April 7, 2017

To the American Bahá’í community for the Feast of Jalál

Dearly loved Friends,

From each of the 12 regions of the country, heartwarming accounts continue to reach us of your careful study of the Universal House of Justice’s guidance pertaining to the Five Year Plan, as well as our own letter of February 25 addressing the state of American society and our proper response to it as Bahá'ís. This news, together with numerous reports we are receiving of your activities within the Plan’s broad framework, testifies to your recognition of the critical period of history we have entered. With this as a backdrop, the members of this Assembly are much looking forward to the upcoming 109^th Bahá’í National Convention, which will again be held in the heart of the Festival of Ridván. The three days of Convention will afford us a precious opportunity to hear from 171 delegates representing every corner of the nation thoughts and suggestions reflecting their perspective on the events of a challenging year coming to a close.

During these same days, the Bahá’ís of the world will be celebrating with joyful hearts the anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration of His mission, and from their reflections and prayers will doubtless derive fresh energy for the prosecution of the Divine Plan in the coming year. May the memory of the indignities the Blessed Beauty suffered steel our resolve to overcome every last obstacle to success in our sacred and inescapable assignment to everywhere raise high the banner of the oneness of humanity.

As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reminds us in the Tablets of the Divine Plan:

O ye believers of God! Be not concerned with the smallness of your numbers, neither be oppressed by the multitude of an unbelieving world. Five grains of wheat will be endued with heavenly blessing, whereas a thousand tons of tares will yield no results or effect. One fruitful tree will be conducive to the life of society, whereas a thousand forests of wild trees offer no fruits. The plain is covered with pebbles, but precious stones are rare. One pearl is better than a thousand wildernesses of sand, especially this pearl of great price, which is endowed with divine blessing. Erelong thousands of other pearls will be born from it. When that pearl associates and becomes the intimate of the pebbles, they also all change into pearls. . . .

[R]est ye not, seek ye no composure, attach not yourselves to the luxuries of this ephemeral world, free yourselves from every attachment, and strive with heart and soul to become fully established in the Kingdom of God. Gain ye the heavenly treasures. Day by day become ye more illumined. Draw ye nearer and nearer unto the threshold of oneness. Become ye the manifestors of spiritual favors and the dawning-places of infinite lights!

Be assured of our abiding love for each and every one of you, and of our unceasing prayers for your happiness and well-being.

                                                  With loving Bahá'í greetings,

                                                  NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY OF

                                                  THE BAHÁ’ÍS OF THE UNITED STATES

                                                      

                                                  Kenneth E. Bowers

                                                  Secretary

Fund To Date.