It is a characteristic of human groups that they cannot keep their foothold continuously on lofty moral heights through successive generations, but sooner or later sag and weaken. Religion, as the fountainhead of morals, advances but to decline and eventually exhaust itself. Hence inward renewal is needed, and hence new inspiration-bringing prophets must periodically appear. The task of a prophet today differs from the tasks of all other prophets who have hitherto appeared amongst mankind. For whereas they came for the benefit of some particular area or some definite race, he must come for the benefit of the whole world and all races. Where is the God-inspired soul who can inaugurate such a world-wide religion and who is conscious of being invested with such a divine world-encircling mission? We may search far and wide and yet find him not. Where is the beacon on the spiritual horizon? Where is the sign that humanity is about to witness the arisal of a prophet who will lead it out of this dangerous chaos? Where is the ground for hope that God-guided men will soon appear, ready to place their light and power at the service of their groping fellows? We must sadly confess that the sign is absent, the ground lacking. He who is to bring a new spiritual dispensation to humanity is still invisible. But his coming is certain. He will come to uplift the millions who have fallen into the abyss of despair, hopelessness, and misery. The war was an awakener. It is bad enough that we have forgotten our divine self. It is worse that we have forgotten that we have forgotten it. This is why the work of an awakener has to precede the work of a teacher. The proper time for the Messiah's appearance will be in the chaos after the third postwar period. For humanity must again go through the purifying and educative fire of wartime agonies. He will bear an unusual message and bear it personally to the whole world through travel--which no previous teacher has done, not even Bahaullah, who claimed to teach all nations.
-- Notebooks Category 13: Human Experience > Chapter 4 : World Crisis > # 317
