Tacoma Baha’i

 

An old view of the Najibiyyih Garden in Baghdad along the Tigris River. Photo courtesy of Médiathèque baha’ie at http://www.bahai–biblio.org.

The nine days between April 21st and May 2nd mark the most important festival on the Bahá’í calendar. Here are the words of Shoghi Effendi:

The arrival of Bahá’u’lláh in the Najibiyyih Garden, subsequently designated by His followers the Garden of Ridvan, signalizes the commencement of what has come to be recognized as the holiest and most significant of all Bahá’í festivals, the festival commemorating the Declaration of His Mission to His companions. So momentous a Declaration may well be regarded both as the logical consummation of that revolutionizing process which was initiated by Himself upon His return from Sulaymaniyyih, and as a prelude to the final proclamation of that same Mission to the world and its rulers from Adrianople.

 Shoghi Effendi

Ridván (pronounced rez-vawn or rez-wawn) is the time set for Bahá’ís throughout the world to elect the members of their local and national governing councils (Local and National Spiritual Assemblies). The elections of  Spiritual Assemblies take place between sunset, April 20th and sunset April 21st.

April 20th is also the anniversary of the passing to the next world of Señor Wences, whose ventriloquist act was the source of happiness for children and adults for several decades. Wenceslao Moreno (his real name) was the webmaster’s favorite act on The Ed Sullivan Show! Here is a link to his appearance on The Muppet Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AaIDmiFXmo. He died in 1999 at the age of 103. The world is a better place because of Señor Wences.

Release yourselves, O nightingales of God, from the thorns and brambles of wretchedness and misery, and wing your flight to the rose-garden of unfading splendor. O My friends that dwell upon the dust! Haste forth unto your celestial habitation. Announce unto yourselves the joyful tidings: “He Who is the Best-Beloved is come! He hath crowned Himself with the glory of God’s Revelation, and hath unlocked to the face of men the doors of His ancient Paradise.” Let all eyes rejoice, and let every ear be gladdened, for now is the time to gaze on His beauty, now is the fit time to hearken to His voice. Proclaim unto every longing lover: “Behold, your Well-Beloved hath come among men!” and to the messengers of the Monarch of love impart the tidings: “Lo, the Adored One hath appeared arrayed in the fullness of His glory!” O lovers of His beauty! Turn the anguish of your separation from Him into the joy of an everlasting reunion, and let the sweetness of His presence dissolve the bitterness of your remoteness from His court.

Behold how the manifold grace of God, which is being showered from the clouds of Divine glory, hath, in this day, encompassed the world. For whereas in days past every lover besought and searched after his Beloved, it is the Beloved Himself Who now is calling His lovers and is inviting them to attain His presence. Take heed lest ye forfeit so precious a favor; beware lest ye belittle so remarkable a token of His grace. Abandon not the incorruptible benefits, and be not content with that which perisheth. Lift up the veil that obscureth your vision, and dispel the darkness with which it is enveloped, that ye may gaze on the naked beauty of the Beloved’s face, may behold that which no eye hath beheld, and hear that which no ear hath heard.

Hear Me, ye mortal birds! In the Rose Garden of changeless splendor a Flower hath begun to bloom, compared to which every other flower is but a thorn, and before the brightness of Whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise, therefore, and, with the whole enthusiasm of your hearts, with all the eagerness of your souls, the full fervor of your will, and the concentrated efforts of your entire being, strive to attain the paradise of His presence, and endeavor to inhale the fragrance of the incorruptible Flower, to breathe the sweet savors of holiness, and to obtain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory. Whoso followeth this counsel will break his chains asunder, will taste the abandonment of enraptured love, will attain unto his heart’s desire, and will surrender his soul into the hands of his Beloved. Bursting through his cage, he will, even as the bird of the spirit, wing his flight to his holy and everlasting nest.

Bahá’u’lláh

 

 

The Most Great Name beareth Me witness! How sad if any man were, in this Day, to rest his heart on the transitory things of this world! Arise, and cling firmly to the Cause of God. Be most loving one to another. Burn away, wholly for the sake of the Well-Beloved, the veil of self with the flame of the undying Fire, and with faces joyous and beaming with light, associate with your neighbor. Ye have well observed, in all its aspects, the behavior of Him Who is the Word of Truth amidst you. Ye know full well how hard it is for this Youth to allow, though it be for one night, the heart of any one of the beloved of God to be saddened by Him.

The Word of God hath set the heart of the world afire; how regrettable if ye fail to be enkindled with its flame! Please God, ye will regard this blessed night as the night of unity, will knit your souls together, and resolve to adorn yourselves with the ornament of a goodly and praiseworthy character. Let your principal concern be to rescue the fallen from the slough of impending extinction, and to help him embrace the ancient Faith of God. Your behavior towards your neighbor should be such as to manifest clearly the signs of the one true God, for ye are the first among men to be re-created by His Spirit, the first to adore and bow the knee before Him, the first to circle round His throne of glory. I swear by Him Who hath caused Me to reveal whatever hath pleased Him! Ye are better known to the inmates of the Kingdom on high than ye are known to your own selves. Think ye these words to be vain and empty? Would that ye had the power to perceive the things your Lord, the All-Merciful, doth see — things that attest the excellence of your rank, that bear witness to the greatness of your worth, that proclaim the sublimity of your station! God grant that your desires and unmortified passions may not hinder you from that which hath been ordained for you.

Bahá’u’lláh

Photo: a view of the Monument Gardens below the Seat of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

Question. — What is the meaning of Christ’s resurrection after three days?

Answer. — The resurrections of the Divine Manifestations are not of the body. All Their states, Their conditions, Their acts, the things They have established, Their teachings, Their expressions, Their parables and Their instructions have a spiritual and divine signification, and have no connection with material things. For example, there is the subject of Christ’s coming from heaven: it is clearly stated in many places in the Gospel that the Son of man came from heaven, He is in heaven, and He will go to heaven. So in chapter 6, verse 38, of the Gospel of John it is written: “For I came down from heaven”; and also in verse 42 we find: “And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?” Also in John, chapter 3, verse 13: “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

Observe that it is said, “The Son of man is in heaven,” while at that time Christ was on earth. Notice also that it is said that Christ came from heaven, though He came from the womb of Mary, and His body was born of Mary. It is clear, then, that when it is said that the Son of man is come from heaven, this has not an outward but an inward signification; it is a spiritual, not a material, fact. The meaning is that though, apparently, Christ was born from the womb of Mary, in reality He came from heaven, from the center of the Sun of Reality, from the Divine World, and the Spiritual Kingdom. And as it has become evident that Christ came from the spiritual heaven of the Divine Kingdom, therefore, His disappearance under the earth for three days has an inner signification and is not an outward fact. In the same way, His resurrection from the interior of the earth is also symbolical; it is a spiritual and divine fact, and not material; and likewise His ascension to heaven is a spiritual and not material ascension.

Beside these explanations, it has been established and proved by science that the visible heaven is a limitless area, void and empty, where innumerable stars and planets revolve.

Therefore, we say that the meaning of Christ’s resurrection is as follows: the disciples were troubled and agitated after the martyrdom of Christ. The Reality of Christ, which signifies His teachings, His bounties, His perfections and His spiritual power, was hidden and concealed for two or three days after His martyrdom, and was not resplendent and manifest. No, rather it was lost, for the believers were few in number and were troubled and agitated. The Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body; and when after three days the disciples became assured and steadfast, and began to serve the Cause of Christ, and resolved to spread the divine teachings, putting His counsels into practice, and arising to serve Him, the Reality of Christ became resplendent and His bounty appeared; His religion found life; His teachings and His admonitions became evident and visible. In other words, the Cause of Christ was like a lifeless body until the life and the bounty of the Holy Spirit surrounded it.

Such is the meaning of the resurrection of Christ, and this was a true resurrection. But as the clergy have neither understood the meaning of the Gospels nor comprehended the symbols, therefore, it has been said that religion is in contradiction to science, and science in opposition to religion, as, for example, this subject of the ascension of Christ with an elemental body to the visible heaven is contrary to the science of mathematics. But when the truth of this subject becomes clear, and the symbol is explained, science in no way contradicts it; but, on the contrary, science and the intelligence affirm it.  

 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

 

Images courtesy of Médiathèque baha’ie at www.bahai-biblio.org.

Nettie J. Craig Asberry

Two new plaques have been unvealed to celebrate the life of Nettie Asberry, a remarkable woman who lived most of her life in Tacoma. Shown here, they are located in Tacoma at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South 5th Street.

Part 1. Biography

This brief account cannot begin to do justice to the long and accomplished life of Nettie Asberry, a woman who was well educated, intelligent, highly musically gifted, and always socially progressive and active in the pursuit of human rights.

Nettie Asberry was born July 15, 1865, in Leavenworth, Kansas, where she went to a segregated school, but later attended the state university, which was free to all races. She began studying the piano where she was eight, showed remarkable ability and took her doctor’s degree in music from the Kansas State Conservatory of music.

During her childhood she remembers seeing Susan B. Anthony when Mrs. Anthony came to visit her brother, D. R. Anthony, editor of the Leavenworth Times.  At thirteen years of age, Nettie was secretary of an adult Susan B. Anthony Club. Before coming to the Northwest, Mrs. Asberry taught music in Kansas City and in Denver and gave much time to playing for churches and directing choirs.

Her family moved to Seattle in 1890, becoming interested in the area after reading news of the Seattle fire of 1889. After three years in Seattle’s music world, she came to Tacoma and married Henry J. Asberry, proprietor of a barbershop. He died in 1939. In 1909, residing in Tacoma, she was described as a music teacher of rare ability who always had a large number of pupils, and was regarded as one of Tacoma’s expert pianists and a woman of great accomplishment, speaking French and German fluently. She taught piano to students of all races for more than 50 years. Very socially active and progressive, she helped found the Tacoma Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said to be the first chapter west of Kansas City.

Nettie Asberry died at the age of 103, spending her last few years in a nursing home in Tacoma. Tacoma Mayor A.L. Rasmussen declared May 11, 1968 Nettie Asberry Day and a memorial was planned for her.

A portrait of her was painted by Thomas Simms, an artist at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary.

Source of Part 1: Who We Are, An informal history of Tacoma’s Black Community before World War I; written and edited by Gary Fuller Reese, Tacoma Public Library, February 1992. Its main source is The (Tacoma) News Tribune and earlier Tacoma newspapers.

Part 2.  Nettie Asberry as a Bahá’í

Most 79 year-olds are fairly well set in their ways. Their mental and physical powers are diminished. They no longer have the curiosity or ambition or vitality that they once enjoyed. Whatever course they have taken in life is the course that they are on and will remain on, content or not, as they glide toward life’s nearing horizon. One’s values and practices have long since been solidified, especially for fundamentals such as religion and worship. At 79 years of age, Nettie Asberry did a remarkable thing: she changed her religion and resigned from her church. She found Bahá’u’lláh and became one of His followers. This happened in 1944 or ’45 through the friendship of two new Bahá’ís in town, Harry and Marjorie Taylor, who were members of the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Tacoma, which was founded in November 1943.

She immediately became an active member of the Faith, attending meetings and writing letters to the editor of the local newspaper. In April 1945 the local Bahá’ís sponsored a public symposium on “The Oneness of Mankind” that featured Mrs. Ernest Tanner of the Interracial Council and Nettie Asberry, who was then Treasurer of the local N.A.A.C.P. With an eye on the Resurrection of Christ and the Easter Holy Day, she wrote a letter to the editor in April 1946 that boldly compared the martyrdom of the Báb with the crucifixion of Christ, detailing the circumstances of the Báb’s martyrdom. Underlying her lifelong battle against racism, her letter began with this pointed statement: “On the eve of Passion week, came today the announcement from an Eastern weekly that the Federal Council of Churches has backed an anti-segregation plan. This pronouncement of the Federal Council, though coming several centuries late, is nevertheless welcome news.”  Her letters to the editor promoted the Faith by easily relating its principles to like-minded causes and events. Her February 1947 letter drew attention to Race Relations Week and Brotherhood Week. First, she commented that similar principles were found in all religions – naming Confucius, Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Mohammad, and Bahá’u’lláh. Next, she referred to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to America in 1912 and quoted His statement that “Religion is an attitude toward God reflected in life by mankind” and finishing with words from His prayer to America.

 Between 1945 and 1959 she was elected to the Assembly on ten occasions, sometimes serving as Secretary or Recording Secretary. Elizabeth Johnson was one of her good friends, and would often pick her up and drive her to Feast, Holy Days, and other meetings.

Nettie Asberry was, naturally, less active as she became older. At the age of 97 she suffered a stroke and was admitted to a nursing home. A bedridden condition, however, did not prevent her from seizing upon opportunities to promote the Faith. Her 100^th birthday was celebrated with an article and photograph in the local newspaper, and the Faith was mentioned. A newspaper photograph showed her, in bed, posing with Eulalia Bobo (the sister of heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis) in 1967 while Ms. Bobo was visiting Tacoma as part of a nationwide speaking tour for the Faith.   

Nettie Asberry did not become acquainted with the Faith until 1944, at an advance age, but she is connected to the first glimmering mention of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in North America.  Gladys Clark, a member of the Tacoma Spiritual Assembly, wrote a biographical sketch about her shortly after her death. Her notes record the remarkable statement that Mrs. Asberry attended the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, where the Faith was first mentioned on the continent. Mrs. Clark states that her notes are based on extensive conversations with Mrs. Asberry. While there is no way to know exactly what Mrs. Asberry said or the accuracy of her memory, some worthwhile comments can be made. Nettie Asberry was a well educated, intelligent woman, spiritually minded and keenly interested in human rights. This auspicious event would almost certainly have captured her interest. It and the much greater event, the World’s Fair, held in Chicago at that time, were, in fact, announced in Tacoma daily newspapers at the time, and those newspapers did contain advertisements of direct train service from Tacoma to Chicago. Did she actually go to Chicago or attend the World Parliament? There are no records of attendance at the World Parliament, so it is unlikely that it will be possible to verify her attendance. She may have actually first heard of the Faith in Tacoma. The Tacoma Daily News of October 21, 1893 (shortly after the Parliament concluded) contains an announcement that the Rev. Alfred W. Martin will present ten free lectures, one each week, at the First Free Church, on the world’s great religions (presumably based upon information from the World Parliament). The subject and date of each lecture is listed. The lecture for December 28, 1893 is on “Mohammedanism – the religion of Turkey and Arabia, etc.”.  The large size of and detailed information in the announcement suggest that a good turnout was expected. It is certainly possible that the Bahá’í Faith and Bahá’u’lláh were briefly mentioned that evening. If one accepts the reasoning that the simplest explanation is the most likely one, then it is likely that Nettie Asberry first heard of the Faith on that date. The name and the memory of that Greatest Name were safely planted in the fertile soil of her mind, where it germinated and blossomed 50 years later. 

Shortly after her passing, the Tacoma Association of Colored Women’s Clubs completed a clubhouse, naming the music room the Dr. Nettie J. Asberry room.  The Asberry Cultural Club is named after her.  Elizabeth Johnson was a guest speaker before the club members in 1977.  The Club continues to host activities.

Text to Part 2 prepared by Gary Slone

 

MEMO FROM GOD

To: You

Date:  Today

From: the Boss

Subject: Yourself

Reference:  Life

 

I am God. Today I will be handling all of your problems.  Please remember that I do not need your help.

 

If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it.  Kindly put it in the SFGTD (something for God to do) box.  It will be addressed in My time, not yours. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it.

 

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don’t despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege. Should you have a bad day at work, think of the man who has been out of work for  years.

 

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad, think of the person who has never known what it’s like to love and be loved in return. Should you grieve the passing of another weekend, think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children. Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance, think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

 

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror, think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes that she had hair to examine. Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking “What is my purpose?” Be thankful. There are those who didn’t live long to get the opportunity.

 

Should you find yourself the victim of other people’s bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities, remember that things could be worse. You could be them!!!! Should you decide to send this to a friend, you might brighten someone’s day!

 

Author of the text is unknown.

Image courtesy of Médiathèque baha’i at http://bahai-biblio.org/