James Heggie
Jim Heggie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | July 20, 1915 Newarthill, Scotland |
| Died | August 31, 1992 Sydney, NSW, Australia |
| NSA member | Australia & New Zealand 1947 - 1951 1953 - 1957 Australia 1957 - 1961 1962 - 1973 |
James Heggie (July 20, 1915 – August 31, 1992) was a Scottish born Bahá'í who served on the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia as Secretary for many years. He also wrote Bahá'í study indexes and produced several Bahá'í books in Braille.[1]
Life[edit]
James was born in Newarthill, Scotland, but his family moved to Canada in 1921. His fathers name was William Heggie.[2] They often moved before finally settling to Eau Claire, Ontario in 1932. James moved to live with extended family in Sydney, Australia in 1935.
He first heard of the Faith in 1937 when he sought treatment from Oswald Whitaker, an optometrist and the first Australian Bahá'í. He began to visit Oswald regularly and eventually attended a Bahá'í meeting at his home. He soon became a Bahá'í and met Hyde and Clara Dunn in 1938, and attended lectures given by Martha Root who visited Australia in 1939.[3]
Jim moved to the United States in 1939 and studied chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, until 1941.[4] He assisted Gertrude Struven in teaching the Faith in Davenport in late 1939.[5] He was able to attend the United States National Convention of 1940 during his stay in America. He also began studying Islam during this time.
He returned to Australia in April 1941 and enlisted in the Medical Corps to avoid being drafted in a combat role. He chose to enlist in a unit being deployed to the Middle East, and was able to meet with Shoghi Effendi in Haifa twice while stationed in Palestine. He donated to the Bahá'í Fund at the World Center during both of his visits and received the following letter from Ruhiyyih Khanum:[6]
"He was very happy indeed to meet you, and feels that if you are an example of the Bahá'í youth of Australia, they will render the Cause many valuable services.
He wishes to assure you that as long as you happen to be in this part of the world you must consider that you have a home here in Haifa, and anytime you can come and visit here you will be most welcome. Also please feel quite free to write him if there is anything he can do for you.
Rest assured he will often pray for your protection, and that you may be blessed and guided by God in all things.”[7]
He impressed Shoghi Effendi significantly enough that he was also commended in a letter to another Australian Baha’i:
"A few days ago Mr. Jim Heggie came to see the Guardian. He was able to visit all the shrines and archives as well. Shoghi Effendi was delighted with him, he found him devoted, full of faith and zeal, and very well read in the teachings. He feels that if this is a sample of the Bahá’í youth of Australia, there is, indeed, a wonderful future ahead of that country!”[8]
He returned to Australia in 1942, and was then deployed to Papua New Guinea in 1943, where he converted a local farmer to the Faith.
In 1947 James married Merle Brooks, and he was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand as secretary. The following year he and Merle moved to Brisbane to help found a Local Spiritual Assembly and he received a cable of encouragement from Shoghi Effendi for doing so.[9] The Local Spiritual Assembly of Brisbane was established in 1949 and James was elected as secretary, and he continued to serve on the Assembly as secretary until at least 1952,[10] although he later returned to New South Wales. The Heggie's also helped establish a Local Spiritual Assembly of Hunters Hill. James was involved in the Construction of the Sydney House of Worship in the late 1950’s and both printed and handed out its Sunday Service programs for a decade after it was opened.
In 1960 he established a chiropractic clinic in Parrramatta which he operated until 1987, when he passed the business on to Chris Heggie.[11]
In 1970 he participated in seminar on teaching the Faith to Australian Aboriginals in New South Wales, speaking on early Aboriginal history.[12] In 1973 he attended an International Convention in Haifa, and then announced he would be moving to Haifa to produce study indexes. He was advised to conduct his work from Australia instead and complied, but his announcement likely led to him not being re-elected to the Australian National Assembly in 1973, leaving him time to work on his scholarly pursuits.[13]
In 1983 he gave a talk on the early history of the Faith in Australia at a Conference on Bahá'í Studies held in Yerrinbool.[14]
He passed away in Sydney in 1992, and the Universal House of Justice cabled the following after his passing:
DEEPLY DISTRESSED LEARN PASSING JAMES HEGGIE WHO RENDERED OUTSTANDING SERVICES CAUSE BAHA’U’LLAH IN ANTIPODES OVER FIVE DECADES. HIS DEVOTED ENDEAVOURS MANY YEARS MEMBER NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY AUSTRALIA INCLUDING LENGTHY PERIOD SECRETARY CONTRIBUTED ESTABLISHMENT SOUND ADMINISTRATIVE FOUNDATION NATIONAL COMMUNITY. LOVINGLY RECALL HIS CONSTANT DEDICATION TEACHING CAUSE, HIS ENTHUSIASM STUDY WRITINGS FAITH, HIS SCHOLARLY WORKS VARIOUS ASPECTS TEACHINGS. KINDLY CONVEY MEMBERS FAMILY LOVING SYMPATHY ASSURANCE PRAYERS PROGRESS HIS LUMINOUS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM.
Publications[15][edit]
- 1957 - Qur’anic Study Index: Rodwell's Translation
- 1971 - Bahá’í Scriptural Index
- 1972 - Muhammad and Islam
- 1976 - Index to God Passes By
- 1983 - An Index of Quotations from the Bahá'í Sacred Writings
- 1984 - An Index to the Writings of Shoghi Effendi
- 1986 - Bahá’í References to Judaism, Christianity and Islam
References[edit]
James Heggie 1915-1992, Baha’i World, In Memoriam 1992-1997 Insert, pp 10-12
Notes[edit]
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#fn70
- ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/35769602?searchTerm="james%20heggie"%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits=l-decade=194
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/hassall_obituary_james_heggie
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/hassall_obituary_james_heggie
- ↑ Baha'i News (1940). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States and Canada. No 138, Pg(s) 5. View as PDF.
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#17 January 1941
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#25 December 1941 2
- ↑ http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/LANZ/lanz-32.html
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/shoghi-effendi_messages_antipodes&chapter=1#22 March 1949
- ↑ Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld. : 1909 - 1954) Sat 11 Oct 1952 Page 3
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/hassall_obituary_james_heggie
- ↑ Baha’i News, No. 467, p 8
- ↑ https://bahai-library.com/hassall_obituary_james_heggie
- ↑ Baha’i World, Vol. 18, p 202
- ↑ Collins, W. P. (1990). Bibliography of English-Language Works on the Babi and Bahá'í Faiths 1844-1985. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-315-1., p 88
