From the beginning of His stupendous Mission, Baha'u'llah
urged upon the attention of nations the necessity of ordering human affairs in
such a way as to bring into being a world unified in all the essential aspects
of its life. In unnumbered verses and Tablets He repeatedly and variously
declared the 'progress of the world' and the 'development of nations' as being
among the ordinances of God for this day. The oneness of mankind, which is at
once the operating principle and ultimate goal of His Revelation, implies the
achievement of a dynamic coherence between the spiritual and practical
requirements of life on earth. The indispensability of this coherence is
unmistakably illustrated in His ordination of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, the
spiritual centre of every Baha'i community round which must flourish
dependencies dedicated to the social, humanitarian, educational and scientific
advancement of mankind.
(The Universal House of Justice, from a letter to the Bahá'ís of the World dated October 20, 1983;
compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
