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d'Acre.

GOOD IDEAS MUST BE CARRIED INTO ACTION

November 8th

All over the world one hears beautiful sayings extolled and noble precepts
admired. All men say they love what is good, and hate everything that is
evil! Sincerity is to be admired, whilst lying is despicable. Faith is a
virtue, and treachery is a disgrace to humanity. It is a blessed thing to
gladden the hearts of men, and wrong to be the cause of pain. To be kind
and merciful is right, while to hate is sinful. Justice is a noble quality
and injustice an iniquity. That it is one's duty to be pitiful and harm no
one, and to avoid jealousy and malice at all costs. Wisdom is the glory of
man, not ignorance; light, not darkness! It is a good thing to turn one's
face toward God, and foolishness to ignore Him. That it is our duty to
guide man upward, and not to mislead him and be the cause of his downfall.
There are many more examples like unto these.

But all these sayings are but words and we see very few of them carried
into the world of action. On the contrary, we perceive that men are
carried away by passion and selfishness, each man thinking only of what
will benefit himself even if it means the ruin of his brother. They are
all anxious to make their fortune and care little or nothing for the
welfare of others. They are concerned about their own peace and comfort,
while the condition of their fellows troubles them not at all.

Unhappily this is the road most men tread.

But Baha'is must not be thus; they must rise above this condition. Actions
must be more to them than words. By their actions they must be merciful
and not merely by their words. They must on all occasions confirm by their
actions what they proclaim in words. Their deeds must prove their
fidelity, and their actions must show forth Divine light.

Let your actions cry aloud to the world that you are indeed Baha'is, for
it is actions that speak to the world and are the cause of the progress of
humanity.

If we are true Baha'is speech is not needed. Our actions will help on the
world, will spread civilization, will help the progress of science, and
cause the arts to develop. Without action nothing in the material world
can be accomplished, neither can words unaided advance a man in the
spiritual Kingdom. It is not through lip-service only that the elect of
God have attained to holiness, but by patient lives of active service they
have brought light into the world.

Therefore