Daily Frameworks for 30 May 2023

Fidál, 14 ‘Azamat (Grandeur), 180 B.E.

Employment and Beyond: Drawing on the Capacities of All to Contribute to Society

3.1 Every person is born with talents and abilities. ¹ The notion that societal progress depends on these capacities being cultivated and directed toward constructive ends is well accepted. In practice, however, many populations are viewed in a very different light and treated accordingly—for example, as victims in need of services or as problems in want of resolution. Such assumptions can obscure capacity, disempower communities, and reinforce counterproductive patterns of dependency. ²

Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá

Soon will your swiftly passing days be over, and the fame and riches, the comforts, the joys provided by this rubbish-heap, the world, will be gone without a trace. Summon ye, then, the people to God, and invite humanity to follow the example of the Company on high. Be ye loving fathers to the orphan, and a refuge to the helpless, and a treasury for the poor, and a cure for the ailing. Be ye the helpers of every victim of oppression, the patrons of the disadvantaged. Think ye at all times of rendering some service to every member of the human race. Pay ye no heed to aversion and rejection, to disdain, hostility, injustice: act ye in the opposite way. Be ye sincerely kind, not in appearance only. Let each one of God’s loved ones center his attention on this: to be the Lord’s mercy to man; to be the Lord’s grace. Let him do some good to every person whose path he crosseth, and be of some benefit to him. Let him improve the character of each and all, and reorient the minds of men. In this way, the light of divine guidance will shine forth, and the blessings of God will cradle all mankind: for love is light, no matter in what abode it dwelleth; and hate is darkness, no matter where it may make its nest. O friends of God! That the hidden Mystery may stand revealed, and the secret essence of all things may be disclosed, strive ye to banish that darkness for ever and ever. ³

1. ’”As to the innate character, although the innate nature bestowed by God upon man is purely good, yet that character differs among men according to the degrees they occupy: All degrees are good, but some are more so than others. Thus every human being possesses intelligence and capacity, but intelligence, capacity, and aptitude differ from person to person. This is self-evident.”
   ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Some Answered Questions. Translated by Laura Clifford Barney. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 1981, 212. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/some-answered-questions/10#584368435 ↩
2. Bahá’í International Community Staff. “Employment and Beyond: Drawing on the Capacities of All to Contribute to Society.” Bahá’í International Community, January 12, 2023. https://www.bic.org/statements/employment-and-beyond-drawing-capacities-all-contribute-society. ↩
3. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. Selections from the Writings of ʻAbduʼl-Bahá. Translated by Marzieh Gail. Reprint. Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1996, 3. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/selections-writings-abdul-baha/3#159531595. ↩