war, of the
difficulties of travel, of huge expenditures, of the loss of life, of the
affliction of women, of the great number of orphans, and they are driven
by force to peace. But this peace is not permanent, it is temporary.

We hope that the power of the Word of God will establish a peace that
shall eternally remain effective and secure.

227: O YE ESTEEMED ONES WHO ARE PIONEERS AMONG THE ...

(75) O ye esteemed ones who are pioneers among the well-wishers of the
world of humanity!

The letters which ye sent during the war were not received, but a letter
dated February 11th, 1916, has just come to hand, and immediately an
answer is being written. Your intention deserves a thousand praises,
because you are serving the world of humanity, and this is conducive to
the happiness and welfare of all. This recent war has proved to the world
and the people that war is destruction while universal peace is
construction; war is death while peace is life; war is rapacity and
bloodthirstiness while peace is beneficence and humaneness; war is an
appurtenance of the world of nature while peace is of the foundation of
the religion of God; war is darkness upon darkness while peace is heavenly
light; war is the destroyer of the edifice of mankind while peace is the
everlasting life of the world of humanity; war is like a devouring wolf
while peace is like the angels of heaven; war is the struggle for
existence while peace is mutual aid and co-operation among the peoples of
the world and the cause of the good-pleasure of the True One in the
heavenly realm.

There is not one soul whose conscience does not testify that in this day
there is no more important matter in the world than that of universal
peace. Every just one bears witness to this and adores that esteemed
Assembly because its aim is that this darkness may be changed into light,
this bloodthirstiness into kindness, this torment into bliss, this
hardship into ease and this enmity and hatred into fellowship and love.
Therefore, the effort of those esteemed souls is worthy of praise and
commendation.

But the wise souls who are aware of the essential relationships emanating
from the realities of things consider that one single matter cannot, by
itself, influence the human reality as it ought and should, for until the
minds of men become united, no important matter can be accomplished. At
present universal peace is a matter of great importance, but unity of
consci