One of the believers asked how we could cut our hearts from the world, and 'Abdu'l-Baha answered:
“If your hearts are turned always toward God, and filled with the love of God, that love will separate them from all other things, that love will be the wall that will come between them and every other desire. You must all be joined one to another in heart and soul, then you will be prospered in your work and gain ever greater gifts, and the Cause of God will be spread through all the countries by your means. Remember what Christ said; you have taken the gifts of God without money and without price; so also you must freely give. This command shows too that all these gifts are sent to you by the free generosity of your God and not on account of any merit on your part, and you must rejoice greatly in the loving mercy of your God upon you and all. For all will taste of these free gifts before long. They will come from the East and from the West to the Kingdom of God; and even as Christ has foretold this also has come to pass, that some of those who are nearest are cut off, whilst those from a far distance receive these great gifts.” (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha quoted by May Maxwell in ‘An Early Pilgrimage’, 1898)