With May fast approaching I am thinking about June 29 and
Peace Fest. I usually hold this event in a local park on that day every year.
The last couple of years I was very disorganized and I was the only one who
attended.
This year I am not even certain
that I will be in London, Ontario on that day, however I can celebrate Peace
Fest anywhere. I you are interested in celebrating with me, send an email to george@sowingpeace.ca or leave a
comment here.
On June 29, 1912, 'Abdu'l-Bahá gave
a Unity Feast in New Jersey. During his speech, he stated that his very words
would be repeated in assemblages held in the future to commemorate that event.
Below is a translation of the
entire talk.
29 June 1912
Talk at Unity Feast, Outdoors
West Englewood, New Jersey
Notes
by Esther Foster
76.1
This is a delightful gathering;
you have come here with sincere intentions, and the purpose of all present is
the attainment of the virtues of God. The motive is attraction to the divine
Kingdom. Since the desire of all is unity and agreement, it is certain that
this meeting will be productive of great results. It will be the cause of
attracting a new bounty, for we are turning to the Kingdom of Abha, seeking the
infinite bestowals of the Lord. This is a new Day, and this hour is a new Hour
in which we have come together. Surely the Sun of Reality with its full
effulgence will illumine us, and the darkness of disagreements will disappear.
The utmost love and unity will result; the favors of God will encompass us; the
pathway of the Kingdom will be made easy. Like candles these souls will become
ignited and made radiant through the lights of supreme guidance. Such
gatherings as this have no equal or likeness in the world of mankind, where
people are drawn together by physical motives or in furtherance of material
interests, for this meeting is a prototype of that inner and complete spiritual
association in the eternal world of being.76.5
Rejoice, for the glance of the Blessed Beauty, Bahá'u'lláh, is directed upon you.
76.6
Rejoice, for Bahá'u'lláh is your
Protector.
76.7
Rejoice, for the everlasting glory
is destined for you.
76.8
Rejoice, for the eternal life is
awaiting you.
76.9
How many blessed souls have longed
for this radiant century, their utmost hopes and desires centered upon the
happiness and joy of one such day as this. Many the nights they passed
sleepless and lamenting until the very morn in longing anticipation of this
age, yearning to realize even an hour of this time. God has favored you in this
century and has specialized you for the realization of its blessings.
Therefore, you must praise and thank God with heart and soul in appreciation of
this great opportunity and the attainment of this infinite bestowal -- that
such doors have been opened before your faces, that such abundance is pouring
down from the cloud of mercy and that these refreshing breezes from the
paradise of Abha are resuscitating you. You must become of one heart, one
spirit and one susceptibility. May you become as the waves of one sea, stars of
the same heaven, fruits adorning the same tree, roses of one garden in
order that through you the oneness of humanity may establish its temple in the
world of mankind, for you are the ones who are called to uplift the cause of
unity among the nations of the earth.
76.10
First, you must become united and
agreed among yourselves. You must be exceedingly kind and loving toward each
other, willing to forfeit life in the pathway of another's happiness. You must
be ready to sacrifice your possessions in another's behalf. The rich among you
must show compassion toward the poor, and the well-to-do must look after those
in distress. In Persia the friends offer their lives for each other, striving
to assist and advance the interests and welfare of all the rest. They live in a
perfect state of unity and agreement. Like the Persian friends you must be
perfectly agreed and united to the extent and limit of sacrificing life. Your
utmost desire must be to confer happiness upon each other. Each one must be the
servant of the others, thoughtful of their comfort and welfare. In the path of
God one must forget himself entirely. He must not consider his own pleasure but
seek the pleasure of others. He must not desire glory nor gifts of bounty for
himself but seek these gifts and blessings for his brothers and sisters. It is
my hope that you may become like this, that you may attain to the supreme
bestowal and be imbued with such spiritual qualities as to forget yourselves
entirely and with heart and soul offer yourselves as sacrifices for the Blessed
Perfection. You should have neither will nor desire of your own but seek
everything for the beloved of God and live together in complete love and
fellowship. May the favors of Bahá'u'lláh surround you from all directions.
This is the greatest bestowal and supreme bounty. These are the infinite favors
of God.