I give you greeting in love and unity. The affairs of this world are to be
accounted as nothing compared to the joy and heavenly happiness of meeting
the friends of God. It is to experience this great joy and blessing that I
have come here although weary from my long voyage upon the sea. Tonight I
am in the greatest happiness, looking upon this concourse of God. Your
meeting here is surely an evidence that you are upholding the Cause of
God, that you are aiding and assisting in establishing the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, the culmination of my happiness is to look upon your faces and
realize that you have been brought together by the power of the Blessed
Perfection, Baha'u'llah. In this meeting you are upholding His standard
and assisting His Cause. Therefore, I behold in you the making of a goodly
tree upon which divine fruits will appear to give sustenance to the world
of humanity.
With hearts set aglow by the fire of the love of God and spirits refreshed
by the food of the heavenly spirit you must go forth as the disciples
nineteen hundred years ago, quickening the hearts of men by the call of
glad tidings, the light of God in your faces, severed from everything save
God. Therefore, order your lives in accordance with the first principle of
the divine teaching, which is love. Service to humanity is service to God.
Let the love and light of the Kingdom radiate through you until all who
look upon you shall be illumined by its reflection. Be as stars, brilliant
and sparkling in the loftiness of their heavenly station. Do you
appreciate the Day in which you live?
This is the century of the Blessed Perfection!
This is the cycle of the light of His beauty!
This is the consummate day of all the Prophets!
These are the days of seed sowing. These are the days of tree planting.
The bountiful bestowals of God are successive. He who sows a seed in this
day will behold his reward in the fruits and harvest of the heavenly
Kingdom. This timely seed, when planted in the hearts of the beloved of
God, will be watered by showers of divine mercy and warmed by the sunshine
of divine love. Its fruitage and flower shall be the solidarity of
mankind, the perfection of justice and the praiseworthy attributes of
heaven manifest in humanity. All who sow such a seed and plant such a tree
according to the teachings of Baha'u'llah shall surely witness this divine
outcome in the degrees of its perfection and will attain unto the good
pleasure of the Merciful One.
Today the nations of the world are self-engaged, occupied with mortal and
transitory accomplishments, consumed by the fires of passion and self.
Self is dominant; enmity and animosity prevail. Nations and peoples are
thinking only of their worldly interests and outcomes. The clash of war
and din of strife are heard among them. But the friends of the Blessed
Perfection have no thoughts save the thoughts of heaven and the love of
God. Therefore, you must without delay employ your powers in spreading the
effulgent glow of the love of God and so order your lives that you may be
known and seen as examples of its radiance. You must deal with all in
loving-kindness in order that this precious seed entrusted to your
planting may continue to grow and bring forth its perfect fruit. The love
and mercy of God will accomplish this through you if you have love in your
own heart.
The doors of the Kingdom are opened. The lights of the Sun of Truth are
shining. The clouds of divine mercy are raining down their priceless
jewels. The zephyrs of a new and divine springtime are wafting their
fragrant breaths from the invisible world. Know ye then the value of these
days.
Awake ye to the realization of this heavenly opportunity. Strive with all
the power of your souls, your deeds, actions and words to assist the
spread of these glad tidings and the descent of this merciful bounty. You
are the reality and expression of your deeds and actions. If you abide by
the precepts and teachings of the Blessed Perfection, the heavenly world
and ancient Kingdom will be yours--eternal happiness, love and everlasting
life. The divine bounties are flowing. Each one of you has been given the
opportunity of becoming a tree yielding abundant fruits. This is the
springtime of Baha'u'llah. The verdure and foliage of spiritual growth are
appearing in great abundance in the gardens of human hearts. Know ye the
value of these passing days and vanishing nights. Strive to attain a
station of absolute love one toward another. By the absence of love,
enmity increases. By the exercise of love, love strengthens and enmities
dwindle away.
Consider me--in the years of my advanced age, burdened with physical
infirmities--crossing the wide ocean to look upon your faces. It is my hope
that through the life of the spirit you may all become as one soul, as one
tree adorning the rose garden of the Kingdom. It is my hope that the
endless treasures of the bestowals of God may be yours here and hereafter.
It is my prayer that the Supreme Concourse may be illumined by your
brilliant lights shining forever in the heavens of eternal glory.
13 April 1912
Talk at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Morten
141 East Twenty-first Street, New York