Sometimes I Made Him Laugh A story about Saichiro Fujita
by
Linda Ahdieh Grant
Illustrated by Reina Hirano
George Ronald Oxford
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Saichiro Fujita loved ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and made the aim of his entire life to be of service to Him. He was a source of great joy to everyone. He was faithful, capable, and full of laughter. Once someone asked Fujita-san* what he did for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. He replied, ‘I never felt that I could do very much for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.’ Then, after a pause, he added, ‘Sometimes I made Him laugh.’ This is Fujita-san’s story. It is told through the words of a youthful gardener from Papua New Guinea named Mia, and shared with Paolo, a 10-year-old boy from Brazil. * San is a title showing respect that is used in Japan.
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As Paolo poured milk into his cereal at the hotel restaurant, he could not believe how lucky he was. Yesterday, after a long flight from his home in Brazil, he and his family had arrived in Haifa, Israel, a city on Mount Carmel which faces the beautiful Mediterranean Sea.
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His family had been planning this trip forever! Now they were here in the Holy Land as Bahá’í pilgrims. Two youth from his hometown, including his cousin Luis, had served here as volunteers the year before. Paolo had already started saving money so he could come and serve when he finished high school. His family finished breakfast and, hand-in-hand, they walked down the hill to the Pilgrim House. Paolo had two books in his backpack: a prayer book and a blank drawing notebook. As they walked, Paolo told his family his ‘daily joke’. He loved to make his family laugh and prepared a joke or funny story to share with them every morning.
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The next day, when he was in the gardens, Paolo started to sketch some of the flowers and the lamp posts. One of the young gardeners, Mia, saw him working hard in his notebook and asked to see what he was drawing.
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Paolo asked Mia to tell him more about Fujita-san and lamp posts. ‘Was that here in Haifa? Did he climb this lamp post here?’ Paolo asked, as he pointed to a tall lamp post near the garden where Mia was planting flowers. ‘No. It was in Chicago, in America,’ Mia replied. ‘Fujita-san did eventually move here to Haifa, but it was many years after that first time when he saw ‘Abdu’l-Bahá from the top of a lamp post.’ Paolo looked at the lamp post and imagined climbing it. Mia continued: ‘Saichiro Fujita was born in Japan and moved to the United States when he was a teenager. He became a Bahá’í a few years later. In 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the United States, and Fujita-san travelled to Chicago to meet Him. Because he was so eager to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and maybe because he wasn’t very tall, he climbed a lamp post to get a good view.’ Climbing a lamp post was definitely something Paolo would love to do someday. But, maybe it was better to wait until he got back home!
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End of this sample. To learn more or to purchase this book, Please visit Bahaibookstore.com or your favorite bookseller.