In this second presentation John S. Hatcher, PhD discusses the topic “The Pandemic and the Path to the Lesser Peace in depth.” In an earlier talk, He spoke of the unique conditions the pandemic had produced, some of which, He remarked, were not necessarily negative in their ability to awaken us to the inextricable relationship we share as citizens of a single global community. In this talk, He speaks more completely about how these conditions demonstrate the sort of unexpected and unforeseen circumstances that will contribute to bringing about a secular unity that is called “The Lesser Peace” in the Baha’i writings. In the first paragraphs of The Promised Day is Come, Shoghi Effendi quotes passages from Bahá’u’lláh about how the Lesser Peace will not come about until humanity has experienced world engulfing tribulation, though the Writings never explain exactly what that calamity will be. The present pandemic demonstrates how such an unexpected transformative event could occur and how quickly the circumstances of the nations and people of the world could suddenly become chaotic and uncontrollable. A quick review of the stages in the path towards the Lesser Peace as described by the Guardian can help us understand what process we must go through to achieve a global polity and the stages that will lead from that secular governance to the establishment of the Golden Age of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh.
Click for the accompanying PowerPoint presentation – American Baha’is in Time of World Peril 9
