, as I survey the possibilities which a campaign
> of such gigantic proportions has to offer to the eager and enterprising
> spirit that so powerfully animates them in the service of the Cause of
> Bahá’u’lláh. Though lacking in experience and faced with insufficient
> resources, yet the adventurous spirit which they possess, and the vigor,
> the alertness, and optimism they have thus far so consistently shown,
> qualify them to play an active part in arousing the interest, and in
> securing the allegiance, of their fellow youth in those countries. No
> greater demonstration can be given to the peoples of both continents
> of the youthful vitality and the vibrant power animating the life, and
> the institutions of the nascent Faith of Bahá’u’lláh than an intelligent,
> persistent, and effective participation of the Bahá’í youth, of every
> race, nationality, and class, in both the teaching and administrative
> spheres of Bahá’í activity. Through such a participation the critics and
> enemies of the Faith, watching with varying degrees of skepticism and
> resentment, the evolutionary processes of the Cause of God and its
> institutions, can best be convinced of the indubitable truth that such
> a Cause is intensely alive, is sound to its very core, and its destinies
> in safe keeping. I hope, and indeed pray, that such a participation
> may not only redound to the glory, the power, and the prestige of
> the Faith, but may also react so powerfully on the spiritual lives, and
> galvanize to such an extent the energies of the youthful members of
> the Bahá’í community, as to empower them to display, in a fuller
> measure, their inherent capacities, and to unfold a further stage in
> their spiritual evolution under the shadow of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh.
> (25 December 1938, ADJ 58)
> 
> Animates           Rouses or inspires somebody to take action
> Insufficient       Not enough
> Nascent            Emerging; coming into existence
> Persistent         Continuing despite problems
> Skepticism         Doubting attitude
> Resentment         Ill feeling
> Indubitable        Not to be doubted
> Redound            Contribute; have an effect
> Galvanize          Arouse to awareness or action (see also next quote)
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 29. Be Ambassadors of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh
> J two months before Martha Root, “foremost Hand raised by
> Bahá’u’lláh”, died in Honolulu in September 1939, Shoghi Effendi
> wrote this to the American National Spiritual Assembly:
> Let the privileged few, the ambassadors of the Message of Bahá’u’lláh,
> bear in mind His words as they go forth on their errands of service
> to His Cause. “It behoveth whosoever willeth to journey for the sake
> of God, and whose intention is to proclaim His Word and quicken
> the dead, to bathe himself with the waters of detachment, and to
> adorn his temple with the ornaments of resignation and submission.
> Let trust in God be his shield, and reliance on God his provision,
> and the fear of God his raiment. Let patience be his helper, and
> praise-worthy conduct his succorer, and goodly deeds his army. Then
> will the concourse on high sustain him. Then will the denizens of
> the Kingdom of Names march forth with him, and the banners of
> Divine guidance and inspiration be unfurled on his right hand and
> before him.”
> Faced with such a challenge, a community that has scaled thus far
> such peaks of enduring achievements can neither falter nor recoil.
> Confident in its destiny, reliant on its God-given power, fortified
> by the consciousness of its past victories, galvanized into action at
> the sight of a slowly disrupting civilization, it will - I can have no
> doubt - continue to fulfil unflinchingly the immediate requirements
> of its task, assured that with every step it takes and with each stage
> it traverses, a fresh revelation of Divine light and strength will guide
> and propel it forward until it consummates, in the fulness of time
> and in the plenitude of its power, the Plan inseparably bound up with
> its shining destiny.
> (4 July 1939, MA 48)
> 
> Resignation        Accepting something with patience, especially
> with tolerance when it is unpleasant or
> unwelcome
> Submission         The condition of being submissive, humble or
> compliant
> Succorer           Something providing help or relief to somebody
> in a difficult situation
> Denizens           Residents
> Unfurled           Be rolled out or spread
> Scaled             Climbed up something, especially a steep incline
> Enduring           Persisting or surviving in the face of difficulties
> Falter             To become unsure and hesitant
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Recoil           To move back suddenly and violently, e.g. after
> an impact
> Fortified        Made stronger
> Galvanized       To react as if stimulated by an electric shock (see
> also last quote)
> Disrupting       Destroying the order or orderly progression of
> something
> Unflinchingly    Unhesitatingly; strongly
> Traverses        Crosses; passes through something
> Consummates      Achieves or fulfills something
> In the fulness
> of time          After a period of time that must pass before
> something happens
> Plenitude        The condition of being full, ample or complete
> Inseparably      So closely linked as to be impossible to consider
> separately
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 30. Extend Our Range of Activities
> I , the House of the Báb in Shiraz was attacked and damaged by
> fire and Lidia Zamenhof was killed in the gas chambers at Treblinka. At
> this time, Shoghi Effendi wrote to the British Isles:
> The steady progress and extension of Bahá’í activities in the British
> Isles is, no doubt, the direct consequence of the unswerving loyalty,
> the high courage, the incorruptible spirit and the exemplary devotion
> and steadfastness of the British believers, who have, simply and
> strikingly, demonstrated the quality of their faith and the soundness
> of their institutions in these days of unprecedented commotion, stress
> and peril. I feel proud of their record of service and of the evidence
> of their noble faith. The Beloved watches over them from the Abhá
> Kingdom. The Concourse on High extols their achievements and
> will reinforce their endeavours. They should confidently, gratefully,
> joyously and unitedly redouble their efforts, extend the range of their
> activities, rededicate themselves to their historic task and anticipate a
> renewed outpouring of Bahá’u’lláh’s promised blessings and favours.
> (20 June 1942, UD 153)
> 
> Unswerving         Firm and unchanging in intent or purpose
> Incorruptible      Incapable of being morally corrupted, especially
> incapable of being bribed or motivated by selfish
> or base interests
> Strikingly         Impressively
> Soundness          Based on good sense; free from moral defects
> Extols             Praises somebody or something with great
> enthusiasm and admiration
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 31. The Magnet That Will Attract
> the Promised Blessings
> L in 1942, when Shoghi Effendi asked Sutherland Maxwell to
> design the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb, he wrote to the
> National Spiritual Assembly of India:
> The pioneer activities in which the friends in India are so steadfastly,
> so energetically and so devotedly engaged, in spite of the perils, the
> uncertainties and the stress of the present hour, are a marvellous
> evidence of the indomitable spirit that animates them in the service
> of the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. Perseverance is the magnet that will, in
> these days, attract the promised blessings of the Almighty Author of
> our beloved Faith. Unity and harmony constitute the basis on which
> the structure of these activities can securely rest. Self-sacrifice, audacity,
> undeviating adherence to the essentials of the Faith, will reinforce that
> structure and accelerate its rise. That the dear friends in India are
> increasingly demonstrating the quality and depth of their faith and the
> character and range of their accomplishments is a source of intense
> satisfaction to me, and I will continue to supplicate our Beloved to
> guide their steps, cheer their hearts, illumine their understanding, and
> fulfil their highest and noblest aspirations. He indeed is well pleased
> with the record of their past services, and will, if they redouble their
> efforts, enable them to achieve a signal victory.
> (27 June 1942, DND 99)
> 
> Marvellous         Something that inspires awe, amazement or
> admiration
> Indomitable        Brave, determined, incapable of being overcome
> Animates           Arouses someone into activity or motion
> Perseverance       Steady and continued action, usually over a
> long period and especially despite difficulties or
> setbacks
> Constitute         Make up the whole or a particular part of
> something
> Audacity           Daring or willingness to challenge assumptions
> or conventions; tackling something difficult or
> dangerous
> Undeviating        Not turning or changing, especially remaining
> constant or true to somebody or something
> Adherence          To hold firmly to a belief, idea or opinion
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Reinforce      To make something stronger by providing
> additional external support or internal stiffening
> for it
> Accelerate     To cause to develop more quickly
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 32. We Owe a Debt of Gratitude
> That No One Can Describe
> I , one month before the Centenary of the Declaration of the
> Báb when Shoghi Effendi unveiled the model of the Shrine of the
> Báb in Haifa, he wrote these moving words to the American Bahá’í
> community:
> To the band of pioneers, whether settlers or itinerant teachers, who
> have forsaken their homes, who have scattered far and wide, who
> have willingly sacrificed their comfort, their health and even their
> lives for the prosecution of this Plan; to the several committees and
> their auxiliary agencies that have been entrusted with special and
> direct responsibility for its efficient and orderly development and
> who have discharged their high responsibilities with exemplary vigor,
> courage and fidelity; to the national representatives of the community
> itself, who have vigilantly and tirelessly supervised, directed and
> coordinated the unfolding processes of this vast undertaking ever
> since its inception; to all those who, though not in the forefront
> of battle, have through their financial assistance and through the
> instrumentality of their deputies, contributed to the expansion and
> consolidation of the Plan, I myself, as well as the entire Bahá’í world,
> owe a debt of gratitude that no one can measure or describe. To the
> sacrifices they have made, to the courage they have so consistently
> shown, to the fidelity they have so remarkably displayed, to the
> resourcefulness, the discipline, the constancy and devotion they
> have so abundantly demonstrated, future generations viewing the
> magnitude of their labors in their proper perspective, will no doubt
> pay adequate tribute - a tribute no less ardent and well-deserved than
> the recognition extended by the present-day builders of the World
> Order of Bahá’u’lláh to the Dawn-Breakers, whose shining deeds
> have signalized the birth of the Heroic Age of His Faith.
> (15 April 1944, MA 104-105)
> 
> Itinerant          Traveling from place to place
> Forsaken           Given up, renounced or sacrificed something
> that gives pleasure
> Prosecution        Carrying out of an activity until the very end
> Discharged         Completed a duty, responsibility or promise
> successfully
> Vigor              Intensity or forcefulness in the way something is
> done
> Fidelity           Loyalty to an allegiance, promise or vow
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Vigilantly        With alert watchfulness, especially to guard
> against danger, difficulties or errors
> Inception         The beginning of something
> Instrumentality   Serving as a crucial means, agent or tool
> Deputies          Somebody fully authorized or appointed to act
> on behalf of somebody else
> Consistently      Able to maintain a particular standard; reliably
> Abundantly        Providing a more than plentiful supply of
> something
> Magnitude         Greatness of size, volume or extent
> Ardent            Feeling great passion, or felt very passionately
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 33. What Must Have Precedence over
> All Other Considerations
> I , the war in Europe ended in May. The war in Japan ended in
> September, a month after Shoghi Effendi wrote this to Australia and
> New Zealand, and the United Nations was formally established in
> October:
> It is my fervent hope and prayer that the members of the Bahá’í
> communities of Australia and New Zealand, will, now that the
> machinery of the Administrative Order of their Faith has been
> erected, redouble their efforts to proclaim, with one voice and in a
> most effective manner, those vital and healing principles for which
> the great mass of their war-weary and much tested countrymen are
> hungering. This supreme issue must have precedence over all other
> considerations, must be given immediate and anxious attention,
> must be faced courageously and continually, and be regarded by
> individual believers as well as their elected representatives as the
> supreme objective of the manifold administrative institutions they
> have reared and are still labouring to establish. Complete harmony,
> mutual understanding, unity of purpose, coordination of efforts,
> prayerful consideration of, and mature deliberation on, all the
> aspects and requirements of this great and sacred objective can alone
> ensure its triumphant consummation during these years of stress and
> peril through which mankind is passing. May the national elected
> representatives of both communities set a superb example to their
> fellow-workers throughout that far-off continent, and enable them
> to win memorable victories in the service of their glorious Faith and
> its God-given institutions.
> (8 August 1945, LAN 58-59)
> 
> Supreme           Greater than or superior to any other, especially
> above all others in power, authority, rank and
> status
> Precedence        Priority; the right or need to be dealt with before
> somebody or something else
> Anxious           Wanting to do something very much
> Manifold          Many and various
> Reared            Brought to maturity or self- sufficiency, usually
> through nurturing
> Ensure            To make something certain
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Consummation   The bringing of something to a satisfying
> conclusion; the final satisfying completion or
> achievement of something
> Superb         Excellent
> Memorable      Worth remembering
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 34. The Universal Recognition of the Cause
> D 1946, the restoration of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Tihrán
> was completed; the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany and
> Austria was established in April; during the same month Shoghi Effendi
> instructed Sutherland Maxwell to set plans in motion for the first stages
> of the building of the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb; the
> Second Seven Year Plan of the United States and Canada was launched,
> marking the beginning of the second epoch of the Formative Age. Later
> this year Shoghi Effendi wrote to the British Isles:
> The evidences of intensified activity and of notable progress on the
> part of the English believers in recent months have rejoiced my heart
> and deepened my feelings of admiration and gratitude for the manner
> in which they are discharging, individually and collectively, their
> high responsibilities. I long to hear of the steady progress of their
> Plan, and will continue to pray for the removal of every obstacle in
> their path. However considerable their recent achievements, they are
> still in the initial stage of their great unfolding mission, and are not
> even capable as yet of visualizing the possibilities or of estimating the
> consequences of their present-day labors. The consummation of their
> present task will mark the opening of a new era in the development
> of their community and will signalize the inauguration of a great
> epoch in the history of the Faith in their land—an epoch that must
> witness the universal recognition of their Cause and the proclamation
> of its truths, its claims and tenets, to the masses of their countrymen
> throughout the British Isles. The Plan they are now prosecuting will
> provide the machinery and establish the basic structure that will enable
> them to arouse the people, among all sections of the population, and
> aid them, systematically and gradually, to recognise Bahá’u’lláh, and
> support the nascent institutions of this World Order. Now it is their
> duty to lay an unassailable foundation for the great work that is to be
> undertaken in the future. There is no time to lose. Theirs is a priceless
> opportunity and a great privilege. They must neither vacillate nor
> falter. They must determinedly persevere until their immediate and
> distant goals have been attained.
> (12 October 1946, UD 191-192)
> 
> Notable            Significant, interesting or unusual enough to
> deserve attention or to be recorded
> Prosecuting        Continuing to do something, usually until it is
> finished or accomplished
> Nascent            In the process of emerging, being born or
> starting to develop
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Unassailable   So sound or well established that it cannot be
> challenged or overtaken
> Vacillate      To be indecisive or irresolute, changing between
> one opinion and another
> Falter         To become unsure and hesitant
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 35. We Must Distinguish Our Record of Stewardship
> I , a month before the Centenary of the Martyrdom of the Báb
> was commemorated, Shoghi Effendi expressed this to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of Canada:
> That this community will never relax in its high endeavours, that
> the vision of its glorious mission will not be suffered to be dimmed,
> that obstacles, however formidable, will neither dampen its zeal or
> deflect it from its purpose, is my confident hope and earnest prayer.
> He Who watches over its destinies, from Whose pen testimonies so
> significant and soul thrilling have flowed, will no doubt continue to
> direct its steps, to shower upon it His loving bounties, to surround it
> with His constant care, and to enable it to scale loftier heights on its
> ascent towards the summit of its destiny.
> With a heart brimful with gratitude for all that this community has
> so far achieved, and throbbing with hope for the future exploits that
> will distinguish its record of stewardship to the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,
> I pray that by its acts, this community will prove itself worthy of the
> trust confided to its care, and the station to which it has been called.
> (23 June 1950, MC 18)
> 
> Formidable         Difficult to deal with or overcome
> Dampen             Make less strong or intense
> Zeal               Great energy or enthusiasm for a cause or
> objective
> Deflect            Direct attention away
> Scale              Climb up or over (something high and steep)
> Loftier            More exalted and refined
> Ascent             To rise to a higher point, level, degree
> Summit             Highest point
> Brimful            Ready to overflow
> Throbbing          Beating rapidly and forcefully
> Exploits           Acts or deeds, especially brilliant or heroic ones
> Stewardship        Someone’s stewardship of something is the way
> in which that person controls or organizes it
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 36. The Spiritual Potentialities
> That Will Empower Us
> I  significant year 1951, Shoghi Effendi received the original
> manuscript of the Kitáb-i-Iqán in the handwriting of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá with some marginal additions by Bahá’u’lláh, and placed it in
> the International Bahá’í Archives; in January, he announced the
> establishment of the International Bahá’í Council; and on the same day
> that he wrote this to the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany, he
> announced the completion of the restoration of the House of ‘Abbúd:
> The record of service stretching behind them is indeed highly
> inspiring. The vision of future victories at home and in distant
> fields now unfolding before them is even more glorious and highly
> challenging. The more they consecrate themselves to their present
> tasks, the more faithfully and promptly they fulfil the requirements
> of the Plan to which they stand committed, the sooner will they
> acquire the spiritual potentialities that will empower them to qualify
> for the successful conduct and the ultimate consummation of so
> colossal an enterprise destined to shed so great and imperishable a
> lustre on both their community and nation.
> That they may be vouchsafed by Providence all the strength and
> guidance they require for the attainment of their immediate goal, that
> they may prove themselves worthy of receiving a still greater measure
> of celestial strength and Divine sustenance for the achievement of their
> ultimate objective is the dearest wish of my heart and constant prayer.
> (2 March 1951, LDG Vol. I, 172)
> 
> Consecrate:        Dedicate to a sacred purpose
> Potentialities     Capacities for growth and development
> Empower            To give somebody a greater sense of confidence
> or self-esteem
> Colossal           Very great or impressive
> Enterprise         A new, often risky, venture that involves
> confidence and initiative
> Imperishable       Not forgotten or ignored over time
> Lustre             Glory or distinction
> Vouchsafed         Given, granted or allowed
> Providence         God’s guidance
> Attainment         The achievement of the goals that somebody has set
> Celestial          Heavenly
> Sustenance         Something that gives support, endurance or strength
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 37. Let Us Place Our Share
> on the Altar of Sacrifice
> I J 1954 Dorothy Baker, Hand of the Cause of God, died in
> a plane crash in the Mediterranean Sea near the island of Elba. When
> Marion Jack died the same year in Sofia, Bulgaria,Shoghi Effendi called
> her ‘a shining example’ to pioneers of present and future generations of
> East and West and wrote to the American Bahá’ís:
> It is therefore imperative for the individual American believer,
> and particularly for the affluent, the independent, the comfort-
> loving and those obsessed by material pursuits, to step forward,
> and dedicate their resources, their time, their very lives to a Cause
> of such transcendence that no human eye can even dimly perceive
> its glory. Let them resolve, instantly and unhesitatingly, to place,
> each according to his circumstances, his share on the altar of Bahá’í
> sacrifice, lest, on a sudden, unforeseen calamities rob them of a
> considerable portion of the earthly things they have amassed.
> Now if ever is the time to tread the path which the dawn-breakers of a
> previous age have so magnificently trodden. Now is the time to carry
> out, in the spirit and in the letter, the fervent wish so pathetically
> voiced by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who longed, as attested in the Tablets of the
> Divine Plan, to “travel though on foot and in the utmost poverty”
> and raise “in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans” “the call
> of Yá-Bahá’u’l-Abhá!”
> (28 July 1954, CF 131-132)
> 
> Imperative         Absolutely necessary or unavoidable
> Affluent           Having an abundance of material wealth
> Pursuits           An occupation, career, interests
> Transcendence      Supremity; going beyond known limits
> Resolve            To come to a firm decision
> Considerable       A great deal or amount
> Amassed            Having brought together a large quantity of
> things over time
> Fervent            Exhibiting or marked by great intensity of feeling
> Pathetically       Marked by sorrow or melancholy
> Attested           Affirmed to be true or genuine
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 38. Our Concerted Exertions Must Be
> Adequate in Range and Quality
> I , one month after Shoghi Effendi added protection of the
> Cause to the duties of the Hands of the Cause, he wrote to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the Benelux Countries:
> That they may prove themselves worthy of their high calling; that
> they may rise to such heights as to excite the unqualified admiration
> of their brethren not only in the European continent but throughout
> both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres; that they may, through
> the range and quality of their concerted exertions, draw forth a
> measure of Divine bounty adequate to meet the pressing needs and
> manifold requirements of their glorious Mission, is my ardent and
> constant prayer for them all as I lay my head on the threshold of His
> Most Holy Shrine.
> (5 July 1957, DC 152)
> 
> Unqualified       Absolute
> Concerted         Planned or accomplished together
> Manifold          Many and various
> Ardent            Passionate
> Photograph by Nayyirih G. de Koning-Tahzib
> Coping with Tests and Difficulties
> You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in
> which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to
> yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing
> that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
> Eleanor Roosevelt
> US diplomat & reformer (1884 - 1962)
> 
> W  be faced with many tests and difficulties while we are serving
> the Faith. How to cope with and surmount these trying times is often
> very difficult, and they can be hard to bear. We find in Shoghi Effendi’s
> letters advice and admonitions on how to overcome what comes in our
> path and be resilient.
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 39. Severe Mental Tests Will Sweep over the West
> I , Amelia Collins contributed the funds necessary to complete
> the Western Pilgrim House; Shoghi Effendi sent his early translation of
> the ”Hidden Words” to America; the keys to the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh
> were returned to Shoghi Effendi; and Shoghi Effendi wrote to Bahá’ís
> in America, Great Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Japan
> and Australasia about Bahá’í administration, outlining the process for
> annual elections of assemblies and calling for the establishment of local
> and national funds. It was in this year that Shoghi Effendi returned to
> Haifa from Switzerland one month before he wrote this to the Bahá’ís
> of Australia and New Zealand:
> … How often we seem to forget the clear and repeated warnings of
> our beloved Master, who in particular during the concluding years of
> his mission on earth, laid stress on the severe mental tests that would
> inevitably sweep over his loved ones of the West ... tests that would
> purge, purify and prepare them for their noble mission in life.
> And as to the world’s evil plight, we need but recall the writings and
> sayings of Bahá’u’lláh, who, more than fifty years ago, declared in terms
> prophetic the prime cause of the ills and sufferings of mankind, and set
> forth their true and divine remedy. “Should the lamp of Religion be
> hidden”, He declared, “chaos and confusion will ensue.” How admirably
> fitting and applicable are these words to the present state of mankind!
> Ours then is the duty and privilege to labour, by day, by night,
> amidst the storm and stress of these troublous days, that we may
> quicken the zeal of our fellow-man, rekindle their hopes, stimulate
> their interests, open their eyes to the true Faith of God and enlist
> their active support in the carrying out of our common task for the
> peace and regeneration of the world.
> (2 December 1923, LAN 1-2)
> 
> Purge              Make somebody pure and free from guilt, sin or
> defilement
> Plight             A difficult or dangerous situation, especially a sad
> or desperate predicament
> Amidst             In the middle of: surrounded by
> Quicken            To stimulate something such as interest or enthusiasm
> Zeal               Energetic and unflagging enthusiasm, especially
> for a cause or idea
> Rekindle           To revive or renew something such as a feeling
> or interest
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 40. The Plight of Mankind
> I , Shoghi Effendi wrote this message to the Bahá’ís throughout
> America in between his return to Haifa and another departure for six months:
> The plight of mankind, the condition and circumstances under
> which we live and labor are truly disheartening, and the darkness of
> prejudice and ill-will enough to chill the stoutest heart. Disillusion
> and dismay are invading the hearts of peoples and nations, and the
> hope and vision of a united and regenerated humanity is growing
> dimmer and dimmer every day. Time-honored institutions,
> cherished ideals, and sacred traditions are suffering in these days of
> bewildering change, from the effects of the gravest onslaught, and
> the precious fruit of centuries of patient and earnest labor is faced
> with peril. Passions, supposed to have been curbed and subdued,
> are now burning fiercer than ever before, and the voice of peace and
> good-will seems drowned amid unceasing convulsions and turmoil.
> What, let us ask ourselves, should be our attitude as we stand under
> the all-seeing eye of our vigilant Master, gazing at a sad spectacle so
> utterly remote from the spirit which He breathed into the world? Are
> we to follow in the wake of the wayward and the despairing? Are we
> to allow our vision of so unique, so enduring, so precious a Cause
> to be clouded by the stain and dust of worldly happenings, which,
> no matter how glittering and far-reaching in their immediate effects,
> are but the fleeting shadows of an imperfect world? Are we to be
> carried away by the flood of hollow and conflicting ideas, or are we
> to stand, unsubdued and unblemished, upon the everlasting rock of
> God’s Divine Instructions? Shall we not equip ourselves with a clear
> and full understanding of their purpose and implications for the age
> we live in, and with an unconquerable resolve arise to utilize them,
> intelligently and with scrupulous fidelity, for the enlightenment and
> the promotion of the good of all mankind?
> Humanity, torn with dissension and burning with hate, is crying at this
> hour for a fuller measure of that love which is born of God, that love
> which in the last resort will prove the one solvent of its incalculable
> difficulties and problems. Is it not incumbent upon us, whose hearts
> are aglow with love for Him, to make still greater effort, to manifest
> that love in all its purity and power in our dealings with our fellow-
> men? May our love of our beloved Master, so ardent, so disinterested
> in all its aspects, find its true expression in love for our fellow-brethren
> and sisters in the faith as well as for all mankind. I assure you, dear
> friends, that progress in such matters as these is limitless and infinite,
> and that upon the extent of our achievements along this line will
> ultimately depend the success of our mission in life.
> (23 February 1924, BA 61-62)
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Plight          A difficult or dangerous situation
> Disheartening   Making somebody lose hope or enthusiasm
> Stoutest        Possessing great courage and determination
> Disillusion     Disappointment from discovering that
> something is not as good as one believed it to be
> Dismay          A sudden loss of courage or confidence
> Regenerated     Newborn
> Time-honored    Respected or continued because of having been
> the custom for a long time
> Cherished       Valued highly, especially something such as a
> right, freedom or privilege
> Gravest         Involving serious consequences such as danger or harm
> Onslaught       A powerful attack or force that overwhelms
> somebody or something
> Earnest         Serious
> Peril           Danger
> Curbed          Controlled or limited, especiallly something that
> is not desirable
> Subdued         Quieted, or brought under control
> Unceasing       Never stopping
> Convulsions     Uncontrollable shaking
> Turmoil         Confused disturbance
> Vigilant        Always being careful to notice things, especially
> possible danger
> Gazing          Looking at something or someone for a long
> time, intently and with fixed attention
> Spectacle       Some strange or remarkable sight, an unusual
> display
> Utterly         In an extreme or complete way
> Remote          Far away
> Wake            If something happens in the wake of something
> else, it happens after it and often because of it
> Wayward         Undisciplined or self-willed; headstrong, willful
> or rebellious
> Despairing      Feeling or showing loss of hope
> Scrupulous      Diligent and thorough
> Fidelity        Continuing faithfulness to a person, cause or belief
> Dissension      Disagreement or difference of opinion, especially
> when leading to open conflict
> Solvent         Something that dissolves or can dissolve; also,
> something that solves or explains
> Incumbent       Necessary as a result of a duty, responsibility or
> obligation
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 41. Problems Will Gradually Be Solved
> I , the 50 Bahá’ís imprisoned in Adana, Turkey, were released.
> One month later, Shoghi Effendi wrote to Louise Drake Wright, a
> travel teacher to the Netherlands:
> The problems which confront the believers at the present time,
> whether social, spiritual, economic or administrative will be gradually
> solved as the number and the resources of the friends multiply and
> their capacity for service and for the application of Bahá’í principles
> develops. They should be patient, confident and active in utilizing
> every possible opportunity that presents itself within the limits now
> necessarily imposed upon them. May the Almighty aid them to fulfil
> their highest hopes.
> (11 March 1933, DC 24)
> 
> Utilizing          Making use of something
> Imposed            Forced to be accepted, undertaken or complied with
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 42. Be Undismayed
> I A of 1938, Munírih Khánum, the Holy Mother, wife of `Abdu’l-
> Bahá, died. Shoghi Effendi interred her body just west of the Shrine of
> Bahíyyíh Khánum and erected a simple monument over her grave. In
> July, Queen Marie of Romania died. In that month, Shoghi Effendi
> wrote to the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada:
> … Whereas every apparent trial with which the able unfathomable
> wisdom of the Almighty deems it necessary to afflict His chosen
> community serves only to demonstrate afresh its essential solidarity
> and to consolidate its inward strength, each of the successive crises
> in the fortunes of a decadent age exposes more convincingly than
> the one preceding it the corrosive influences that are fast sapping the
> vitality and undermining the basis of its declining institutions.
> For such demonstrations of the interpositions of an ever-watchful
> Providence they who stand identified with the Community of the
> Most Great Name must feel eternally grateful. From every fresh
> token of His unfailing blessing on the one hand, and of His visitation
> on the other, they cannot but derive immense hope and courage.
> Alert to seize every opportunity which the revolutions of the wheel
> of destiny within their Faith offers them, and undismayed by the
> prospect of spasmodic convulsions that must sooner or later fatally
> affect those who have refused to embrace its light, they, and those
> who will labor after them, must press forward until the processes
> now set in motion will have each spent its force and contributed its
> share towards the birth of the Order now stirring in the womb of a
> travailing age.
> (25 December 1938, ADJ 1-2)
> 
> Unfathomable       Impossible to measure or understand
> Deems              Considers to be
> Afflict            Cause distress
> Corrosive          Gradually destructive
> Sapping            Draining; weakening
> Interposition      Coming between things to exert authority
> Spasmodic          Irregular; intermittent
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 43. The Promise
> I , persecution of the Bahá’ís of Iran continued throughout
> the country. Bahá’ís marrying without a Muslim ceremony were
> investigated, including several hundred in Tihrán alone. Most were
> imprisoned pending trial and were imprisoned for six to eight months
> afterwards and fined. Shoghi Effendi wrote this moving passage to the
> United States and Canada:
> Though the task be long and arduous, yet the prize which the
> All-Bountiful Bestower has chosen to confer upon you is of such
> preciousness that neither tongue nor pen can befittingly appraise it.
> Though the goal towards which you are now so strenuously striving
> be distant, and as yet undisclosed to men’s eyes, yet its promise lies
> firmly embedded in the authoritative and unalterable utterances
> of Bahá’u’lláh. Though the course He has traced for you seems,
> at times, lost in the threatening shadows with which a stricken
> humanity is now enveloped, yet the unfailing light He has caused
> to shine continually upon you is of such brightness that no earthly
> dusk can ever eclipse its splendor. Though small in numbers, and
> circumscribed as yet in your experiences, powers, and resources,
> yet the Force which energizes your mission is limitless in its range
> and incalculable in its potency. Though the enemies which every
> acceleration in the progress of your mission must raise up be fierce,
> numerous, and unrelenting, yet the invisible Hosts which, if you
> persevere, must, as promised, rush forth to your aid, will, in the
> end, enable you to vanquish their hopes and annihilate their forces.
> Though the ultimate blessings that must crown the consummation of
> your mission be undoubted, and the Divine promises given you firm
> and irrevocable, yet the measure of the goodly reward which every
> one of you is to reap must depend on the extent to which your daily
> exertions will have contributed to the expansion of that mission and
> the hastening of its triumph.
> (25 December 1938, ADJ 13)
> 
> Arduous            Difficult and trying
> Confer             To give an honor
> Strenuously        Requiring physical effort, energy, stamina or
> strength
> Embedded           Set or fixed firmly and deeply
> Unalterable        Not able to be changed
> Traced             Laid out; planned
> Enveloped          Enclosed or enfolded completely as if with a
> covering
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Dusk            The period of the day after the sun has gone
> below the horizon but before the sky has become
> dark
> Eclipse         To block the light falling on something, or cast a
> shadow on it
> Circumscribed   To be limited
> Unrelenting     Unyielding or unswerving in determination or
> resolve
> Vanquish        To defeat an opponent
> Annihilate      To destroy something completely, especially so
> that it ceases to exist
> Irrevocable     Impossible to revoke, undo or change
> Reap            To obtain something, especially as a consequence
> of previous effort or action
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 44. Pursue the Present Plan
> S Effendi outlined further the processes involved:
> … Who knows but that these few remaining, fast-fleeting years,
> may not be pregnant with events of unimaginable magnitude, with
> ordeals more severe than any that humanity has as yet experienced,
> with conflicts more devastating than any which have preceded them.
> Dangers, however sinister, must, at no time, dim the radiance of their
> new-born faith. Strife and confusion, however bewildering, must
> never befog their vision. Tribulations, however afflictive, must never
> shatter their resolve. Denunciations, however clamorous, must never
> sap their loyalty. Upheavals, however cataclysmic, must never deflect
> their course. The present Plan, embodying the budding hopes of
> a departed Master, must be pursued, relentlessly pursued, whatever
> may befall them in the future, however distracting the crises that
> may agitate their country or the world. Far from yielding in their
> resolve, far from growing oblivious of their task, they should, at
> no time, however much buffeted by circumstances, forget that the
> synchronization of such world-shaking crises with the progressive
> unfoldment and fruition of their divinely appointed task is itself the
> work of Providence, the design of an inscrutable Wisdom, and the
> purpose of an all-compelling Will, a Will that directs and controls,
> in its own mysterious way, both the fortunes of the Faith and the
> destinies of men. Such simultaneous processes of rise and of fall,
> of integration and of disintegration, of order and chaos, with their
> continuous and reciprocal reactions on each other, are but aspects
> of a greater Plan, one and indivisible, whose Source is God, whose
> author is Bahá’u’lláh, the theater of whose operations is the entire
> planet, and whose ultimate objectives are the unity of the human race
> and the peace of all mankind.
> (25 December 1938, ADJ 60-61)
> 
> Magnitude          Greatness of extent or importance
> Devastating        Damaging; very upsetting
> Sinister           Suggesting evil
> Clamorous          Making loud demands or complaints
> Cataclysmic        Causing great destruction
> Relentlessly       Ceaselessly and intensely
> Oblivious          Forgetful
> Buffeted           Struck repeatedly and violently; battered
> Synchronization    Happening together
> Inscrutable        Hard to interpret
> Reciprocal         Felt by both sides of a situation
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 45. Be Not Afraid of Any Criticism
> S Effendi gives insight on how to cope during difficult times:
> Let not, however, the invincible army of Bahá’u’lláh, who in the West,
> and at one of its potential storm centers is to fight, in His name and
> for His sake, one of its fiercest and most glorious battles, be afraid of
> any criticism that might be directed against it. Let it not be deterred
> by any condemnation with which the tongue of the slanderer may
> seek to debase its motives. Let it not recoil before the threatening
> advance of the forces of fanaticism, of orthodoxy, of corruption, and
> of prejudice that may be leagued against it. The voice of criticism
> is a voice that indirectly reinforces the proclamation of its Cause.
> Unpopularity but serves to throw into greater relief the contrast
> between it and its adversaries, while ostracism is itself the magnetic
> power that must eventually win over to its camp the most vociferous
> and inveterate amongst its foes. Already in the land where the greatest
> battles of the Faith have been fought, and its most rapacious enemies
> have lived, the march of events, the slow yet steady infiltration of its
> ideals, and the fulfillment of its prophecies, have resulted not only
> in disarming and in transforming the character of some of its most
> redoubtable enemies, but also in securing their firm and unreserved
> allegiance to its Founders. So complete a transformation, so startling
> a reversal of attitude, can only be effected if that chosen vehicle which
> is designed to carry the Message of Bahá’u’lláh to the hungry, the
> restless, and unshepherded multitudes is itself thoroughly cleansed
> from the defilements which it seeks to remove.
> (25 December 1938, ADJ 42-43)
> 
> Invincible         Unconquerable, indestructible
> Deterred           Prevented from acting, as by fear or doubt
> Condemnation       Stating that somebody is some way wrong or
> unacceptable
> Slanderer          Someone who makes false and malicious
> statements
> Debase             To reduce somebody in status, significance, or
> moral worth
> Recoil             To shrink back, as in fear or repugnance
> Ostracism          Banishing or excluding somebody from society
> or from a particular group, either formally or
> informally
> Vociferous         Shouting in a noisy and determined way
> Inveterate         Firmly established and of long standing
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Rapacious     Engaging in violent pillaging and likely to harm
> or destroy things
> Redoubtable   Having personal qualities worthy of respect or
> fear
> Defilements   Things that pollute, corrupt, or damage a
> reputation
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 46. No Sacrifice Can Be Regarded As Too Great
> I M of 1940, Shoghi Effendi and Rúhíyyih Khanum left Haifa for
> Italy en route to London. After obtaining a visa for Britain in Rome,
> they left for England via France. A few days later the Italians entered
> the war against the Allies. In June they left Paris for England one day
> before the city was occupied by the Nazis. In July they left England for
> South Africa. This was the only route open back to Palestine, as Italy’s
> entrance into the war had closed the Mediterranean to Allied ships. The
> trip across Africa took them to Stanleyville, Congo, Juba in the Sudan;
> down the Nile to Khartoum and back to Palestine through Cairo. Less
> than two weeks before they were back in Haifa, Shoghi Effendi wrote
> this to The National Assembly of India:
> I wish to reassure you in person of my fervent and continued prayers
> for the protection, the success and the spiritual advancement of
> the community of the Indian and Burmese believers who, under
> your direction, and stimulated by the initiative and example, of
> their national elected representatives, are arising, in these days of
> widespread confusion, turmoil and danger, to carry out the Plan they
> are pledged to fulfill. No sacrifice can be regarded as too great for
> the attainment of so great and splendid an objective. They should
> persevere in their task, undaunted by the rising tide of calamity and
> despair which afflicts the world, and which is mysteriously paving the
> way for its unification and ultimate redemption. May the Beloved
> guide every step you take, and bless every endeavour you exert in
> His path.
> (14 December 1940, DND 87-88)
> 
> Undaunted          Courageously resolute, especially in the face of
> danger or difficulty; not discouraged
> Paving             Creating the circumstances to enable (something)
> to happen
> Ultimate           Coming or attained at the end of a series of
> stages, and often constituting the completion of
> something
> Redemption         A thing that saves someone from error or evil
> Exert              To attempt to have a powerful effect on a
> situation
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 47. Face the Trials of the Present Hour
> I  nine Bahá’ís were arrested in Sangsar, Khurásán, Iran, and
> banished to other towns for closing their shops on Bahá’í holy days; and
> John Henry Dunn, Hand of the Cause of God, died in Sydney. It was
> in that year that Shoghi Effendi wrote this to the American believers:
> As opposition to the Faith, from whatever source it may spring,
> whatever form it may assume, however violent its outbursts, is
> admittedly the motive-power that galvanizes on the one hand, the
> souls of its valiant defenders, and taps for them, on the other, fresh
> springs of that Divine and inexhaustible Energy, we who are called
> upon to represent, defend and promote its interests, should, far
> from regarding any manifestation of hostility as an evidence of the
> weakening of the pillars of the Faith, acclaim it as both a God-sent
> gift and a God-sent opportunity which, if we remain undaunted,
> we can utilize for the furtherance of His Faith and the routing and
> complete elimination of its adversaries.
> The Heroic Age of the Faith, born in anguish, nursed in adversity,
> and terminating in trials as woeful as those that greeted its birth,
> has been succeeded by that Formative Period which is to witness the
> gradual crystallization of those creative energies which the Faith has
> released, and the consequent emergence of that World Order for
> which those forces were made to operate.
> Fierce and relentless will be the opposition which this crystallization
> and emergence must provoke. The alarm it must and will awaken,
> the envy it will certainly arouse, the misrepresentations to which it
> will remorselessly be subjected, the setbacks it must, sooner or later,
> sustain, the commotions to which it must eventually give rise, the
> fruits it must in the end garner, the blessings it must inevitably
> bestow and the glorious, the Golden Age, it must irresistibly usher in,
> are just beginning to be faintly perceived, and will, as the old order
> crumbles beneath the weight of so stupendous a Revelation, become
> increasingly apparent and arresting.
> Not ours to attempt to survey the distant scene; ours rather the
> duty to face the trials of the present hour, to ponder its meaning,
> to discharge its obligations, to meet its challenge and utilize the
> opportunity it offers to the fullest extent of our ability and power.
> (12 August 1941, MA 79)
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Undaunted       Not afraid or stopped by the prospect of defeat,
> loss or failure
> Routing         A severe and humiliating defeat
> Anguish         Extreme anxiety or emotional torment
> Woeful          Bringing or causing great distress or sorrow
> Relentless      Ceaseless and intense
> Remorselessly   Continuing without lessening in strength or
> intensity
> Garner          To earn or acquire something by effort
> Usher in        To guide, to lead
> Ponder          Think about seriously before making a
> conclusion
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 48. Adversity Prepares the Hearts of Men
> T months befoe Shoghi Effendi wrote the following to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of India in December 1941, Ridá Sháh in Iran
> abdicated and Muhammad-Ridá Sháh acceded to the throne:
> The news conveyed by your latest communication has rejoiced my
> heart. The manner in which the friends have arisen to promote the
> teaching work throughout their country merits the highest praise. By
> their enthusiasm, their self-abnegation, the determination and vigour
> they display, they have lent a fresh impetus to the onward march of
> the Faith and the expansion of its institutions and the multiplication
> of its administrative centres. The perils of the present hour, the
> repercussions of this tremendous world ordeal on their native land,
> must, in no wise, alarm or discourage them. Their purpose must
> never be deflected, their enthusiasm never dimmed, their vision never
> obscured, their exertions never discontinued. Adversity prepares the
> hearts of men, and paves the way for a wholehearted and general
> acceptance of the tenets and claims of our beloved Faith. Challenged
> by the obstacles in their path, encouraged by work already initiated,
> assured of the Divine Promise of Bahá’u’lláh, let them forge ahead
> until their goal is attained.
> My prayers will ever surround them.
> (27 December 1941, DND 95-96)
> 
> Self-abnegation    The setting aside of self-interest for the sake of
> others or for a belief or principle
> Paves              Prepares a smooth easy way
> Tenets             Beliefs, convictions, teachings
> Forge              To advance gradually but steadily
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 49. Arise Without Fear
> S months after Shoghi Effendi’s book God Passes By was published
> in 1945, he wrote to the American Bahá’í Community:
> There is no time to lose. The hour is ripe for the proclamation,
> without fear, without reserve, and without hesitation, and on a scale
> never as yet undertaken, of the One Message that can alone extricate
> humanity from the morass into which it is steadily sinking, and from
> which they who claim to be the followers of the Most Great Name
> can and will eventually rescue it. The sooner they who labor for
> the recognition and triumph of His Faith in the new world arise
> to carry out these inescapable duties, the sooner will the hopes, the
> aims and objectives of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as enshrined in His own Plan,
> be translated from the realm of vision to the plane of actuality and
> manifest the full force of the potentialities with which they have been
> endued.
> (29 March 1945, MA 118)
> 
> Extricate          To release somebody or something with difficulty
> from a physical constraint or an unpleasant or
> complicated situation
> Morass             A frustrating, confusing or unmanageable
> situation that makes any kind of progress
> extremely slow
> Enshrined          Preserved or cherished as sacred
> Realm              An area or domain, e.g. of thought or knowledge
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 50. So Much Depends Upon Us
> I  the restoration of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Tihrán was
> completed; in April Shoghi Effendi instructed Sutherland Maxwell to set
> plans in motion for the first stages of the building of the superstructure
> of the Shrine of the Báb; the Second Seven Year Plan of the United
> States and Canada was launched, marking the beginning of the second
> epoch of the Formative Age. Shoghi Effendi wrote this to the American
> Bahá’ís:
> It is not for us, at this crucial hour, to delve into the future, to speculate
> on the possibilities of the Plan and its orientation, to conjecture on
> its impact on the unfoldment of an embryonic World Order, or to
> dwell on the glories and triumphs which it may hold in store, or to
> seek to delineate the mysterious course which a God given Mission,
> impelled by forces beyond our power to predict or appraise, may
> pursue. To try to obtain a clear view of the shape of things to come
> would be premature inasmuch as the glittering prizes to be won are
> directly dependent on the measure of success which the combined
> efforts that are now being exerted must yield. Ours is the duty to fix
> our gaze with undeviating attention on the duties and responsibilities
> confronting us at this present hour, to concentrate our resources,
> both material and spiritual, on the tasks that lie immediately ahead,
> to insure that no time is wasted, that no opportunity is missed, that
> no obligation is evaded, that no task is half-heartedly performed, that
> no decision is procrastinated. The task summoning us to a challenge,
> unprecedented in its gravity and force, is too vast and sacred, the
> time too short, the hour too perilous, the workers too few, the call
> too insistent, the resources too inadequate, for us to allow these
> precious and fleeting hours to slip from our grasp, and to suffer the
> prizes within our reach to be endangered or forfeited. So much
> depends upon us, so pregnant with possibilities is the present stage
> in the evolution of the Plan, that great and small, individuals, groups
> and Assemblies, white and colored, young and old, neophytes and
> veterans, settlers, pioneers, itinerant teachers and administrators, as
> isolated believers, as organizers of groups, and as contributors to the
> formation of local or national Assemblies, as builders of the Temple,
> as laborers on the home teaching front, or in Latin America, or in the
> new transatlantic field of service - all, without exception and in every
> sphere of activity, however modest, restricted, or inconspicuous,
> must participate and labor, assiduously and continually, until every
> ounce of our energy is spent, until, tired but blissful, our promised
> harvest is brought in, and our pledge to our Beloved fully redeemed.
> (15 June 1946, MA 143-144)
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Delve into      To investigate or research something thoroughly
> in order to obtain information
> Conjecture      To make judgments or opinions on the basis of
> incomplete or inconclusive information; to guess
> Delineate       To describe or explain something in detail
> Appraise        To evaluate the worth, significance or status of
> something
> Undeviating     Not turning or changing; remaining constant or
> true to something
> Gravity         The seriousness of something considered in terms
> of its unfavorable consequences
> Forfeited       To be deprived of, to be lost
> Neophytes       Beginners
> Itinerant       Traveling from place to place
> Inconspicuous   Not obvious
> Assiduously     Showing persistent and hard working effort in
> doing something
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 51. Trials and Disappointments May Tax Our Patience
> S months after the launching of the Second Seven Year Plan
> of the United States and Canada, Shoghi Effendi wrote this to the
> American Bahá’í Community:
> The sterner the task, the graver the responsibilities, the wider the field
> of exertion, the more persistently must the privileged members of
> this enviable community strive, and the loftier must be the height to
> which they should aspire, in the course of their God-given mission,
> and throughout every stage in the irresistible and divinely guided
> evolution of their community life.
> Setbacks may well surprise them; trials and disappointments may
> tax their patience and resourcefulness; the forces of darkness, either
> from within or from without, may seek to dampen their ardor, to
> disrupt their unity and break their spirit; pitfalls may surround the
> little band that must act as a vanguard to the host which must, in
> the years to come, spiritually raise up the sorely ravaged continent of
> Europe. None of these, however fierce, sinister or unyielding they
> may appear, must be allowed to deflect the protagonists of a God-
> impelled Plan, from the course which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has chosen for
> them, and which the agencies of a firmly established, laboriously
> erected, Administrative Order, are now enabling them to effectively
> pursue.
> That they may press forward with undiminished fervor, with
> undimmed vision, with unfaltering steps, with indivisible unity, with
> unflinching determination until the shining goal is attained is my
> constant prayer, my ardent hope, and the dearest wish of my heart.
> (20 July 1946, MA 146-147)
> 
> Sterner             More rigid, strict and uncompromising
> Graver              Requiring serious thought; more momentous
> Enviable            So desirable that other people feel envy
> Loftier             Of a higher rank or status
> Aspire              To seek to attain a goal
> Setbacks            Things that reverse or delay your progress
> Tax                 To strain or make a heavy demand
> Ardor               Strong feeling; enthusiasm; devotion
> Disrupt             To break apart
> Pitfalls            Potential and usually unanticipated disasters or
> difficulties
> Vanguard            Leading position or people
> Ravaged             Badly damaged; devastated
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Sinister       Suggesting or threatening evil
> Deflect        Direct attention away
> Protagonists   Supporters
> Undiminished   Not reduced or lessened
> Fervor         Extremely passionate enthusiasm
> Unflinching    Strong and unhesitating
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 52. We Must Encounter Critical Stages
> with Unswerving Resolution
> T Haziratu’l-Quds of Tihrán was completed; the National Spiritual
> Assembly of India and Burma was established; the National Spiritual
> Assembly of the United States and Canada was accredited by the
> United Nations as a non-governmental organization in the beginning
> half of 1947 before Shoghi Effendi wrote this appendage to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles:
> A staggering responsibility rests on the shoulders of those who have
> been called upon to assist in the operation of the initial stages of
> this heroic colossal enterprise, and to participate in the privilege of
> directing its course, and nursing its infant strength. Setbacks and
> reverses are inevitable as this mighty Plan progresses and expands.
> Critical stages in its unfoldment must be encountered with unswerving
> resolution and confident hope. Whatever hardships and sacrifices its
> future prosecution may involve must be borne with courage, pride
> and thankfulness. To insure its speedy advancement every issue must
> be subordinated to its vital requirements, and every individual effort
> co-ordinated with the agencies designed for its execution.
> (24 October 1947, UD 208)
> 
> Staggering         Causing great astonishment or dismay;
> overwhelming
> Colossal           Very great or impressive
> Reverses           Changes to the opposite direction, position or
> condition
> Unswerving         Firm and unchanging in intent or purpose
> Resolution         Being resolved to do something; firm
> determination
> Subordinated       Made secondary in importance
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 53. So Much Hangs on the Fortunes
> of the Present Plan
> ,1 7+( year 1949, when construction began on the superstructure
> of the Shrine of the Báb, Shoghi Effendi wrote this to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of India:
> The sands are indeed running out. The task that remains to be
> accomplished is indeed colossal. The distractions, temptations,
> and pitfalls that might interfere with its consummation are many
> and varied. The resources however spiritual and material still at the
> disposal of the members of these communities, are still adequate, if
> they but resolve to utilize them, to the needs of the present hour. The
> blessings from on high, ready to be showered upon them, are more
> than adequate to ensure their complete and total victory. So much
> hangs on the fortunes of the present Plan! So much must necessarily
> depend on the manner and the spirit in which they discharge their
> terrific responsibilities, during the few fleeting months still allotted
> them ere the expiry of the Plan! I entreat them, with all the fervour
> of my soul, not to allow this golden opportunity to slip from their
> grasp. They have, in the past, proved themselves capable, in times of
> crisis, of overleaping the most formidable barriers, and of wresting
> victory from the jaws of impending defeat. Theirs is the opportunity,
> now if ever, to demonstrate a similar resolution, a no less spectacular
> outburst of enthusiasm, an even nobler heroism and self-sacrifice
> than they have ever shown in the past.
> Then, and only then, will the next stage in the evolution of their
> common destiny be unveiled to their eyes. Then, and only then, will
> the call summoning them to press forward to yet another landmark
> in their history be sounded. Then, and only then, will a still fuller
> measure of heavenly prizes be laid up for them in reward for their
> inestimable and arduous services in the treasuries of the Abhá
> Kingdom by Him who alone knows how to re-ignite His faithful
> servants.
> (9 April 1949, DND 135-136)
> 
> Colossal           Unusually or impressively large
> Pitfalls           Potential and usually unanticipated disasters or
> difficulties
> Consummation       Completion; fulfillment of a goal
> Ensure             To make sure that something will happen
> Fleeting           Passing or fading quickly
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Allotted    Distributed to somebody as a share of what is
> available or what has to be done
> Ere         Before
> Expiry      End, especially of a contract or agreement
> Wresting    Taking something such as control or power from
> somebody in the face of opposition or resistance
> Impending   About to happen
> Arduous     Requiring hard work or continuous strenuous
> effort
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 54. The Birth of the World Order
> J a few weeks after the second European Teaching Conference was
> held in Brussels, Shoghi Effendi wrote this to the Bahá’ís of Australia
> and New Zealand:
> Obstacles, varied and numerous, will no doubt arise to impede the
> onward march of this community. Reverses may temporarily dim
> the radiance of its mission. The forces of religious orthodoxy may
> well, at a future date, be leagued against it. The exponents of theories
> and doctrines fundamentally opposed to its religious tenets and social
> principles may challenge its infant strength with persistence and
> severity. The Administrative Order - the Ark destined to preserve
> its integrity and carry it to safety - must without delay, without
> exception, claim the attention of the members of this community,
> its ideals must be continually cherished in their hearts, its purposes
> studied and kept constantly before their eyes, its requirements
> wholeheartedly met, its laws scrupulously upheld, its institutions
> unstintingly supported, its glorious mission noised abroad, and its
> spirit made the sole motivating purpose of their lives.
> Then and only then, will this community, so young, so vibrant with
> life, so rich in promise, so dedicated to its task, be in a position to
> discharge adequately its weighty responsibilities, to reap the full
> harvest it has sown, acquire still greater potentialities for the conduct
> of subsequent stages in the crusade on which it has embarked, and
> contribute, to a degree unsuspected as yet by its members, its full
> share to the World-wide establishment of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,
> the emancipation of its Oriental followers, the recognition of its
> independence, the birth of its World Order and the emergence of
> that world civilization which that Order is destined to create.
> (22 August 1949, LAN 80-81)
> 
> Impede             To interfere with the movement, progress or
> development of something
> Scrupulously       Having moral integrity; acting in strict regard for
> what is considered right or proper
> Unstintingly       Without restriction or holding back
> Noised Abroad      Made generally known
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 55. We Are Never to Hesitate
> D 1952, Shoghi Effendi appointed the second contingent of
> Hands of the Cause of God and described their two-fold function:
> propagation of the Faith and preservation of its unity. He also described
> plans for the marble colonnade to encircle the Shrine of the Báb as an
> intermediate step to building a superstructure for the Shrine and sent
> his ideas to Italy for scale drawings and a price estimate; he announced
> the enlargement of the International Bahá’í Council to eight members;
> and he named the southern door of the Báb’s tomb after Sutherland
> Maxwell, Hand of the Cause of God, who died in Montreal, in memory
> of his services. The case that had been brought against Shoghi Effendi
> by the Covenant-breakers in connection with the demolition of a house
> adjoining the Shrine and Mansion of Bahá’u’lláh at Bahjí was removed
> from the civil courts by the government of Israel. Midway in 1952, he
> wrote the Bahá’í world this message:
> No matter how long the period that separates them from ultimate
> victory; however arduous the task; however formidable the exertions
> demanded of them; however dark the days which mankind,
> perplexed and sorely-tried, must, in its hour of travail, traverse;
> however severe the tests with which they who are to redeem its
> fortunes will be confronted; however afflictive the darts which their
> present enemies, as well as those whom Providence, will, through
> His mysterious dispensations raise up from within or from without,
> may rain upon them, however grievous the ordeal of temporary
> separation from the heart and nerve-center of their Faith which future
> unforeseeable disturbances may impose upon them, I adjure them,
> by the precious blood that flowed in such great profusion, by the lives
> of the unnumbered saints and heroes who were immolated, by the
> supreme, the glorious sacrifice of the Prophet-Herald of our Faith,
> by the tribulations which its Founder, Himself, willingly underwent,
> so that His Cause might live, His Order might redeem a shattered
> world and its glory might suffuse the entire planet - I adjure them,
> as this solemn hour draws nigh, to resolve never to flinch, never to
> hesitate, never to relax, until each and every objective in the Plans to
> be proclaimed, at a later date, has been fully consummated.
> (30 June 1952 MBW 38-39)
> 
> Arduous            Requiring hard work or continuous strenuous
> effort
> Formidable         Difficult to deal with or overcome
> Exertions          Strenuous physical exercise or effort
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Sorely-tried    Made to undergo extreme trials or distress
> Travail         Painful effort; anguish
> Traverse        Pass through
> Severe          Difficult to do or endure
> Redeem          To help to overcome something which causes
> harm
> Afflictive      Causing severe mental or physical distress to
> somebody
> Providence       God, conceived as the power sustaining and
> guiding human destiny
> Dispensations   Particular arrangements or provisions, especially
> of providence or nature
> Grievous        Very severe or serious
> Ordeal          A severe trial or experience
> Impose          To establish or bring about as if by force
> Adjure          To make an earnest appeal to somebody
> Profusion       A large quantity of something
> Immolated       Offered in sacrifice; killed
> Supreme         Greatest in importance and significance; ultimate
> Shattered       Broken into pieces; seriously damaged
> Suffuse         To spread through or over something completely
> Solemn          Deeply serious
> Resolve         Make a decision
> Flinch          To avoid thinking about something, confronting
> something, or doing something
> Consummated     Completed or fulfilled, especially something long
> desired
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 56. The Tribulations Suffered
> by Their Co-Religionists
> I  same month that Shoghi Effendi wrote the following letter to the
> British Isles, appeals were made by National Spiritual Assemblies around
> the world through the Bahá’í International Community to the UN
> Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold to ask the Iranian government to
> halt the attacks on the Bahá’is. This marks the first time that the Faith
> was able to defend itself with its newly-born administrative agencies.
> An “Aid the Persecuted Fund” was established:
> The efforts of the members of this community must indeed be
> redoubled, nay trebled, as they view with afflicted hearts the tragic
> trend of events transpiring with such dramatic and sudden swiftness
> in Bahá’u’lláh’s native land. The tribulations suffered, over so wide
> a field, by so many of their co-religionists, under circumstances so
> appalling and harrowing in their nature, at the hands of redoubtable,
> pitiless, barbarous adversaries, should spur them on to still greater
> endeavours in a land blessed with freedom of religion and tolerance,
> and occupying so conspicuous a position among its sister nations.
> Theirs is an opportunity which they must instantly grasp. Theirs is a
> responsibility which they cannot escape. Theirs is the duty to offset,
> by the quality of their achievements, the dire losses which are now
> being sustained in the cradle of the Faith. That they may in every field
> and at all times discharge their heavy responsibilities is my constant
> prayer and dearest hope.
> (5 August 1955 UD 355)
> 
> Afflicted          Severely distressed, enough to cause persistent
> suffering or anguish
> Transpiring        Happening
> Appalling          Dreadful and shocking
> Harrowing          Causing feelings of fear, horror or distress
> Redoubtable        Formidable; arousing fear or awe
> Spur on            To incite or stimulate to action, e.g. because of
> the hope of a reward or the fear of punishment
> Conspicuous        Attracting attention through being unusual or
> remarkable
> Offset             To counterbalance or compensate for something
> Dire               Characterized by severe, serious or desperate
> circumstances
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 57. Our Faith Must Be Indomitable
> A Shoghi Effendi announced in April of 1957 that the Faith
> had been established in 251 countries, that there were more than a
> thousand local spiritual assemblies, that Bahá’ís lived in more than
> 4,200 localities and that every territory mentioned in the Tablets of
> the Divine Plan had been opened to the Faith and Bahá’í literature had
> been translated into 230 languages, he wrote in June to the National
> Assembly of Alaska:
> The task now facing this highly promising, spiritually dynamic
> community, at the hour of its emergence as an independent member
> of the embryonic World Bahá’í Commonwealth, is truly formidable;
> the responsibilities which it valiantly shoulders, at this crucial hour
> in its evolution are sacred, heavy, manifold and inescapable. The
> tests and trials which it must, sooner or later, experience in the course
> of its unfoldment and consolidation will severely challenge its spirit
> and resources. The path which it must tread ere the full evidence
> of its latent capacities are manifested will be long, tortuous and
> stony. The indomitable faith which now so powerfully animates its
> members, however, will, beyond the shadow of a doubt, enable them
> to overcome whatever obstacles may confront them in the future,
> and ensure the ultimate attainment of their high destiny.
> (30 June 1957, HE 37)
> 
> Emergence          The act or process of coming out, appearing or
> coming about
> Embryonic          In an initial or rudimentary stage of development
> Commonwealth       An association of countries that have joined
> together for their common good
> Formidable         Difficult to deal with or overcome
> Valiantly          Courageously
> Shoulders          Takes on the responsibility for something,
> especially something unpleasant or worrying
> Inescapable        Impossible to avoid
> Ere                Before
> Latent             Present or existing, but in an underdeveloped or
> unexpressed form
> Tortuous           Marked by repeated twists, bends or turns
> Indomitable        Brave, determined and impossible to defeat or
> frighten
> Animates           Inspires to take action or to have strong feelings
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Confront     To be met face to face by something that must be
> overcome
> Ensure       To make sure that something will happen
> Ultimate     Coming or expected at the very end
> Attainment   The achievement of the goals that somebody has
> set
> Destiny      The inner purpose of a life that can be discovered
> and realized
> Photograph by Nayyirih G. de Koning-Tahzib
> The Course of Change
> You must be the change you want to see in the world
> Mahatma Gandhi
> 
> There are three constants in life… change, choice and principles.
> Stephen R. Covey, American Speaker /Trainer
> Author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”
> 
> L is constantly changing, and the needs and times of the various Plans
> of the Faith change and evolve. We need to follow in the mainstream of
> the Faith and be aware of what is being asked of us at a particular time.
> By doing this we will be protected from negativism and remain full
> of hope and conviction that even though the course of worldly events
> seems hopeless, God’s ultimate Plan for humankind will be achieved if
> we arise and do all we can to help bring this about.
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 58. Looking Towards the Future
> S Effendi returned in September 1924 to the Holy Land after
> an absence of some six months when he wrote this to the Bahá’ís
> throughout the Continent of America:
> And now as I look into the future, I hope to see the friends at all
> times, in every land, and of every shade of thought and character,
> voluntarily and joyously rallying round their local and in particular
> their national centers of activity, upholding and promoting their
> interests with complete unanimity and contentment, with perfect
> understanding, genuine enthusiasm, and sustained vigor. This indeed
> is the one joy and yearning of my life, for it is the fountainhead
> from which all future blessings will flow, the broad foundation upon
> which the security of the Divine Edifice must ultimately rest. May
> we not hope that now at last the dawn of a brighter day is breaking
> upon our beloved Cause?
> (24 September 1924, BA 67)
> 
> Rallying          Coming together in order to provide support or
> make a shared effort
> Fountainhead      The primary source
> Edifice           An elaborate, complicated structure of ideas
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 59. If We Fail To Play Our Part
> A Shoghi Effendi returned to the Holy Land after an absence of
> some six months, he wrote to the Bahá’ís of America:
> Humanity, through suffering and turmoil, is swiftly moving on
> towards its destiny; if we be loiterers, if we fail to play our part surely
> others will be called upon to take up our task as ministers to the
> crying needs of this afflicted world.
> Not by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition of a set of
> new and noble principles, not by an organized campaign of teaching
> - no matter how worldwide and elaborate in its character - not even
> by the staunchness of our faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm,
> can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and
> sceptical age the supreme claim of the Abha Revelation. One thing
> and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted
> triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own
> inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects
> the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh.
> (24 September 924, BA 66)
> 
> Turmoil             A state of great confusion, commotion or
> disturbance
> Swiftly             Very quickly
> Destiny             A predetermined and inevitable series of events
> beyond human control
> Loiterers           People who do something in a slow lazy way,
> often stopping to rest
> Afflicted           Experiencing severe mental or physical distress
> Mere                Just what is specified and nothing more
> Exposition          Detailed description or discussion
> Elaborate           Planned or organized with thoroughness and
> careful attention to detail
> Staunchness         Showing loyalty, dependability and enthusiasm
> Exaltation          A feeling of intense or excessive happiness or
> exhilaration
> Enthusiasm          Passionate interest in or eagerness to do
> something
> Ultimately          In the end, as the culmination of a process or
> event
> Vindicate           To justify or prove the worth of something
> Sceptical           Showing doubt
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Supreme        Greater than any that have gone before, or the
> greatest possible
> Claim          A statement of something as a fact, saying it is
> true
> Secure         To bring about; make something happen
> Extent         The degree to which something applies
> Mirror forth   Reflect like in a mirror; show as an example
> Manifold       Having many parts, forms or applications
> Aspects        Particular views or points of view
> Splendor       Magnificence, impressiveness or brilliance
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 60. The Significance of Our Undertaking
> T intended pilgrimage of Queen Marie of Romania to the Bahá’í
> Shrines was thwarted during March 1938 when Shoghi Effendi wrote
> to the Bahá’ís of the West:
> Feeble though our Faith may now appear in the eyes of men, who
> either denounce it as an offshoot of Islam, or contemptuously ignore
> it as one more of those obscure sects that abound in the West, this
> priceless gem of Divine Revelation, now still in its embryonic state,
> shall evolve within the shell of His law, and shall forge ahead, undivided
> and unimpaired, till it embraces the whole of mankind. Only those
> who have already recognized the supreme station of Bahá’u’lláh, only
> those whose hearts have been touched by His love, and have become
> familiar with the potency of His spirit, can adequately appreciate the
> value of this Divine Economy - His inestimable gift to mankind.
> Leaders of religion, exponents of political theories, governors of
> human institutions, who at present are witnessing with perplexity
> and dismay the bankruptcy of their ideas, and the disintegration of
> their handiwork, would do well to turn their gaze to the Revelation
> of Bahá’u’lláh, and to meditate upon the World Order which, lying
> enshrined in His teachings, is slowly and imperceptibly rising amid
> the welter and chaos of present-day civilization. They need have
> no doubt or anxiety regarding the nature, the origin or validity of
> the institutions which the adherents of the Faith are building up
> throughout the world. For these lie embedded in the teachings
> themselves, unadulterated and unobscured by unwarrantable
> inferences, or unauthorized interpretations of His Word.
> (21 March 1930, WOB 23-24)
> 
> Denounce            To criticize something publicly
> Offshoot            Something that has grown out of something else
> Contemptuously      Demonstrating a strong dislike or utter lack of
> respect
> Obscure             Unimportant or unknown
> Abound              To be present in large numbers or quantities
> Unimpaired          Not badly affected by anything unpleasant or
> dangerous that happens
> Perplexity          A state of feeling confused or puzzled
> Imperceptibly       So slightly or gradually that it is hard to notice
> Welter              Confused condition
> Unadulterated       Pure
> Unobscured          Clear; not hidden
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Unwarrantable   Unable to be justified; inexcusable
> Inferences      Conclusions drawn from evidence or reasoning
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 61. The Goal of a New World Order
> W Shoghi Effendi wrote these World Order letters to fellow believers
> in the Faith in November of 1931, the New York Bahá’í community
> drafted the by-laws of a Bahá’í local assembly. These became the pattern
> for all local Bahá’í constitutions throughout the world.
> Humanity, whether viewed in the light of man’s individual conduct
> or in the existing relationships between organized communities and
> nations, has, alas, strayed too far and suffered too great a decline
> to be redeemed through the unaided efforts of the best among
> its recognized rulers and statesmen - however disinterested their
> motives, however concerted their action, however unsparing in their
> zeal and devotion to its cause. No scheme which the calculations
> of the highest statesmanship may yet devise; no doctrine which
> the most distinguished exponents of economic theory may hope to
> advance; no principle which the most ardent of moralists may strive
> to inculcate, can provide, in the last resort, adequate foundations
> upon which the future of a distracted world can be built. No
> appeal for mutual tolerance which the worldly-wise might raise,
> however compelling and insistent, can calm its passions or help
> restore its vigor. Nor would any general scheme of mere organized
> international cooperation, in whatever sphere of human activity,
> however ingenious in conception, or extensive in scope, succeed
> in removing the root cause of the evil that has so rudely upset the
> equilibrium of present-day society. Not even, I venture to assert,
> would the very act of devising the machinery required for the political
> and economic unification of the world - a principle that has been
> increasingly advocated in recent times - provide in itself the antidote
> against the poison that is steadily undermining the vigor of organized
> peoples and nations. What else, might we not confidently affirm,
> but the unreserved acceptance of the Divine Program enunciated,
> with such simplicity and force as far back as sixty years ago, by
> Bahá’u’lláh, embodying in its essentials God’s divinely appointed
> scheme for the unification of mankind in this age, coupled with
> an indomitable conviction in the unfailing efficacy of each and all
> of its provisions, is eventually capable of withstanding the forces of
> internal disintegration which, if unchecked, must needs continue to
> eat into the vitals of a despairing society. It is towards this goal - the
> goal of a new World Order, Divine in origin, all-embracing in scope,
> equitable in principle, challenging in its features - that a harassed
> humanity must strive.
> (29 November 1931, WOB 33-34)
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Strayed        Wandered away from the right path
> Unsparing      Giving generously or liberally
> Devise         Invent, make up or put together
> Exponents      Supporters or promoters of an idea
> Ardent         Feeling or showing great enthusiasm or eagerness
> Inculcate      To fix something firmly in somebody’s mind
> through frequent, forceful repetition
> Ingenious      Clever, original and effective
> Venture        To be so bold as to; to dare
> Antidote       A substance that counteracts poison
> Embodying      Making things into an organized system or
> whole
> Indomitable    Brave, determined and impossible to defeat or
> frighten
> Efficacy       The power of producing an effect; effectiveness
> Vitals         The parts necessary for functioning, as of a
> system
> Equitable      Fair
> Harassed       Anxious, annoyed and tired
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 62. The Bedrock on Which This
> Administrative Order Is Founded
> I  year of 1934, a month before Shoghi Effendi wrote this to
> the Bahá’ís of the West, he gave Queen Marie of Romania the gift of a
> Tablet in the handwriting of Bahá’ú’lláh:
> Let no one, while this System is still in its infancy, misconceive its
> character, belittle its significance or misrepresent its purpose. The
> bedrock on which this Administrative Order is founded is God’s
> immutable Purpose for mankind in this day. The Source from which
> it derives its inspiration is no one less than Bahá’u’lláh Himself. Its
> shield and defender are the embattled hosts of the Abhá Kingdom.
> Its seed is the blood of no less than twenty thousand martyrs who
> have offered up their lives that it may be born and flourish. The axis
> round which its institutions revolve are the authentic provisions of
> the Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Its guiding principles are
> the truths which He Who is the unerring Interpreter of the teachings
> of our Faith has so clearly enunciated in His public addresses
> throughout the West. The laws that govern its operation and limit
> its functions are those which have been expressly ordained in the
> Kitáb-i-Aqdas. The seat round which its spiritual, its humanitarian
> and administrative activities will cluster are the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
> and its Dependencies. The pillars that sustain its authority and
> buttress its structure are the twin institutions of the Guardianship
> and of the Universal House of Justice. The central, the underlying
> aim which animates it is the establishment of the New World
> Order as adumbrated by Bahá’u’lláh. The methods it employs, the
> standard it inculcates, incline it to neither East nor West, neither
> Jew nor Gentile, neither rich nor poor, neither white nor colored.
> Its watchword is the unification of the human race; its standard the
> “Most Great Peace”; its consummation the advent of that golden
> millennium - the Day when the kingdoms of this world shall have
> become the Kingdom of God Himself, the Kingdom of Bahá’u’lláh.
> (8 February 1934, WOB 156-157)
> 
> Misconceive        Fail to understand
> Belittle           Reduce or dismiss the importanc or quality of
> something
> Bedrock            The foundation; underlying facts and principles
> Immutable          Unchanging or unchangeable
> Derives            Gets; receives
> Embattled          Under attack
> Hosts              A very large number of people
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Flourish       Be healthy or grow well
> Axis           The line around which objects rotate
> Provisions     Things that have been given
> Unerring       Accurate; making no mistakes
> Enunciated     Stated precisely and systematically
> Ordained       Formally commanded
> Buttress       Give support to
> Animates       Gives life to; inspires to action
> Adumbrated     Disclosed partially or guardedly; shown in
> outline
> Inculcates     Fixes firmly in one’s mind
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 63. Evidences of a Splendid Power
> S Effendi wrote this letter to the Bahá’ís of the West in the year
> 1934, when the world situation was worsening and the government in
> Iran took several measures against the Bahá’ís throughout the country:
> nineteen Bahá’í schools were closed; Bahá’í meetings were forbidden in
> many towns; 3 Bahá’í centres were closed; some Bahá’í military were
> stripped of their rank and imprisoned; Bahá’ís in many places were
> harassed over the filling-in of marriage certificates, census forms and
> other legal documents, and despite all this the first National Spiritual
> Assembly of Iran was elected.
> The vitality which the organic institutions of this great, this ever-
> expanding Order so strongly exhibit; the obstacles which the high
> courage, the undaunted resolution of its administrators have already
> surmounted; the fire of an unquenchable enthusiasm that glows with
> undiminished fervor in the hearts of its itinerant teachers; the heights
> of self-sacrifice which its champion-builders are now attaining; the
> breadth of vision, the confident hope, the creative joy, the inward
> peace, the uncompromising integrity, the exemplary discipline, the
> unyielding unity and solidarity which its stalwart defenders manifest;
> the degree to which its moving Spirit has shown itself capable of
> assimilating the diversified elements within its pale, of cleansing them
> of all forms of prejudice and of fusing them with its own structure -
> these are evidences of a power which a disillusioned and sadly shaken
> society can ill afford to ignore.
> Compare these splendid manifestations of the spirit animating
> this vibrant body of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh with the cries and
> agony, the follies and vanities, the bitterness and prejudices, the
> wickedness and divisions of an ailing and chaotic world. Witness
> the fear that torments its leaders and paralyzes the action of its blind
> and bewildered statesmen. How fierce the hatreds, how false the
> ambitions, how petty the pursuits, how deep-rooted the suspicions
> of its peoples! How disquieting the lawlessness, the corruption, the
> unbelief that are eating into the vitals of a tottering civilization!
> Might not this process of steady deterioration which is insidiously
> invading so many departments of human activity and thought be
> regarded as a necessary accompaniment to the rise of this almighty Arm
> of Bahá’u’lláh? Might we not look upon the momentous happenings
> which, in the course of the past twenty years, have so deeply agitated
> every continent of the earth, as ominous signs simultaneously
> proclaiming the agonies of a disintegrating civilization and the birth
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> pangs of that World Order - that Ark of human salvation - that must
> needs arise upon its ruins?
> (8 February 1934, WOB 155)
> 
> Ever-expanding     Increasing continuously in size and scope
> Undaunted Not afraid or deterred by the
> prospect of defeat, loss or failure
> Resolution         Firm determination to do something
> Surmounted         Dealt with successfully, as with a difficulty
> Unquenchable       Impossible to suppress or destroy
> Undiminished       Not reduced or lessened
> Fervor             Intense emotion; passion Itinerant
> Traveling from place to place
> Uncompromising Having beliefs that are fixed and do not change,
> especially when faced with opposition
> Integrity          The quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering
> to high moral principles
> Unyielding         Not giving in to persuasion, pressure or force
> Stalwart defenders Faithful, dependable and hard-working
> supporters
> Pale               A region within enclosed boundaries
> Petty              Of little importance
> Insidiously        Slowly and subtly harmful or destructive
> Ominous            Menacing; threatening
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 64. A New Stage in Concentrated Teaching Activity
> S before Martha Root met with Queen Marie of Romania in
> 1936 for the eighth and last time, Shoghi Effendi penned these words
> to the American Bahá’ís:
> This new stage in the gradual unfoldment of the Formative Period of
> our Faith into which we have just entered - the phase of concentrated
> teaching activity - synchronizes with a period of deepening gloom,
> of universal impotence, of ever-increasing destitution and wide-
> spread disillusionment in the fortunes of a declining age. This is
> truly providential and its significance and the opportunities it
> offers us should be fully apprehended and utilized. Now that the
> administrative organs of a firmly established Faith are vigorously
> and harmoniously functioning, and now that the Symbol (i.e., the
> House of Worship) of its invincible might is lending unprecedented
> impetus to its spread, an effort unexampled in its scope and sustained
> vitality is urgently required so that the moving spirit of its Founder
> may permeate and transform the lives of the countless multitudes
> that hunger for its teachings. That the beloved friends in America,
> who have carried triumphantly the banner of His Cause through the
> initial stages of its development, will in a still greater measure prove
> themselves capable of meeting the challenge of the present hour, I,
> for one, can never doubt. Of the evidences of their inexhaustible
> vitality I am sufficiently and continually conscious. My fervent plea
> will not, I feel certain, remain unanswered. For them I shall continue
> to pray from all my heart.
> (10 January 1936, MA 18)
> 
> Gloom              A feeling or atmosphere of despair, despondency
> or misery
> Impotence          Powerlessness
> Destitution        Extreme poverty
> Declining          Decreasing in number, amount, value or quality
> Providential       Happening exactly when needed but without
> being planned
> Apprehended        To grasp the importance, significance or meaning
> of something
> Utilized           Make use of
> Vigorously         Displaying or using great energy
> Invincible         Unbeatable
> Lending            Giving a particular quality of character to
> something
> Unprecedented      Having no earlier parallel or equivalent
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Impetus        A driving force Scope Breadth, or opportunity
> to function
> Permeate       Spread throughout
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 65. The Leaven that Must Leaven the Lump
> W a few months after the passing of Muníríh Khánum, the
> Holy Mother, on 30 April 1938 and several weeks before Queen Marie
> of Romania passed away on 25 July 1938, Shoghi Effendi wrote this to
> the Bahá’ís of North America:
> Pregnant indeed are the years looming ahead of us all. The twin
> processes of internal disintegration and external chaos are being
> accelerated and every day are inexorably moving towards a climax.
> The rumblings that must precede the eruption of those forces that
> must cause “the limbs of humanity to quake” can already be heard.
> “The time of the end,” “the latter years,” as foretold in the Scriptures,
> are at long last upon us. The Pen of Bahá’u’lláh, the voice of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá, have time and again, insistently and in terms unmistakable,
> warned an unheeding humanity of impending disaster. The
> Community of the Most Great Name, the leaven that must leaven
> the lump, the chosen remnant that must survive the rolling up of
> the old, discredited, tottering order, and assist in the unfoldment of
> a new one in its stead, is standing ready, alert, clear-visioned, and
> resolute. The American believers, standard-bearers of this world-wide
> community and torch-bearers of an as yet unborn civilization, have
> girt up their loins, unfurled their banners and stepped into the arena
> of service. Their Plan has been formulated. Their forces are mobilized.
> They are steadfastly marching towards their goal. The hosts of the
> Abhá Kingdom are rushing forth, as promised, to direct their steps
> and reinforce their power. Through their initial victories they have
> provided the impulse that must now surge and, with relentless force
> sweep over their sister-communities and eventually overpower the
> entire human race. The generality of mankind, blind and enslaved,
> is wholly unaware of the healing power with which this community
> has been endowed, nor can it as yet suspect the role which this same
> community is destined to play in its redemption.
> Fierce and manifold will be the assaults with which governments,
> races, classes and religions, jealous of its rising prestige and fearful
> of its consolidating strength, will seek to silence its voice and sap its
> foundations. Unmoved by the relative obscurity that surrounds it at
> the present time, and undaunted by the forces that will be arrayed
> against it in the future, this community, I cannot but feel confident,
> will, no matter how afflictive the agonies of a travailing age, pursue
> its destiny, undeflected in its course, undimmed in its serenity,
> unyielding in its resolve, unshaken in its convictions.
> (5 July 1938, MA 33)
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Looming             Something about to happen that seems
> threatening
> Inexorably          Impossible to stop
> Rumblings           First indications
> Unheeding           Not paying attention Impending Threatening to
> happen
> Leaven              1. Something that lightens things, like yeast. 2.
> To modify or lighten
> Remnant             A small part of something that remains after the
> rest has gone
> Tottering           Unstable or on the point of collapse
> Stead               In place of another
> Resolute            Characterized by determination
> Standard-bearers Leaders
> Torch-bearers       Sources of enlightenment
> Girt up their loins Prepared and strengthened themselves to do
> something difficult and challenging
> Unfurled            Spread out Rushing forth          Moving forward
> quickly
> Surge               Increase suddenly
> Relentless          Ceaseless and intense
> Sweep               Move with speed and force
> Endowed             Having been given a particular quality or feature
> Suspect             Believe to be probable or possible
> Redemption          A thing that saves someone from error or evil
> Fierce              Violent or intense
> Assaults            Violent physical or verbal attacks
> Sap                 Drain of strength or power
> Undaunted           Not afraid or deterred by the prospect of defeat,
> loss or failure
> Arrayed             To set out a large number or wide range of
> people
> Travailing          Working hard or with pain
> Undeflected         Not turning aside, especially from a straight
> course or fixed direction
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 66. Undreamt of Opportunities Offered
> I  Bahá’ís in the Soviet Union were persecuted by the authorities;
> five hundred Bahá’í men were imprisoned in Turkistan; many Iranian
> Bahá’ís living in various cities of the Soviet Union were arrested; some
> were sent to Siberia, others to Pavladar in northern Kazakhstan and
> others to Iran; six hundred refugee Bahá’ís – women, girls, children
> and a few old men – went to Iran, mostly to Mashhad; the Bahá’í
> Temple in `Ishqábád was confiscated and turned into an art gallery;
> the Bahá’í schools were ordered closed and Spiritual Assemblies and all
> administrative institutions in the Caucasus were dissolved. At this time
> Shoghi Effendi wrote the following to the United States and Canada:
> The field is indeed so immense, the period so critical, the Cause so
> great, the workers so few, the time so short, the privilege so priceless,
> that no follower of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, worthy to bear His name,
> can afford a moment’s hesitation. That God-born Force, irresistible
> in its sweeping power, incalculable in its potency, unpredictable
> in its course, mysterious in its workings, and awe-inspiring in its
> manifestations - a Force which, as the Báb has written, “vibrates
> within the innermost being of all created things,” and which,
> according to Bahá’u’lláh, has through its “vibrating influence,” “upset
> the equilibrium of the world and revolutionized its ordered life” - such
> a Force, acting even as a two-edged sword, is, under our very eyes,
> sundering, on the one hand, the age-old ties which for centuries have
> held together the fabric of civilized society, and is unloosing, on the
> other, the bonds that still fetter the infant and as yet unemancipated
> Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. The undreamt-of opportunities offered through
> the operation of this Force - the American believers must now rise,
> and fully and courageously exploit them. “The holy realities of the
> Concourse on high,” writes ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “yearn, in this day, in the
> Most Exalted Paradise, to return unto this world, so that they may
> be aided to render some service to the threshold of the Abha Beauty,
> and arise to demonstrate their servitude to His sacred Threshold.”
> (25 December 1938, ADJ 39)
> 
> Sweeping           On a large scale
> Sundering          Separating something into parts, especially by
> force
> Fetter             Restrict the freedom of; restrain and confine
> Exploit            Use something for benefit
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 67. The One Refuge
> I  John Henry Hyde Dunn, Hand of the Cause of God, died
> in Sydney in February. In May of the same year, Yvonne Cuellar, a
> Frenchwoman, became the first Bahá’í to pioneer to Bolivia; Shoghi
> Effendi called her the ‘Mother of Bolivia’. And it was in March of that
> year that Shoghi Effendi wrote this to the Bahá’ís of the West:
> We are indeed living in an age which, if we would correctly appraise
> it, should be regarded as one which is witnessing a dual phenomenon.
> The first signalizes the death pangs of an order, effete and godless, that
> has stubbornly refused, despite the signs and portents of a century-
> old Revelation, to attune its processes to the precepts and ideals
> which that Heaven-sent Faith proffered it. The second proclaims the
> birth pangs of an Order, divine and redemptive, that will inevitably
> supplant the former, and within Whose administrative structure
> an embryonic civilization, incomparable and world-embracing, is
> imperceptibly maturing. The one is being rolled up, and is crashing
> in oppression, bloodshed, and ruin. The other opens up vistas of a
> justice, a unity, a peace, a culture, such as no age has ever seen. The
> former has spent its force, demonstrated its falsity and barrenness,
> lost irretrievably its opportunity, and is hurrying to its doom. The
> latter, virile and unconquerable, is plucking asunder its chains, and
> is vindicating its title to be the one refuge within which a sore-tried
> humanity, purged from its dross, can attain its destiny.
> (28 March 1941, PDC 16)
> 
> Appraise            To form or give an opinion of something’s
> quality
> Effete              Characterized by decadence, triviality or self-
> indulgence
> Portents            Indications that something, often something
> unpleasant, is going to happen
> Precepts            Rules, instructions or principles that guide
> someone’s actions, especially those that guide
> moral behavior
> Proffered           Held something out so it could be accepted
> Supplant            Replace
> Imperceptibly       Very slightly or gradually
> Irretrievably       Impossible to get back or recover
> Virile              Showing energy, power and forcefulness
> Plucking            Taking something away quickly
> Asunder             Into different parts or pieces
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Vindicating   Defending or maintaining the recognition of
> something, such as a cause or one’s rights
> Purged        Purified; freed from undesirable aspects
> Dross         Worthless matter
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 68. We are Destined to Achieve Memorable Victories
> I , the restoration of the House of Bahá’u’lláh in Tihrán was
> completed; Shoghi Effendi instructed Sutherland Maxwell to set plans
> in motion for the first stages of the building of the superstructure of the
> Shrine of the Báb; and the Second Seven Year Plan of the United States
> and Canada was launched. In April, the National Spiritual Assembly
> of Germany and Austria was established, and one month later, Shoghi
> Effendi appended this letter to the new National Assembly:
> My heart rejoiced and my soul was refreshed at the receipt of your
> most welcome message, signed by so great a number of ardent and
> youthful co-workers in a land so rich in promise, so blessed by our
> Beloved, and so severely tried by the vicissitudes of war. You are,
> I assure you, often in my thoughts and prayers, and I cherish the
> brightest hopes for your future work. You are, I feel confident,
> destined to achieve memorable victories, both in your native land
> and on the continent of Europe, and you should diligently and
> unitedly prepare yourselves for this glorious task. Persevere, redouble
> your efforts, and rest assured that the Beloved will bless and sustain
> you always.
> (4 May 1946, LDG Vol. I 106)
> 
> Ardent             Feeling or showing great enthusiasm or eagerness
> Vicissitudes       Unexpected changes, especially in somebody’s
> fortunes
> Diligently         Showing persistent and hard-working effort in
> doing something
> Sustain            Support and encourange; keep in existence
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 69. Great Work To Be Undertaken in the Future
> D the same year, 1946, that the National Spiritual Assembly of
> Germany and Austria was established, the restoration of the House of
> Bahá’u’lláh in Tihrán was completed, and Shoghi Effendi wrote to the
> National Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles:
> The evidences of intensified activity and of notable progress on the
> part of the English believers in recent months have rejoiced my heart
> and deepened my feelings of admiration and gratitude for the manner
> in which they are discharging, individually and collectively, their high
> responsibilities. I long to hear of the steady progress of their Plan, and
> will continue to pray for the removal of every obstacle in their path.
> However considerable their recent achievements, they are still in the
> initial stage of their great unfolding mission, and are not even capable
> as yet of visualising the possibilities or of estimating the consequences
> of their present-day labours. The consummation of their present
> task will mark the opening of a new era in the development of their
> community and will signalise the inauguration of a great epoch in
> the history of the Faith in their land--an epoch that must witness the
> universal recognition of their Cause and the proclamation of its truths,
> its claims and tenets, to the masses of their countrymen throughout
> the British Isles. The Plan they are now prosecuting will provide the
> machinery and establish the basic structure that will enable them
> to arouse the people, among all sections of the population, and aid
> them, systematically and gradually, to recognise Bahá’u’lláh, and
> support the nascent institutions of this World Order. Now it is their
> duty to lay an unassailable foundation for the great work that is to be
> undertaken in the future. There is no time to lose. Theirs is a priceless
> opportunity and a great privilege. They must neither vacillate nor
> falter. They must determinedly persevere until their immediate and
> distant goals have been attained.
> (12 October 1946, UD 191-192)
> 
> Notable             Significant or great enough to deserve attention
> or to be recorded
> Discharging         Carrying out a duty, responsibility or promise
> Signalise           Make remarkable or conspicuous
> Inauguration        The beginning of a new period, style or activity
> Epoch               A period of history, especially one in which there
> are new advances and great change
> Tenets              Doctrines or principles
> Prosecuting         Carrying out until completion; following to the
> end
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Nascent        Just beginning to develop; emerging
> Unassailable   So sound or well established that it cannot be
> challenged or denied
> Vacillate      To swing indecisively in choice of opinions or
> actions
> Falter         To be unsteady in purpose or action; stumble
> Persevere      To persist steadily in an action or belief, usually
> over a long period and especially despite roblems
> or difficulties
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 70. The Champion-Builders of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s Embryonic Order
> I  spring of 1947, the National Spiritual Assembly of the United
> States and Canada was accredited by the United Nations as a non-
> governmental organization. Shoghi Effendi wrote this to the Bahá’ís of
> the West:
> Invested, among its sister communities in East and West, with the
> primacy conferred upon it by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan; armed with
> the mandatory provisions of His momentous Tablets; equipped with
> the agencies of a quarter-century-old Administrative Order, whose
> fabric it has reared and consolidated; encouraged by the marvelous
> success achieved by its daughter communities throughout the
> Americas, a success which has sealed the triumph of the first stage of
> that Plan; launched on a campaign of vaster dimensions, of superior
> merit, of weightier potentialities, than any it has hitherto initiated, a
> campaign destined to multiply its spiritual progeny in distant lands
> and amidst divers races, the community of the Most Great Name in
> the North American continent must arise, as it has never before in its
> history, and demonstrate anew its capacity to perform such deeds as
> are worthy of its high calling. Its members, the executors of ‘Abdu’l-
> Bahá’s Plan, the champion-builders of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic Order,
> the torchbearers of a world-girdling civilization, must, in the years
> immediately ahead, bestir themselves, and, as bidden by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
> “increase” their exertions “a thousandfold,” lay bare further vistas in
> the “range” of their “future achievements” and of their “unspeakably
> glorious” mission, and hasten the day when, as prophesied by Him,
> their community will “find itself securely established upon the throne
> of an everlasting dominion,” when “the whole earth” will be stirred
> and shaken by the results of its “achievements” and “resound with
> the praises of majesty and greatness,” when America will “evolve into
> a center from which waves of spiritual power will emanate, and the
> throne of the Kingdom of God will, in the plenitude of its majesty
> and glory, be firmly established.”
> (5 June 1947, CF 30-31)
> 
> Invested           Provided with a particular quality or
> characteristic
> Primacy            Being first or foremost
> Conferred          Given an honor or title
> Mandatory          Needing to be done, followed or complied with,
> usually because of an official requirement
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Momentous      Extremely important or crucial, especially in the
> effect on the future course of events
> Fabric         The fundamental structure or makeup of
> something
> Hitherto       Up to the present time or the time in question
> Progeny        Offspring or descendants
> Girdling       Something that surrounds or encircles something
> else
> Bestir         Become active; start doing something
> Vistas         Mental pictures covering a long succession of
> events in the past or the future
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 71. Torch-Bearers of the Light of Divine Guidance
> I S 1947, George Townshend, at the age of 71 years,
> resigned his position with the Church of Ireland. He was the first
> ordained priest of a Christian Protestant church to renounce his Orders
> and to become a fully accredited member of the Bahá’í community. A
> month later, Shoghi Effendi appended this to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of Germany and Austria:
> The spirit which the entire body of the German believers have
> displayed, despite the hardships and trials which they have
> heroically endured, and are still enduring, is a magnificent example
> to their fellow-workers in both the East and the West, a source of
> great inspiration to me, and a magnet that will powerfully attract
> the blessings of the Almighty. My thoughts, though I myself am
> immersed in an ocean of work and preoccupations, often turn in
> loving admiration and gratitude to those who, for more than a
> decade, have in the face of constant peril, held fast to the Faith of
> God, who have survived the greatest ordeal that has ever afflicted
> the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the West, and who are now forging ahead,
> united, resolved and consecrated, in the path leading to still greater
> victories.
> … The path you are treading is hard and stony and beset with many
> pitfalls. The tasks you are called upon to discharge are varied, complex,
> urgent and gigantic. The resources at your disposal are meagre. The
> hour, however, for raising the call of Bahá’u’lláh is propitious. The
> hearts of your countrymen, prepared by bewilderment and suffering,
> are ready to respond to His message. You stand at the threshold of
> a new and glorious era in the evolution of His Faith in that land.
> The opportunities of the present hour are priceless and may never
> recur again. Time is pressing. The eyes of your fellow-workers in
> both Hemispheres are fixed upon you. Our beloved Master who
> showered, through His visit and His messages to you, so much love
> and encouragement and so many blessings, is watching over you
> from on high, ready to sustain your efforts and lead you on to victory.
> That you may rise to still greater heights of heroism, that you may
> discharge befittingly your sacred responsibilities, that you may adorn
> the annals of your Faith with still greater evidences of your devotion,
> courage and perseverance, that you may achieve your high destiny as
> the torch-bearers of the light of Divine Guidance to the neighbouring
> countries in that continent, is the object of my fervent prayers at the
> holy shrines, and the dearest wish of my heart.
> (24 October 1947, LDG Vol. I 129-131)
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> Peril          Danger
> Forging        Moving ahead with effort
> Resolved       Determined in purpose
> Consecrated    Dedicated to a particular purpose
> Beset          Attacked from all sides
> Pitfalls       Potential disasters
> Meagre         Unsatisfactorily small
> Propitious     Favorable and likely to lead to success
> Sustain        Support
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 72. Reap the Full Harvest
> C began on the superstructure of the Shrine of the
> Báb in this year, 1949, and in August the second European Teaching
> Conference was held in Brussels when Shoghi Effendi wrote to the
> National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand:
> … Obstacles, varied and numerous, will no doubt arise to impede the
> onward march of this community. Reverses may temporarily dim the
> radiance of its mission. The forces of religious orthodoxy may well,
> at a future date, be leagued against it. The exponents of theories and
> doctrines fundamentally opposed to its religious tenets and social
> principles may challenge its infant strength with persistence and
> severity. The Administrative Order - the Ark destined to preserve
> its integrity and carry it to safety - must without delay, without
> exception, claim the attention of the members of this community,
> its ideals must be continually cherished in their hearts, its purposes
> studied and kept constantly before their eyes, its requirements
> wholeheartedly met, its laws scrupulously upheld, its institutions
> unstintingly supported, its glorious mission noised abroad, and its
> spirit made the sole motivating purpose of their lives.
> Then and only then, will this community, so young, so vibrant with
> life, so rich in promise, so dedicated to its task, be in a position to
> discharge adequately its weighty responsibilities, to reap the full
> harvest it has sown, acquire still greater potentialities for the conduct
> of subsequent stages in the crusade on which it has embarked, and
> contribute, to a degree unsuspected as yet by its members, its full
> share to the World-wide establishment of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh,
> the emancipation of its Oriental followers, the recognition of its
> independence, the birth of its World Order and the emergence of
> that world civilization which that Order is destined to create.
> (22 August 1949, LAN 79-81)
> 
> Impede             To interfere with the movement, progress or
> development of something
> Leagued            Joined together
> Tenets             Doctrines or principles
> Persistence        Steadfast holding to a purpose
> Scrupulously       Showing careful regard for what is morally right
> Unstintingly       Generously
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 73. Carry on the Torch
> I  year 1949, construction began on the superstructure of the
> Shrine of the Báb; the second European Teaching Conference was
> held in Brussels; and Shoghi Effendi wrote this letter to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the British Isles:
> The Bahá’í world, in its entirety, is struck with amazement at the
> quality of the work performed, at the extent and number of the
> victories achieved by this community. Its sister-community in the
> great Republic of the West, already laden with many and splendid
> trophies gathered in distant fields and over a long period of time
> cannot regard this resurgence of the Bahá’í spirit, this manifestation
> of Bahá’í solidarity, these ennobling evidences of Bahá’í achievement,
> amidst so conservative a people, within so short a time, under such
> trying circumstances, and by so small a band of workers, except with
> feelings compounded of envy, of admiration and respect. Its sister-
> communities throughout the East, venerable by reason of their age,
> and the sacrifices they have made, and fully aware of the long period
> of incubation this community has undergone, recall, with feelings
> of delight, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s prediction, forecasting the germination, at
> their appointed time, of the potent seeds His loving hands have sown
> in the course of His twice-repeated visit to that Island, and marvel at
> the rapidity with which its soil is now manifesting the potentialities
> with which it has been endowed. He Who blessed it with His
> footsteps, Who called into being, and fostered the growth of, the
> community labouring in that Island, hails, from His station on high,
> the exploits which immortalise the small band of His present-day
> consecrated and resolute followers, who are carrying on the torch
> which He Himself had entrusted to their immediate predecessors.
> Bahá’u’lláh Himself lauds the conspicuous victories being won in His
> Name, in the dawning years of the Second Bahá’í Century, at the
> very heart and centre of the greatest Empire the world has ever seen,
> whose Sovereign Monarch He Himself had addressed and whose
> deeds He, with His Own pen, had commended.
> (9 April 1949, UD 226-227)
> 
> Resurgence         The act or process of rising again or becoming
> stronger again
> Compounded         Mixed; combined to make a whole
> Venerable          Worthy of respect
> Incubation         Gradual development
> Germination        Sprouting and growing
> Potent             Strong, effective and powerful
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> Endowed       Given a quality or ability
> Hails         Praises or approves a person, action or
> accomplishment
> Exploits      Interesting or daring actions or achievements
> Immortalise   Make someone’s memory live on
> Consecrated   Dedicated to a particular purpose
> Resolute      Having determination
> Entrusted     Given somebody responsibility for something
> Lauds         Praises; glorifies
> Conspicuous   Easy to notice; obvious
> Commended     To praise somebody or something in a formal
> way
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 74. A Still More Convincing
> Demonstration of Spirit
> I , Shoghi Effendi acquired the title to the Pilgrim House at
> Bahji from the Israeli government as part of the exchange for the Bahá’í
> properties at Ein Gev; he also bought the ruined house known as the
> Master’s Tea House. In April he announced that the Bahá’í Faith was
> established in 247 countries, in 3,700 localities and that there were more
> than 900 local spiritual assemblies, of which 168 were incorporated;
> Bahá’í literature had been translated into 190 languages. Three months
> later he wrote to the National Spiritual Assembly of Germany and
> Austria:
> The stalwart German Bahá’í Community, ranking among the oldest
> and certainly one of the most eminent, communities in Europe;
> firmly implanted in the heart of that continent; constituting
> one of the leading strongholds of the Faith within its confines;
> reassured, time and again, through the glowing promises given it, in
> unmistakable language, by the Centre of the Covenant, in the early
> years of that community’s existence; blessed so abundantly through
> His memorable visit to its homeland; hardened and chastened in
> the school of adversity; emerging triumphant over those adversaries
> that sought so ineffectively to arrest its march, dim its hopes, and
> disrupt its foundations; fully equipped through more than three
> decades of Bahá’í administrative experience - such a community finds
> itself, at this historic hour, fully and hopefully launched upon an
> enterprise which, if successfully carried out, will enable it to bring to
> a conclusion a chapter of the utmost significance in the evolution of
> the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in that land.
> Aware of its manifold responsibilities, determined to fulfill the
> dearest hopes cherished for it by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, conscious of its
> inherent strength, and encouraged by its multiple and heartwarming
> accomplishments, this community, in conjunction with its younger
> sister, must redouble its efforts to scale loftier heights, to plumb
> greater depths of dedication, to evince a still nobler heroism, and
> to heighten, by its accomplishments, and, above all, by a still more
> convincing demonstration of the spirit animating its members, the
> feelings of admiration which I myself, as well as the believers in other
> lands, hold them, in consequence of their mighty endeavours and
> unforgettable exploits in the service, and for the Cause, of Bahá’u’lláh.
> May His Spirit ever shine upon, and warm, their hearts. May His
> precepts ever guide their footsteps, and may His unfailing grace,
> vouchsafed from the realms on high, be poured forth upon them in
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> such abundance as to enable them to achieve, in the years immediately
> ahead, total and complete victory.
> (21 June 1956, LDG Vol. I 269-270)
> 
> Stalwart          Sturdy and strong
> Eminent           Superior in position, fame or achievement
> Constituting      Making up the whole or a particular part of
> something
> Strongholds       Places of strong support for a cause
> Confines          The boundaries or limits restricting something
> Abundantly        Richly; fully
> Chastened         Corrected by punishment or suffering
> Emerging          Starting to appear, arise, occur or develop
> Disrupt           To destroy the order or orderly progression of
> something
> Inherent          Part of the very nature of something and
> therefore permanently characteristic of it or
> necessarily involved in it
> Conjunction       The act of joining or combining two or more
> things
> Plumb             To examine closely or deeply; probe
> Evince            To show a feeling or quality clearly
> Animating         Giving life to; inspiring to action
> Exploits          Brilliant or heroic achievements
> Precepts          Rules or principles that guide somebody’s
> actions, especially ones that guide moral behavior
> Vouchsafed        Granted as a privilege or special favor
>  | Empowering Words
> 
> 75. A Dedication Reminiscent of the
> Pledges of the Dawn-Breakers
> I A 1957, Shoghi Effendi announced that the Faith had been
> established in 251 countries, that there were more than a thousand local
> spiritual assemblies, that Bahá’ís lived in more than 4,200 localities,
> that every territory mentioned in the Tablets of the Divine Plan had
> been opened to the Faith and that Bahá’í literature had been translated
> into 230 languages. The Treasury Department of Israel had issued an
> expropriation order for the remaining property held by Covenant-
> breakers at Bahjí, mainly the dilapidated building north of the mansion.
> In the same month he wrote to all Bahá’ís:
> I appeal, as I close this review of the superb feats already
> accomplished, in the course of so many campaigns, by the heroic
> band of the warriors of Bahá’u’lláh, battling in His Name and by
> His aid for the purification, the unification and the spiritualization
> of a morally and spiritually bankrupt society, now hovering on the
> brink of self-destruction, for a renewed dedication, at this critical
> hour in the fortunes of mankind, on the part of the entire company
> of my spiritual brethren in every continent of the globe, to the high
> ideals of the Cause they have espoused, as well as to the immediate
> accomplishment of the goals of the Crusade on which they have
> embarked, be they in active service or not, of either sex, young as well
> as old, rich or poor, whether veteran or newly enrolled - a dedication
> reminiscent of the pledges which the Dawn-breakers of an earlier
> Apostolic Age, assembled in conference at Badasht, and faced with
> issues of a different but equally challenging nature, willingly and
> solemnly made for the prosecution of the collective task with which
> they were confronted.
> (April 1957 MBW 120)
> 
> Feats              Remarkable acts or achievements involving
> courage, skill or strength
> Espoused           Adopted or supported something like a belief or
> cause
> Reminiscent        Suggesting memories of the past
> Solemnly           Deeply and sincerely
> Prosecution        The carrying out of an activity or occupation
> Empowering Words | 
> 
> 76. Not To Be Deflected for a Moment
> I , one month before Shoghi Effendi wrote this to the National
> Spiritual Assembly of the Benelux Countries, the Covenant-breakers
> completely abandoned Bahjí; and two months after he wrote this, he
> announced ‘the complete evacuation of the remnant of Covenant-
> breakers and the transfer of all their belongings from the precincts of
> the Most Holy Shrine’:
> I fully share the joy and exultation that has filled the hearts of the
> valiant promoters of the Faith throughout the Benelux countries at
> this latest and most remarkable evidence of the onward march of their
> beloved Faith in so important an area of the European continent.
> This memorable milestone (the historic formation of three new
> Regional Assemblies for Europe) in the evolution of the institutions
> of Bahá’u’lláh’s embryonic Order, now firmly established in each of
> the sovereign states of Holland, of Belgium and of Luxembourg,
> augurs well for its future unfoldment and ultimate fruition in those
> countries.
> The efforts, so nobly exerted in the past by the band of pioneers,
> resident believers and itinerant teachers in each of these states, must,
> in consequence of the auspicious opening of a new phase in the
> establishment of this Divine Order, be multiplied a hundredfold,
> and the standard of consecration and of service to His Cause must
> be raised to still greater heights. No obstacle, however formidable, no
> test or trial however severe, should deflect them for a moment from
> the task they have pledged themselves to fulfil.
> (5 July 1957, DC 150-151)
> 
> Exultation         Extreme happiness or rejoicing
> Valiant            Brave and steadfast
> Milestone          Important event
> Embryonic          Being in the earliest stages of development
> Augurs             Indicates what will happen
> Auspicious         Promising well for future
> Consecration       Dedication
> Formidable         Difficult to deal with or overcome
> Severe             Extremely unpleasant
> Deflect            Cause to turn aside
> Photograph by Nayyirih G. de Koning-Tahzib
> Abbreviations
> BA    Bahá’í Administration
> CC    Compilation of Compilations
> CF    Citadel of Faith
> DC    Dear Co-worker
> DND   Dawn of a New Day
> GPB   God Passes By
> HE    High Endeavors Messages to Alaska
> LAN   Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New
> Zealand
> LDG   The Light of Divine Guidance
> MA    Messages to America Selected Letters and
> Cablegrams Addressed to the Bahá’ís of North
> America, 1932-1946
> MBW   Messages to the Bahá’í World, 1950-1957
> MC    Messages to Canada
> MSI   Messages of Shoghi Effendi to the Indian
> Subcontinent
> PDC   The Promised Day is Come
> UD    Unfolding Destiny
> WOB   The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
> Bibliography
> A Basic Bahá’í Chronology, Glenn Cameron with Wendi Momen. George
> Ronald, Oxford, 1996.
> Bahá’í Administration: Selected Messages, 1922-1932. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 1968.
> Citadel of Faith: Messages to America, 1947-1957. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, 1965.
> Dawn of a New Day: Messages to India, 1923-1957. New Delhi: Bahá’í
> Publishing Trust, undated.
> Dear Co-worker: Messages from Shoghi Effendi to the Benelux countries.Leuven,
> Belgium: Brilliant Books, 2009.
> High Endeavors: Messages to Alaska. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís
> of Alaska, 1976.
> Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New Zealand, 1923-1957. National
> Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Australia Incorporated, 1971.
> Messages to America: Selected Letters and Cablegrams Addressed to the Bahá’ís
> of North America, 1932-1946. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
> 1947.
> Messages to Canada. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada,
> 1965.
> Messages to the Bahá’í World, 1950-1957. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing
> Trust, 1958.
> The Advent of Divine Justice. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1963.
> The Light of Divine Guidance: The Messages from the Guardian of the Bahá’í
> Faith to the Bahá’ís of Germany and Austria. National Spiritual Assembly
> of the Bahá’ís of Germany, Bahá’í-Verlag BmbH, 1982.
> The Promised Day is Come. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1951.
> The Unfolding Destiny of the British Bahá’í Community: The Messages from the
> Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith to the Bahá’í Community of the British Isles.
> London: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1981.
> The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh: Selected Letters. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing
> Trust, 1955.
>
> — *Empowering Words (Used by permission of the curator)*