…among the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is that religion must be
the cause of fellowship and love. If it becomes the cause of estrangement then
it is not needed, for religion is like a remedy; if it aggravates the disease
then it becomes unnecessary. 
… the institution of the Hazíratu'l-Quds—the seat of the
Bahá'í National Assembly and pivot of all Bahá'í administrative activity in
future—must rank as one of the most important. Originating first in Persia, now
universally known by its official and distinctive title signifying “the Sacred
Fold,” ... this institution, still in the early stages of its development, has
already lent its share to the consolidation of the internal functions of the
organic Bahá'í community, and provided a further visible evidence of its steady
growth and rising power. Complementary in its functions to those of the
Mashriqu'l-Adhkár—an edifice exclusively reserved for Bahá'í worship—this
institution, whether local or national, will, as its component parts, such as
the Secretariat, the Treasury, the Archives, the Library, the Publishing
Office, the Assembly Hall, the Council Chamber, the Pilgrims' Hostel, are
brought together and made jointly to operate in one spot, be increasingly
regarded as the focus of all Bahá'í administrative activity, and symbolize, in
a befitting manner, the ideal of service animating the Bahá'í community in its
relation alike to the Faith and to mankind in general.
Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to
embrace the truth of this Cause--a Cause through which the potentialities of
the might of God have been revealed, and His sovereignty established. With
faces beaming with joy, hasten ye unto Him. This is the changeless Faith of
God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future.
Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may
unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its
depths.
Wherever a Bahá'í community exists, whether large or small,
let it be distinguished for its abiding sense of security and faith, its high
standard of rectitude, its complete freedom from all forms of prejudice, the
spirit of love among its members and for the closely knit fabric of its social
life.
The aim should always be so to educate the friends during
the year that they consider their participation in Bahá'í elections not only as
a right they exercise, but as a spiritual obligation which, when discharged in
the proper Bahá'í spirit, contributes to the health and growth of the Bahá'í
community.
• God’s “grace encompasseth all”
... O my brother, when a true seeker determineth to take the
step of search in the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he
must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart, which is the seat of the
revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all
acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. He
must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the
Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to
water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments. He must so cleanse
his heart that no remnant of either love or hate may linger therein, lest that
love blindly incline him to error, or that hate repel him away from the truth.
Even as thou dost witness in this day how most of the people, because of such
love and hate, are bereft of the immortal Face, have strayed far from the
Embodiments of the divine mysteries, and, shepherdless, are roaming through the
wilderness of oblivion and error. That seeker must at all times put his trust
in God, must renounce the peoples of the earth, detach himself from the world
of dust, and cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords. He must never seek to
exalt himself above any one, must wash away from the tablet of his heart every
trace of pride and vainglory, must cling unto patience and resignation, observe
silence, and refrain from idle talk. For the tongue is a smouldering fire, and
excess of speech a deadly poison. Material fire consumeth the body, whereas the
fire of the tongue devoureth both heart and soul. The force of the former
lasteth but for a time, whilst the effects of the latter endure a century.
Be not neglectful of obligatory prayer and fasting. He who
faileth to observe them hath not been nor will ever be acceptable in the sight
of God. Follow ye wisdom under all conditions. He, verily, hath bidden all to
observe that which hath been and will be of profit to them. He, in truth, is
the All-Sufficing, the Most High.
Thou has asked concerning the spirit and its immortality
after its departure. Know thou that at the time of its translation it ascends
and ascends until it reaches the presence of God, clothed in a temple (body)
which will not become subject to the changes wrought by ages and cycles, nor by
the contingencies of the world, nor the emanations thereof.
He was formally designated Bahá'u'lláh, an appellation
specifically recorded in the Persian Bayan, signifying at once the glory, the
light and the splendor of God, and was styled
Upon our efforts depends in very large measure the fate of
humanity. The hundred years' respite having ended, the struggle between the
forces of darkness -- man's lower nature -- and the rising sun of the Divine
teachings which draw him on to his true station, intensifies day by day.
The recrudescence of religious intolerance, of racial
animosity, and of patriotic arrogance; the increasing evidences of selfishness,
of suspicion, of fear and of fraud; the spread of terrorism, of lawlessness, of
drunkenness and of crime; the unquenchable thirst for, and the feverish pursuit
after, earthly vanities, riches and pleasures; the weakening of family
solidarity; the laxity in parental control; the lapse into luxurious
indulgence; the irresponsible attitude towards marriage and the consequent
rising tide of divorce; the degeneracy of art and music, the infection of
literature, and the corruption of the press; the extension of the influence and
activities of those "prophets of decadence" who advocate companionate
marriage, who preach the philosophy of nudism, who call modesty an intellectual
fiction, who refuse to regard the procreation of children as the sacred and
primary purpose of marriage, who denounce religion as an opiate of the people,
who would, if given free rein, lead back the human race to barbarism, chaos,
and ultimate extinction — these appear as the outstanding characteristics of a
decadent society, a society that must either be reborn or perish.
"The principle of the Oneness of Mankind" he [Shoghi
Effendi] writes, "implies an organic change in the structure of
present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced."
Referring to the "epoch-making changes that constitute the greatest
landmarks in the history of human civilization," he states that "...
they cannot but appear, when viewed in their proper perspective, except as
subsidiary adjustments precluding that transformation of unparalleled majesty
and scope which humanity is in this age bound to undergo." In a later
document he refers to the civilization to be established by Bahá'u'lláh as one
"with a fullness of life such as the world has never seen nor can as yet
conceive."