He Never Failed in Small Attentions
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When in Bahá'í history
Howard Colby Ives recalled one meal at which “‘Abdu’l-Bahá served me with His own hands most bountifully, urging me to eat, eat, be happy. He Himself did not eat but paced regally around the table, talking, smiling, serving.” Later he wrote that “He has been known to go into the kitchen and prepare a meal for His guests. He never failed in such small attentions as seeing that the room where His visitors were entertained contained every possible comfort, though He paid no attention to His own comfort.” His response when He was at one time asked to act as honorary chairman of a Bahá’í Assembly was simply, “‘Abdu’l-Bahá is a servant.”
Source: Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Annamarie Honnold), p. 104, quoting Howard Colby Ives, Portals to Freedom, chs. 3 and 7.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: hospitality).
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