I thank God that we are at one in this grand ideal, that my longings are also yours and that we work together in perfect unity. Today, upon the earth, one sees the sad spectacle of cruel war! Man slays his brother man for selfish gain, and to enlarge his territories! For this ignoble ambition hate has taken possession of his heart, and more and more blood is shed! Fresh battles are fought, the armies are increased, more cannon, more guns, more explosives of all kinds are sent out—so does bitterness and hate augment from day to day! But this assembly, thank God, longs only for peace and unity, and must work with heart and soul to bring about a better condition in the world. You who are the servants of God fight against oppression, hate and discord, so that wars may cease and God’s laws of peace and love may be established among men. Work! Work with all your strength, spread the Cause of the Kingdom among men; teach the self-sufficient to turn humbly towards God, the sinful to sin no more, and await with glad expectation the coming of the Kingdom. Love and obey your Heavenly Father, and rest assured that Divine help is yours. Verily I say unto you that you shall indeed conquer the world! Only have faith, patience and courage—this is but the beginning, but surely you will succeed, for God is with you! ON CALUMNY Monday, November 20th From the beginning of the world until the present time each ‘Manifestation’(12) sent from God has been opposed by an embodiment of the ‘Powers of Darkness’. This dark power has always endeavoured to extinguish the light. Tyranny has ever sought to overcome justice. Ignorance has persistently tried to trample knowledge underfoot. This has, from the earliest ages, been the method of the material world. In the time of Moses, Pharaoh set himself to prevent the Mosaic Light being spread abroad. In the day of Christ, Annas and Caiaphas inflamed the Jewish people against Him and the learned doctors of Israel joined together to resist His Power. All sorts of calumnies were circulated against Him. The Scribes and Pharisees conspired to make the people believe Him to be a liar, an apostate, and a blasphemer. They spread these slanders throughout the whole Eastern world against Christ, and caused Him to be condemned to a shameful death! In the case of Muḥammad also, the learned doctors of His day determined to extinguish the light of His influence. They tried by the power of the sword to prevent the spread of His teaching. In spite of all their efforts the Sun of Truth shone forth from the horizon. In every case the army of light vanquished the powers of darkness on the battlefield of the world, and the radiance of the Divine Teaching illumined the earth. Those who accepted the Teaching and worked for the Cause of God became luminous stars in the sky of humanity. Now, in our own day, history repeats itself.