Notes on Alan McCormick's Pilgrimage to Haifa

NOTES
ON
Alan McCormick's Pilgrimage to Haifa, Dec. 1953
[Retype]

These things are things which Shoghi Effendi and Alan discussed. These are the things which Alan thinks and believes the Guardian wants all of us to hear. When the Guardian mentions Chicago, he also means the surrounding communities.

One goes on a pilgrimage with greatly mixed emotions, not knowing what to expect. The first evening they spent with the Guardian was at dinner. "The Guardian was seated at the table as we came down the stairs of the Western Pilgrim House. He got up from the table to greet us." As the Guardian comes around the table he greets us with a kiss on each cheek. He is a tiny person, but it is not something you would notice about him. You notice only the tremendous vitality about the man -- strength beyond description. It seemed to come from out of every pore. He pointed to the seats we were to take, with Ruhiyyih Khanum on His right and Millie Collins across from her. Usually he starts out by asking you what sort of trip you had. Just as I began to tell him, I realized he was not really interested. He gets everything across, you are never uncertain about anything he wants to stress.

Leslie Boles was spending his last night at Haifa, as Mrs. Collins told Alan that the Guardian would probably talk mostly to Mr. Boles. However after asking me about my trip, and not permitting me to say anything about it, he said, "I understand you are from Chicago." Alan said he was glad not to have to explain that he was on the L.S.A. What the Guardian had to say was extremely unpleasant, as far as I was concerned. He is extremely frank and vivid. I was not prepared for this. I was prepared to have the Supreme Concourse itself floating around the dining room I guess.

"The Guardian is a very hard working person. I felt that if the Supreme Concourse were there, they had been sent out on a specific task and that was why I had not seen them." "I was unable to take down any notes, because all I was doing was sinking deeper and deeper in the chair. Fortunately the Guardian was very busy, and could only spend an hour and fifteen minutes. If he had been there another fifteen minutes I am sure I would not have been on the chair at all."

Alan's notes actually begin on the second night he was there. "One of the most amazing things to me is that everyone who does have this wonderful and glorious pilgrimage gets something different. While I was there he spent much time talking about what is to come, yet, while Horace Holley was there he dwelt entirely with spiritual aspects." The Guardian started immediately by talking about the things which are to come. He said that when Alan brings this message back to the friends that he should not frighten them. It is important that they should know, but they should not be frightened. They should act upon them.

He, the Guardian spoke of the three great cities of the U.S. -- New York, Chicago and San Francisco. He said that these cities are our greatest centers of materialism. He said that it would be wise for the friends to leave them. They would have the greatest suffering in the days to come.

Perhaps in a descriptive way the suffering these cities will undergo will be much like that of London in the last war. It will be sudden, swift and terrible. They will be trapped and the Cause will lose a great deal. Then he repeated he was very disappointed in both Chicago and New York. He felt they were losing their great opportunities. They have done such magnificent service in the past. He felt they are not performing the service of which they are capable. He went on to talk of the materialism of the day in which we live. It is the greatest evil which we have to combat. He hopes that the Baha'is of these cities could be kept free of the materialism which is all around them.

He turned to Mrs. Daw from Australia. He had many compliments to express about Australia as he had not had for Chicago. There are just 400 Baha'is in Australia. The Baha'is there and in Japan will have the big job of spreading the Faith in the Pacific. He was very proud that they had gone ahead with the plan before he had set it out for them. He spoke also about the only thing that was at all uncomplimentary to the Australians -- their racial problem. This is their great opposition to the Japanese. But he said it is the Australians and the Japanese who must set the example. These communities are going to have the leadership of the Baha'i Faith in the Pacific. Then he spoke of the opposition we are going to have. Alan said that he felt that he looks forward to it. He said that in the U.S. the organized church would oppose the Baha'is first and then after that the politicians would be against us. This opposition must be. But a great deal of it would be due to our unwisdom. But of course we must defend ourselves when it comes.

He spoke about Communism. Many Baha'is are prone to attack Communism and this is not good. We should not attack any government. While it is evil, we must not attack it. The Guardian said, "You in America are prone to do this. You in America have a great evil in common with them. This is materialism." Capitalism and Communism have many evils, but they both have materialism. He spoke of the Major Plan of God and the Minor Plan. The Major Plan was the evolution of man, the overall plan which is carried out by man. The Major Plan calls for much suffering, and that is going to be this great suffering which will open the eyes of the world to the Faith. So far it hasn't and this time it will. This suffering will be very important in changing the hearts of men making them fit to live in this world. The Minor Plan is Baha'u'llah's Plan. Eventually this Minor Plan will become the Major Plan, in other words, they will sort of blend and Baha'is must of the Major Plan of God [?]. They must know what is going to happen and must not dwell upon it. They must work for the Minor Plan. We Baha'is are prone to dwell too much on the negative. These things should serve as a stimulus for taking a part. One of the people at the table said, "What part are we going to have in the achieving of this peace which is to come?" The Guardian said, "Very little." The lesser peace will be brought about by the politicians. The Baha'is must always keep in mind the development of God's Major Plan, but our efforts and striving must be for Baha'u'llah's Plan, for therein is our safety and sanity for these days to come.

The Guardian was asked why the Mother of the Bab was given such a high station. He answered that the Mother of the Bab was very close to the Faith while the Bab was an infant. On the other hand, Baha'u'llah's Father had recognized His station, while His mother did not.

The Guardian said that Australia would have the lion's share of teaching in the Pacific. Then he turned to Alan and said, "Of course the U.S. will have the lion's share all over the world." The Guardian spoke of the pioneers who had gone out in the Pacific. He said that Chicago had been the Mother Assembly of the West and should take that station. He paid tremendous compliment to our N.S.A. Chicago must really begin to move. When the Guardian is in a humorous mood, he has a wonderfully light sense. His eyes really light up and shine. He said Chicago should pick the difficult places to go. In addition to concentrating on South Africa, Chicago should go to Spitzbergen and to the Faulkland Islands. In addition there are places like Tibet. These are places that the friends in Chicago should go to.

After talking about these places, he (the Guardian) said that in the sight of God, there is no excuse for inaction. From the point of view our own eternal life, it is very important. Alan said, "Friends, he was not talking about the community as a whole. He spoke on the love of the individuals." "This is a movement of individuals. This is something each and everyone of us must answer for themselves. I think it was a very great shock to me." The Guardian gave Stanley Bolton a message for the N.S.A. of Egypt. The Guardian said, "I want you to impress upon them that they are to select a site for the Temple and that I will not select it, and they must do it right away. They must select a section high off the ground and overlooking a body of water." Alan said, "This Guardian must be unique because of the things he must do because the Baha'is will not do them. Any person who works like he does is fabulous, this job he does."

Chicago and New York are the modern day Babylons. This materialistic civilization which we have today is the curse of our age. The Guardian said that friends ought to leave Chicago and New York before they are trapped. He also added as an afterthought that London and Paris were equally materialistic. And then he ended this evening by saying that these people who would arise to go out and teach would not find it easy. They should not feel that the mere fact that they were going out to teach would be the "open sesame", but rather it would be very difficult to teach, and we must not compromise.

The following evening the Guardian said that Baha'is are going to discover that they are in need of the Faith, and that the Faith is in no need of them. Then he spoke to Ethel Daw about the Temple site to be selected in Australia. It is most important for them to realize that they must spend only what they have and not take out a mortgage. The Guardian spoke a bit about marriage. He said it is most important for Baha'is not to conceal their Faith. It is possible to be married by other Faiths but you cannot conceal your being a Baha'i. He went on to say that now is the time for action and the application of our laws and principles. Many of us living in our very complex societies felt that now was not the time for practicing our laws -- that there are certain compromises to be made. Alan said that he realized now that this is not so.

Now is the time when, as the Guardian said, "The Baha'is must begin to lead that exemplary life which will make them recognizable on the street as being a different kind of person. When you compromise with Truth you no longer have it. You no longer have anything." It is possible for everyone of the Baha'is to be one of the new creation if they only desire to be -- but you have to desire it awfully hard. For everything that it makes us to do it gives a magnificent reward. It provides for us the greatest means for the greatest happiness, if we will only act. The Guardian spoke a little about prayer. Alan asked about Mrs. Moffett's book, "Doa the Call to Prayer." The Guardian told him that the steps for prayer outlined there were correct. Those five steps are very important. Prayer must always be directed toward something, and must always result in something. He spoke about the Temple in Wilmette. This is a wonderful place to pray. The Baha'is in that area have a wonderful opportunity to pray there. He said we should pray in the middle of the building and meditate in the alcoves. There the Supreme Concourse hovers. There if you will follow the technique of prayer you will have the greatest assistance.

It is important that the Baha'is all over the world pray at dawn. At this time there is little conflict and that it is very wonderful to pray at dawn. It is better to make a little effort. When you pray, you should then go out and serve the Faith and mankind. This evening the Guardian spoke about the first dependency in Wilmette. The first dependency which we will erect is to be a home for the aged and it will be opened to all.

The Baha'i world center in Haifa is very exposed and so is the cradle of the Faith in Persia and so is America. The Guardian has no idea what will happen to the Holy places. It is the spirit there in the buildings that is important. And speaking about the Center of the Faith, this Major Plan of God is not subject to complete control. It might upset the Plan of Baha'u'llah. It is important that the Baha'is do not worry about what will happen. This will do no good, but rather to work for Baha'u'llah's plan. This is our salvation. One of the questions Alan wanted to ask was about money. So Ruhiyyih Khanum was persuaded to ask the Guardian about money. "Where is all the money to come from for this great task?" Then the Guardian laughed and said, "Most of the jobs that will take money are already done. Many of the pioneers are already there, the land has been purchased." The Baha'is worry so much about money that they forget that this is God's Plan and that the money will be forthcoming.

The Guardian spoke about spiritual contact between this and the next world. This is a very real thing and the conditions were set up for it by the Master, and that they were extremely difficult, centered about struggle and effort. In the contact between this world and the next the matter of concentration is extremely important. It is very important for every Baha'i to develop the ability to concentrate and get a job done. When the Guardian gets on a job he never seems to let it go until it is done. He is an example for every one of us to hold before us. He more than anyone else in the world must struggle and put forth more effort, and knows more heart-break. It is important that the Baha'is learn to work together.

We have more and greater crises than any other Faith. The recognized leaders of other Faiths had been loyal, but in this Faith they have not. In the time of Baha'u'llah there were members of the family who were loyal. In Abdu'l-Baha's time some of the family were loyal, but in the present Guardian's time none of the family are loyal. It makes us realize that we are the family of the Guardian. He reacts to the news he receives, both good and bad. You have no idea of the joy he experiences with good news.

The Guardian said that Americans must learn to concentrate, meditate and pray, and then act.

This plan is one which is going to be accomplished by the young people. It is the young people who are going to accomplish these great things. We in Chicago who are young must settle all over the world. It would be wonderful if there were American Baha'is in every one of these goal countries. The young people of Chicago really have a great opportunity. They should set the example for the young people all over the world. He (the Guardian) said once again that we must set the example in Chicago. It's the first center of the West.

He (the Guardian) spoke once again about some of the people who had performed great services. That is a very wonderful thing to see, the justice of the Guardian. Those who have done great services receive great rewards and recognition from the Guardian. He spoke of the Dunns of Australia. As he talks about them you cannot help but feel that their station will be a magnificent one.

What we do and what the Faith does depends upon the individual action of the Baha'is. Once more, there is that within the Faith which can give to everyone the ability to be like one of the lesser Prophets of old. There is a reward for you which is greater than any one of us deserves but any one of us can have.