Mankind's response
to the Message of Bahá'u'lláh has been dangerously, one might say disastrously,
slow. From the earliest days it has been brought to the notice of leaders and
scholars, but few of these, very few, have rallied to its support. The most
profound and most widespread response has been from the middle classes and
indeed from the poor, the unlettered, the deprived and the suffering. But, as
the Guardian's secretary wrote on his behalf on 20 June 1942,
“That is perhaps
what is most glorious about our present activities all over the world, that we,
a band not large in numbers, not possessing financial backing or the prestige
of great names, should, in the name of our beloved Faith, be forging ahead at
such a pace, and demonstrating to future and present generations that it is the
God-given qualities of our religion that are raising it up and not the
transient support of worldly fame and power. All that will come later, when it
has been made clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that what raised aloft the
banner of Bahá'u'lláh was the love, sacrifice, and devotion of His humble
followers and the change that His teachings wrought in their hearts and lives.”
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 21 August 1977 written on behalf of the Universal House of
Justice to an individual believer; ‘Messages from the Universal House of
Justice 1963-1986’)
