what Shoghi Effendi termed
"the society-building power which their Faith possesses."(115) As the
Cause expands and the capacities latent in its Administrative Order become
ever more apparent, it will increasingly attract the attention of leaders
of thought, inspiring progressive minds with confidence that their ideals
are ultimately attainable. In Shoghi Effendi's words:

Leaders of religion, exponents of political theories, governors of human
institutions, who at present are witnessing with perplexity and dismay the
bankruptcy of their ideas, and the disintegration of their handiwork,
would do well to turn their gaze to the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, and to
meditate upon the World Order which, lying enshrined in His teachings, is
slowly and imperceptibly rising amid the welter and chaos of present-day
civilization.(116)

Such an examination will focus attention on the power that has made it
possible for Baha'i unity to be achieved, consolidated and maintained.
"The light of men," Baha'u'llah says, "is Justice." Its purpose, He adds,
"is the appearance of unity among men. The ocean of divine wisdom surgeth
within this exalted word".(117) The designation "Houses of Justice" given
to the institutions that will govern the World Order He conceived, at
local, national and international levels, reflects the centrality of this
principle in the teachings of the Revelation and the life of the Cause. As
the Baha'i community becomes an increasingly familiar participant in the
life of society, its experience will offer ever more encouraging evidence
of this crucial law in healing the countless ills which, in the final
analysis, are the consequences of the disunity afflicting the human
family. "Know thou, of a truth," Baha'u'llah explains, "these great
oppressions that have befallen the world are preparing it for the advent
of the Most Great Justice."(118) Clearly, that culminating stage in the
evolution of human society will take place in a world very different from
the one we know today.

IX

The immediate effect of the winning of the Ten Year Crusade and the
establishment of the Universal House of Justice was to give a powerful
impetus to the advance of the Cause. This time the progress--which affected
virtually every aspect of Baha'i life--took the form of long-range
developments that are best appreciated when the entire period since 1963
is viewed as a whole. During these crucial thirty-seven years the work
procee