There is no time to lose. The task, though prodigious, is not beyond the capacity of those, who, in so short a time, in such distant fields, over so wide an area, and in the midst of a people so alien in temperament, language and custom, have won such conspicuous victories for their beloved Faith, and laid so enduring a foundation for its nascent institutions.
This gallant community is now summoned to undertake, further afield and in circumstances admittedly more adverse and challenging, a task infinitely more meritorious, and considerably richer in its potentialities. To fail, at this critical juncture to rise to the height of the occasion, would jeopardize the colossal work so painstakingly achieved in the course of many long years, and irretrievably shatter the hopes for the early opening of the third and most shining phase of the Divine Plan,—a stage whose completion must mark the closing of the initial Epoch in the Plan’s progressive unfoldment.
May this community, faithful to its pledge and obedient to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s mandate, arise as one man and carry out, in its entirety and within the stipulated time, the task on which it has so spontaneously embarked.
October 5, 1946
THE FORCES MYSTERIOUSLY RELEASED
The opening year of the second Seven Year Plan so auspiciously inaugurated is half spent. The entire American Bahá’í Community, galvanized through fuller perception of the progressive unfoldment of its glorious destiny, is geared to a higher speed of organized activity, and uplifted to a new level of collective achievement. The forces mysteriously released, designed to direct the operation and stimulate the processes to insure the consummation of the second stage of the Divine Plan, are inconceivably potent. Full, rapid use of these forces, by an organized community alive to the sublimity of its mission, is imperative. The manifold agencies, local, regional, national and intercontinental, directly responsible for prosecution of the Plan are now called upon to achieve, in their respective spheres, ere termination of this current year, successes so conspicuous as shall immeasurably fortify hopes of winning, within the stipulated time, a total, decisive victory. An immediate notable increase in the number of pioneers, particularly for the newly-opened transatlantic field of service, is the supreme necessity of this challenging hour. The present trickle must at all costs swell into a steady flow of consecrated settlers and itinerant teachers, who, mindful of the Master’s poignant plea, careless of their limited resources, undismayed by the somber international outlook, undeterred by the formidable character of the tasks undertaken or by the obstacles to be surmounted, will, in both the administrative and teaching spheres, arise to accomplish feats outshining the exploits immortalizing the record of American Bahá’í stewardship in both continents of the New World since the inception of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Divine Plan. May the months immediately ahead be productive of results exceeding my fondest expectations.
Cablegram October 7, 1946