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INTRODUCTION
One day at a reception in Paris, at the house of Madame Lucien Monod, my daughter Mary and I heard these words from Miss Bertha Herbert:
“If I look happy, it is because I am happy. I have found the desire of my heart!”
The speaker, a tall, graceful girl with shining dark eyes, came across the room and seated herself between us.
“T should like to tell you why I am so happy. May I?”
““Yes,”? we answered.
“It is true! True!”
We fixed questioning eyes upon her glowing face.
“We have been taught to believe that a great Messenger would again be sent to the world: He would set forth to gather together all the peoples of good will in every race, nation, and religion on the earth. Now is the appointed time! He has come! He has come!”
These amazing words struck a chord to which my inner consciousness instantly responded, and I felt convinced that the portentous announcement they conveyed was indeed the truth. Great awe and intense exaltation possessed me with an overpowering force as I listened.
Miss Herbert continued:
“The Bearer of the Message suffered much persecution, and left an uncomprehending world in 1892. But His Son is still a captive in the fortress prison of ‘Akka in Palestine.”
“For the Cause of God I am a prisoner,” said ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
“You are interested?” she asked.
“Indeed, yes, how could we fail to be interested?”
The news of the momentous event, long prayed for, steadfastly awaited in the ‘‘Faith, which is the substance of things hoped for,’ had come.
How should we not be interested?
“There is a lady in Paris,’ continued Miss Herbert, “‘who has
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THE CHOSEN HIGHWAY
just returned from a visit to ‘Akka (St. Jean d’Acre). She had the privilege of speaking with ‘Abbas Effendi, the name by which He is known in Palestine.
“Would you care to meet this lady? Shall I make an appointment?”
“Please, if you will be so kind.”
Miss Herbert rose to go—but before she reached the door she came back.
“TI do not know where you live, or even your name!”
These were outer, but necessary details!
The appointment was made. We were introduced to Miss Ethel Rosenberg and Monsieur Hippolyte Dreyfus. These two friends of ‘Abbas Effendi told me much concerning the sacred task of the Great One, Baha’u’llah.
On our return to London we attended some meetings held at the Higher Thought Centre. There we learned that Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper had been the first to bring the marvellous news to England. She and Miss Rosenberg welcomed all who were eager to investigate everything connected with the Event. Under the guidance of these two devoted ladies we met to make plans for spreading the glad tidings.
At this time we had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Wellesley Tudor-Pole, who explained to us the deeper significance of what afterwards became known as the Great Event of the Baha’i Cause. The term ‘“‘Baha’i’” may be rendered ‘“‘Dweller in the City of God,” “Follower of the Light,” ‘Believer in Baha’u’llah.”’
I have given the title of The Chosen Highway to this work. It is not intended to be a connected history of the momentous events which took place as the New Cycle of Human Consciousness dawned upon the world. It is an attempt to indicate some phases of a great historic moment in the life of Spiritual Civilization, which have not been elsewhere recorded, but are supplementary to existing literature on the subject.
My desire is that this series of Spoken Narratives may serve to show the steps which marked the way towards the recognition of the ‘‘Glorious Day of God,” and how some of the ‘“‘Waiting Servants” arose to take the place destined for them; of how they became so preoccupied with things of the Spirit that
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INTRODUCTION
material things lost their value in those early days of the New Dispensation.
Baha’u’llah’s command restores the purity of religion to the religions of the world.
This Chronicle also seeks to show how the celestial power, when held fast by Faith and Works, is able to accomplish what we have been accustomed to regard as_ the miraculous.
Having been privileged to enjoy opportunities of intimate association with the family of Baha’u’llah and of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, during my visits to Their home in Haifa, I made notes at those times, and am now prompted to use them in the belief that they will be of wide interest. Many of these opportunities occurred whilst our roof in London had the honour of sheltering ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Who had brought the very words of His Father to us in Britain.
Baha’u’llah spoke with che power of the Great Ether*; its operation becomes manifest in the “Awakening.” His Words of Power were heard, not only by the scribes, who wrote them down, but the sound of them went forth into all the world, and reached the inner hearing of the Waiting Servants. These devoted ones, born in every religion, every race, and every nation, were standing well-prepared on every hand to arise and set about their Father’s business, when they should hear the Awakening Call.
The divine powers are focussed in the Spirit of the Messenger, Who ushers in the New Dispensation. This Messenger was described as ‘“‘a glorious Sun, which burst upon a dark and dreary world; that world which is sick unto death. None but the Divine Physician has the power to heal.”
Hearers, who were attuned, received the Word; to others it was as foolishness, to be “despised and rejected.”
Ever since these days, when this call to awakening was heard in Britain, it gradually became the foremost desire of my heart to spread the message which I had myself received; so it was that this volume took shape, and it is at this present moment of world crisis that the reassuring words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha are uppermost in my mind. “This is a radiant century.” In spite
- See page 134.
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THE CHOSEN HIGHWAY
of the encircling gloom, that radiance is to be found abundantly in Baha’u’llah’s teaching.
There are many notable signs of the awakening now in progress. Men and women everywhere, and the youth of both sexes in particular, are devoting their energies to the service of great ideals.
National service in itself is a training for the reconstruction which must take place in the world before the Will of God can be done upon Earth as it is in Heaven. National service is great, but world service is greater.
“Let not a man glory in this that he loves his country,” said Baha’u'llah. ‘Let him rather glory in this that he loves his kind.”
It is borne in on our minds that we may gather not only hope but certainty that the reconstruction we look for has begun; men and women in all parts of the world are working for it either consciously or unconsciously. The scheme of a Great Century enfolds us. It is for us to realize this truth, and make the fullest response that is in our power to meet the demands which Destiny makes upon us to bring the Divine purpose to fruition.
The keynote of the Baha’i message is Unity. “Be united, be united,”’ said ‘Abdu’l-Baha, addressing representatives of many humanitarian and religious bodies.
“Those of you who are working separately are as ants, but working together you will be as eagles; when working separately you will be as drops or little rivulets of water, but when working in union you will be a mighty river carrying the Water of Life into the barren desert places of the world; and,” He added, “‘it is rather dangerous to be an isolated drop; you might be spilt or blown away.”
In presenting, however inadequately, this Chronicle to the world, I am deeply conscious of the vital import of the Message it conveys to humanity, and of the reality of the truth it expresses. These are the latter days that herald the glorious day of God, in fulfilment of the prophecies which have come to us down the ages, through prophets, poets, and seers. In the great Indian classic, the Bhagavad Gita, we are reminded of the coming of this glorious day:
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INTRODUCTION
“When there is decay of righteousness and there is exaltation of unrighteousness then I myself come forth for the protection of the good, for the destruction of the evildoer. I am born from age to age. The foolish regard me not when clad in human semblance, being ignorant of my true nature, the Great Lord of Being.”
With that coming forth we listen with uplifted hearts to-day to the clarion voice of Baha’u’llah:
“These ruinous wars shall cease and the Most Great Peace shall come.”
Lonpon, 1939.
