The Citadel of Faith
by
Shoghi Effendi
Page 36 of  157

To the matchless position achieved by so preeminent a president of the American Union, in a former period, at so critical a juncture in international affairs, must now be added the splendid initiative taken, in recent years by the American government, culminating in the birth of the successor of that League in San Francisco, and the establishment of its permanent seat in the city of New York. Nor can the preponderating influence exerted by this nation in the councils of the world, the prodigious economic and political power that it wields, the prestige it enjoys, the wealth of which it disposes, the idealism that animates its people, her magnificent contribution, as a result of her unparalleled productive power, for the relief of human suffering and the rehabilitation of peoples and nations, be overlooked in a survey of the position which she holds, and which distinguishes her from her sister nations in both the new and old worlds. (36:2)

TRIBULATIONS are Inevitable- Many and divers are the setbacks and reverses Which this nation, extolled so highly by 'Abdu'l-Baha, and occupying at present So unique a position among its fellow nations, must, alas, suffer. The road leading to its destiny is long, thorny and tortuous. The impact of various forces upon the structure and polity of that nation will be tremendous. Tribulations, on a scale unprecedented in its history, and calculated to Purge its institutions, to purify the hearts of its people, to fuse its Constituent elements, and to Weld it into one entity with its Sister nations in both hemispheres, are inevitable. (36:3)

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