July 11, 1912 Known by deeds; pure sacrifice

New York: Reconciliation of "contradictory" statements; work as worship; deeds; analogy of telegraph stations

I hope that the dates are now lining up. Mahmud wrote: "After the morning obligatory prayers and meditation, many came to see `Abdu'l-Bahá. Those with special petitions and seekers visited Him in His room. He then went into the sitting room and spoke to the visitors regarding the insincere faith and blind imitation of people of various religions and their branches, about the ultimate purpose of the Prophets and the penetrating influence of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh. Before the meeting ended He was asked how to reconcile two contradictory statements in the writings: that detachment from worldly affairs is enjoined and that it is incumbent upon all to engage in a trade or profession. `Are not these commandments contradictory?' The Master replied:

In the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh it is obligatory for the individual to engage in a trade or profession. For instance, I know mat weaving and you know another trade. The service we perform is equivalent to worship if we perform it with truth and trustworthiness; it is a cause of human advancement. If the heart is not bound and attached to the world, if it is unaffected by the vicissitudes of life, unhampered by worldly wealth from serving humanity and not dejected because of poverty, then this is a human perfection. Otherwise, to profess generosity if one is poor, or justice when one is powerless to extend it, is easy enough, but this will not establish one's spiritual education and awareness.

Another asked that if, after the Master left, some of the believers considered themselves superior to others, how they could be known. The Master replied:

I have already spoken about this matter. You should, according to the saying of Christ, recognize them by their deeds. Those who relate themselves to me will be known by their deeds."

Eliane Lacroix-Hopson offers different details in 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York:

`Abdu'l-Bahá with the Kinney family 

 "On June 11, after morning prayers and tea, 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke to the assembled friends about the role of the future House of Justice which will ensure the continuity of the Faith. Later that day, He gave two talks at His home and received the usual stream of visitors. Juliet noticed how tired He looked, still talking to all: "It was pure sacrifice!"

      That very night at the home of the Kinneys, there was a Board of Council [precursors of today's Local Spiritual Assemblies] meeting. The Master came and "striding up and down like a king, He explained the meaning of Bahá'í Assemblies to the friends, inspiring them to become 'telegraphic stations…one of the wires attached to the souls, the other fixed in the Supreme Concourse.' "

Juliet, writing on the 12th, had this version: "That night there was a meeting at the Kinneys', one of those deadly "Board meetings," but the Master came to it. Striding up and down like a king, He spoke to us. In these meetings, He said, we should be in connection with the Supreme Concourse. Between the Supreme Concourse and us there should be telegraphic communication, one end of the wire in the breast of each one here and the other in that Concourse on high, so that all we might say or do would be inspired."

I LOVE the analogy of the telegraphic station and two-way wires--and He uses this in other instances, such as in a Tablet to Sarah Farmer. It suggests a human capacity far greater than what we typically know/use.  Perhaps this is closer to the Aboriginal use of the intuition--or the mystic sense of communion. At any rate, we know the Master had and used this capacity--maybe in today's jargon we would say superpower. 

Along with this capacity, I wish I had three other "superpowers": time travel, embodying someone else in another time (like Juliet Thompson), and finding lost things.  Who knows what we could develop if we only take the Master's guidance to heart! The Supreme Concourse, I think, must become more "real" to us if we are to connect our "wires" to it, and the "souls" as well.  Of course, now we would think of these connections as wireless!