Culmination and Convergence

The Feast may well be seen in its unique combination of modes as the culmination of a great historic process in which primary elements of community life—acts of worship, of festivity and other forms of togetherness—over vast stretches of time have achieved a glorious convergence.

(Universal House of Justice, A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992:67-68)    

The image of culmination and convergence links the end, culmination, and the beginning, convergence, as one structure, or, in another image, combines them into de Chardin’s Omega Point which is, actually, the same as the Primal Point: the union of the center of life and the highest degree of life’s development, The Revelation of the Bab is both the culmination of the Prophetic Cycle of Revelations and the convergence of all these Revelations upon and into Itself, so that a new Spiritual Reality, the Revelation of Baha’u’llah, may appear, which is the culmination and convergence of all previous Revelation, including that of the Báb, or Gate.  Out from the heart of this Spiritual Reality, which is both a new Revelation and Revelation renewed, unfolds a new consciousness of humanity’s oneness and a new and whole global Order, the culmination of these two evolutionary processes, and their convergence into a revolutionary new configuration of humanity destined to take us to undreamed of heights of development. 

Likewise, consciousness of the oneness of humanity is not just the notion of humanity as one species on one planet today, but also the consciousness of humanity as a single evolving species from the beginning to the end of time.  This consciousness is the culmination of human self-awareness and a convergence of all attempts to see humanity as one spiritual reality moving toward one social purpose and civilized goal, namely the all-embracing world civilization foretold by all the Scriptures.  This civilization is, in turn, the culmination of all human efforts to build societies and the convergence of their different methods, characteristics, and individualities into a new structure of social relations.

But further, the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh must also, from in its inmost spiritual heart to Its outermost social expression, exemplify this principle. This is the great pivot of collective human life, thought and history, the point where humanity turns onto a new and inclusive cycle of development. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh and His divine Order must both renew and unite all progressions and give them new form and direction, so that the highest and the inmost are united as one now and forever; the culmination and the convergence are themselves twin aspects of a single unfolding process, the seed and the fruit are the same, though in time one appears at the beginning and the other at the end.

As the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is a consummation of the stages of progressive Revelation, and the consciousness of humanity’s oneness is the consummation of advances in human self-awareness and self-understanding, so the Bahá’i Order is the consummation and convergence of the processes of civilization building and social evolution in history.  With that in mind let us set the Bahá’í Feast in full historical context.

The House of Justice explains: “The Feast may well be seen in its unique combination of modes as the culmination of a great historic process in which primary elements of community life—acts of worship, of festivity and other forms of togetherness—over vast stretches of time have achieved a glorious convergence. The Nineteen Day Feast represents the new stage in this enlightened age to which the basic expression of community life has evolved. Shoghi Effendi has described it as the foundation of the new World Order, and in a letter written on his behalf, it is referred to as constituting ‘a vital medium for maintaining close and continued contact between the believers  themselves, and also between them and the body of their elected representatives in the local community.’" (The Universal House of Justice, A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992:67-68)   The Nineteen Day Feast operates at the very base of society. “It is intended”, writes the House of Justice, “to promote unity, ensure progress, and foster joy.” (A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992: 66)

The Feast is not a traditional social gathering, nor is it something totally new.  It is, however, revolutionary in the true meaning of that word, as a revolving back to the origin.  The Feast is, according to the House of Justice, the culmination of a great historic process of human civic life and a convergence of different forms of human togetherness.  Thus this culminating stage integrates all past stages and forms of the long evolution of community life.  The culminating aspect opens a vast new way to look at the Bahá’í Order historically—as the highest expression of social relations that have always existed—the radiant converging aspect points to an equally vast future of integrated and joyous community life built upon the foundation of the Feast.

That foundation, proclaims the House, is that: “the Feast is rooted in hospitality, with all its implications of friendliness, courtesy, service, generosity and conviviality. The very idea of hospitality as the sustaining spirit of so significant an institution introduces a revolutionary new attitude to the conduct of human affairs at all levels, an attitude which is critical to that world unity which the Central Figures of our Faith labored so long and suffered so much cruelty to bring into being. It is in this divine festival that the foundation is laid for the realization of so unprecedented a reality.”  (A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992: 70)

The House of Justice continues: “Moreover, because of the opportunity which it provides for conveying messages from the national and international levels of the administration and also for communicating the recommendations of the friends to those levels, the Feast becomes a link that connects the local community in a dynamic relationship with the entire structure of the Administrative Order. But considered in its local sphere alone there is much to thrill and amaze the heart. Here it links the individual to the collective processes by which a society is built or restored. Here, for instance, the Feast is an arena of democracy at the very root of society, where the Local Spiritual Assembly and the members of the community meet on common ground, where individuals are free to offer their gifts of thought, whether as new ideas or constructive criticism, to the building processes of an advancing civilization. Thus it can be seen that aside from its spiritual significance, this common institution of the people combines an array of elemental social disciplines which educate its participants in the essentials of responsible citizenship.” (A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992: 67-68)

This is an absolutely amazing statement.  The House of Justice sees the Feast as an arena where pathways of energy running through the whole hidden Order, from the individual up to the House of Justice and back, connect in an open, dynamic, reciprocal relationship.  Again Feast is not just a regular time and place set aside for Bahá’ís to get together in worship, or to discuss their business, or to engage in relaxed sociability.  Seen in its full context, the Feast is the beginning of a great new thrust in social evolution, because participating in a Bahá’í Feast is a way for every individual to be linked to “collective processes by which a society is built or restored”.  The Feast is a community institution of an Administrative Order that is “the pattern and nucleus” of an emerging world order.  It is “an arena of democracy at the very root of society” combining “an array of elemental social disciplines which educate its participants in the essentials of responsible citizenship.” Hence by participating enthusiastically in a Feast one is helping to restore and rebuild one’s own society—building civilization from the ground up.

The Bahá’í Order is truly an organic entity, growing through a process of absorbing the light of spirit, for the purpose of building and restoring society.  The Feast, as a community institution and an integral part of that Order, is one mirror of the Kingdom receiving the imprint of light from that higher realm.

Next post will discuss the institution of the House of Worship, another fundamental element of the Divine Economy.