ip to no sincere soul. In every
gathering there is latent or developed some basis of selection. In
religion this basis is a creed limited by the historical nature of its
origin; in politics this is party or platform; in economics this is a
mutual misfortune or mutual power; in the arts and sciences this basis
consists of special training or activity or interest. In all these
matters, the more exclusive the basis of selection, the stronger the
movement--a condition diametrically opposed to that existing in the Baha'i
Cause. Hence the Cause, for all its spirit of growth and progress,
develops slowly as regards the numbers of its active adherents. For people
are accustomed to exclusiveness and division in all affairs. The important
sanctions have ever been warrants and justifications of division. To enter
the Baha'i Movement is to leave these sanctions behind--an experience which
at first invariably exposes one to new trials and sufferings, as the human
ego revolts against the supreme sanction of universal love. The scientific
must associate with the simple and unlearned, the rich with the poor, the
white with the colored, the mystic with the literalist, the Christian with
the Jew, the Muslim with the Parsee: and on terms removing the advantage
of long established presumptions and privileges.

But for this difficult experience there are glorious compensations. Let us
remember that art grows sterile as it turns away from the common humanity,
that philosophy likewise loses its vision when developed in solitude, and
that politics and religion never succeed apart from the general needs of
mankind. Human nature is not yet known, for we have all lived in a state
of mental, moral, emotional or social defense, and the psychology of
defense is the psychology of inhibition. But the love of God removes fear;
the removal of fear establishes the latent power, and association with
others in spiritual love brings these powers into vital, positive
expression. A Baha'i community is a gathering where this process can take
place in this age, slowly at first, as the new impetus gathers force, more
rapidly as the members become conscious of the powers unfolding the flower
of unity among men....

The responsibility for and supervision of local Baha'i affairs is vested
in a body known as the Spiritual Assembly. This body (limited to nine
members) is elected annually on April 21st, the first day of Ridvan (the
Festival commemorating the Declarati