November 22, 1912

New York: Outpouring of bounties; harmfulness of prejudice . . . 

Mahmud writes: "The Master spent the morning until noon at His residence. In the afternoon He went to a gathering at the home of Mrs Krug. The meeting with such eager friends was very enjoyable. A feature of the afternoon was the visit from a Christian minister. He was a just and fair-minded man who visited with the Master before the meeting in a separate room. His first question to the Master was, `What are the new teachings in this Cause?' The Master replied, `The fundamental principles of all religions are one. They are unchangeable and do not differ. This is what Christ meant when He said, "I am not come to destroy the law of the Torah but to promote it."'

The minister: `Yes, I understand. Do you mean that at the beginning the followers of all the religions were pure and undefiled but grew polluted and negligent?'

The Master: `If there is no change or alteration, then there is no renewal. Not until night falls will a new day dawn. If the religion of Moses had not changed, Christ would not have appeared.'

The minister: `Thank you, I understand this well. Now tell me, will there be another cycle after this Bahá'í cycle.'

The Master: `The sovereignty of God has no beginning and no end and the outpouring of His bounties is endless.'

The minister said, with relief, `Now my doubts are wholly removed with nothing left but certainty.'

He was so sincere and humble that the Master was pleased with him and said, `I wanted to give detailed answers to each of your questions but you quickly realized the outcome of each answer right from the beginning. Thus must a person have aptitude and a pure motive.'

Appearing at the meeting, the Master held the minister's hand and praised him very highly as an example of justice. To the friends He said: `Beware, beware lest you follow your prejudices and selfish interests. You must always be just in all matters and investigate the truth.'

This evening in similar language the Master vividly described the harmfulness of prejudice, alienation and disunity and the advantages of love and friendship, concluding with strong appeals to the friends to propagate the guidance given by God and to associate in a spirit of love and kindness with all denominations and the servants of God."

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These final-ish thoughts seem to be clearer and more succinct on the part of the Master.  We can think about how to remove our own doubts and embrace all of the current guidance, to eliminate our own prejudices and associate in a spirit of love--all this is more powerful than we can imagine, we who practice our faith imperfectly.  Yet, over and over, He told us and showed us. Perhaps our passion for Him will yet evoke our highest faith and action. . . .