The Heart That Speaks

John David Bosch, who had come to America from Switzerland, felt he could not be a speaker for the Faith. He recalled what he told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and the Master’s answer:

Oh ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, I said, I am a foreigner, born in Switzerland, and have not the command of the English language. I would love to be a speaker. All I am doing is to give away pamphlets and as many books are printed. He looked serious. He said, you are doing well. I am satisfied with you. With you it is not the movement of the lips, nor the tongue. With you it is the heart that speaks. With you it is silence that speaks and radiance.

Annamarie Honnold records the Master’s words to him as: “You are doing very well; you are doing better than talking. With you it is not words or the movement of the lips; with you it is the heart that speaks. In your presence silence speaks and radiates.”

Source: Earl Redman, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Their Midst, pp. 81–82; see also Annamarie Honnold, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, no. 28, pp. 59–60.

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: teaching).

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/teaching