The Voice from the Top of the Stairs

A retelling for children, based on Portals to Freedom by Howard Colby Ives (George Ronald, 1937).

It was very late at night, and the automobile carried 'Abdu'l-Bahá slowly home through the dark, quiet streets.

A man named Howard Colby Ives was watching Him, and what he saw made him worried. All day long, 'Abdu'l-Bahá had been giving talk after talk to crowd after crowd. He was nearly seventy years old. Before that, He had spent forty long years as a prisoner. And still He had spent the whole day pouring out love on every single person who came to see Him — never once saying He was too tired, never turning anyone away.

Now, in the car, all that long day seemed to catch up with Him at last. 'Abdu'l-Bahá looked more tired than Ives had ever seen anyone look, as though every bit of His strength was used up and gone. When they finally reached the house, He could barely walk. The friends had to almost carry Him inside.

Ives felt sure the day was over. Surely 'Abdu'l-Bahá would rest now. How could He do anything else, as weary as He was?

But then something happened that Ives never, ever forgot.

Only fifteen minutes had gone by. And suddenly, from the very top of the stairs, 'Abdu'l-Bahá's voice came ringing down through the whole house. It was not weak or tired at all. Ives wrote that it carried even more than its usual energy and power. The tiredness had simply melted away. There He was again — smiling, strong, and full of life — as if the exhausted person in the car had been someone else completely.

How could that be? Ives thought about it for a long time, and slowly he understood. The strength 'Abdu'l-Bahá lived by was not the ordinary kind that runs out when your body gets tired. It came from somewhere deeper. His heart was so full of love for God, and He gave Himself so completely to helping other people, that even when His strength seemed all used up, it was quietly filled right back up again, like a well that never runs dry.

That is the secret of those who give their whole hearts to God. When we serve others out of love, we are never really running on our own small strength alone. A greater strength is always there, ready to carry us the rest of the way.

This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "The Strength That Came from Elsewhere".

Ives, H. C.. (1937). *Portals to Freedom*. George Ronald. https://bahai-library.com/ives_portals_freedom