doubt that this wonderful democracy will be able to realize
it, and the banner of international agreement will be unfurled here to
spread onward and outward among all the nations of the world. I give
thanks to God that I find you imbued with such susceptibilities and lofty
aspirations, and I hope that you will be the means of spreading this light
to all men. Thus may the Sun of Reality shine upon the East and West. The
enveloping clouds shall pass away, and the heat of the divine rays will
dispel the mist. The reality of man shall develop and come forth as the
image of God, his Creator. The thoughts of man shall take such upward
flight that former accomplishments shall appear as the play of children,
for the ideas and beliefs of the past and the prejudices regarding race
and religion have ever lowered and been destructive to human evolution. I
am most hopeful that in this century these lofty thoughts shall be
conducive to human welfare. Let this century be the sun of previous
centuries, the effulgences of which shall last forever, so that in times
to come they shall glorify the twentieth century, saying the twentieth
century was the century of lights, the twentieth century was the century
of life, the twentieth century was the century of international peace, the
twentieth century was the century of divine bestowals, and the twentieth
century has left traces which shall last forever.

19 May 1912
Talk at Church of the Divine Paternity
Central Park West, New York

Notes by Esther Foster

Religions are many, but the reality of religion is one. The days are many,
but the sun is one. The fountains are many, but the fountainhead is one.
The branches are many, but the tree is one.

The foundation of the divine religions is reality; were there no reality,
there would be no religions. Abraham heralded reality. Moses promulgated
reality. Christ established reality. Muhammad was the Messenger of
reality. The Bab was the door of reality. Baha'u'llah was the splendor of
reality. Reality is one; it does not admit multiplicity or division.
Reality is as the sun, which shines forth from different dawning points;
it is as the light, which has illumined many lanterns.

Therefore, if the religions investigate reality and seek the essential
truth of their own foundations, they will agree and no difference will be
found. But inasmuch as religions are submerged in dogmatic imitations,
forsaking the original foundations, and as