The Little Group in Omaha

A retelling for children, based on Mahmúd's Diary (entry of 21 September 1912).

The train pulled into the station at Omaha after a long night of travelling across the wide plains. 'Abdu'l-Bahá stepped down onto the platform, and a small group of friends was waiting for Him.

How small? Only about ten people — and most of them were women. They were all new to the Faith; not one of them had been a believer for more than a few years. But they had wanted so much for 'Abdu'l-Bahá to come that they had written letters all the way to the friends in Chicago, asking Him to please, please stop and see them on His long journey west.

And He had said yes.

They drove Him to a hotel in the middle of town, where He took a little rest. Then, all through the late afternoon, the friends gathered with Him in the hotel parlour. This was not one of the huge halls where thousands came to hear 'Abdu'l-Bahá speak. It was a small room, with a small group, in a city far from the big Bahá'í communities. But He gave this tiny gathering His whole heart, just as He would have given a great crowd.

He spoke to them gently about how hard it can be to be a believer in a small, faraway place. He understood their troubles exactly. They had no big meetings. They had no teacher living nearby to help them. Most days it was just themselves — saying their own prayers at home, and writing letters back and forth to friends in far-off cities. It would be easy, in a place like that, to feel alone and forgotten.

But 'Abdu'l-Bahá did not see them as small or forgotten at all. He praised them for something He called their invisible loyalty — staying faithful even when no crowd was watching, even when no one would clap or cheer. The kind of goodness you keep up quietly, just because it is right.

And then He said something they would never forget:

In the small cities are the seeds of the great communities the Master sees in the future.

A seed is a tiny thing. You can hold many in one hand. But hidden inside each one is a whole tree. 'Abdu'l-Bahá looked at that little circle of ten friends in the hotel parlour, and He did not see ten lonely people. He saw a seed — and inside it, a great Bahá'í community that would grow and grow in the years to come.

The next morning, His train carried Him onward to the west. The friends went home carrying His words with them. And do you know what? He was right. As the years passed, that tiny group in Omaha grew larger and stronger, until it became exactly the kind of community 'Abdu'l-Bahá had seen all those years before.

Big things often start out very small. If you are faithful in a quiet way, where no one else can see, you may be planting a seed that grows into something far greater than you can imagine.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "Omaha Stockyards: A Brief Stop on the Plains".

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