or to belittle
their significance. He can, if he be fair in his judgment, recognize in
the chain of events which proclaim on the one hand the irresistible march
of the institutions directly associated with the Revelation of Baha'u'llah
and foreshadow on the other the downfall of those powers and
principalities that have either ignored or opposed it--he can recognize in
them all evidences of the operation of God's all-pervasive Will, the
shaping of His perfectly ordered and world-embracing Plan.

"Soon," Baha'u'llah's own words proclaim it, "will the present day Order
be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord
speaketh the truth and is the Knower of things unseen." "By Myself," He
solemnly asserts, "the day is approaching when We will have rolled up the
world and all that is therein, and spread out a new Order in its stead.
He, verily, is powerful over all things." "The world's equilibrium," He
explains, "hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this Most
Great, this new World Order. Mankind's ordered life hath been
revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System,
the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed." "The signs of
impending convulsions and chaos," He warns the peoples of the world, "can
now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing Order appeareth to be
lamentably defective."

Dearly-beloved friends! This New World Order, whose promise is enshrined
in the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, whose fundamental principles have been
enunciated in the writings of the Center of His Covenant, involves no less
than the complete unification of the entire human race. This unification
should conform to such principles as would directly harmonize with the
spirit that animates, and the laws that govern the operation of, the
institutions that already constitute the structural basis of the
Administrative Order of His Faith.

No machinery falling short of the standard inculcated by the Baha'i
Revelation, and at variance with the sublime pattern ordained in His
teachings, which the collective efforts of mankind may yet devise can ever
hope to achieve anything above or beyond that "Lesser Peace" to which the
Author of our Faith has Himself alluded in His writings. "Now that ye have
refused the Most Great Peace," He, admonishing the kings and rulers of the
earth, has written, "hold ye fast unto this the Lesser Peace, that haply
ye may in some degree better your own condit