he loins of their endeavor, flee
their native towns, cities, and states, forsake their country, and,
"putting their whole trust in God as the best provision for their
journey," set their faces, and direct their steps towards those distant
climes, those virgin fields, those unsurrendered cities, and bend their
energies to capture the citadels of men's hearts--hearts, which, as
Baha'u'llah has written, "the hosts of Revelation and of utterance can
subdue." Let them not tarry until such time as their fellow-laborers will
have passed the first stage in their campaign of teaching, but let them
rather, from this very hour, arise to usher in the opening phase of what
will come to be regarded as one of the most glorious chapters in the
international history of their Faith. Let them, at the very outset, "teach
their own selves, that their speech may attract the hearts of their
hearers." Let them regard the triumph of their Faith as their "supreme
objective." Let them not "consider the largeness or smallness of the
receptacle" that carries the measure of grace that God poureth forth in
this age. Let them "disencumber themselves of all attachment to this world
and the vanities thereof," and, with that spirit of detachment which
'Abdu'l-Baha exemplified and wished them to emulate, bring these
diversified peoples and countries to the remembrance of God and His
supreme Manifestation. Let His love be a "storehouse of treasure for their
souls," on the day when "every pillar shall tremble, when the very skins
of men shall creep, when all eyes shall stare up with terror." Let their
"souls be aglow with the flame of the undying Fire that burneth in the
midmost heart of the world, in such wise that the waters of the universe
shall be powerless to cool down its ardor." Let them be "unrestrained as
the wind" which "neither the sight of desolation nor the evidences of
prosperity can either pain or please." Let them "unloose their tongues and
proclaim unceasingly His Cause." Let them "proclaim that which the Most
Great Spirit will inspire them to utter in the service of the Cause of
their Lord." Let them "beware lest they contend with anyone, nay strive to
make him aware of the truth with kindly manner and most convincing
exhortation." Let them "wholly for the sake of God proclaim His Message,
and with that same spirit accept whatever response their words may evoke
in their hearers." Let them not, for one moment, forget that the "Faithful
Spirit