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Two points bear emphasizing
in all these issues. One is that the abolition of war is not simply a
matter of signing treaties and protocols; it is a complex task requiring
a new level of commitment to resolving issues not customarily associated
with the pursuit of peace. Based on political agreements alone, the idea
of collective security is a chimera. The other point is that the primary
challenge in dealing with issues of peace is to raise the context to the
level of principle, as distinct from pure pragmatism. For, in essence,
peace stems from an inner state supported by a spiritual or moral attitude,
and it is chiefly in evoking this attitude that the possibility of enduring
solutions can be found.
Historical view of Baghdad and the Tigris River. (Effie Baker, c. 1930) 
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(Letters
of The Universal House of Justice, 1985 Oct, The
Promise of World Peace, p. 3)
    
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20 March 2010 (157 Baha'i Era), ALBANY, NEW YORK, USA — Celebrations to mark the Baha'i New Year take different forms throughout the world but typically include programs of spiritual upliftment, music, dancing and feasting.
The Baha'i New Year festival known as Naw-Ruz (literally "New Day") is held on the spring equinox, March 21, but the celebrations began the evening before because the Baha'i day begins at sunset.
The event held in Albany was typical of the kind of multi-cultural celebration observed in many of the 120,000 localities where Baha'is -- who embrace human diversity -- reside around the world.
The festival comes at the end of a 19-day fast in which adult Baha'is abstain from food and drink between sunrise and sunset as a reminder of the need for individuals to be detached from their material desires.
Naw-Ruz is the first day of the first of 19 months in the Baha'i calendar, which was initiated by the Bab, the Forerunner of the Faith's Prophet-Founder, Baha'u'llah, who later confirmed it.
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