The Guardian has also read with deep interest all the
enclosed papers. He is firmly convinced
that through perseverance and concerted action the cause of Peace will eventually
triumph over all the dark forces which threaten the welfare and progress of the
world today. But such purely human attempts are undoubtedly ineffective unless
inspired and guided by the power of faith. Without the assistance of God, as
given through the message of Bahá’u’lláh, peace can never be safely and
adequately established. To disregard the Bahá’í solution for world peace is to
build on foundations of sand. To accept and apply it is to make peace not a
mere dream, or an ideal, but a living reality. This is the point which the
Guardian wishes you to develop, to emphasize again and again, and to support by
convincing arguments. The Bahá’í peace
programme is, indeed, not only one way of attaining that goal. It is not even relatively the best. It is, in the last resort, the sole effective
instrument for the establishment of the reign of peace in this world. This
attitude does not involve any total repudiation of other solutions offered by
various philanthropists. It merely shows
their inadequacy compared to the Divine Plan for the unification of the
world. We cannot escape the truth that
nothing mundane can in the last resort be enduring, unless supported and
sustained through the power of God. - Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 25 September 1933
written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation:
‘Peace’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice,
Revised September 1990; Baha’i Reference Library of the Baha’i World Center)
