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fragmentedknowledge posted this
Book #56: Portals to Freedom
“Humanity is one. No individual is without a spiritual, as well as a physical relationship with every other individual. The hopes, longings, aspirations of one are those of each and all. The depths and heights; the agonies and joys; the victories and defeats vary in intensity with each individual according to the capacity and courage of each, but all travel much the same path and all fight over much the same ground.”
“Here I saw a man who, outwardly, like myself, lived in a world of confusion, yet, beyond the possibility of doubt, lived and worked in that higher and real world … And, which is to me a most inspiring and encouraging fact, He took it for granted that you and I … could enter into and live and move in that world if we could.”
I was first introduced to this book while participating in a youth project in the city that I would very shortly move to. The novel chronicles Howard Colby Ives’, a Unitarian minister, meetings with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and journey towards the Bahá’í faith.
From 1910 to 1913, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í faith, journeyed from Palestine to the United States of America and Canada. Portals to Freedom introduces the reader to the astounding figure of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and brings him to life and magnifies His message. As well, it describes Ives’ own investigation of the faith and details the spiritual transformation that an already religious man experienced once confronted with the power of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.
The stories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in Portals to Freedom bring a new light to the life of such a figure. They personalize Him and enable the reader to relate to Him on a more personal level. Instead of this debasing His station, it raises it. To read these stories and realise that He was capable of performing such acts so far ahead of their times, is truly inspiring. Portals to Freedom will inspire you, it will pierce your very soul.
