Little by Little

Howard Colby Ives, a minister who came to know ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in New York in 1912, wrote of the longing that being near the Master awakened in him:

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It was utter satisfaction to my soul simply to be near Him. Perhaps there was also a reason for my emotion in the despair lying ever deep within; for to me it could never be enough merely to contemplate such perfection.

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A voice continually cried within me: "You must never rest until you have clothed yourself in the attributes of God." I seemed to hear in every word He spoke the words of Jesus: "You must be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." These had always been more or less only words to me. I began now dimly to hope that they might really mean exactly what they said.

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And this became certainty when I read for the first of many times these wonderful words from Bahá’u’lláh's Tablet to the Pope: "If ye believe in Me ye shall experience that which has been promised you, and I will make you the friends of my soul in the realm of My Greatness, and the companions of My Perfection in the Kingdom of My Might forever."

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Under the influence of such tremendous thoughts as these I one day asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá how it could ever be possible for me, deep in the mass of weak and selfish humanity, ever to hope to attain when the goal was so high and great. He said that it is to be accomplished little by little; little by little. And I thought to myself, I have all eternity for this journey from self to God. The thing to do is to get started.

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