Open Thou the Door

I memorized a prayer over night:

O Lord,
Open Thou the door, provide the means, prepare the way, make safe the path, that we may be guided to those souls whose hearts are prepared for Thy Cause, and that they may be guided to us. Verily, Thou art the Merciful, the Most Bountiful, the All-Powerful.

~'Abdu'l-Baha

Friday at work was challenging, with someone who needed IV fluids, so an IV start, and IM and oral antibiotics, which took an extra hour and a half. It's a good thing I have a simple medication pass, so I could hurry up to finish in my last 45 minutes. So when I came home I was revved up. Then I was anticipating people coming to my house Saturday and Sunday for a Baha'i Intensive Program of Growth, so I was revved up about that, and went to sleep about 2:30 AM and woke 7:30 AM. Did the final dusting and sweeping, set out dishes for lunch, etc, and instructed myself not to take it too hard if no one showed up.

My goal is to find receptive souls in Puyallup, beginning with the neighborhoods near me, and expand the number of people participating in devotional meetings, study circles, children's classes and youth groups; it is hoped that they will become attracted to the Baha'i teachings, investigate, and eventually expand the number of Baha'is in Puyallup. Building more spiritual communities is our focus.

So the schedule was to pray and spend time consulting in the morning, in preparation for direct teaching work after lunch. I had Marian, George, Chris, Rick, William, and Joe in the morning, and Dawn came in the afternoon. We prayed, talked about our goals, sang and consulted, then ate potato soup with green peas, yellow split peas and tomatoes, and had sandwiches and so forth. Most went to the Salishan neighborhood for teaching. Dawn, Marian and I went teaching in the Stillwater Apartments which I pass on the way to work.

A lot of people at work live near by, but I'm not sure exactly where. I'm extremely shy about sharing the aspect of my life closest to my heart--my faith--at work. So I was very concerned about meeting people I knew, as I crossed the fence between my work persona and my Baha'i character. Sure enough, many of the people we met were connected with "Mountain View." So I was exposed as a Baha'i several times. I'm waiting for doom to fall.

In the evening I washed clothes, cleaned up and went out to Feast in Tacoma, shopped on the way home, soaked black beans, memorized a prayer, and listened to Beethoven's Appassionata before bed. Woke at 8:30 this morning, went, Omigosh, and made a Black Bean and Squash soup. Today George, Dawn, and Joe came over, and Marian promised to pray. Nearly comatose with exhaustion by this time, I went back to the Stillwater apartments again after lunch with George and Dawn.*

I phoned Marian later to ask what time she was saying her prayers for us, because lightning struck twice. We visited a couple and spoke with the husband who goes to the Sikh temple in Renton. He was very friendly, and I would have liked to talk with him for a long time, but he wasn't interested in any devotional meetings, children's classes or youth groups, or study circles. What enticing smells of curry emanated from their home, even though we had just eaten.

Upstairs we met a young woman with two children interested in devotional meetings at her house, with a possibility she may become interested in children's classes. And across the way, still floating on air, we met a young woman with children who had just escaped from a domestic violence situation, who is interested in an introductory conversation about the Faith, and may come to the Women's Empowerment Devotional on Friday.

We called it good and went out for coffee.

*There is a story about 'Abdu'l-Baha who returned to the place he was staying during his visit to America, very exhausted. He went upstairs to His room and emerged a few minutes later completely reenergized by prayer. I do feel better after the teaching event.