o the uttermost, must allow nothing
whatsoever to deflect him or her from meeting the pressing, the manifold,
the paramount needs of this preeminent Crusade.

"Light as the spirit," "pure as air," "blazing as fire," "unrestrained as
the wind"--for such is Baha'u'llah's own admonition to His loved ones in
His Tablets, and directed not to a select few but to the entire
congregation of the faithful--let them scatter far and wide, proclaim the
glory of God's Revelation in this Day, quicken the souls of men and ignite
in their hearts the love of the One Who alone is their omnipotent and
divinely appointed Redeemer.

Bracing the fearful cold of the Arctic regions and the enervating heat of
the torrid zone; heedless of the hazards, the loneliness and the austerity
of the deserts, the far-away islands and mountains wherein they will be
called upon to dwell; undeterred by the clamor which the exponents of
religious orthodoxy are sure to raise, or by the restrictive measures
which political leaders may impose; undismayed by the smallness of their
numbers and the multitude of their potential adversaries; armed with the
efficacious weapons their own hands have slowly and laboriously forged in
anticipation of this glorious and inevitable encounter with the organized
forces of superstition, of corruption and of unbelief; placing their whole
trust in the matchless potency of Baha'u'llah's teachings, in the
all-conquering power of His might and the infallibility of His glorious
and oft-repeated promises, let them press forward, each according to his
strength and resources, into the vast arena now lying before them, and
which, God willing, will witness, in the years immediately lying ahead,
such exhibitions of prowess and of heroic self-sacrifice as may well
recall the superb feats achieved by that immortal band of God-intoxicated
heroes who have so immeasurably enriched the annals of the Christian, the
Islamic and Babi Dispensations.

On the members of the American Baha'i Community, the envied custodians of
a Divine Plan, the principal builders and defenders of a mighty Order and
the recognized champions of an unspeakably glorious and precious Faith, a
peculiar and inescapable responsibility must necessarily rest. Through
their courage, their self-abnegation, their fortitude and their
perseverance; through the range and quality of their achievements, the
depth of their consecration, their initiative and resourcefulness, their
organiz