July 30th -The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.
At this hour our society is rife with commentaries on ideas of otherness which are creating disparities and divisiveness. However human nature has an affinity and an inherent desire for association. In the Bahá’í view this affinity is due to the fact that while we are created noble, we have both a lower and a higher nature within us. We have some natural tendency to limit our focus to our own selves, but we are not bound to this limitation. We can rise above it; we are intended to rise above our animal nature because our true nature is spiritual. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that “ … each of the creatures is a sign of God, and it was by the grace of the Lord and His power that each did step into the world; therefore they are not strangers, but in the family; not aliens, but friends, and to be treated as such.” In friendship this means we can be giving, compassionate and even sacrificial. We can be much more generous and selfless than our animal nature implies or allows. Abdu’l‑Bahá also said, “The highest wish of them that are filled with the Divine Spirit is unity and harmony amid the friends and spiritual connection among the hearts…; that they may shine like unto brilliant stars in this darksome world,… show everyone kindliness and friendship, sympathy and courtesy; that they may become as refreshing water to every thirsty one, the bread of heaven to every hungry one, a healing medicine to every ailing one, and the cause of everlasting glory to every abased one.” Friendship opens hearts to empathy-that ability to see the other in oneself and oneself in the other.
We are all living in the same world, facing common trials, and striving to fulfill similar, long-held aspirations for the human race. Our expressions of solidarity with our fellow human beings must be sincerely voiced and genuinely felt. (Turning Point— Universal House of Justice)
In Bahá’u’lláh’s principle of the oneness of humankind the world finds a vision broad enough to unite all its diverse elements. Translating that vision into an order based on unity in diversity the world can heal the social fractures that divide it. By this principle the peoples of the world can discover a new way of life, a pathway to enduring peace. Extend then to everyone the hand of friendship, of common endeavour, of shared service, of collective learning, and advance as one. (source-Universal House of Justice—2024)
This is the meaning of community-friends working for the common good. The rewards are safety, resilience, economic and social development and human happiness.