Laughter at a Dublin Luncheon
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
Dublin, New Hampshire (today: Dublin, New Hampshire, USA)
In the United States, in August 1912, Mrs Parsons, a devoted Bahá’í of Washington, D.C., invited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Dublin, New Hampshire, where she had an estate. Mrs Parsons arranged a luncheon party at her home and asked some twenty people, all outstanding in various walks of life, to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. The hostess was eager that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá should tell those leaders of society about Bahá’u’lláh and the Faith He had proclaimed to mankind. Probably the guests thought that they were in for a lecture.
But ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told them a story which made them laugh. He Himself laughed heartily, and again with them when they, encouraged by the lead He had given, also told amusing stories. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and His guests were full of mirth throughout that luncheon. It was 'good to laugh', He told them; 'laughter is a spiritual relaxation'. At this point He referred to His years in prison. Life was hard, He said, tribulations were never far away, and yet, at the end of the day, they would sit together and recall events that had been fantastic, and laugh over them. Funny situations could not be abundant, but still they probed and sought them, and laughed. Joy was not, He told them, a by-product of material comfort and affluence. Were it so, dejection would have ruled every hour of their lives in those days, whereas their souls were joyful.
Source: H. M. Balyuzi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 31–32.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: laughter).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/laughter
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
It Isn’t Going to Be a Sermon
At the Pumpellys’ home in Dublin, New Hampshire, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told a tale with a moral and then a lively Arabian story that filled the room with laughter. On the way home He asked, with a child’s simplicity, whether they were pleased.
You Make Me Laugh
‘Abdu’l-Bahá loved laughter. Once He laughed so heartily that His turban became disarranged; He told Juliet Thompson and May Maxwell that they rested Him, and He could not tell one joke for laughing.
A Luncheon of Stories and Laughter
At a luncheon where His hostess hoped He would speak on Immortality, 'Abdu'l-Bahá told humorous stories instead and recalled how, in prison, He and His companions laughed together each evening. A hush of reverence settled over the group.
He Bore His Own Expenses
Throughout His travels ‘Abdu’l-Bahá paid His own costs and declined offers of money; in Washington He asked Mrs Parsons to give her gift to the poor instead.