August 22: [How did I miss a day?] Green Acre; harvests reaped from seed sowing; heavenly blessings
Mahmud writes: "So many assembled this morning in the Master's home that there was no room to stand. The Master said that it was not possible to speak to each individually, therefore He stood in front of the group and spoke about the teachings and divine exhortations. At one point He said, `I hope that harvests will be reaped from the seed-sowing and that it will receive heavenly blessings.'
After the meeting the Master gave permission to some earnest seekers to see Him privately. Afterwards, He went to visit the homes of some of the friends.
Today a lady who had survived the Titanic disaster came to see Him. `I am told,' she said, `that you advised not to travel by that ship.'
The Master replied in the affirmative. She questioned, `Did you know that this would happen?' The Master said, `God inspires man's heart.'
When He returned to the Inn, some prominent people came to see Him. In the course of the conversation they said, `We have always understood that religion is opposed to science but we are now indebted to your discourses and teachings for throwing a new light on our thinking.'
The Master gave another talk on these issues for their enlightenment. Another group of people came to visit Him, expressing their heartfelt sorrow that He intended to leave Green Acre. They begged Him to write them a few words in His own handwriting and He wrote brief prayers for them in His exquisite script.
In the afternoon He paid farewell visits to some of the friends at their homes. At each gathering He offered life-giving words and in each home He was as the beloved one who steals hearts. He then returned home extremely exhausted, to the point that He could not even sit down. `Our condition', He said, `is like that of the exhausted iron worker's apprentice whose master said to him, "Die, but pump."'
After a brief rest He went to the hall at Eirenion and gave a talk on unity among the races, the elimination of prejudice amongst the peoples and nations, and the necessity for the oneness of the world of humanity in this enlightened age. At the end He chanted a prayer in such melodious and sweet tones that every heart was attracted to the divine kingdom and every soul turned to the Beauty of the Beloved."
August 23: Green Acre; the last day! Seed sowing; visiting Miss Farmer
August 23: Green Acre; the last day! Seed sowing; visiting Miss Farmer
Mahmud writes: "In the morning, while the Master was preparing to leave, He said:
We have finished our work here. We have sown a seed. Many souls have been attracted and transformed. Every day we have seen gifts such as fruit, flowers, honey and sweets which have been placed here anonymously and without show. This is a proof of the sincerity of their hearts.
`Abdu'l-Bahá was delighted to witness the influence of the Word of God on Green Acre. Indeed, it has become a second paradise on earth and had been transformed into verdancy and freshness.
At His instructions, the suitcases were packed and the carriage readied. The believers and seekers were burning with the fire of love, lamenting and shedding tears. `Abdu'l-Bahá sat in the carriage while the friends lined both sides of the road. For as long as the carriage remained in sight, they continued to wave their hats and handkerchiefs in farewell. On the way He stopped to visit Miss Farmer, who fell at His feet weeping and received from the Master His infinite favor and utmost kindness.
`Abdu'l-Bahá left Green Acre at 10:00 a.m. and reached Malden, Massachusetts, at 1:00 p.m. He arrived at the home of Miss [Marie P.] Wilson, whose invitation to stay at her house He had accepted. A new spirit was breathed into the bodies and a divine happiness was shed upon the hearts.
As He was tired, `Abdu'l-Bahá did not eat but instead rested for awhile. In the afternoon and evening many friends were honored with meeting Him."
[Don't you wish you had been there?]
From Juliet Thompson's Diary (written 1947):
"If only I had written of Green Acre day by day while we were there with Him! There are unforgettable things, but so many details - precious details - have slipped away. . . . When we arrived at the Green Acre Inn the Master met us at the door with His loving Marhaba; then He drew me into the dining-room. "She does not want?" He asked in English. I couldn't tell the truth then - but of course He knew.
Pictures come back to me. Mamma and I following Him down a path to the Eirenion, where He was to speak to the believers. He was all in white in the dark. Mamma whispering to me: "It is like following a Spirit."
A tussle day after day to keep Mamma in Green Acre, in which dear Carrie Kinney helped me.
A night when a horrifying young man came to a meeting at the Kinney's house. From head to foot he was covered with soot. His blue eyes stared out from a dark gray face. This was Fred Mortenson. He had spent half his boyhood and young manhood in a prison in Minneapolis. Our beloved Albert Hall, who was interested in prison work, had found him and taken him out on parole and given him the Baha'i Message. But Albert Hall was dead when the Master came to America.
Fred Mortenson, hearing that 'Abdu'l-Baha was in Green Acre, and having no money to make the trip, had ridden the bumpers to His Presence.
He came into the meeting and sat down and was very unhappy when the Master, pacing back and forth as He talked, took no notice of him. "It must be that He knows I stole a ride" thought Fred (who told me all about it afterward.) But no sooner was the meeting over and the Master upstairs in His room than He sent for Fred.
Fred had said nothing to anyone about his trip on the bumpers--but minute he entered that upstairs room the Master asked smiling and with twinkling eyes : "How did you enjoy your ride?" Then He took from Fred's hand his soot-covered cap and kissed it.
Years later, during the first world-war, when the American believers sent ten thousand dollars for the relief of the starving Arabs, the messenger they chose to carry the money through the warring countries was--Fred Mortenson.
The Master declined the ten thousand dollars, relieving the Arabs Himself by His own hard labor. He went to His estate near Tiberius and Himself ploughed the fields there; then stored all the grain in the Shrine of the Bab. For this He was knighted by Great Britain when British rule replaced Turkish in Palestine. . . .
But to return to Green Acre. One day the Master, speaking from the porch of somebody's cottage, while the believers sat on the grass below, made this fascinating statement: "We are in affinity now because in pre-existence we were in affinity." "Let's ask Him what He means by that" whispered Carrie to me. So, in the evening, while the Master was in our room—Mamma's and mine—and Carrie was sitting there with us, I put the question to Him. "I will answer you later" He said. But He never did—outwardly.
In a minute or so Mamma, with that funny boldness of hers which would sometimes burst through her timidity, said: "Master, I would like to see You without Your turban." He smiled. "It is not our custom, Mrs. Thompson, to take off our turbans before ladies, but for your sake I will do it." And oh the beauty we saw then! There was something in the silver hair flowing back from His high forehead, something in the shape of the head, which, in spite of His age, made me think of Christ.
There was another night—when Carrie, Mamma and I and a few other believers were sitting in the second-floor hall. Suddenly, on the white wall of the floor above, at the head of the staircase the Master's great shadow loomed. Mamma slipped over to the foot of the stairs and looking up with adoring eyes, called: "Master!"
And still another night. This was our third in Green Acre. Again we were sitting in the second-floor hall, but now the Master was in our midst. "We must say goodbye tomorrow" Mamma said to Him. "Oh no, Mrs. Thompson" He laughed, "You are not going tomorrow. One more day" and He laughed again. "You see, I am leaving for Boston day after tomorrow and you are of My own family. Therefore you must travel with Me." And Mamma submitted now with a satisfaction wonderful to see. She was proud as a peacock. "He said I was of His own Family" she kept repeating to me.
Once He called Mamma and me into His room and among other things He said was this: "There are correspondences, Mrs. Thompson, between Heaven and earth and Juliet's correspondence in Heaven is Mary of Magdala."
Copied from Louise Thompson's diary at Eliot, Maine 7/28/1962 "'Abdu'l-Baha spoke under the Pines (Lysekloster) on Non Essentials, Nature as contrasted with Phenomenal beings. He drew a great distinction between the activities by which man satisfies a want or alleviates a discomfort and those activities which bring enjoyment to themselves.
He pointed out the satisfaction of animal needs has no enduring and eternal quality about it. He said when a man is thirsty he drinks water, when he is hungry he eats food but if a man be not thirsty drinking water gives him no pleasure and if his hunger is already satisfied food is distasteful to him. He said, this is not so with spiritual enjoyment. Spiritual enjoyments always bring maximum joy. The love of God brings endless happiness. These are joys in themselves and not elevations. The life of the animal is more simple than that of man. Animals have all their needs satisfied for them. All the grains of the meadow are free to them. The birds build their nests in the branches of trees and the palaces of Kings are not so beautiful. If earthly needs were all then the animals are better supplied than man. Man has another food, the heavenly manna of the Knowledge of God. All the Divine Prophets and Manifestations appeared in this world that this heavenly manna might be given to man. This is the food which fosters spiritual growth and strength and causes pure illumination in the souls of men. They become filled with the breaths of the Holy Spirit. They receive knowledge of God in those virtues which belong to the world of humanity. They attain to the very image of God. What greater joy is there than this? When they invoke God's favor at the Divine Threshold their minds become open' they enter into spiritual fullness and make discoveries. By this he enjoys ecstasies of the spirit and sees the world illumined. They are endowed with insight; they become in full tune with the bounties of God and see them face to face acquiring in themselves the virtues of the Manifestations. Thus it is that man shall attain to the uttermost of the Holy Ones and the saints.
If man could not attain to this illumination and these bounties the animal world would be better than he, for it is not deficient in anything. When man is deprived of the illumination of God he feels a lack and a shortcoming on his part.
God created in us a divine holy spirit, the human spirit with its intellectual powers which are above the powers of nature. By this he enjoys ecstasies of the spirit and sees the world illumined. The tree and the stone have not this power. They have no mind or soul, therefore they are excused. This power gives man effectual control over nature. He is enabled to discover reality and bring invisible things into the visible enabling him to render effective the Will of God and give it material station. This is what was meant by His Holiness Baha'u'llah when he said:
"Verily WE have created thee rich, why have ye made yourselves poor." And Christ, when he said, "The Father is in Me and I in you." It was this power that through Baha'u'llah said, "Noble have I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself." This power distinguished you above all other creatures, why do you devote it only to your material condition. This great gift should be used for the acquisition and manifestation of the bounties of God, that you may be established in the Kingdom of God among men and attain to happiness in both worlds, the visible and invisible." Abdu'l-Bahá
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