>>Being a martyr is easier than being a bureaucrat? Amazing!>>
The true calling of a Baha'i administrator is a very high one. It calls on one to be a complete person, to have a well-developed panoply of virtues, and to be wholly consecrated to the well-being of the Cause of Baha’u’llah and humanity as a whole. As the Guardian made clear, the spirit of consecration is what counts, which was expressed in a previous day as martyrdom, and now is expressed through service. It is true that if we are halfhearted Baha’is we do not deserve to say that our deeds today, and our spirit today, is the same as that of the martyrs. But I think Mr. Grossman was not talking about the armchair Bahai administrator. I think he was talking about the true calling, the fullness of what it means to be a shepherd to humanity. Just a cursory glance at the necessary virtues of the Bahai administrators in the Writings includes these high attainments: to be motivated by a true sense of love extreme humility candor entire devotion long-suffering kindliness moral courage self-discipline complete reliance on the power of Baha’u’llah detachment from all else save God to act in the spirit of self-sacrifice I am a member of my local spiritual assembly, but I don’t claim to be a Bahai administrator. I know one, though. He gets up at 5:00 every morning to pray for two hours for his community before he goes to work. He and his family support the activities of the friends, their firesides and feasts and devotional meetings. He is available to a believer with a stalled car, or a seeker with a profound question. But it is not only these outward deeds. I really think that being a true spiritual assembly member is the hardest job in the faith today. It calls on us to stretch in ways that other human beings are not asked to stretch; to accept others and be respectful of their views; to be candid not only in offering our views, but in admitting our own flaws; to reach out in love to those who have been rejected; to listen to harsh and undeserved criticism addressed to us, and not to respond in kind; and to look at all things with a spiritual eye. So to me, a true Bahai administrator does display the same characteristic of devotion and consecration as a martyr does. But it is a long way to being a true Bahai administrator. And I think that is who Mr. Grossman was describing. He led into his comments by quoting from the Master, "...we, all of us, should strive with our whole hearts to offer ourselves up, guide others to His path, and train the souls of men." Brent __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web - http://list.jccc.net/read/?forum=bahai-st News - news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
