Louis Gregory was blessed with going on pilgrimage
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
Studio narration for this story is coming — it’ll be generated by the cloud-TTS pipeline (voice: auto-selected from the source author).
When in Bahá'í history
Louis Gregory was blessed with going on pilgrimage. Towards its end ‘‘Abdu’l-Bahá summoned Louis Gregory and Louisa Mathew, a white English pilgrim. He questioned them, and, to their surprise, expressed the wish that they should join their lives together. In deference to His wishes they were married, and he sent them forth as a symbol of the spiritual unity, cooperation, dignity in relationships and service He desired for the races of mankind. That marriage presented many challenges. It brought all the obstacles to understanding and amity, and often cruel pressures. But it endured because the two souls it joined were ever guided and protected by a love beyond themselves and the pressures of the world. Theirs was a demonstration of the love which is prompted by the knowledge of God and reflected in the soul. They saw in each other the Beauty of God; and, clinging to this, they were sustained throughout the trials, the accidental conditions of life and the changes and chances of human experience.’
Source: Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 112
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: race-unity).
Discuss this story
For adults
- What might Louis Gregory's example ask of us in our own circumstances?
- Where do you see love appearing — visibly or quietly — in this passage?
- How does this story complicate or deepen your understanding of race unity?
For teens
- If you were in Louis Gregory's place, what might you have done?
- What does this story teach about love?
Reflection
- How does love show up in your life right now — and where is it being asked of you?
- Is there someone in your life who would be helped by hearing this story?
- Sit quietly for a moment after reading. What does this story stir in you?
Comprehension quiz
Which source is "Louis Gregory was blessed with going on pilgrimage" drawn from?
What period of Bahá'í history does this story belong to?
Which historical figure is featured most prominently in this story?
Which virtue does this story most clearly illustrate?
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/race-unity
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
Louis George Gregory
Gregory was instrumental in arranging for two major speaking engagements for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Washington DC to an audience of more than a thousand in Rankin Chapel at Howard University, and that evening to a large gathering of the Bethel…
Mrs
Mrs. Parsons discreetly avoids mentioning here that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá broke with contemporary social conventions of racial separation by insisting the Louis Gregory, a prominent African-American Bahá’í, attend this luncheon in segregated…
One day, Dr
One day, Dr. Zia Bagdadi invited Mr. Louis Gregory, a black Bahá’í, to his home. When his landlord heard about this, he gave notice to Dr. Bagdadi. He was to vacate his residence because he had a black man in his…
The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), a…
The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), a nationwide, biracial organization that would fight to achieve African American civil rights had invited ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to address their Fourth Annual Conference in…