stranger as a companion, staying free of
prejudice, drawing no lines.

In this day, the one favoured at the Threshold of the Lord is he who
handeth round the cup of faithfulness; who bestoweth, even upon his
enemies, the jewel of bounty, and lendeth, even to his fallen oppressor, a
helping hand; it is he who will, even to the fiercest of his foes, be a
loving friend. These are the Teachings of the Blessed Beauty, these the
counsels of the Most Great Name.

O ye dear friends! The world is at war and the human race is in travail
and mortal combat. The dark night of hate hath taken over, and the light
of good faith is blotted out. The peoples and kindreds of the earth have
sharpened their claws, and are hurling themselves one against the other.
It is the very foundation of the human race that is being destroyed. It is
thousands of households that are vagrant and dispossessed, and every year
seeth thousands upon thousands of human beings weltering in their
life-blood on dusty battlefields. The tents of life and joy are down. The
generals practise their generalship, boasting of the blood they shed,
competing one with the next in inciting to violence. 'With this sword,'
saith one of them, 'I beheaded a people!' And another: 'I toppled a nation
to the ground!' And yet another: 'I brought a government down!' On such
things do men pride themselves, in such do they glory!
Love--righteousness--these are everywhere censured, while despised are
harmony, and devotion to the truth.

The Faith of the Blessed Beauty is summoning mankind to safety and love,
to amity and peace; it hath raised up its tabernacle on the heights of the
earth, and directeth its call to all nations. Wherefore, O ye who are
God's lovers, know ye the value of this precious Faith, obey its
teachings, walk in this road that is drawn straight, and show ye this way
to the people. Lift up your voices and sing out the song of the Kingdom.
Spread far and wide the precepts and counsels of the loving Lord, so that
this world will change into another world, and this darksome earth will be
flooded with light, and the dead body of mankind will arise and live; so
that every soul will ask for immortality, through the holy breaths of God.

Soon will your swiftly-passing days be over, and the fame and riches, the
comforts, the joys provided by this rubbish-heap, the world, will be gone
without a trace. Summon ye, then, the people to God, and invite humanity
to follow the exa