That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled — what harm is there in this?… These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family.
– Baha’u’llah –
My ancestors fought in the American Revolution War, my grandfathers fought in the “war to end all wars”, WW1. My father served in the Royal Canadian Artillery and my uncle served in Royal Canadian Force Air WW2. I learned from them directly, from history books, and a friend whose family are Holocaust survivors, the absolute horrors of war.
I became a Bahai on July 8th, 1986, my initial motivation was for children. I saw a faith that can lead the world in what Baha’u’llah the founder refers to has the most great peace. And now over thirty 34 years later I have grandchildren to keep me motivated to remain steadfast in my belief that world peace is not only possible but evitable. Regardless of the past or current disappointments and or failures to achieve peace.
“The Baha’i writings explain that there will be three stages leading to the new divine civilization. First will be a period of great turmoil and suffering, which we are now witnessing. Then will come the Lesser Peace, which is the political unity of nations. After that will come the Most Great Peace.”
There have been promising signs of the realization of the lessor peace; the formation of the League of Nations in January 1920 and the United Nations in October 1945. No matter the past disappointments and regardless of the current failures of global political and health difficulties, I remain steadfast in my beliefs.
The Hopi Indigenous Nation in the southwest United States also had a recipe for peace that goes back over 50,000 years. It includes the following:
…”Wars only bring more wars, never peace. Only by joining together in a Spiritual Peace with love in our hearts for one another, love in our hearts for the Great Spirit and Mother Earth, shall we be saved from the terrible Purification Day which is just ahead…”
In the document The Promise of World Peace published in October 1985, the governing body of Bahai Faith Universal House of Justice asserts that world peace is not only possible but inevitable, and it is now within reach for the first time in human history. “Religion is the greatest of all means for the establishment of order in the world and the peaceful contentment of all that dwell therein.”
Thank you for sharing this. I had no idea what the Baha’i Faith. But now that I know, I want to learn more. The Most Great Peace sounds wonderful.