At the Bowery Mission

On the evening before He left New York for Washington in April 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the Bowery Mission. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said the previous day: 'I am in love with the poor', and He had given Juliet Thompson and Edward Getsinger a thousand-franc note each to convert to small change, instructing them to bring the money to the Mission Hall the next night. Some four hundred of society's outcasts were in the hall when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived. Addressing them He said:

Tonight I am very happy for I have come here to meet my friends. I consider you my relatives, my companions; and I am your comrade . . .

And in conclusion I ask you to accept ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as your servant.

Then ‘Abdu’l-Bahá walked to the entrance and, standing there, shook hands with every one of those four hundred: the flotsam and jetsam of humanity. At the same time He put a coin or two in each palm. He had done the same for years, on Fridays, outside His own house in 'Akká -- meeting the poor, dispensing aid, imparting to stunted lives the balm of care and affection and love. In the street others had gathered and there were also a number of children. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went forth to greet them and offer them also a coin or two. But what mattered most was not the price of a bed He was giving them, but that balm of love and care which healed the wounds of the spirit.

Back in the Hotel Ansonia ‘Abdu’l-Bahá encountered a chambermaid, who had been deeply moved by His gift of roses to her; He emptied into her apron the bag containing the remainder of the coins. A Bahá’í told the chambermaid that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been giving money to the poor at the Bowery Mission. 'I will do the same with this money. I too will give it,' she said. Later that evening ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was seated with a number of visitors to whom He was saying as He laughed: 'Assuredly give to the poor! If you give them only words, when they put their hands into their pockets they will find themselves none the richer for you,' when the chambermaid came in. Her eyes were tear-laden and approaching ‘Abdu’l-Bahá she said: 'I came to say goodbye, sir, and to thank you for all your goodness to me . . . I never expected such goodness. And to ask you -- to pray for me!'

Source: H. M. Balyuzi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: The Centre of the Covenant, pp. 176–178.

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: poor).

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