As I lift up my gaze beyond the strains and stresses which a struggling
Faith must necessarily experience, and view the wider scene which the
indomitable will of the American Bahá'í community is steadily unfolding,
I can not but marvel at the range which the driving force of their ceaseless
labors has acquired and the heights which the sublimity of their faith has
attained. The outposts of a Faith, already persecuted in both Europe and
Asia, are in the American continent steadily advancing, the visible symbols
of its undoubted sovereignty are receiving fresh luster every day and its
manifold institutions are driving their roots deeper and deeper into its soil.
Blest and honored as none among its sister communities has been in recent
years, preserved through the inscrutable dispensations of Divine Providence
for a destiny which no mind can as yet imagine, such a community cannot
for a moment afford to be content with or rest on the laurels it has so
deservedly won. It must go on, continually go on, exploring fresh fields,
scaling nobler heights, laying firmer foundations, shedding added splendor
and achieving added renown in the service and for the glory of the Cause of
Bahá'u'lláh. The seven year plan which it has sponsored and with which
its destiny is so closely interwoven, must at all costs be prosecuted with
increasing force and added consecration. All should arise and participate.
Upon the measure of such a participation will no doubt depend the welfare
and progress of those distant communities which are now battling for their
emancipation. To such a priceless privilege the inheritors of the shining
grace of Bahá'u'lláh cannot surely be indifferent. The American believers
must gird up the loins of endeavor and step into the arena of service with
such heroism as shall astound the entire Bahá'í world. Let them be assured
that my prayers will continue to be offered on their behalf.
November 25, 1937