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Two points bear emphasizing
in all these issues. One is that the abolition of war is not simply a
matter of signing treaties and protocols; it is a complex task requiring
a new level of commitment to resolving issues not customarily associated
with the pursuit of peace. Based on political agreements alone, the idea
of collective security is a chimera. The other point is that the primary
challenge in dealing with issues of peace is to raise the context to the
level of principle, as distinct from pure pragmatism. For, in essence,
peace stems from an inner state supported by a spiritual or moral attitude,
and it is chiefly in evoking this attitude that the possibility of enduring
solutions can be found.
Bahá'í House of Worship, Wilmette (Chicago), USA. 
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(Letters
of The Universal House of Justice, 1985 Oct, The
Promise of World Peace, p. 3)
    
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10 February 2009 FRANKFURT, Germany — A historic Baha’i conference in Frankfurt last weekend brought to mind an earlier gathering in the same city a half century before – one that was also a milestone in Baha’i history.
Last weekend’s event in Frankfurt was one of the current series of 41 conferences around the globe marking the half-way point of a five-year effort involving establishment of community-building activities in tens of thousands of neighborhoods and villages. So far some 75,000 people have participated in the gatherings.
By comparison, the five Intercontinental Conferences of 1958 came half-way through a 10-year program to establish the Baha’i Faith in every country and major territory in the world. Total attendance 50 years ago was about 5,400 people.
The announcement of the 1958 gatherings – in addition to Frankfurt they were to be held in Kampala, Uganda; Sydney, Australia; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Chicago in the United States – was one of the final acts of Shoghi Effendi, head of the Baha’i Faith from 1921 until his passing in November 1957.
Although he died unexpectedly two months before the conferences began, Shoghi Effendi himself planned many of the details, including naming his personal representative to each of the gatherings and announcing the special gifts he would send, among which were provisions for a photograph of Baha’u’llah to be viewed by all of those in attendance.
Read the entire story.
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