|
October 16, 2021 All Doors Open: The Servant of Bahá Comes to Montreal “One more eloquent of speech, more ready of argument, more apt of illustration, more intimately acquainted with the sacred books of the Jews, the Christians, the Muhammadans, could, I should think, scarcely be found […] These qualities, combined with a bearing at once majestic and genial, made me cease to wonder at the influence and esteem which he enjoyed even beyond the circle of his father's followers. About the greatness of this man and his power no one who had seen him could entertain a doubt." — Edward Granville-Browne In 1890, English scholar Edward Granville Browne became the only Western person to interview Bahá’u’lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Bahá’í Faith. In the opening quotation, though, he speaks of Abbas Effendi, Bahá’u’lláh’s Son, who was called the Master, but He insisted that He was above all ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the “Servant of Bahá.” Liberated in 1908 from the exile He had shared with His father, He gave His first public address at age 67, in the city of London, in 1911. In the two years that followed, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá travelled widely in the West, including many months in the US and nine days in Canada in the late summer of 1912. Bobbi Lyons – a long-time Bahá’í scholar known as “the Prof” to her many Ottawa friends – offered a detailed survey of these foundational days in a “Big Ideas” presentation to a virtual gathering of over 50 people. Famously choosing a less ostentatious alternative to sailing on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, “passenger no. 8” signed the SS Cedric’s register as “Abdu’l-Bahá Abbás, author.” After several months in the U.S.A., He took a train to Montreal. The trip was supposed to last a couple of days, to visit May and Sutherland Maxwell, prominent early Canadian believers. Instead, ignoring warnings about the fanatical Catholicism of the place, ‘Abdu’l- Bahá found “all doors open” during a busy nine days in Montreal. The Maxwell home, which He saluted as His own, was later designated as the only Bahá’í shrine in the Americas. This story, from late summer of 1912, was given special vigour and rich detail by Ms. Lyons. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave eight formal talks – in churches, halls, and the Windsor Hotel – and seven informal ones in the Maxwell home. Ten daily newspapers, five each in English and French, reported on the Master’s visit, a level of attention unmatched during ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s eight-month North American tour. One headline read, “Apostle of Peace Meets Socialists” and although the Master was at pains to dispel any notion that He was a prophet, He did not succeed. His talk on “The Economic Happiness of the Human Race” at Coronation Hall met with spontaneous applause and shouts of approval from 500 listeners.
|
|