The following quotes and passages are among those which inspired the talk (given at the 1989 ABS Conference), soon to be posted:  [emphasis added to the following texts is mine]    Inspiration from the Universal House of Justice below.

"... It is incumbent upon Spiritual Assemblies to provide the mothers with a well-planned programme for the education of children, showing how from infancy, the child must be watched over and taught.  These instructions must be given to every mother to serve as her guide. . ." (Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 138.)

"To promote knowledge is thus an inescapable duty imposed on every one of the friends of God.  It is incumbent upon that Spiritual Assembly, that assemblage of God, to exert every effort to educate the children, so that from infancy they will be trained..." (Ibid., p. 25)

"These children must be given a good training from their earliest childhood.  They must be given a systematic training which will further their development from day to day, in order that they may receive greater insight, so that their spiritual receptivity be broadened.  Beginning in childhood they must receive instruction. . . Many elementary sciences must be made clear to them in the nursery. . ." (Bahá'í Education: A Compilation, p. 73.)

"Every child without exception must from his earliest years make a thorough study of the art of reading and writing, and according to his own tastes and inclinations and the degree of his capacity and powers, devote extreme diligence to the acquisition of learning, beneficial arts and skills, various languages, speech, and contemporary technology." (Ibid, p. 58.)

"Encourage the children from their earliest years to master every kind of learning, and make them eager to become skilled in every art--the aim being that through the favoring grace of God, the heart of each one may become even as a mirror disclosing the secrets of the universe, penetrating the innermost reality of all things; and that each may earn worldwide fame in all branches of knowledge, science and the arts." (Ibid., p. 27.)

"While the children are yet in their infancy. . .give them the advantage of every useful kind of knowledge.  Let them share in every new and wondrous craft and art.  Bring them up to work and strive, and accustom them to hardship.  Teach them to  dedicate their lives to matters of great import, and inspire them to undertake studies that will benefit mankind." (Ibid., p. 30.)

"Whatever other children learn in a year, let the Bahá'í children learn in a month.  The heart of `Abdu'l-Bahá longeth, in its love, to find that Bahá'í young people, each and all, are known throughout the world for their intellectual attainments..."
(Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 141.)

From the Ridván Message from the Universal House of Justice, May, 1989 we can clearly see the fundamental importance of literacy to spiritual progress.

"...further systematic attention needs to be given to the eventual elimination of illiteracy from the Bahá'í community, an accomplishment which would, beyond anything else, make the Holy Word accessible to all the friends and thus reinforce their efforts to live the Bahá'í life."

"Dear Bahá'í Friends,
     The Holy Word has been extolled by the Prophets of God as the medium of celestial power and the wellspring of all spiritual, social and material progress.  Access to it, constant study of it and daily use of it in our individual lives are vital to the inner personal transformation towards which we strive and whose ultimate outer manifestation will be the emergence of that divine civilization which is the promise of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh.
     The blessings which flow from the Word of God are implicit in this instruction of Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Mother Book of His Revelation: 'Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My Words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths.'  Again in the same book, He bids us recite the 'verses of God in the morning and evening'.  An astonishing insight as to the sublime influence of the revealed Word is conveyed in this further instruction gleaned from one of His Tablets:  'Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may enkindle thine own soul and attract the hearts of all men.  Whose reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb.  Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul.'
     The most immediate access to the dynamic influence of the sacred Word is through reading.  The ability to read is therefore a fundamental right and privilege of every human being.  Bahá'u'lláh promotes this right in His command to parents to ensure the instruction of their sons and daughters in the 'art of reading and writing'.  For this essential reason, in our last Ridván message we called attention to the need for systematic attention to be given to eventually eliminating illiteracy from the Bahá'í community.  This matter must assume its proper importance as a continuing objective of that community.
     Let each National and Local Spiritual Assembly, according to necessity and circumstance, address itself to this objective..."

     Of this hath the nightingale of oneness sung in the garden . . .   He saith:  "And there shall appear upon the tablet of thine heart a writing of the subtle mysteries of `Fear God and God will give you knowledge'; and the bird of thy soul shall recall the holy sanctuaries of preexistence and soar on the wings of longing in the heaven of `walk the beaten paths of thy Lord', and gather the fruits of communion in the gardens of `Then feed on every kind of fruit.'"
     By My life, O friend, wert thou to taste of these fruits, from the green garden of these blossoms which grow in the lands of knowledge, beside the orient lights of the Essence in the mirrors of names and attributes - yearning would seize the reins of patience and reserve from out thy hand, and make thy soul to shake with the flashing light, and draw thee from the earthly homeland to the first, heavenly abode in the Center of Realities, and lift thee to a plane wherein thou wouldst soar in the air even as thou walkest upon the earth, and move over the water as thou runnest on the land. Wherefore, may it rejoice Me, and thee, and whosoever mounteth into the heaven of knowledge, and whose heart is refreshed by this, that the wind of certitude hath blown over the garden of his being, from the Sheba of the All-Merciful.
     Peace be upon him who followeth the Right Path!
(Baha'u'llah:  Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, Pages: 3-4)

O SON OF MAN! Write all that We have revealed unto thee with the ink of light upon the tablet of thy spirit.  Should this not be in thy power, then make thine ink of the essence of thy heart.  If this thou canst not do, then write with that crimson ink that hath been shed in My path.  Sweeter indeed is this to Me than all else, that its light may endure for ever.
(Baha'u'llah: Hidden Words, Page: 71)

"... santify them [the hearts] from every defilement, that the things for which they were created may be engraven upon them..." (Baha'u'llah: TDP, p. 6)

. . .like unto pictures engraved on stone, may remain permanent and ineffaceable in the tablets of the hearts.
(`Abdu'l-Bahá, TDP, p. 19)
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