Quarters at the Bowery Mission

Before ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went to the Bowery Mission, He asked friends to convert a thousand-franc note into quarters. At the Mission, in April 1912, He spoke most lovingly to the several hundred men who were present: “You must be thankful to God that you are poor, for His Holiness Jesus Christ has said ‘Blessed are the poor’; He never said Blessed are the rich. He said too that the kingdom is for the poor and that it is easier for a camel to enter a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter God’s kingdom.” And then He told them, “When Jesus Christ appeared it was the poor who first accepted Him, not the rich.” And later, “The rich are mostly negligent, inattentive, steeped in worldliness, depending upon their means whereas the poor are dependent upon God and their reliance is upon Him, not upon themselves. Therefore the poor are nearer the threshold of God and His throne.”

He closed with characteristic humbleness, asking the men to accept Him as their servant. After the talk, He stood at the Mission Hall entrance. He took each hand and placed in each a number of coins—the price of a bed for the night. However, at least one man kept his money, explaining, “That was a heavenly man, and his quarter was not like other quarters, it will bring me luck!” But some eighty quarters remained. When the Master arrived at His apartment building, He encountered the chambermaid who had previously been the happy recipient of His roses. Now He emptied all the remaining quarters into her apron. He quickly moved on. When she learned of His gifts at the Mission, she vowed she also would give this money away.

Juliet Thompson recalled, “Later, as we sat in a group around the Master, who was at that moment saying with a laugh (in reply to some question as to the advisability of charity), ‘Assuredly, give to the poor! If you give them only words, when they put their hands into their pockets they will find themselves none the richer for you!’ There came a light tap at the door and there on the threshold stood the little chambermaid. Her eyes were glistening with tears and in a sort of wonder, and oblivious of the rest of us, she walked straight up to the Master:

“‘I came to say good-bye, sir,’ she said, timidly and brokenly, ‘and to thank you for all your goodness to me … I never expected such goodness. And to ask you—to pray for me!’

“Her head drooped, her voice broke … she turned and went out quickly.”

Source: Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, pp. 78–79.

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: poor).

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/poor