ong and
unbroken period of strenuous labor the supreme task of achieving, in
collaboration with the friends in every land, the speedy triumph of the
Cause of Baha'u'llah. This is the prayer I earnestly request all my
fellow-brethren and sisters in the Faith to offer on my behalf.

Let us pray to God that in these days of world-encircling gloom, when the
dark forces of nature, of hate, rebellion, anarchy and reaction are
threatening the very stability of human society, when the most precious
fruits of civilization are undergoing severe and unparalleled tests, we
may all realize, more profoundly than ever, that though but a mere handful
amidst the seething masses of the world, we are in this day the chosen
instruments of God's grace, that our mission is most urgent and vital to
the fate of humanity, and, fortified by these sentiments, arise to achieve
God's holy purpose for mankind.

Your brother in His Service,
SHOGHI.

Haifa, Palestine.
November 14, 1923.

Letter of November 26, 1923.

To the members of the American National Spiritual Assembly.

Friends and fellow-workers in the Vineyard of God!

After a long and unbroken silence, it gives me the greatest joy to be
enabled to correspond again with my dearly-beloved co-workers of the
National Spiritual Assembly.

Your three letters, dated June 8th, July 10th and October 12th, have been
safely received, and to each I have given my earnest and fullest
attention. Their perusal which reflects only a certain amount of your
activities together with the study of the enclosed communications and
circulars and of the detailed and admirable report of the proceedings of
the Annual Convention have all served to heighten my admiration for the
thoroughness, the ability, and the devotion with which you are conducting
the affairs of the Cause of God in that land.

How often I have wished and yearned to be nearer to the field of your
activities and thus be able to keep in a more constant and closer touch
with every detail of the manifold and all-important services you render. I
cherish the hope that erelong the facilities in the means of communication
and transport will serve to draw us still nearer to one another, and
fulfill, though partially, this long-desired wish.

The Annual Convention

I have been made happy and grateful to learn from your first letter that
"throughout the sessions (of the last Convention) the atmosphere was one
of great detachment an