UHJ 10 January Missive to Regional Conference

Since I do not see a freely available copy of this letter on the Web yet, here it is. I will refer to it in today's blog essay.

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

10 January 2009

To the Friends gathered at the two Regional Conferences in Canada

With exultant hearts we hail the followers of Baha'u'llah assembled at the conferences convened in the Dominion of Canada. As you survey the progress of the Cause throughout this vast land, you may justly celebrate a substantial rise in the capacity of the Canadian believers to sustain growth. 

In the vanguard of this development—and we rejoice to see it—are the youth. Their zeal for sharing the glad-tidings of God's new Revelation is one of the most impressive expressions of your collective efforts to exploit the framework for action that governs the operation of the Five Year Plan. We mark, too, the evidences of a blossoming confidence among the friends. How numerous the accounts that attest to the transformation of the timid venturer into the assured practitioner of the Plan's instruments! 

By reaching out in your neighbourhoods, you have embraced many souls from divers backgrounds previously unrepresented in your midst. For proof of your region's marked progress in advancing the process of entry by troops, look no further than the clusters wherein both conferences are located, to which the friends come to observe the processes of growth that nurture a vibrant pattern of community life. All this augurs well.

There are 23 clusters in Canada where the conditions for launching an intensive programme of growth have already been created. By Ridvan 2009, this total must increase to 33, and beyond this, you must urgently turn your attention to the clusters that are required to join them before the Plan's end. Ultimately, success will depend upon the extent to which a more profound understanding of the dynamics of the Plan can permeate the entire community and the degree to which new declarants are welcomed into the embrace of a vigorous institute process. 

The believers from Bermuda, who also bring their enthusiasm to the conference in Toronto, will no doubt be eager to absorb the lessons that have been learned in Canada with a view to applying them to their own circumstances. Indeed, everyone in attendance at each event might profitably do the same. 

Let not the clamour of a confused and distracted world deter you from contributing your uttermost to this spiritual enterprise. Let a power be released at these conferences that will inspire you, galvanize you, and elicit a quality of response and an intensity of action unprecedented in the history of your region. We earnestly entreat the Ancient Beauty that He may fortify you all as you strive to awaken souls to the dawning of His light.

(Signed) Universal House of Justice 

::