fire, but a disciplinary and creative process, whose aim is the salvation,
through unification, of the entire planet. Mysteriously, slowly, and
resistlessly God accomplishes His design, though the sight that meets our
eyes in this day be the spectacle of a world hopelessly entangled in its
own meshes, utterly careless of the Voice which, for a century, has been
calling it to God, and miserably subservient to the siren voices which are
attempting to lure it into the vast abyss.

GOD'S PURPOSE

God's purpose is none other than to usher in, in ways He alone can bring
about, and the full significance of which He alone can fathom, the Great,
the Golden Age of a long-divided, a long-afflicted humanity. Its present
state, indeed even its immediate future, is dark, distressingly dark. Its
distant future, however, is radiant, gloriously radiant--so radiant that no
eye can visualize it.

"The winds of despair," writes Baha'u'llah, as He surveys the immediate
destinies of mankind, "are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the
strife that divides and afflicts the human race is daily increasing. The
signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as
the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective." "Such shall be
its plight," He, in another connection, has declared, "that to disclose it
now would not be meet and seemly." "These fruitless strifes," He, on the
other hand, contemplating the future of mankind, has emphatically
prophesied, in the course of His memorable interview with the Persian
orientalist, Edward G. Browne, "these ruinous wars shall pass away, and
the 'Most Great Peace' shall come.... These strifes and this bloodshed and
discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family." "Soon,"
He predicts, "will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one
spread out in its stead." "After a time," He also has written, "all the
governments on earth will change. Oppression will envelop the world. And
following a universal convulsion, the sun of justice will rise from the
horizon of the unseen realm." "The whole earth," He, moreover, has stated,
"is now in a state of pregnancy. The day is approaching when it will have
yielded its noblest fruits, when from it will have sprung forth the
loftiest trees, the most enchanting blossoms, the most heavenly
blessings." "All nations and kindreds," 'Abdu'l-Baha likewise has written,
"...will become a single nation. Religious and