Not ours to speculate, or dwell upon the immediate workings of an
inscrutable Providence presiding alike over the falling fortunes of a
dying Order and the rising glory of a Plan holding within it the seeds of
the world's spiritual revival and ultimate redemption. Nor can we attempt
as yet, whilst the second stage in the operation of such a Plan has not
yielded its destined fruit, to visualize the nature of the tasks, or
discern the character of the circumstances that will mark the progressive
unfoldment of a third successive crusade, the successful termination of
which must signalize the closing of the first historic epoch in the
evolution of the Divine Plan. All we can be sure of, and confidently
assert, is that upon the outcome of the assiduous efforts now being
collectively exerted, in three continents, by the North American, the
Latin and European believers, acting under the Mandate of 'Abdu'l-Baha,
associated with the one and only Plan conceived by Himself, aided by the
agencies deriving their inspiration from His Will and Testament, and
assured of the support promised by the pen of His Father, in His Most Holy
Book, must solely depend the timing as well as the nature of the tasks
which must be successfully carried out ere the closing of an epoch of such
transcendent brightness and glory in the evolution of the mightiest Plan
ever generated through the creative power of the Most Great Name, as
manifested by the Will of the Center of His Covenant and the Interpreter
of His Teaching.
There can be no doubt whatever that with every turn of the wheel, as a
result of the operation of 'Abdu'l-Baha's Plan, and with every extension
in the range of its evolution, a responsibility of still greater gravity
and of wider import will have to be shouldered by its divinely chosen
executors wherever its ramifications may extend and however oppressive the
state of the countries and continents in which they may have to labor.
They must strive, ceaselessly strive, ready for any emergency, steeled to
meet any degree of opposition, unsatisfied with any measure of progress as
yet achieved, prepared to make sacrifices far exceeding any they have
already willingly made, and confident that such striving, such readiness,
such resolution, such high-mindedness, such sacrifice will earn them the
palm of a victory still more soul-satisfying and resounding in its
magnificence than any as yet won since the inception of their mission.
May He Who called them into being and raised them up, Who fostered them in
their infancy, Who extended to them the blessing of His personal support
in their years of childhood, Who bequeathed to them the distinguishing
heritage of His Plan, Whose Will and Testament initiated them, during the
period of their adolescence, in the processes of a divinely appointed
Administrative Order, Who enabled them to attain maturity through the
inauguration of the first stage in the execution of His Plan, Who
conferred upon them the privilege of spiritual parenthood at the close of
the initial phase in the operation of that same Plan, continue through the
further unfoldment of the second stage in its evolution to guide their
steps along the path leading to the assumption of functions proclaiming
the attainment of full spiritual manhood, and enable them eventually,
through the long and slow processes of evolution and in conformity with
the future requirements of a continually evolving Plan, to manifest before
the eyes of the members of their sister communities, their countrymen and
the whole world, and in all their plenitude, the potentialities inherent
within them, and which in the fullness of time, must reflect in its
perfected form, the glories of the mission constituting their birthright.
[November 8, 1948]