TE WHAKAREWA O NGĀ TIROHANGA WHĀNUI BUILDING OUR FUTURE TOGETHER
Hawkes Bay Baha’is are hosting a special gathering at the end of May for all those who yearn for a better world, a stronger community, and a just and united society. This two-day event will be just one of many in Aotearoa and join a wave of 10,000 conferences being held around the world.
Participants at these conferences – the majority taking place at the grassroots level – are seeing in tangible form, the expression of Baha’u’llah’s vision for humanity, which He has described as being a single unit – one family – as in the following quote: “Ye are all the leaves of one tree and the drops of one sea.”
One of the attendees said: “Although these worldwide conferences are taking place against a backdrop of many difficulties in the world, we are finding ways to work for the betterment of world.” Another at a gathering in the United Kingdom, which brought together people of diverse faiths, commented on the significance of the conference, saying: “The world needs greater collaboration between people of different faiths, and people of no faiths, so that we can work together to try to solve common problems.” Participation in this wave of conferences is open to all well-wishers of humanity and these gatherings are awakening more and more people to the possibilities of fostering unity and serving their society alongside their neighbours and other fellow citizens.
Friends, neighbours and acquaintances have been gathering together in villages, and neighbourhoods throughout the world, and in many other diverse settings to consult about how they can foster vibrant communities based on the Baha’i Faith’s vision of a peaceful world. These grassroots gatherings are imbuing communities with a sense of common purpose.
Youth are playing an especially vital part in these gatherings enriching discussions with their insights and experience from their Baha’i inspired community-building activities. Their experience shows the possibilities for social action transformation when people selflessly serve their fellow citizens.
These world conferences are also promoting peace and inspiring service to society through arts. For example, an artist at a conference in Melbourne painted a series on themes such as transformation, universal education, and unity in diversity, and at a world conference in Khujand, Tajikistan, traditional dance and theatrical presentations contributed to the joyful atmosphere of the gathering.
The Hawkes Bay conference, like all the other world conferences, is open to anyone wishing to attend at no cost and the themes of the two-day programme will be similar to the countless other gatherings and include artistic and musical presentations.
Who is writing the future? These conferences are showing we all can. Baha’is believe wars, exploitation, and prejudice mark immature stages in the historical process of humanity and should not be a cause of despair but a stimulus to all well-wishers of humanity to assume the responsibilities of collective maturity and strive for the betterment of us all. However great the turmoil the period into which humanity is moving it will open to every individual, every institution, and every community on earth unprecedented opportunities to participate in the writing of the planet’s future.
The central spiritual issue facing all people, Baha’u’llah says, whatever their nation, religion, or ethnic origin, is that of laying the foundations of a peaceful global society that can reflect the oneness of human nature.
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