, however, to assist the community to understand
the place and role of these national and local consultative bodies in the
framework of the Administrative Order created by Baha'u'llah and
elaborated in the provisions of the Master's Will and Testament. An
obstacle faced by a significant number of believers in this respect was
the unexamined assumption of many that the Cause was essentially a
"spiritual" association in which organization, while not necessarily
antithetical, did not constitute an inherent feature of the Divine
purpose. Emphasizing that the Kitab-i-Aqdas and the Will and Testament
"are not only complementary, but ... mutually confirm one another, and are
inseparable parts of one complete unit",(67) the Guardian invited the
believers to reflect deeply on a central truth of the Cause they had
embraced:

Few will fail to recognize that the Spirit breathed by Baha'u'llah upon
the world, and which is manifesting itself with varying degrees of
intensity through the efforts consciously displayed by His avowed
supporters and indirectly through certain humanitarian organizations, can
never permeate and exercise an abiding influence upon mankind unless and
until it incarnates itself in a visible Order, which would bear His name,
wholly identify itself with His principles, and function in conformity
with His laws.(68)

He went on to urge the Faith's followers to realize the essential
difference between the Cause of Baha'u'llah, whose Revealed Texts contain
detailed provisions for such an authoritative Order, and those preparatory
Revelations whose Scriptures had been largely silent on the administration
of affairs and on the interpretation of their Founders' intent. In the
words of Baha'u'llah: "The Prophetic Cycle hath, verily, ended. The
Eternal Truth is now come. He hath lifted up the Ensign of Power...."(69)
Unlike the Dispensations of the past, the Revelation of God to this age
has given birth, Shoghi Effendi said, to "a living organism", whose laws
and institutions constitute "the essentials of a Divine Economy", "a
pattern for future society", and "the one agency for the unification of
the world, and the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice
upon the earth".(70)

The friends should strive to appreciate, therefore, the Guardian urged,
that the Spiritual Assemblies they were painstakingly establishing
throughout the world were the forerunners of the local and national
"Houses of Justice" envi