Spilled Soup and a Blessing

Although ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a serious expounder of the Bahá’í Faith He had a fine sense of humor. One day at dinner, we were eating soup, a nice thick soup. Leaving my spoon in the plate I raised my hand to adjust my collar. As I brought down my hand my elbow came in contact with the handle of the spoon. And soup was spread upon the whiskers of the Persian believer on my right. Of course, I was terribly embarrassed.

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However, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, observing the incident quickly said: “Do not worry. That is a blessing” and laughed aloud. My brother Wendell, then remarked: “Who gets the blessing, Bill, you or the friend with the whiskers?” And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá laughed again. Wendell and I were so glad to be with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. At some times we were quite jolly. We were mere boys of 18 and 21.

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(Excerpt from the transcript of a talk given by William Copeland Dodge relating the account of his pilgrimage to ‘Akká in 1901)

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