The Stone That Arrived

A retelling for children, based on Mahmúd's Diary (entry of 1 May 1912).

One spring morning, 'Abdu'l-Bahá rode a train north from the city of Chicago, out to a quiet village called Wilmette, beside a great lake.

Something wonderful was about to happen there. On an empty piece of land, a big tent had been put up, and friends had come from all across the country. There were friends whose families came from Persia, friends from Arabian lands, and friends from many different backgrounds, all standing together in one place. They had come to begin building the very first Bahá'í House of Worship in that whole part of the world — a beautiful temple where everyone could come and pray.

Now, to begin a building like that, you first set down one special stone. It is called the cornerstone, and every other part of the building rests upon it. So Bahá'í communities from many places had each chosen a stone and sent it off to Wilmette for this very day.

But here is the surprising thing that Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání wrote down so we would always remember it. When the big morning came, almost none of those stones were there. Out of all the stones that had been promised and sent, only one had truly made it to Wilmette.

That one stone belonged to a woman named Nettie Tobin.

Nettie was a widow who sewed clothes for a living in Chicago, and she did not have money to give for the temple. But she wanted so much to help. So she decided she would give a stone instead.

She found one near her home — but not a fancy one. It was sitting in a pile of stones that builders had thrown away. Someone had looked at it and decided it was no good and tossed it aside.

Nettie did not have a truck or a cart. So with a friend's help, she heaved that heavy stone up into a baby carriage and pushed it along. She rolled it onto a streetcar. And for the last part of the long, long trip, she found some neighborhood boys with a little wagon to help her haul it all the way to Wilmette. Then she left it there, ready and waiting.

And so, on the great morning, when it was time to lay the first stone of the temple, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asked for the stone that Nettie Tobin had brought. The thrown-away stone. The one a poor seamstress had dragged across the whole city. He took it in His own hands and laid it down Himself.

Then He spoke gently to everyone about what this temple really meant. The wood and the stone, He told them, were only beautiful because of the good and loving hearts of the people who would build it. He said:

The outer edifice is a symbol of the inner.

That heavy, rejected stone is still there today. It rests in a quiet little room beneath the great temple — the stone that nobody else wanted, holding up a House of Worship for everyone.

Many people meant to help, but only Nettie truly did the hard work to make it happen. And the stone the world had thrown away became the most important stone of all. That is something to remember: it is not what others throw aside that matters, but what love is willing to carry.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Only Nettie Tobin's Stone Arrived: The Cornerstone of Wilmette".

Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání, M.. (1998). *Mahmúd's Diary: The Diary of Mírzá Maḥmúd-i-Zarqání*. George Ronald.