Ridvan Message 2008

Ridvan Message 2008
To the faithful and steadfast champions of the Covenant of Bahá’ulláh and the valiant defenders of its sacred and immortal “Child” throughout the Bahá’í World,

Dearly beloved friends,
You will recall that with the appointment of the third International Bahá’í Council I had asked Hand of the Cause, Frank Schlatter, Secretary-General of the Council, to henceforth, on the occasion of Ridván, to assume responsibility for recounting our accomplishments during the past Bahá’í year. Without, in any way, detracting from his report, I do however wish to send loving greetings to all of the faithful and devoted friends on the occasion of this “Most Great Festival” and express, yet again, my undying appreciation of and thankfulness for their steadfast fidelity to the indestructible Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh and its sacred and immortal “Child” which they have continued to manifest in many ways.
Also, I must again particularly express my gratitude for, and admiration of, the outstanding labors of those dear and faithful friends who have participated in the defense of the interests of the true Faith in the highly reprehensible lawsuit initiated by the violating NSA of the United States in their diabolical effort to proscribe our rights as Bahá’ís, a despicable effort, which is certainly ultimately doomed to ignominious failure, and for which the faithful friends, as this juncture and, as this is written, are eagerly awaiting the present verdict of the court.
I wish to take this opportunity, as well, to pay tribute to those dear friends, Hands of the Cause Marilyn Meyer and Frank Schlatter together with James Meyer who were obliged to journey to Chicago to testify in the trial before Judge Amy J. St.Eve on 7-8 January 2008, and who, in preparing for the submission of their testimony, had been expertly tutored by Hand of the Cause, Jeffrey Goldberg, our legal counsel, who also testified, all of whom acquitted themselves magnificently during this trial and who shall certainly be forever remembered and praised in the future annals of the Faith for their efforts. I have previously highly commended Jeffrey and wish to pay homage to him, once again, and express my heartfelt and profound gratitude for his tireless and outstanding labors in preparing and presenting a brilliant legal defense against the spurious claims made by the violating National Spiritual Assembly of the United States in their reprehensible lawsuit against us.
I feel that the time has now come on this auspicious occasion to call attention to a significant letter that Shoghi Effendi wrote to Mrs. George R. True on July 22, 1943, that was published in the November 1944 issue of United States Bahá’í News, No. 171. She had apparently asked him about the twenty-four elders mentioned in the Book of Revelation, only nineteen of whom, as you know, have been identified to date, as the Bab and the eighteen Letters of the Living. The following is quoted from his letter to her:
“Regarding the four and twenty elders: The Master in a Tablet, stated that they were the Báb, the eighteen Letters of the Living, and five others who would be known in the future. So far, we do not know who these five others are.”
Who in the future would be qualified to identify the remaining five elders, other than a Guardian of the Faith? It will be obvious in my identification of them below, that neither Shoghi Effendi nor Mason Remey had been in a position to name these five remaining elders during their respective ministries and for this reason, it has now become, at long last, my inestimable privilege to do so.
We find the following wonderful prediction in the Book of Revelation: “There in heaven stood a throne, and on the throne sat One [the Lord of the Covenant] whose appearance was like the gleam of jasper and cornelian; and round the throne was a rainbow, bright as an emerald. In a circle about this throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on them sat twenty-four elders, robed in white and wearing crowns of gold.” (The New English Bible)
The remaining five elders are:
‘Abdu’l-Bahá–Center of the Covenant.
Bahiyyih Khanum-The Greatest Holy Leaf.
Shoghi Effendi–First Guardian of the Cause of God.
Charles Mason Remey–Second Guardian of the Cause of God.
Martha Root–Preeminent teacher.
With loving Ridván greetings,

Faithfully your brother in El Abha,

Post Script: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has obviously been misquoted or misunderstood at the time to have stated, as alleged in a Persian text, that Vakilu’d-Dawlih, a highly distinguished Persian believer, was one of the elders. This believer has actually been named one of the Apostles of Bahá’u’llåh.
JBM