The Shared Book
Howard Colby Ives, Portals to Freedom, (1937), George Ronald · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
A retelling for children, based on Portals to Freedom by Howard Colby Ives (George Ronald, 1937). The words in quotation marks are the young woman's own, as Ives wrote them down.
In 1912 a minister named Howard Colby Ives took a trolley ride to the city of Newark. The ride took an hour and a half. He had a book with him called Some Answered Questions, in which 'Abdu'l-Bahá explains many things about the spiritual life.
A young woman was sitting beside him. After a while Howard noticed that her eyes kept straying toward his book.
So Howard moved the book a little toward her, and they read it together all the way to Newark. Neither of them said a word, but Howard could feel that she was deeply moved by what she read.
When they reached Newark and he closed the book, she asked:
I think that is the most wonderful book I ever saw. Won't you tell me, please, who is the author?
Howard told her about 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and that He was coming to speak at Howard's church in Jersey City the next Sunday evening. "I will surely be there," she said.
She kept her word. On Sunday evening Howard saw her in the audience, and he talked with her after the meeting.
This is a retelling for children. For the fuller account, see "The Book on the Trolley".
Cite this story
Ives, H. C.. (1937). *Portals to Freedom*. George Ronald. https://bahai-library.com/ives_portals_freedom
This story shares quotes with 1 other story
“I think that is the most wonderful book I ever saw. Won't you tell me, please, who is the author?”
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- The Book on the Trolley— Howard Colby Ives, Portals to Freedom
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