mankind, has sent forth His Prophets as the Bearers of His
Message and the Manifestations of His Light to mankind, cannot at this
critical period of their civilization withhold from His children the
Guidance which they sorely need amid the darkness which has beset them,
and which neither the light of science nor that of human intellect and
wisdom can succeed in dissipating. And thus having recognized in
Baha'u'llah the source whence this celestial light proceeds, they will
irresistibly feel attracted to seek the shelter of His House, and
congregate therein, unhampered by ceremonials and unfettered by creed, to
render homage to the one true God, the Essence and Orb of eternal Truth,
and to exalt and magnify the name of His Messengers and Prophets Who, from
time immemorial even unto our day, have, under divers circumstances and in
varying measure, mirrored forth to a dark and wayward world the light of
heavenly Guidance.

But however inspiring the conception of Baha'i worship, as witnessed in
the central Edifice of this exalted Temple, it cannot be regarded as the
sole, nor even the essential, factor in the part which the
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, as designed by Baha'u'llah, is destined to play in
the organic life of the Baha'i community. Divorced from the social,
humanitarian, educational and scientific pursuits centering around the
Dependencies of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar, Baha'i worship, however exalted
in its conception, however passionate in fervor, can never hope to achieve
beyond the meagre and often transitory results produced by the
contemplations of the ascetic or the communion of the passive worshiper.
It cannot afford lasting satisfaction and benefit to the worshiper
himself, much less to humanity in general, unless and until translated and
transfused into that dynamic and disinterested service to the cause of
humanity which it is the supreme privilege of the Dependencies of the
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar to facilitate and promote. Nor will the exertions,
no matter how disinterested and strenuous, of those who within the
precincts of the Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar will be engaged in administering
the affairs of the future Baha'i Commonwealth, fructify and prosper unless
they are brought into close and daily communion with those spiritual
agencies centering in and radiating from the central Shrine of the
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar. Nothing short of direct and constant interaction
between the spiritual forces emanating from this