glamor of the still more recent and glorious adventure
embarked upon across the Atlantic, within a turbulent, politically
convulsed, economically disrupted and spiritually depleted continent, dim,
in however small a measure, the radiance, or detract from the urgency, of
the magnificent enterprises, whose first fruits in Latin America are only
beginning to mature, in direct consequence of the initial operation of the
Plan bequeathed by 'Abdu'l-Baha to the American believers.

To the vital requirements of this Plan, at so critical a juncture, both in
the fortunes of mankind in general, and of the Plan itself, to which
detailed reference has been made in a previous communication, I need not
again refer. All I desire to emphasize is my fervent plea, addressed to
both the administrators who, as the elected representatives of the
community must devise the plans, coordinate the activities, and direct the
agencies of a continually expanding community, and to those whose
privilege it is to labor, at home and abroad, to insure the effective
prosecution of these sacred tasks, to realize the propitiousness of the
present hour, recognize its urgency, meet its challenge and appreciate its
unique potentialities. As the international situation worsens, as the
fortunes of mankind sink to a still lower ebb, the momentum of the Plan
must be further accelerated, and the concerted exertions of the community
responsible for its execution rise to still higher levels of consecration
and heroism. As the fabric of present-day society heaves and cracks under
the strain and stress of portentous events and calamities, as the
fissures, accentuating the cleavage separating nation from nation, class
from class, race from race, and creed from creed, multiply, the
prosecutors of the Plan must evince a still greater cohesion in their
spiritual lives and administrative activities, and demonstrate a higher
standard of concerted effort, of mutual assistance, and of harmonious
development in their collective enterprises.

Then, and only then, will the reaction to the stupendous forces, released
through the operation of a divinely conceived, divinely impelled Plan, be
made apparent, and the fairest fruit of the weightiest spiritual
enterprise launched in recorded history under the aegis of the Center of
the Covenant of Baha'u'llah be garnered.

[October 25, 1947]

RECOGNITION OF PREEMINENT SERVICES

Highly gratified at unceasing, compelling evid