Dear and faithful friends of 'Abdu'l-Baha!
The welcome letter which the members of your Spiritual Assembly have sent me is indeed a fresh and remarkable testimony of your wise, patient and persistent efforts to promote the Cause of God and deepen its foundations in the heart of that great city.
All throughout the various vicissitudes which the Movement has encountered during this past year of bereavement and uncertainty, the faithful lovers of the Master in New York have, by their wisdom in teaching, the range and character of their activities, their perseverance in their labors and their unity in service, proved themselves worthy of the blessings which our beloved 'Abdu'l-Baha showered upon them during his repeated visits to their city. It is my earnest hope and prayer that now at this decisive hour of the Cause of God the friends may with clear vision and redoubled energy endeavor to deepen still further the essential truths of the Cause in their own lives, and then extend the sphere of their activity, endeavoring at all times to infuse the regenerating Spirit of Baha'u'llah into the divers communities, creeds and classes that are represented in that most cosmopolitan city of the American continent.
From the leaflets, the circular letter and the pamphlet enclosed in the letter of your Spiritual Assembly, I can see clearly how well you have undertaken the task of acquainting the intellectual and religious circles of your city with the Divine Teachings, how admirably you have co-ordinated your efforts for service and how beautifully you have immortalized the memory of the Beloved's sojourn in your midst.
As I have already intimated in my first letter to the National Spiritual Assembly, I shall be most pleased to receive from every Baha'i center throughout America regular and comprehensive reports on the position of the Cause and the activity of the friends. These I shall gladly transmit to the friends throughout the East, who in their present hour of restlessness and turmoil will, I am sure, be cheered to hear of the steady and peaceful growth of the Cause in your land. I have already shared the news you have conveyed to me with the resident friends in the Holy Land, and shall soon, by the aid of the Spiritual Assembly of Haifa, send them to the believers throughout the East.
Our departed Master, whose Call first awakened that city, who later visited it and with his own hands watered its soil, and who to his last hour bestowed his tenderest care upon it, is now, as ever before, watching from his Station on High the progress of the work which he has entrusted to you, his beloved children, ready to bless, guide and strengthen you in your efforts to achieve success for his Cause.
Awaiting your joyful news, and wishing you from all my heart the highest success in all your endeavors,
I am your devoted brother,
(Signed) Shoghi
Haifa, Palestine,
February 3, 1923
(Shoghi Effendi, Star of the West, Vol. 14, April 1923)
