Daily Frameworks for 24 July 2023

Kamál, 12 Kalimát (Words), 180 B.E.

One Planet, One Habitation

Justice as Process and Outcome

31.0 Justice demands a wide range of outcomes—that the benefits of human civilization be distributed with equity, for example, or that responsibility for undertaking necessary transitions be apportioned in light of actors’ historic contributions to the present climate crisis. But justice at the level of outcome is established only through the operation of justice at the level of process. At the individual level, justice calls for fair-mindedness in one’s judgments and equity in one’s treatment of others. ¹ At the group level, it is the practical expression of awareness that the interests of the individual and those of society are inextricably linked. It also requires a standard of truth-seeking far beyond the patterns of negotiation and compromise that tend to characterize present-day relations—a process of consultation and decision-making that is principled, candid, and fact-based. ²

The Promulgation of Universal Peace

These are the days of seed sowing. These are the days of tree planting. The bountiful bestowals of God are successive. He who sows a seed in this day will behold his reward in the fruits and harvest of the heavenly Kingdom. This timely seed, when planted in the hearts of the beloved of God, will be watered by showers of divine mercy and warmed by the sunshine of divine love. Its fruitage and flower shall be the solidarity of mankind, the perfection of justice and the praiseworthy attributes of heaven manifest in humanity. All who sow such a seed and plant such a tree according to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh shall surely witness this divine outcome in the degrees of its perfection and will attain unto the good pleasure of the Merciful One. ³

1. “If we ponder a while over the Qur’ánic verses and proofs, and the traditional accounts which have come down to us from those stars of the heaven of divine Unity, the Holy Imáms, we shall be convinced of the fact that if a soul is endowed with the attributes of true faith and characterized with spiritual qualities he will become to all mankind an emblem of the outstretched mercies of God. For the attributes of the people of faith are justice and fair-mindedness; forbearance and compassion and generosity; consideration for others; candor, trustworthiness, and loyalty; love and loving-kindness; devotion and determination and humanity. If therefore an individual is truly righteous, he will avail himself of all those means which will attract the hearts of men, and through the attributes of God he will draw them to the straight path of faith and cause them to drink from the river of everlasting life.”
   ’Abdu’l-Bahá. The Secret of Divine Civilization. Translated by Marzieh Gail. 2nd Edition | Reprint. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 1975, 55-56. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/secret-divine-civilization/3#089767892 ↩
2. Bahá’í International Community Staff. “One Planet, One Habitation.” International Environment Forum, June 1, 2022. https://www.iefworld.org/2022bic_OPOH. ↩
3. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 8. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/2#864635578 ↩