he world of humanity from the
imperfections which beset it and cause men to appear in the beauty of
heavenly perfections. Were it not for the coming of these holy
Manifestations of God all mankind would be found on the plane of the
animal. They would remain darkened and ignorant like those who have been
denied schooling and who never had a teacher or trainer. Undoubtedly such
unfortunates will continue in their condition of need and deprivation.

If the mountains, hills and plains of the material world are left wild and
uncultivated under the rule of nature, they will remain an unbroken
wilderness; no fruitful tree to be found anywhere upon them. A true
cultivator changes this forest and jungle into a garden, training its
trees to bring forth fruit and causing flowers to grow in place of thorns
and thistles. The holy Manifestations are the ideal gardeners of human
souls, the divine cultivators of human hearts. The world of existence is
but a jungle of disorder and confusion, a state of nature producing
nothing but fruitless, useless trees. The ideal gardeners train these wild
uncultivated human trees, cause them to become fruitful, water and
cultivate them day by day so that they adorn the world of existence and
continue to flourish in the utmost beauty.

Consequently we cannot say that the divine bounty has ceased, that the
glory of divinity is exhausted or the Sun of Truth sunk into eternal
sunset, into that darkness which is not followed by light, into that night
which is not followed by a sunrise and dawn, into that death which is not
followed by life, into that error which is not followed by truth. Is it
conceivable that the Sun of Reality should sink into an eternal darkness?
No! the sun was created in order that it may shed light upon the world and
train all the kingdoms of existence. How then can the ideal Sun of Truth,
the Word of God, set forever? For this would mean the cessation of the
divine bounty, and the divine bounty by its very nature is continuous and
ceaseless. Its sun is ever shining, its cloud is ever producing rain, its
breezes are ever blowing, its bestowals are all-comprehending, its gifts
are ever perfect. Consequently we must always anticipate, always be
hopeful and pray to God that he will send unto us his holy Manifestations
in their most perfect might, with the divine penetrative power of his
Word, so that these heavenly ones may be distinguished above all other
beings in every respect, in