We must take the teachings as a great, balanced whole, not seek out and oppose to each other two strong statements that have different meanings; somewhere in between, there are links uniting the two. That is what makes our Faith so flexible and well balanced. For instance there are calamities for testing and for punishment--there are also accidents, plain cause and effect!
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 19 March 1946, written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, quoted in a Memorandum by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice dated 28 May 2002; Baha’i Library Online)
