The Ninth Member of the Assembly

Hand of the Cause John Robarts told this story in a talk on the value of prayer at the House of Worship in Wilmette in 1974:

In that long-ago period when I was first a believer, I went to many places in Canada and the United States to speak. I must tell you about one place because it often comes to my mind when I consider the subject of prayer. It was on April 17. I had been invited to address a community where there were eight believers and they needed a ninth to form their Local Spiritual Assembly a few days hence. My plane was delayed and I arrived late while prayers were being said. I was ushered to a seat beside the chairman. When the prayers were finished, he whispered to me (there were about 45 people in the room), "John, do you see that tall man in the third row, center? He is the only non-Bahá’í in the room. We need him for our Assembly on Thursday!" I stood up and looked at my opponent. He was a nice person. I noticed he had very large eyes. I began to speak but soon felt that I wasn't doing very well. I didn't seem to be inspired and suddenly I realized that my friend's eyes were opening and closing very slowly, and then to my horror, they closed and clicked shut. I had lost my man. He was sound asleep! In my despair I turned to Bahá’u’lláh and said, "Dear Bahá’u’lláh, please come to my aid. We need that man for our Assembly on Thursday." I went on with my talk and what seemed like a bright idea struck me, which I felt must have been the answer to my cry for help. In quite a loud voice, I said, "Bahá’u’lláh said, 'The people are wrapped in a strange sleep!'" And I banged the table with my fist. The man woke up as though he had been shot and he stayed awake. He became a Bahá’í that evening, and helped to form the Assembly on Thursday!

Source: John Robarts, “The Value of Prayer”, talk at the Bahá’í House of Worship, Wilmette, 20 March 1974; published in Bahá’í News, June 1974 (transcript at bahaitalks.blogspot.com).

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: prayer).

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/prayer