Tampere, Finland
“Many a chilled heart, O my God, hath been set ablaze by the fire of Thy Cause…”
-Baha’u’llah, Baha’i Prayers
____________________________________________________
Park City, USA
“Life is a constant struggle, not only against forces around us, but above all against our own ego. We can never afford to rest on our own oars, for if we do, we soon see ourselves carried down stream again. Many of those who drift away from the Cause do so for the reason that they had ceased to go on developing. They became complacent or indifferent, and consequently ceased to draw the spiritual strength and vitality from the Cause which they should have. Sometimes, of course, people fail because of a test they just do not meet, and often our severest tests come from each other. Certainly the believer should try to avert such things, and if they happen, remedy them through love. Generally speaking nine-tenths of the friends’ troubles are because they don’t do the Bahá’í thing, in relation to each other, to the administrative bodies or in their personal lives.”
-Shoghi Effendi, Unfolding Destiny
____________________________________________________
Askoy, Norway
“Beloved friends: On the path that you must now tread, patience and forbearance will be the steed that carries you forward; reliance on God and steadfastness in His Covenant will be the spiritual sustenance that nourishes you; unity and mutual support will be the standard that you hold aloft; confirmations from the Kingdom will be the shield that protects you; a land wherein peace and concord prevail will be the destiny that you strive to attain; and nearness unto God and eternal happiness and honour will be the reward that you seek. Steel your resolve then, and don the mantle of valour and wisdom. Press forward with renewed fervour and zeal that you may achieve life’s true purpose and may shelter in the divine nest that abides on the celestial tree.”
-The Universal House of Justice, 18 March 2009
____________________________________________________
Albemarle, USA
“Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! Thou art He the excellence of Whose glory hath exalted them who are the sources of authority and honor, the potency of Whose might hath empowered them who are the fountain-heads of energy and strength, the dominion of Whose will hath elevated the Exponents of Thy Cause above all that are in heaven and on earth, and the life-giving effusions of Whose Pen have quickened the souls of the denizens of the kingdom of creation.”
-Baha’u’llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah
____________________________________________________
Ballarat, Australia
“‘Abdu’l-Baha said:—Thanks be to God, this is a good meeting. It is very enlightened, it is spiritual.
As a Persian Poet has written:—“The Celestial Universe is so formed that the under world reflects the upper world.” That is to say whatever exists in heaven is reflected in this phenomenal world. Now, praise be to God, this meeting of ours is a reflection of the heavenly concourse; it is as though we had taken a mirror and had gazed into it. This reflection from the heavenly concourse we know as love.
As heavenly love exists in the supreme concourse even so it is reflected here. The supreme concourse is filled with the desire for God—thank God, this desire is also here.”
-‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Abdu’l-Baha in London
____________________________________________________
New York, USA
“O people! Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship. Thus hath the day-star of His sanction and authority shone forth above the horizon of the decree of God, the Lord of the worlds.”
-Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah Revealed After the Kitab-i-Aqdas