Last week the Baha’i community which I belong to receive a letter from the Universal House of Justice (UHJ), forwarded to us by the National Spiritual Assembly (NSA). And the contents of the letter say so much about our community here in the UK.
The letter says that the worldwide Baha’i community has a growing dynamism as one of its salient features, fantastic, according to the dictionary that means we have a great energy force and power.
Now because the community is growing rapidly, and more and more individuals are attending study circles and being touched by the message of Baha’u'llah, more and more people are aware of the Nineteen Day Feast.
The Nineteen Day Feast is the primary spiritual, administrative and social part of our community, now because of the administrative part; previously non-Baha’is have been excluded from the Feast. When I was a seeker and investigating the Faith, I have to admit I was quite put off by the concept of the Feast being closed off to Non-Baha’is, it felt a bit weird, and I must admit I really did ponder of what happened at them, human sacrifice perhaps!
When I embraced the Faith, I soon realised that is wasn’t a secret thing involving human sacrifice, but simply what it says on the tin, a devotional, followed by some administration and finally some tea and biscuits with a bit of socialising. But I am aware having been on the outside looking in, that the closure of the Feast to non-Baha’is can make us look a bit secret societyish.
So with the fact that more and more seekers are finding out about the Feast, its more and more likely that some may turn up at Feasts even if we haven’t invited them, I know I sometimes really wanted to just turn up and see what it was all about.
Previously we would simply skip the administrative portion, or ask the seeker to step outside the room while we took care of business, but these are a little bit rude, so the new guidance from the House is:-
“The House of Justice has decided that, in such instances, rather than eliminating the administrative portion completely or asking the visitors to withdraw, those conducting the programme can modify this part of the Feast to accommodate the guests. The sharing of local and national news and information about social events, as well as consultation on topics of general interest, such as the teaching work, service projects, the Fund, and so on, can take place as usual, while discussion of sensitive or problematic issues related to these or other topics can be set aside for another time when the friends can express themselves freely without being inhibited by the presence of visitors.”
That’s not to say we can just invite seekers to the Feast, which remains an institution created for the Baha’is themselves, but now should a seeker turn up, we can do things as normal, bar anything which is sensitive/confidential, and they will be able to see how the community functions, we shall have to be more flexible in future
And I welcome this, it makes us feel less like a secret society, more open and welcoming, and now those curious seekers can now satisfy themselves that we don’t have any human sacrifice.
God Bless
Michael
