Five
Year Plan |
June 28 (Day 1)
| June 29 (Day 2) | June
30 (Day 3) | July 1 (Day 4)
“How Do We the Kingdom of
God on Earth”
Saturday, June 30, 2001—Day 3
Vision,
sacrifices and planning are prime requirements for building the Kingdom
of God, there’s no doubt. But it has to be a world where we can
toss a few hundred beach balls around once in a while. Children, again,
took the early spotlight in Saturday’s main conference session.
A young girl’s voice led the way for the Conference Choir to remind
us that “Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place
”
On film, a dozen children voiced views on some eternal verities: “You
can’t send your feelings over the Internet.” “Let’s
get together and do something about all the garbage!” “In
the future I don’t think there will be racism, but people will
still get on each other’s nerves.” A children’s choir
gathered in a musical appeal for the “old souls” to share
their experience and “help us build a new nation.”
Tears flowed as costumed members of the Children’s
Theatre Company gave voice to the sacrifices and far-seeing of such
heroes as Louis Gregory, Joan of Arc, Tahirih, Harriet Tubman, women’s
suffragist Lucy Stone, and an ultra-cool, shoulder-shaking Dizzy Gillespie.
The spotlight, literally, then shone on the living, driving forces behind
Northern Plains Healthy Start in South Dakota, Parent University in
Georgia, Tahirih Justice Center and the Chicago Gap Project.
Then
came our marching orders: the National Spiritual Assembly presented
the Five Year Plan for the Bahá’ís of the United
States, with encouragement and specific responsibilities for children,
junior youth, youth, adults and Local Spiritual Assemblies, guiding
our roles in building communities that will more fully manifest the
Kingdom of God — both among Bahá’ís and in society
at large, as the world must “see in us the proof that Bahá’u’lláh’s
teachings change hearts.”
The choir rose and helped us “Sing the Song of the
Kingdom.” Singalongs, one including a “wave” across the
arena, helped raise physical energy to match the spiritual intensity.
So when the session closed with a “community challenge” that
involved about 1,000 beach balls — well, there’s little wonder
that the 9,200 people in the arena made it a joyous free-for-all of
flying colors for more than 10 minutes.
Transcript: To access
the transcript Introduction
to the Five Year Plan presented by Dr. Robert C. Henderson, click
here and on its title. It will come up as a PDF file. You will need
Adobe Acrobat Reader to access these files. To get a copy of Adobe Acrobat
Reader click on this icon
or this URL (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)
Audio File: To listen
to the audio file Introduction
to the Five Year Plan presented by Dr. Robert C. Henderson, click
here and on its title. *You will need Real Player to listen to it.
To download a free copy of Real Player click on this icon 
or this URL (http://huxley.real.com/real/player/player.html?src=010709realhome_1,010613rpchoice_h1&dc=8108988)
Video: To see and hear
“Introduction
to the Five Year Plan” click here on its title.* This will
take a while to open.
*To view this video file you will need to download a free
copy of Real Player. See above.
