Thou didst begin thy letter with a blessed phrase, saying:
'I am a Christian.' O would that all were truly Christian! It is easy to be a
Christian on the tongue, but hard to be a true one. Today some five hundred
million souls are Christian, but the real Christian is very rare: he is that
soul from whose comely face there shineth the splendour of Christ, and who
showeth forth the perfections of the Kingdom; this is a matter of great moment,
for to be a Christian is to embody every excellence there is. I hope that thou,
too, shalt become a true Christian. Praise thou God that at last, through the
divine teachings, thou hast obtained both sight and insight to the highest
degree, and hast become firmly rooted in certitude and faith. It is my hope
that others as well will achieve illumined eyes and hearing ears, and attain to
everlasting life: that these many rivers, each flowing along in diverse and
separated beds, will find their way back to the circumambient sea, and merge
together and rise up in a single wave of surging oneness; that the unity of
truth, through the power of God, will make these illusory differences to vanish
away. This is the one essential: for if unity be gained, all other problems
will disappear of themselves.
- ‘Abdu'l-Baha (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu'l-Baha)
