'llah is love.
When you go to Green Acre, you must have infinite love for each other,
each preferring the other before himself. The people must be so attracted
to you that they will exclaim, "What happiness exists among you!" and will
see in your faces the lights of the Kingdom; then in wonderment they will
turn to you and seek the cause of your happiness. You must give the
message through action and deed, not alone by word. Word must be conjoined
with deed. You must love your friend better than yourself; yes, be willing
to sacrifice yourself. The Cause of Baha'u'llah has not yet appeared in
this country. I desire that you be ready to sacrifice everything for each
other, even life itself; then I will know that the Cause of Baha'u'llah
has been established. I will pray for you that you may become the cause of
upraising the lights of God. May everyone point to you and ask, "Why are
these people so happy?" I want you to be happy in Green Acre, to laugh,
smile and rejoice in order that others may be made happy by you. I will
pray for you.

5 July 1912
Talk at 309 West Seventy-eighth Street, New York

Notes by Howard MacNutt

Question: You have stated that we are living in a universal cycle, the
first Manifestation of which was Adam and the universal Manifestation of
which is Baha'u'llah. Does this imply that other universal cycles preceded
this one and that all traces of them have been effaced--cycles in which the
ultimate purpose was the divine spiritualization of man just as it is the
creative intention in this one?

The divine sovereignty is an ancient sovereignty, not an accidental
sovereignty.

If we imagine this world of existence has a beginning, we can say the
divine sovereignty is accidental--that is, there was a time when it did not
exist. A king without a kingdom is impossible. He cannot be without a
country, without subjects, without an army, without dominion, or he would
be without kingship. All these exigencies or requirements of sovereignty
must exist for a king. When they do exist, we can apply the word
sovereignty to him. Otherwise, his sovereignty is imperfect, incomplete.
If none of these conditions exists, sovereignty does not exist.

If we acknowledge that there is a beginning for this world of creation, we
acknowledge that the sovereignty of God is accidental--that is, we admit a
time when the reality of Divinity has been without dominion (lit.
"defeated"). The names and attributes of Di