Corinne True told the story of a cleaning woman who greatly wished to meet…
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
Studio narration for this story is coming — it’ll be generated by the cloud-TTS pipeline (voice: auto-selected from the source author).
When in Bahá'í history
Corinne True told the story of a cleaning woman who greatly wished to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but was too embarrassed by her rough, work worn hands to do so in the public reception line. Mrs. True urged her to go to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and finally, hoping to simply touch His robe and dash away before He saw her hands, she approached the Master. As she bent over to touch His robe, He took one of her hands and raised her up. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá carefully examined the captive hand and with deep love and understanding gazed into her eyes. "Sacrifice!", He uttered simply.
Source: Earl Redman, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Their Midst, p. 196
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: love).
Discuss this story
For adults
- Where do love and sacrifice meet in this story?
- What does the setting of this account contribute to its meaning?
- What stands out about 'Abdu'l-Bahá's response in this account?
For teens
- If you were in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's place, what might you have done?
- What does this story teach about love?
Reflection
- Read the passage a second time, slowly. What did you notice that you missed the first time?
- What in this account feels timely? What feels timeless?
- If you could bring one quality from this story into your next conversation, what would it be?
Comprehension quiz
Which source is "Corinne True told the story of a cleaning woman who greatly wished to meet…" drawn from?
What period of Bahá'í history does this story belong to?
Which historical figure is featured most prominently in this story?
Which virtue does this story most clearly illustrate?
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/love
Record yourself reading this story
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