A Luminous Journey

add to outlook add to google calendar remind me

Sunday, September 9th, 2012
3:30 PM to 5:30 PM

He was 67 years old and in frail health having spent over 40 years as a prisoner and exile of the Ottoman Empire. A century ago he traveled across North America, reaching across political, religious, racial, class and gender lines to confront Americans with a vision of human nature, social unity, and the nation�s future that was 100 years ahead of its time.

Abdu'l-Baha's talks pierced audiences with a radical simplicity. And yet he advanced ideas that Americans still wrestle with a century later: the need for true racial harmony and gender equality; the elimination of extreme wealth and poverty; the dangers of nationalism and religious bigotry; and an insistence upon the independent search for truth.

Throughout his visit he swept aside the social protocol of segregation by insisting that everywhere he spoke be open to people of all races. His mission of unity should be celebrated alongside the messages of Gandhi, the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr.

He �will surely unite the East and West,� the president of Stanford University remarked, �for he treads the mystic way with practical feet.� �There is no doubt, among thinking people,� a famous columnist wrote, �that this man represents, in great degree, the growing and evolving spirit of our times.�