Thomas Breakwell's Letters to the Master

The spiritual maturity Thomas Breakwell evinced was that of a much older person. Thomas continued a fortnightly correspondence with Dr Yúnis Khán, who shared all his letters with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He would inform Him of Thomas's situation and of his desire to do the Master's will. In one of his letters, Thomas asked whether the Master would permit him to leave Paris for a few days for England, should one of his parents become ill or die. Then, upon reflection, he thought it was not necessary to trouble ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with this question, since He would certainly reply as Christ had already replied, that he must 'Let the dead bury their dead'. Dr Yúnis Khán read the message to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who smiled and told him to reply that, today, 'the living must bury the dead'. In one of Thomas's later letters to 'Akká, he said that he now understood what he must do, but was still hoping to please the Master more, to suffer more for his Beloved. No one yet knew what this suffering was of which he spoke. Matters became more complex when Thomas's parents arrived in Paris, seeking to persuade him to return at once to England, to convalesce from his increasingly poor health. But Thomas steadfastly refused to leave Paris. He asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to pray for his parents, so that they might become Bahá’ís. The Master replied that Thomas should not worry over that matter, and, only a fortnight later, Thomas informed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that his father, who had previously disowned him for rejecting Primitive Methodism, had embraced the Bahá’í Faith. Edward Breakwell even went so far as to write his own letter of supplication to the Master. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá revealed a Tablet in his honour.

Source: Rajwantee Lakshiman-Lepain, The Life of Thomas Breakwell, pp. 37–45 (full text at bahai-library.com).

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: breakwell).

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