During the days following the death of the First Guardian, Mason Remey’s lone voice called out for the preservation of the Institution of the Living Guardianship. His fellow Hands were inclined to avail themselves of the opportunity caused by the death of Shoghi Effendi to allow themselves to fashion their faith to their own liking, in their own likeness, the likeness of humans. When in the course of human history had there ever been such a grand opportunity as this? How many of us ever get the chance to fashion the very intentions of God into an entity allowing themselves to be the focal point and the arena to which, according to their plan, had the potential that humans would for centuries in the future, bow to their every inclination? They were caught up within the
vortex of the power they imagined they had, and were all of one mind with one notable
exception. The roadblock they had to overcome became the persona of Mason Remey, who was pelting them daily with such thoughts as the following:
“Let each one of us face and see his own problem, a problem that rests between himself and God, whether or not he or she wants a Guardian or not, for if the Hands of the Faith unitedly want a Guardian, they will have no difficulty, but if they, in their hearts don’t want the Guardianship, God help the Cause and God help them too. We know that in the end, the Cause will prevail. The Administration of the Cause cannot live without its heart that is the Guardianship, therefore those who in their hearts oppose the Guardianship will in the end fall short of that to which they were called to perform.” Charles Mason Remey--First Conclave of the Hands of the Faith Following the Passing of Shoghi Effendi [November, 1957]
Mason Remey made it quite clear that if they wanted a guardian, and were united in the quest for that goal, their thought process would be collectively cleared to the degree that they would understand that Shoghi Effendi had indeed named his successor, and they would have quickly found him among their midst. Sadly, they ignored his wise counsel and chose to take the path of self-fulfillment, providing the avenue for the greatest cataclysmic Event in the history of the world, the abandonment of the Institution of the Guardianship. Jeffrey recently found a poignant passage in Bahá'í Scriptures that appears to have a spiritual applicability to the posture of the Hands in those fateful days of 1957. For were they not on a spiritual quest? Apparently that part of reality had escaped them. What a different world we would live in today had they remembered and followed these two paragraphs of scripture:
“Were it not for the favors of the Blessed Perfection, no one would have given us any
importance. There are some who become proud and haughty and forget this fact. In their utter blindness they consider themselves to be important. Then they fall from their high pedestal, and great is the noise thereof. Meekness and humility are the hallmarks of faith. As soon as a believer feels himself the least degree superior to others, the beginning of his spiritual decline has set in, all unaware to himself. There are no offices in this Cause. I do not and have not "appointed" any one to perform any special service, but I encourage every one to engage in the service of the Kingdom. The foundation of this Cause is pure spiritual democracy, and not theocracy. The difference between me and others is this: I confess and acknowledge my own inability, weakness and humility, and
know that all these outward confirmations are the favors of the Blessed Perfection. There are some who imagine, and little by little come to believe, that their spiritual successes are by and through themselves.” Baha'i Scriptures, pp. 449-450
The heart of the matter became a matter of ego in 1957. Clearly and simply, ego prevailed, and humans were robbed of the Divine bounties for a period of time. We are still paying for the robbery by having to live in a world dominated by the avarice and greed of humans, and will continue to reap the results of that activity until at long last, the counterfeiters sitting among the gardens on Mount Carmel will be recognized for who they are, and God’s Goodness will once again prevail through the agencies of the Divine Institutions prescribed by `Abdu'l-Bahá in His all-encompassing Will and Testament.
By Hand of the Cause David Maxwell
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