Such an examination will focus attention on the power that has made it possible for Bahá’í unity to be achieved, consolidated and maintained. “The light of men,” Bahá’u’lláh says, “is Justice.” Its purpose, He adds, “is the appearance of unity among men. The ocean of divine wisdom surgeth within this exalted word”.(117) The designation “Houses of Justice” given to the institutions that will govern the World Order He conceived, at local, national and international levels, reflects the centrality of this principle in the teachings of the Revelation and the life of the Cause. As the Bahá’í community becomes an increasingly familiar participant in the life of society, its experience will offer ever more encouraging evidence of this crucial law in healing the countless ills which, in the final analysis, are the consequences of the disunity afflicting the human family. “Know thou, of a truth,” Bahá’u’lláh explains, “these great oppressions that have befallen the world are preparing it for the advent of the Most Great Justice.”(118) Clearly, that culminating stage in the evolution of human society will take place in a world very different from the one we know today. IX The immediate effect of the winning of the Ten Year Crusade and the establishment of the Universal House of Justice was to give a powerful impetus to the advance of the Cause. This time the progress—which affected virtually every aspect of Bahá’í life—took the form of long-range developments that are best appreciated when the entire period since 1963 is viewed as a whole. During these crucial thirty-seven years the work proceeded rapidly forward along two parallel tracks: the expansion and consolidation of the Bahá’í community itself and, along with it, a dramatic rise in the influence the Faith came to exercise in the life of society. While the range of Bahá’í activities greatly diversified, most such efforts tended to contribute directly to one or other of the two main developments.