Jim Loft and the Wave from the Train

Autumn was in the air in Ontario! The breeze tasted crisp and clean to Jim as he ran across his family's farmland to the edge of the field. His short legs scrambled up the fence, and he balanced himself carefully on the top.

Before him the railroad track stretched out forever across the land. The birds called loudly as they wheeled and swooped, winging their way south before the sun-warmed winds turned freezing and brought snow.

In the distance, a faint clack-clacking could be heard. It grew louder, and louder, and every once in a while, Jim could hear the howl of a train whistle. He looked far down the track and saw a grand puff of smoke, and finally the train came into view.

Such a long and handsome train! Jim watched as car after car passed by—many more cars than he could count.

Suddenly, his eye was drawn to a figure in flowing, white robes. To Jim’s delight, the figure in the robes began smiling and waving at him! In his excitement, Jim toppled right off of the fence!

That young boy was Alfred James Loft, a Mohawk Indian, and I’m sure that you've guessed who it was in the long robes! ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!

That September afternoon was Jim’s earliest memory—perhaps like you remember your grandmother's kitchen, or the first day at school. But isn't it strange to think that Jim didn’t even know about the Bahá'í Faith until he was grown up and married, with children of his own, and his wife Melba became a Bahá'í.

Although he had moved away from his Tyendinaga, Ontario home before he became a Bahá'í, Jim returned there at Shoghi Effendi's request to share the message of Bahá'u'lláh with the members of his own tribe.

Jim and his family lived in a very simple way on the reserve, patiently trying to teach the Indians there about the Bahá'í Faith and its message of unity and respect for all people, but the result of their teaching work was disappointing. The Indians on the reserve were suspicious and mistrustful.

Jim and his family understood why this was so: for many years, the Indian people had been taught about other faiths by people who wanted them to give up their legends and their beautiful culture, and who told them that the Indian ways were against God’s plan. Jim and his family showed the Indians love and kindness and acceptance, but even so, very few people became Bahá'ís. But because Jim loved the Guardian so deeply, he was obedient and stayed at this difficult pioneer post, teaching the Indians about Bahá'u'lláh for the rest of his life.

The tribal council on the reserve had not been very open to the Bahá'í Faith, but after Jim passed away, Melba was planning to travel to Mérida, Mexico for a big Bahá'í conference, and she had an idea. She visited the chief of the tribal council and offered to take a greeting from him to the Mayan Indians in Mexico. He not only gave a greeting, but wrote a whole letter for her to take to the Mayans!

The Indian chief acted with a receptive heart to Melba’s sincere offer to take a message to the Indians living half a hemisphere away. He saw that the Bahá'ís didn't just talk about men being members of one family, but that they looked for ways to show that this is true.

The love and acceptance that a young Mohawk boy had felt as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá smiled and waved from a train 65 years before had come full circle, back home to Tyendinaga.

Source: Debbi Bley, from ideas contributed by Roger White, "Spirit-Arrows," Child's Way magazine, July–August 1982, via Baha'i Stories for Children (https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/2022/11/spirit-arrows.html). 'Abdu'l-Bahá traveled by train from Montreal through Ontario to Buffalo on September 9, 1912 (Mahmúd's Diary); Jim and Melba Loft's pioneering to Tyendinaga at the Guardian's request is recorded in Bahá'í Canada.

Various. *Baha'i Stories for Children*. https://bahaistoriesforchildren.blogspot.com/2022/11/spirit-arrows.html