Walking in My Chosen Highway
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
Lua Getsinger—spiritual mother of both Mrs Hearst and May Bolles (Maxwell)—was a member of a pilgrim group, late in 1898. For the following eighteen years she returned time and again to ‘Akká and Haifa. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá entrusted her with vital teaching missions, and constantly instructed her in the path of divine love.
During one of her visits to the Middle East, the Master told her, ‘Thou must be firm and unshakeable in thy purpose, and never, never let any outward circumstances worry thee. I am sending thee to India to accomplish certain definite results. Thou must enter that country with a never-failing spirituality, a radiant faith, an eternal enthusiasm, an inextinguishable fire, a solid conviction, in order that thou mayest achieve those services for which I am sending thee. Let not thy heart be troubled. If thou goest away with this unchanging condition of invariability of inner state, thou shalt see the doors of confirmation open before thy face, thy life will be a crown of heavenly roses, and thou shalt find thyself in the highest station of triumph.
‘Strive day and night to attain to this exalted state. Look at me! Thou dost not know a thousandth part of the difficulties and seemingly insurmountable passes that rise daily before my eyes. I do not heed them: I am walking in my chosen highway.’
Lua grew impatient to grow spiritually. Impetuous by nature, she wanted instant perfection the better to serve ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, but the Master taught her that she could not stand that—perfection is a slowly evolving process.
Her passion for her Faith and her love for the Master knew no bounds. The physical world became less important to her as she grew in spirituality. Even her style of dress changed before her premature death in 1916. She had abandoned her old finery. Instead she always wore a conservative blue outfit. During her last years she lived only in and for the world of the spirit.
Source: Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (Annamarie Honnold), p. 144.
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: transformation).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/transformation
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
Louis George Gregory
Born in Charleston to formerly enslaved parents, Louis G. Gregory became a Bahá'í in 1909, was seated by 'Abdu'l-Bahá at His right in Washington, gave decades to teaching and race unity, and was posthumously named a Hand of the Cause.
Thornton Chase, the First American Believer
The life of Thornton Chase, whom ‘Abdu’l-Bahá called “the first American believer,” from his long spiritual search to his service in Chicago, and the Master’s visit to his grave in 1912.
The Proud Helper
Sent by 'Abdu'l-Bahá to care for a poor, sick friend in 'Akká, Lua Getsinger fled from the filthy house. The Master sternly sent her back to serve him, as He Himself had done many times.
The Fourth Sitting
In New York on 19 June 1912, while Juliet Thompson was painting His portrait, 'Abdu'l-Bahá opened His eyes and named Lua Getsinger the Herald of the Covenant, telling her to go forth and proclaim it.