***"When 'Abdu'l-Bahá was in New York, He called to Him an ardent Bahá'í and said, 'If you will come to Me at dawn tomorrow, I will teach you to pray.'
"Delighted, Mr M arose at four and crossed the city, arriving for his lesson at six. With what exultant expectation he must have greeted this opportunity! He found 'Abdu'l-Bahá already at prayer, kneeling by the side of the bed. Mr M followed suit, taking care to place himself directly across. "Seeing that 'Abdu'l-Bahá was quite lost in His Own reverie, Mr M began to pray silently for his friends, his family and finally for the crowned heads of Europe. No word was uttered by the quiet Man before him. He went over all the prayers he knew then, and repeated them twice, three times -- still no sound broke the expectant hush. "Mr M surreptitiously rubbed one knee and wondered vaguely about his back. He began again, hearing as he did so, the birds heralding the dawn outside the window. An hour passed, and finally two. Mr M was quite numb now. His eyes, roving along the wall, caught sight of a large crack. He dallied with a touch of indignation but let his gaze pass again to the still figure across the bed. "The ecstacy that he saw arrested him and he drank deeply of the sight. Suddenly he wanted to pray like that. Selfish desires were forgotten. Sorrow, conflict, and even his immediate surroundings were as if they had never been. He was conscious of only one thing, a passionate desire to draw near to God. "Closing his eyes again he set the world firmly aside, and amazingly his heart teemed with prayer, eager, joyous, tumultuous prayer. He felt cleansed by humility and lifted by a new peace. 'Abdu'l-Bahá had taught him to pray! "The 'Master of `Akká' immediately arose and came to him. His eyes rested smilingly upon the newly humbled Mr M. 'When you pray,' He said, 'you must not think of your aching body, nor of the birds outside the window, nor the cracks in the wall!' "He became very serious then, and added, 'When you wish to pray you must first know that you are standing in the presence of the Almighty!'" (Vignettes from the Life of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, pp. 131-132) * http://teach.valdosta.edu/whuitt/religion/bahai/esstch/pathchp.html _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Khazeh Sent: 20 April 2008 18:19 To: Baha'i Studies Cc: 'Susan Maneck'; 'Larry Marquardt'; 'Tim Nolan'; 'Albert Verbrugh' Subject: RE: 'Abdul-Baha teaching how to pray Hi Tim, Thanks for the suggestion on Portals to Freedom. I had no luck trying to use some key search words - crack, wall, kneeling, etc. It's possible the story came from another source and that's why I cannot find it. Hope you and all the good friends in Ithaca are doing fine. I can speak for some of the friends here in Western New York that we miss seeing you folks at Unit Convention now that our districts have changed.(I am assuming you are the same Tim Nolan :-) Warm regards, Larry Dear Friends, I tried several search words in Ocean, Google, and the Baha'i Academic Library trying to find the source of the story where an individual (Howard Colby Ives?) wanted 'Abdul-Baha to teach him how to pray. The story, as I'm trying to recall, says something about how the person was waiting patiently for 'Abdul-Baha to finish praying so he could be shown how to pray. The story also conveys that as this person is waiting to receive 'Abdul-Baha's instruction he is noticing the cracks in the wall and is focusing on other distractions, etc. etc. rather than 'Abdul-Baha's praying. Does anyone know where this story can be found? I cannot remember anymore details except maybe the person was kneeling while waiting for 'Abdul-Baha to finish praying. Does this story sound familiar to anyone? Thank you, Larry Dear friends This story is in the Vignettes from the Life of Abdul-Baha Annamarie Honnold <http://fr.bookbutler.com/do/bookSearch?searchFor=Annamarie%20Honnold&search By=author&searchIn=uk&sortBy=salesrank&amountIn=gbp&shipTo=gb&zip=&showMore= true&pageNr=1> Paperback - George Ronald <http://fr.bookbutler.com/do/bookSearch?searchFor=George%20Ronald&searchBy=p ublisher&searchIn=uk&sortBy=salesrank&amountIn=gbp&shipTo=gb&zip=&showMore=t rue&pageNr=1> (Dec 1982) - 224 Pages ISBN 0853981299 <http://fr.bookbutler.com/do/bookSearch?searchFor=0853981299&searchBy=isbn&s earchIn=uk&sortBy=salesrank&amountIn=gbp&shipTo=gb&zip=&showMore=true&pageNr =1> - ISBN-13 9780853981299 <http://fr.bookbutler.com/do/bookSearch?searchFor=9780853981299&searchBy=isb n&searchIn=uk&sortBy=salesrank&amountIn=gbp&shipTo=gb&zip=&showMore=true&pag eNr=1> Pages 148-149 ** I will teach you to pray you must not think of the cracks in the wall ** Honnold excerpts it from Dorothy Bakers ** the path to God** pages 13-17 With humility khazeh The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by the Johnson County Community College ("JCCC") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. 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