The Pen of the Ancient King hath never…

The Pen of the Ancient King hath never ceased to remember the loved ones of God. At one time, rivers of mercy have streamed from His Pen, at another, through its movement, God’s perspicuous Book hath been revealed. He is the One to Whom none can compare, Whose utterance mortal man can never rival. He it is Who from everlasting hath been established upon the seat of ascendancy and might, He from Whose lips have gone out counsels that can satisfy the needs of the whole of mankind, and admonitions that can profit them.

The One true God beareth Me witness, and His creatures will testify, that not for a moment did I allow Myself to be hidden from the eyes of men, nor did I consent to shield My person from their injury. Before the face of all men I have arisen, and bidden them fulfil My pleasure. My object is none other than the betterment of the world and the tranquillity of its peoples. The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established. This unity can never be achieved so long as the counsels which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed are suffered to pass unheeded.

Through the power of the words He hath uttered the whole of the human race can be illumined with the light of unity, and the remembrance of His Name is able to set on fire the hearts of all men, and burn away the veils that intervene between them and  His glory. One righteous act is endowed with a potency that can so elevate the dust as to cause it to pass beyond the heaven of heavens. It can tear every bond asunder, and hath the power to restore the force that hath spent itself and vanished…. 

Be pure, O people of God, be pure; be righteous, be righteous…. Say: O people of God! That which can ensure the victory of Him Who is the Eternal Truth, His hosts and helpers on earth, have been set down in the sacred Books and Scriptures, and are as clear and manifest as the sun. These hosts are such righteous deeds, such conduct and character, as are acceptable in His sight. Whoso ariseth, in this Day, to aid Our Cause, and summoneth to his assistance the hosts of a praiseworthy character and upright conduct, the influence flowing from such an action will, most certainly, be diffused throughout the whole world. 

..... the individual, the institutions, and the community

     To understand the nature of the interacting processes that, in their totality, engender the expansion and consolidation of the Faith is vital to the successful execution of the Plan.  In your efforts to further such
understanding, you and your auxiliaries are encouraged to bear in mind a concept that lies at the foundation of the current global enterprise and, indeed, at the very heart of every stage of the Divine Plan, namely, that progress is achieved through the development of three participants--the individual, the institutions, and the community.  Throughout human history, interactions among these three have been fraught with difficulties at every turn, with the individual clamouring for freedom, the institution demanding submission, and the community claiming precedence.  Every society has defined, in one way or another, the relationships that bind the three, giving rise to periods of stability, interwoven with turmoil.  Today, in this age of transition, as humanity struggles to attain its collective maturity, such relationships--nay, the very conception of the individual, of social institutions, and of the community--continue to be assailed by crises too numerous to count.  The worldwide crisis of authority provides proof enough. 
So grievous have been its abuses, and so deep the suspicion and resentment it now arouses, that the world is becoming increasingly ungovernable--a situation made all the more perilous by the weakening of community ties.

The Universal House of Justice.
Dec.28th 2010

... capacity to think in terms of process.

....... a significant advance in culture, one which we have followed
with particular interest, is marked by the rise in capacity to think in terms
of process.  That, from the outset, the believers have been asked to be ever
conscious of the broad processes that define their work is apparent from a
careful reading of even the earliest communications of the Guardian related to
the first national plans of the Faith.  However, in a world focused
increasingly on the promotion of events, or at best projects, with a mindset
that derives satisfaction from the sense of expectation and excitement they
generate, maintaining the level of dedication required for long-term action
demands considerable effort.  The expansion and consolidation of the Baha'i
community encompasses a number of interacting processes, each of which
contributes its share to the movement of humanity towards Baha'u'llah's vision
of a new World Order.  The lines of action associated with any given process
provide for the organization of occasional events, and from time to time,
activities take the shape of a project with a clear beginning and a definite
end.  If, however, events are imposed on the natural unfoldment of a process,
they will disrupt its sound evolution.  If the projects undertaken in a cluster
are not made subordinate to the explicit needs of the processes unfolding
there, they will yield little fruit.

The Universal House of Justice.
Dec. 28th 2010