Bahá’í World/Volume 5/Only a Word
ONLY A WORD
BY LAURA DREYFUS-BARNEY
IT is a satisfaction to me to be able to reach the Bahá’í World through this excellent publication which spans distances and unites people of kindred thought. It is a part of the vast plan of action organized and animated by Shoghi Effendi to connect the Friends in their constructive efforts throughout the world.
Shoghi Effendi! How well I remember the first time I saw him in the Holy Land. He was then a little boy of five or six years of age, clothed in a brown Persian garment, chanting a prayer in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s presence; his earnest eyes, his firm mouth looked predestined.
No doubt, in asking me to collaborate with “The Bahá’í World,” our Friends have borne in mind the many months that I was privileged to live in the prison town of ‘Akká, near ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. I have seen the seasons of the year pass over that medieval stronghold; I have seen the storm tossed waves of winter beat against the ramparts below my windows, and outside the walled city I have seen the great plains near the Mansion of Bahjí covered with myriads of bright spring flowers and, after the scorching sun of summer, the color of the plains matching the sand of the desert. I have seen many people from many parts of the world, different in ideas, customs and situation, enter ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s presence and each and all felt that He understood their needs and purposes.
It is difficult to condense into words the volume of force that radiated from His teachings. He spoke simply and His sentences became a part of one’s inner thoughts seeking a worthy outlet in action.
I have heard the stirring history of the Cause from those who lived the heroic days; for years I have been reading the written word which, through the centuries, will unfold wisdom to seekers. Above all, I have seen “the Master” day in, day out, unfaltering and joyous in His mission of education and love.
I would like, sometime, to step out of the whirl of my present life to describe how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá appeared to me as I observed His majestic sensitive beauty, His life, active and human, forceful and inspired. Without doubt, He saw beyond the present—“the wise man sees the tree in the seed.” Step by step, event after event, have led to His conclusions. Men have followed short-sighted passions—economic disorder, war, revolution, mass suffering.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke also of another time, when the mind and the heart, united, should establish true civilization. Ah! when will this time be the present? Perhaps when men understand the lessons of the past and the purpose of existence.
We, who have lived through this last half century, have witnessed the world knitted closely together by many interests; science has compassed time and space and given us power to turn darkness into light, cold into warmth, scarcity into plenty; but are we not further away from content and peace, and friendliness? . . . Why this present misery, this disorder, this enmity? Perhaps high purpose and generous sentiment have been brushed aside in the material onrush of progress; and, now, material civilization itself cries out to be saved from the destruction which is inevitable unless some guiding power comes to the rescue.
We are again at the crossing of the ways. The choice of the road of progress should be made clear by the Word of Bahá’u’lláh enjoining His followers to consider that world affairs are home affairs, to mingle with all men in helpful understanding, to penetrate and disclose the secret forces of civilization.
I recall one day, when we were taking early morning tea, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sat looking out at the dawn-lit horizon; He spoke softly, as though to Himself. We must learn how to read the Universe; it is an open book.
All the worlds, known and unknown, are ours if we are at one with the Spirit.