As we spoke on the phone he sounded nervous but very friendly. His name was Jim and he was enthusiastic about getting his three year old daughter into a children class. As I met them in the apartment lobby, his daughter had a huge smile on her face. She acted shy when I greeted her but approached me soon after with a hug.
As I presented the Faith, his daughter stammered for attention, one second doing something cute and getting a laugh, the next second hitting her dad for averting his eyes. While it was tough for both of us to maintain concentration, he was incredibly patient with her....
"So what is it that has drawn you to the Baha'i Faith?"
"You know we all come from a different place, and mainly that it seems that the Baha'i's to want to include everybody, of different colors, tall, short, skinny and not..."
"...Do you believe Baha'u'llah is the manifestation of God for today, would you like to be part of the Baha'i community?"
"Yeah, I do believe this, I think the Baha'i Faith is just what I have been looking for."
"Well that's great, welcome, we would love for you to join us.
"Yeah, you know I have been wanting to get involved with a religious community, and I have really been wanting to get Emily involved with some sort of children's activities..."
It is always kind of shocking to me that people can accept a religious faith based on such a simple, yet potent concept of unity. In a couple of situations now I have wanted to question them deeper, make sure they know what they are getting into. I don't know if I am projecting my own lingering sense of doubt onto them. In this case Jim was sure, he just KNEW. now that I think about it, I always knew intuitively that this was the truth. I went through an intense period of questioning, one in which I could barely function, but I always KNEW.
A few days later I called him to see how the first devotional gathering went. Apparently his daughter didn't want to leave, I could tell that this made him very happy.
It is obvious that he is devoted to her upbringing. It is not easy, she is very hyperactive and he is a single father.
As I sat across from him at the first Baha'i Feast, I couldn't concentrate on the prayers, I knew that she was getting fidgety and he was getting anxious. I anxiously hoped that he wouldn't feel embarrassed. Other kids were walking and climbing around, so I hoped that set his mind at ease. Finally the children's table opened up and she ran over along with about 10 other kids. As she worked on her butterfly, her dad watched with approving eyes. She kept running back to show her dad the art, relate to him her excitement, and then get back to the table where the fun was.
