The American continent gives signs and evidences
of very great
advancement. Its future is even more promising,
for its influence and
illumination are far-reaching.
It will lead all nations spiritually.
Dear Ones,
Peoples are awakening. Dictatorships are falling. Aspirations long held in silence are taking form: the earth is becoming a field where peace is being cleared, stone by stone, furrow by furrow, as if after a long winter the first green shoots push through the frost. Fear begins to ease when a common aim appears—the universal claim to a democracy that honors our distinctions while recognizing our underlying oneness. How shall we help it take root? Not by force, but by the patient turning of hearts toward what is just and true, like rivers finding again the ancient channels that lead to the sea.
In the Baha'i writings, the North American continent as a whole is designated as the land from which the light and the mysteries of unity are to spread, and where the foundations of international agreement may, in time, unfurl the standard of the Most Great Peace. The Canadian community is therefore also called to serve as an ambassador of peace and justice, both within and beyond its borders, sharing with its sister nation a glorious DESTINY:
...the future of Canada, whether from a material or a spiritual standpoint, is very great. Day by day civilization and freedom shall increase.
*
...the events connected with it infinitely glorious.
Is this not a cause for quiet enthusiasm? In this unfolding, the United States is seen as potentially carrying a preponderating share in the establishment of a just peace among nations. When it recognizes that true leadership consists in helping lay the foundations of justice throughout the world rather than in seeking dominance, it positions itself as a standard-bearer of this worldwide liberation, forging lasting peace through the gradual respiritualization of humanity and through institutions that reflect justice rather than the will of the strongest. In this, every people becomes a neighbor, and every border a threshold rather than a wall; the old fortresses of fear begin to open their gates.
Canada, and within it Quebec, is seen as a living center from which
the spirit of unity and justice may radiate—first by remaining faithful
to its own capacity for consultation and equity, then by contributing to
a wider order that respects the SOVEREIGNTY OF NATIONS.
For Quebecers,
the preservation of language, memory, and identity becomes a bright lamp
for the safeguarding of every other positive cultural heritage around
the world, amid the necessary adjustments that facilitate international
exchange.
Both nations are also described as “richly endowed with material
resources” and “assured of a great material prosperity,” resources meant
to serve the common good rather than the few, like seed entrusted to
soil that has waited long for rain.
From Canada, and from Montreal in particular, the hope was voiced that “the melody of the Kingdom” and “the breaths of the Holy Spirit” might travel “to the East and the West of America.” Through the dedicated and courageous efforts of countless North American believers since the years preceding the First World War, these statements have taken deep roots in the heart of the two nations and far beyond. Not by domination or confrontation, but through humble service, a mutual search for truth, and the sincere appreciation of cultural diversity.
Whether one approaches these questions from faith or from simple observation, the signs are present. Human communities are returning, after tasting the bitter waters of the rejection of a higher sovereignty, to the universal values without which material progress remains fruitless.
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
~ Isaiah 9:2
The light has already begun to shine; the task is now to clear the path so that more may see it. The CONVULSIONS we are living through are therefore understood as the stage in which absolute and unjust forms of power lose their footing, while the conditions for a more consultative and equitable order are steadily prepared: the price to pay for such a bright reversal.
To every person who longs to see the world illumined, the only wish should also be this one uttered by Abdu’l-Baha in 1912, when visiting America:
May America become the distributing center of spiritual enlightenment and all the world receive this heavenly blessing.
Be wonderfully blessed!
Loesha
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