May 11, 1912

           All right!  [twenty-first century inflection]   Washington, D.C. to New York again

Today, in 1912, the Master left D.C. to return to New York.  How exciting it must have been for those awaiting Him there. 

Mahmud writes: "The Master made preparations to leave for New York. Some people who had not been able to see Him previously came to visit and He spoke to them about His journey and the spreading of universal peace, which is one of the commandments of Bahá'u'lláh.

`Abdu'l-Bahá left for the railway station, where several believers were waiting to bid Him farewell. They were down-hearted at being separated from their Beloved, who had showered them with such kindness and blessings. [Agnes Parsons notes that the carriage to take the Master to the station did not reach His apartment in time, so He missed the train. But later she was told that a man who had refused the teaching earlier had met Him and had a long, interesting talk. Fate perhaps?]

In New York, the friends who were waiting for the Master took Him to the Hudson building on Riverside Drive where He was to stay. [Hudson Apartment House, 227 Riverside Drive, NY.  Juliet Thompson notes that a few were gathered in His rooms to prepare them for Him and fill the room with flowers: May Maxwell, Lua Getsinger, Carrie Kenney, Kate Ives, Grace Robarts, Mr. Mills, Mr. Woodcock and herself.  "His flat is on one of the top stories, so that its windows frame the sky." DJT 282]  He said to them:

We went to Chicago and Washington and now we have come back again. Time passed very pleasantly. The people of America are highly accomplished. They desire to acquire understanding and they wish to make progress. When one sees a tree growing, one should feel hopeful that it will give flowers and bring forth fruits. People asked questions and on hearing the answers they contended no more. Most of the ministers who came would express agreement. Those who asked us questions on important topics were delighted on hearing the answers. The religious leaders of other countries are not so inclined but are more bent on contention. We met very good ministers in Chicago. Some invited us to their churches and we had lengthy conversations with them. One of them, Dr Milburn, invited us to supper at his home. My purpose in mentioning all this is to convey that all showed agreement and acceptance.

Just yesterday we spoke in Washington with a number of notable persons, judges, and also a friend of Roosevelt. [Roosevelt had been president from 1901–09; Taft was currently president.]  As we were talking about the unifying influence of different religions, and concord among nations, this friend said that Christ was a source of differences. But when we explained to him the coming together of different nations under the canopy of the word of Christ, he smiled and accepted the point. Others, too, expressed great delight. When I asked him if he had any other question or objection, he replied that he had none at all. When asked if he accepted all these statements, he said, `All right.'

     When the Master spoke the words `all right' in English, the friends were amused and a ripple of laughter went around the room. He then spoke on the unification of the blacks and whites of America.

That evening at a public reception at His home, `Abdu'l-Bahá spoke about the divine favors bestowed on the people of Bahá and encouraged the friends to be grateful for such bestowals and blessings."


Allan Ward quotes `Abdu'l-Bahá reviewing His time in Washington, with this tidbit at the end: ". . . We called a meeting of the colored and white people. The attendance was very large, the colored people predominating. At our second gathering this was reversed but at the third meeting we were unable to say which color predominated. These meetings were a great practical lesson upon the unity of colors and races. . . ." (65–66)

Juliet's description of her reunion with the Master is more effusive than Mahmud's or Ward's account:

"About five o'clock He came. Oh the coming of that Presence! If only I could convey to the future the mighty commotion of it! The hearts almost suffocate with joy, the eyes burn with tears at the stir of that step! It is futile to try to express it. Sometimes when the sun breaks through clouds and spreads a great fiery glow, I get something of that feeling.
After greeting us all the Master took a seat by the window and began to talk to us, with supreme love and gladness, wittily, tenderly, eloquently, carrying us up as if on wings to the apex of sublime feeling, so that we wept; then turning our tears to sudden little ripples of laughter as an unexpected gleam of wit flashed out; then melting our hearts with His yearning affection.
     He had been horrified in Washington by the prejudice against the Negroes. "What does it matter," He asked, "if the skin of a man is black, white, yellow, pink, or green? In this respect the animals show more intelligence than man. Black sheep and white sheep, white doves and blue do not quarrel because of difference of colour."

Lua Getsinger

     Lua, May, and I, for the first time together in the Glory of His Presence, sat on the floor in a corner, gazing through tears at Him and whenever we could wrench our eyes from the sorrowful beauty of His face, silhouetted against the sky, gazing at one another, still through tears.
     Day after day I was with Him there. Lua and I had permission to be always with Him. I would go to His apartment in the early morning and stay through the whole day and again and again He would call me to His Presence.

May Maxwell

     "My Lord," I said once, "I really shouldn't take Your time. I don't want to take Your time. I am only too thankful to be here, serving at a distance, somewhere in Your atmosphere."
     "I know you are content with whatever I do, therefore I send for you, Juliet," He replied." (284–85)

Oh, for the intimacy of that connection!  I sometimes think of Juliet, Lua, and May as three graces circling around Him.  Which one would I have rather been? It is hard to say, but I lean toward Juliet.  The idea is as preposterous as my crush (some years ago) on Thomas Breakwell. How can we ever compare or link ourselves to the early believers? Thomas wanted to suffer more in the pathway; I yearn to suffer less!  Vain imaginings--to think we might be worthy of being in their company in any way. And yet, surely they circle around us, yearning to assist and inspire us! 

Juliet describes the fresh breeze blowing in through the window in `Abdu'l-Bahá's room.  I can almost feel it--can you? 

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Lua taught the Faith to May, who in turn taught Laura Barney, Hippolyte Dreyfus, Juliet, Agnes Alexander, and a host of others.  How sweet it must have been for Lua, May, and Juliet to assemble in NY in the Master's room!

May was on that first pilgrimage to Akka, in 1899, and had written: 

"Of that first meeting I can remember neither joy nor pain nor anything that I can name. I had been carried suddenly to too great a height; my soul had come in contact with the Divine Spirit; and this force 

so pure, so holy, so mighty had overwhelmed me. . . . And when He arose and suddenly left us we came back with a start to life: but never again, oh! never again, thank God, to the same life on this earth! ... As we gazed on Him I realized that we could in no way comprehend Him; we could only love Him, follow Him, obey Him and thereby draw nearer to His beauty. . . . When He had finished speaking we were led gently away ... and for a moment it seemed that we were dying . . . until, as we drove away . . . suddenly His spirit came to us, a great strength and tranquillity filled our souls. . . . We had left our Beloved in His glorious prison that we might go forth and serve Him; that we might spread His Cause and deliver His Truth to the world; and already His words were fulfilled—'The time has come when we must part, but the separation is only of our bodies; in spirit we are united forever.'"  

Paris Group 1901 (Thomas Breakwell seated in center with May to his left, wearing veil)

Now here she was in NY with Him!  We all are, in a sense . . .