Needs
Even man, the highest form of created beings, needs many things for his very life; first of all he needs air, and if he is deprived of it for a few minutes, he dies. He is also dependent on water, food, clothing, warmth, and many other things. On all sides he is surrounded by dangers and difficulties, against which his physical body alone cannot cope. If a man looks at the world around him, he will see how all created things are dependent and are captive to the laws of Nature. Man alone, by his spiritual power, has been able to free himself, to soar above the world of matter and to make it his servant.
- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 20
It is not merely material well- being that people need. What they desperately need is to know how to live their lives -- they need to know who they are, to what purpose they exist, and how they should act towards one another; and, once they know the answers to these questions they need to be helped to gradually apply these answers to everyday behaviour. It is to the solution of this basic problem of mankind that the greater part of all our energy and resources should be directed.
- The Universal House of Justice, Messages 1963 to 1986, p. 283
Quote of the Day
Kamal 18 Mashiyyat 182 B.E.
Be sensitive for the possibility of prior exposure to severe violence, such as a personal or family history of trauma from torture, mutilation, war atrocities, gang rape, arson, bombings, lynchings, or other extreme forms of violence. Prior exposure to other forms of violence may exacerbate the effects of domestic violence.
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States – Guidelines for Spiritual Assemblies on Domestic Violence, p. 94