"The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day."

 

"...We know, of course, the privations and limitations under which you labour. Whether in pursuing your education, earning a livelihood, working towards your legitimate aspirations, or practicing your faith, your freedoms are curtailed by many an injustice. From the very beginning the compatriots of Baha'u'llah have shared in the suffering He sustained. You are the embodiments of these words of the Master: "Thou didst follow in the footsteps of the Blessed Beauty and didst drink a cup from the ocean of His tribulations." But you know, too, that it is precisely your staunchness that lends such lustre to the qualities your community exhibits. You may be sure that it is not only history that tells of the courage and steadfastness of your community, but that the significance of a community that under severe and sustained oppression has remained forward looking, dynamic, vibrant, and committed to serve its society, is not lost on those who dispassionately view your present situation. Perhaps the most compelling and clear example of your constructive resilience is evident currently in your earnest striving for knowledge, in your commitment to the loftiest values of faith and reason which the Cause inculcates, and in your perseverance in pursuit of higher education. The world can see a community that has rejected the label of victim and chosen instead to draw on the highest reservoirs of solidarity and collaboration in its resolve to advance as a living entity--that its youth might progress and attain the heights of learning and that society itself benefit therefrom.

     "The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day." With these words did the Ancient Beauty warn humankind about its immediate future. "Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly." You surely see how throughout the world the light of true religion is fading. Yet, you are the very examples of what illumination this light can bring. You are living proofs that religion promotes upright character, instils forbearance, compassion, forgiveness, magnanimity, high-mindedness. It prohibits harm to others and invites souls to the plane of sacrifice, that they may give of themselves for the good of others. It imparts a world-embracing vision and cleanses the heart from self-centredness and prejudice. It inspires souls to build unity, to endeavour for material and spiritual betterment for all, to see their own happiness in that of others, to advance learning and science, to be an instrument of true joy, and to revive the body of humankind. It burnishes the mirror of the soul until it reflects the qualities of the spirit with which it has been endowed. And then the power of the divine attributes is manifested in the individual and collective lives of humanity and aids the emergence of a new social order. Such is the true conception of religion set forth in the Teachings of Baha'u'llah. Praised be God that you are ever striving to model your lives after the sublime pattern enshrined in His Teachings."

 -The Universal House of Justice,
To the Baha'i youth in the Cradle of the Faith (Iran)
29 January 2014
excerpt from p.2