THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES La Revue des études bahá’íes/La Revista de estudios bahá’ís Volume 28, number 4 Winter 2018 A Publication of the Association for Bahá’í Studies–North America THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES LA REVUE DES ÉTUDES BAHÁ’ÍES/LA REVISTA DE ESTUDIOS BAHÁ’ÍS Volume 28 Number 4 Fall 2018 Publications Mail Registration No. 09448 EDITOR John S. Hatcher POETRY EDITOR Peter E. Murphy EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Nilufar Gordon EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Roshan Danesh, Gwendolyn Etter-Lewis, Mehran Kiai, Pierre-Yves Mocquais, Mary Sobhani, Bahhaj Taherzadeh French translation: Louise Mailhot and Juliette Goudreau Spanish translation: Nuriyeh McLaren The Journal of Bahá’í Studies (USPS #013-468) is published by the Association for Bahá’í Studies–North America. The views expressed in this Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Editorial Board or Executive Committee of the Association for Bahá’í Studies, or authoritative explications of Bahá’í teachings. Periodicals postage paid at Champlain, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Address changes should be sent to IMS of NY, 100 Walnut St. #3, P.O. Box 1518, Champlain, NY, USA 12919-1518. For details call IMS at 1(800) 428-3003. Articles in The Journal of Bahá’í Studies are available on EBSCO Publishing’s aggregated database. This journal is abstracted in Science of Religion Abstracts, Religion Index One: Periodicals, Index Islamicus, and Index to Book Reviews in Religion, and catalogued at American Theological Library Association and the Institut de L’Information Scientifique et Technique. Annual subscription fees (in Canadian funds): Individual subscriptions: Canada $70; United States: $80; International: $90. Institutional subscriptions: $100. Single copies: $20/issue. Details available at <http://bahai-studies.ca/subscription/> Correspondence regarding subscriptions should be addressed to Association for Bahá’í Studies, 34 Copernicus Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7K4 Canada. E-mail: <abs-na [at] bahai-studies.ca>. Tel.: 613-233-1903. Address editorial correspondence to <editor [at] bahai-studies.ca>. Printed in Canada on recycled paper. ISSN 0838–0430 © Association for Bahá’í Studies 2018. All rights reserved. Many articles published in The Journal of Bahá’í Studies allude to the institutions and central figures of the Bahá’í Faith; as an aid for those unfamiliar with the Bahá’í Faith, we include here a succinct summary excerpted from http://www.bahai.org/ beliefs/bahaullah-covenant/. The reader may also find it helpful to visit the official web site for the worldwide Bahá’í community (www.bahai.org) available in several languages. For article submission guidelines, please visit http://bahai-studies.ca/ the-journal-of-bahai-studies-submission-guidelines/. ABOUT THE BAHÁ’Í FAITH The Bahá’í Faith, its followers believe, is “divine in origin, all-embracing in scope, broad in its outlook, scientific in its method, humanitarian in its principles and dynamic in the influence it exerts on the hearts and minds of men.” The mission of the Bahá’í Faith is “to proclaim that religious truth is not absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is continuous and progressive, that the Founders of all past religions, though different in the non-essential aspects of their teachings, “abide in the same Tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech and proclaim the same Faith” (Shoghi Effendi). The Bahá’í Faith began with the mission entrusted by God to two Divine Messengers— the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. Today, the distinctive unity of the Faith They founded stems from explicit instructions given by Bahá’u’lláh that have assured the continuity of guidance following His passing. This line of succession, referred to as the Covenant, went from Bahá’u’lláh to His Son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and then from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to His grandson, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice, ordained by Bahá’u’lláh. A Bahá’í accepts the divine authority of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh and of these appointed successors. The Báb (1819-1850) is the Herald of the Bahá’í Faith. In the middle of the 19th century, He announced that He was the bearer of a message destined to transform humanity’s spiritual life. His mission was to prepare the way for the coming of a second Messenger from God, greater than Himself, who would usher in an age of peace and justice. Bahá’u’lláh (1817-1892)—the “Glory of God”—is the Promised One foretold by the Báb and all of the Divine Messengers of the past. Bahá’u’lláh delivered a new Revelation from God to humanity. Thousands of verses, letters and books flowed from His pen. In His Writings, He outlined a framework for the development of a global civilization which takes into account both the spiritual and material dimensions of human life. For this, He endured 40 years of imprisonment, torture and exile. In His will, Bahá’u’lláh appointed His oldest son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (1844-1921), as the authorized interpreter of His teachings and Head of the Faith. Throughout the East and West, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá became known as an ambassador of peace, an exemplary human being, and the leading exponent of a new Faith. Appointed Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, His eldest grandson, Shoghi Effendi (1897-1957), spent 36 years systematically nurturing the development, deepening the understanding, and strengthening the unity of the Bahá’í community, as it increasingly grew to reflect the diversity of the entire human race. The development of the Bahá’í Faith worldwide is today guided by the Universal House of Justice (established in 1963). In His book of laws, Bahá’u’lláh instructed the Universal House of Justice to exert a positive influence on the welfare of humankind, promote education, peace and global prosperity, and safeguard human honor and the position of religion. THE JOURNAL OF BAHÁ’Í STUDIES LA REVUE DES ÉTUDES BAHÁ’ÍES/LA REVISTA DE ESTUDIOS BAHÁ’ÍS Volume 28 Number 4 Winter 2018 Contents 3 JOHN S. HATCHER From the Editor’s Desk Governance and the Governed: Leadership, Conflict, Resilience, Resolution, and Hope 7 FIRAYDOUN JAVAHERI Constructive Resilience 23 SHAHLA ALI The Power of Reflection: Advancing Governance and Dispute Resolution Systems through Devolved Reflection and Shared Knowledge Generation 55 MAY KHADEM Lessons in Leadership 69 ABDU’L-MISSAGH GHADIRIAN and SHADI SALEHIAN Is Spirituality Effective in Addiction Recovery and Prevention? Poems 6 MENNA ELFYN Nine for Peace 54 NINA ISRAEL ZUCKER The Ministry of Happiness Illustrations 2 DAVID SMITH Walking the Tracks 91 DAVID SMITH Sleeping Bear Path 89 Biographical Notes Cover: PAULA HENDERSON Tread III (oil and wax on wood panel, 18” x 24”) 2 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 28.4 2018 Walking the Tracks (Saginaw, Michigan, April 1972) DAVID SMITH 3 populations in developing countries. From the Editor’s For the last decade or two, however, Desk we seem to have pulled back into our shells, on both the individual and the collective level. The gated community JOHN S. HATCHER has replaced the neighborhood as the American Dream, even as the walled GOVERNANCE AND THE GOVERNED: country seems to have replaced the LEADERSHIP, CONFLICT, RESILIENCE, concept of world unity. The human- RESOLUTION, AND HOPE itarian impulse, so widely touted, has had to confront the reality of putting In the decades since the Second World laudable concepts into action, especial- War, the essential relationship be- ly caring for the displaced, the home- tween governance and the governed less, and the masses migrating from has undergone several global attitude crime, poverty, conflict, and institu- shifts. That war’s utter horror in terms tional chaos. of death and destruction resulted in When theory is tested in the fire the emergence of a nearly unanimous of social reality, the lovely dream of resolve to secure our planet against unity and harmony is drowned in the widespread injustice and tyranny. unexpected details of how to bring it The creation of the United Nations in about. Thus, the pious wish to house, 1945 held out the hope that global in- feed, and care for those who have no terests and a universal concern for the resources of their own quickly be- health, freedom, and wellbeing of hu- comes burdensome and yields to the mankind would supplant the extreme desire for an orderly and secure life nationalist fervor that had instigated unperturbed by the needs of others. two worldwide conflagrations. It is at such a point that discourses Of course, the polarization of cap- about leadership, constructive reflec- italist versus communist ideologies tion, and strategic action should be- soon brought about the Cold War, in come uppermost in our daily lives. If which the imminent threat of a nucle- the purpose of governance and leader- ar holocaust haunted our individual ship is to respond to the needs of the and collective consciousness w ith ev- governed, then what attributes and ery emerging conflict. Nevertheless, methodologies should characterize the globalism seemed to be a universally process of those in positions of au- accepted objective, spurred on by a thority? Where is the balance? What variety of international alliances, a is the standard? What must change if burgeoning global economy, and the we are to succeed in this human exper- vigorous support of the United Na- iment that is our globalizing world? tions, demonstrated, for example, by In this issue of the Journal, the its assistance of the disenfranchised diverse array of articles and poems 4 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 28.4 2018 has been arranged to take the reader activists who, in 1968, took 378 files on a journey into these paramount from the draft board in Catonsville, concerns and our authors’ responses Maryland, and publicly incinerated to them.