uestion all over Africa
is very acute, but, while being wise and tactful, believers must realise
that their standard is far from that of the white colonials. They have not
gone there to uphold the white man's supremacy, but to give the Cause of
God to, primarily, the black man whose home is Africa.

Letter of 11 November 1951

11 November 1951

Many times the young Baha'is these days seem to be living the lives of
soldiers, and in a way the pioneers are the soldiers of Baha'u'llah, going
out to plant the banner of His dominion in far corners of the earth!

Letter of 5 October 1952

5 October 1952

What the Master meant in the words you quoted is simply that joy gives one
more freedom to create; if the Prophets, the Master Himself, and the
Guardian, had less problems and worries, They could give forth a great
deal more creatively to the Cause. When He said that "grow to be as a
fruitful tree" he meant that, by lifting burdens from the Guardian and
trying as much as possible to do our share of the work of the Faith, we
would help Shoghi Effendi to develop his full powers as Guardian and,
through the Covenant, the Cause would spread its shadow over all men. This
we have seen happen in the last 30 years, but that does not mean we must
not try to our utmost to help him by our lives and our services.

Teaching is an individual matter; one has to sense when it is right to go
further in revealing the Source of our Message; no rules exist, really,
for such things.

Letter of 3 March 1955

3 March 1955

As we almost never attain any spiritual goal without seeing the next goal
we must attain still beyond our reach, he urges you, who have come so far
already on the path of spirituality, not to fret about the distance you
still have to cover! It is an indefinite journey, and, no doubt in the
next world the soul is privileged to draw closer to God than is possible
when bound on this physical plane.

Letter of 6 March 1955

6 March 1955

As regards the questions you have asked, as Baha'u'llah says categorically
that God commanded Abraham to offer up Isma'il, as far as we are
concerned, it is Isma'il who was the intended sacrifice.

In view of the great antiquity of Genesis, it is quite possible that at
some period the names were changed, and the error was propagated.

Whatever happened, we Baha'is must follow the words in our own Scriptures
as being the most authentic.

In the Table