Bahá’í World/Volume 18/Lisbeth Greeves
Lisbeth Greeves
LISBETH GREEVES
1897—1982
ASSURE LOVING PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD PROGRESS RADIANT SOUL LISBETH GREEVES. BAHAI COMMUNITIES GREAT BRITAIN IRELAND MAY COMPENSATE GRIEVOUS LOSS CONTRIBUTE HER HAPPINESS ABHA KINGDOM BY EMULATING HER BRILLIANT EXAMPLE UNFAILING DEVOTION UNIVERSAL LOVE CONSTANT CHEERFULNESS. KINDLY EXPRESS LOVING SYMPATHY RELATIVES.
On 14 December 1982, following a long illness, Lisbeth Greeves passed to the Abhá Kingdom in her eighty-sixth year. Her many manifest spiritual qualities endeared her to hundreds of people during her long service as a Bahá’í. Although she was born in Australia in 1897, her entire Bahá’í life was lived in Northern Ireland, first at Crawfordsburn, near Bangor, and then as a member of the Belfast community.
From her early years she was a spiritual rebel. She recalled walking out of church in Australia, in a rage, saying, ‘Jesus wouldn’t
like what that stupid man said!’ Thus began her questioning and searching. Although she did not declare her acceptance of the Bahá’í Faith until 8 October 1954, she recollected having seen in the spring of 1918 a newspaper headline: a cabled message from General Allenby which read, HAVE TODAY TAKEN PALESTINE. NOTIFY THE WORLD THAT ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ IS SAFE.1
During World War II her disgust at the senseless violence resulted in her publishing, in co-operation with her husband, two little booklets of spiritual inspiration called The Windows of Heaven and The Little Blue Flame. For these she used the nom de plume Peter Jarvis. Providentially, she chose, in the front of one of them, to quote Emerson: ‘Man’s health and greatness consists of his being the channel through which Heaven flows to earth.’ This became the hallmark of her future Bahá’í life. Having decided some time prior to becoming a Bahá’í that the spiritual path was the one to follow, her qualities as a spiritual healer began to come to the fore. From then, until a few months before her death, she became a healing channel for the relief, and sometimes the seemingly miraculous cure, of many people from all walks of life. Her unshakeable reliance on prayer resulted in many stories of divine aid coming to the rescue. Some of these incidents were very humorous; indeed, humour was a quality which wove itself firmly into her spiritual fabric.
From the beginning of her devotion to Bahá’u’lláh, which was unfailing, her many qualities quickly developed and were placed at the service of mankind. She constantly thought of others: a little posy of flowers, a small note of love and prayerful thoughts, a timely telephone call to a sick one. In spite of her pouring out love to all, she never once neglected her husband and three children. In this respect her example was a beacon to all: how to both live a full Bahá’í life. and pay constant, devoted attention to a wide family circle.
The universal love she displayed expressed itself in her desire to share the message of Christ’s return with all in a manner which they might understand. To this end her talents
1 Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, p. 220.
as a writer came to her aid. She wrote and broadcast from time to time on several subjects. She has left us at least four short plays on historical figures of the Bahá’í Faith. In 1976 she recorded her memories in a short work called The Choir Invisible. In this she spoke of her early experiences in Australia, as well as the many extraordinary spiritual happenings which attended her life. Her deep love for children was constant, and her own child-like quality attracted young people of all ages. In 1976 she recorded Stories for Children—stories about the Master.
Despite her very full life, her international relations with Bahá’ís from many countries is well recognized. She was overjoyed to be able to attend the dedication of the Temples in Kampala and Sydney. While the historic World Congress in London in 1963 left its loving mark on her soul, she was most inspired by her pilgrimage to the Holy Land also in that same year. On the local level she worked for many years for the United Nations Association and will be long remembered in this respect.
Her constant cheerfulness throughout all the years uplifted many a struggling soul just when they most needed it. Surely she made ‘Heaven flow to earth’. Now, released from this material world, one feels she is soaring in those other climes with which she was often in contact. She is, no doubt, surrounded by that heavenly music she so vividly described hearing one special night a long time ago.