Haney, Paul
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Richard Francis, Haney, Paul, bahai-library.com.
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Haney, Paul

Richard Francis

1998

Paul Haney was born to Mary (Merriam) Ida Parkhurst and Charles
Freeborn Haney on August 20, 1909. His parents were active Bahá’is since 1900
and had been married for seventeen years at the time of Paul’s birth. His mother
accredited a portion of his spiritual development to being in the presence of
‘Abdu’l-Bahá while a fetus.

Amatúl-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum wrote: "We know little of the
effects of pre-natal influences on the soul and not enough about those of childhood,
but the indications are that it would be hard to overstate them. Paul’s entire
environment, from that first embryonic visit to the Master, was entirely Bahá’i,
focused on the Center of the Covenant and later on the Guardian." [1]

In letters between his mother, Merriam, and Rúhíyyih Khánum it
was indicated that the Master gave him his own name; it was 'Abdu’l-Bahá. He
was also given the name Paul by the Master to be used in the outside world. In
1919, Corinne True was able to also confirm that the master gave Paul his name.

In several tablets, the Master refers to Paul:" The newly
born babe is blessed., and accepted in the Divine Kingdom. He is a servant of
the Blessed Perfection and belongeth to Him. Thank God for having been confirmed
to attain such a blessing. . . I ask God that my namesake, 'Abdu’l-Bahá, may
grow and develop day by day and that his radiant face may be illumined with the
light of the greatest bestowal. . . It was also noted that. . . thy dear son,
Paul, feeleth greatly attracted to the Kingdom of Abha. This news imparteth the
utmost joy and happiness. . . Send Paul to school; I hope he will become a verdant
and fresh plant in the Abha Paradise. . . " [2]

Paul’s father died when he was only ten years old. He was then
raised by his mother, Merriam, with devotion, often under great financial difficulties,
turning to the Center of the Covenant. Service to the Cause became his quest
in life. At one point, when Paul was attending middle school, he had to assure
his mother not to worry because there was no attraction to the wild life which
so many youth feel to be necessary proof of their manhood. He enjoyed being decent
and achieved a state of spiritual mindedness.

Paul took up an active part in conferences, conventions and summer
schools. He was able to form a close relationship with Mary Maxwell, whom he
met along with other Bahá’í children at the Green Acre Bahá’í School. His mother
and he moved into a small apartment in Washington D.C. in order to assist in organizing
the first Convention for Amity Between the Colored and White Races, held in May,
1921.

His first job was in a government office in Washington D.C.,
while he attended night school. He became a member of the first National Youth
Committee in the United States. Latter, he attended Northwestern University and
received a MBA. He became a professional economist. When he was twenty two years
old, he was appointed to the National Teaching Committee of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the United States and Canada.

He published an article in the January, 1934 issue of the Bahá’í
magazine: ‘The Economic organization of Society in the New World Order’.

He was first elected to the membership of the National Spiritual
Assembly of the United States and Canada in 1946; in 1948, Canada formed its own
National Spiritual Assembly. Paul served on the National Assembly of the United
States as chairman from 1950-1957. He served in numerous ways, including as
chairman of the Temple Trustees Construction Committee. He represented the National
Assembly at the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada. In 1951,
he represented the National Assembly at the formation of the Regional National
Spiritual Assembly of South America, and in 1953, the Regional National Spiritual
Assembly of Italy and Switzerland.

Paul married Helen Margery Wheeler, a Bahá’í he met at the Green
Acre Bahá’í School, on July 15, 1942. They resided in Washington D.C., not far
from Merriam, until moving to the Holy Land, in 1958. He became one of the founders
of the Caesaria Golf Club and often would act as a judge in competition and tournaments;
one was an annual event for a trophy presented by the Bahá’í community of Haifa..

Paul Haney received the appointment on March 19, 1954, by Shoghi
Effendi as a Hand of the Cause of God. Thus the next three years were complete
service to the Bahá’í world community. He attended on behalf of the National
Spiritual Assembly of the United States the Convention of South and West Africa
in April, 1956. He represented the Guardian during the first Alaskan Convention
that was held in Anchorage, in April, 1957.

The sudden passing of the Guardian, in London, on November 4,
1957, brought to all the Hands of the Cause of God the greatest hardship. Paul
was elected to become one of the nine resident Hands of the Cause of God for the
Holy Land, latter to be known as the Custodians. This was a great sacrifice for
he would be far away from his beloved Merriam and had to turn down a very high
and well paid professional position. He represented the Hands of the Cause of
God at national conventions throughout the Bahá’í World and at the First World
Bahá’í Congress in London’s Albert Hall in 1963.

The Universal House of Justice was first elected in 1963, and
one of its first actions was to invite five of the Hands of the Cause of God to
remain in the Holy Land as advisers and to carried out specific duties. Paul
was one of the five, and his first appointments were to the Editorial Committee.
He represented the Universal House of Justice at the fifty-sixth Annual Convention
of the United States in 1965. He traveled throughout the world representing the
Supreme institution. [3] He took part in all four
International Conventions held during his lifetime and chaired the opening session
in 1968.[4]

On September 1, 1965, Merriam Haney passed away to the Abhá Kingdom.
This was indubitably a great loss for Paul. He entailed considerable sacrifice
for his dedication to the Cause, pressing onward, being sound in his judgment.
He again traveled throughout the world representing the Universal House of Justice,
advising, instructing, and encouraging the friends with their activities. He
attended diplomatic and governmental functions in Jerusalem as a representative
of the Bahá’í World Center; he played a great part in the development of the Continental
Board of Counselors and latter, the International Teaching Center. In 1982, he
represented the Universal House of Justice at the Continental Conferences Quito,
Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama.

Paul Haney met death suddenly and instantly on December 3, 1982
from injuries sustained in an auto accident in Haifa.

Notes

The Bahá'í World, vol. XVIII, p. 614. In memoriam, Paul Haney, by Amatúl-Bahá Ruhíyyih
Khánum and David Hoffman.

The Bahá'í World, vol. XVIII, p. 614, Excerpts from Bahá’i Tablets taken from Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

The author first met Hand of the Cause of God,
Paul Haney at the Intercontinental Conference at Marida Mexico in February, 1978.
We had a conversation on the attributes of the Fund. "Ironically, I was actually
trying to argue my point until I realized with whom I was going to be in the argument
with." He was also a Resident Hand of the Cause of God in the Holy Land during
pilgrimage in July, 1981. The author recalls how Paul Haney assisted him while
being extremely ill on his first day in Haifa. He was too sick to stand when
first entering the Shrine of the Báb, lying on the floor in front of the threshold,
unable to even move. Paul Haney helped him to his feet and held him so that he
could stand up, then read the Tablet of Visitation: " He just picked
me up from the floor where I was in front of the Báb's holy threshold and the
strength in my legs somehow returned so that I could stand during the entire prayer."
He personally inquired about the progress of my recovery over the next several
days. A few days latter we walked together through the gardens between the Western
Pilgrim’s House and the Shrine of the Báb, without saying a word, just taking
in its splendor.

For additional references
to the activities of the Hands of the Cause of God during the Custodian period,
see The Ministry of the Custodians 1957-1963, published by The Universal
House of Justice, 1992. Also see The Bahá'í World 1954-1963, vol. XIII, published by The Universal House of Justice,
1970.

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-- Haney, Paul (Used by permission of the curator)