6 / A Luminous Star

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A Luminous Star

John Bosch walked swiftly through the cold, snowy morning to the Hotel Ansonia. He was eager to meet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Who was staying there. The day after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived in New York, John took the night train from his home in Geyersville, California, and rode across the country. At that time, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá didn’t plan to travel to the western United States, and John didn’t want to miss the chance to speak with Him.

Although some people owned cars at that time, almost all travel between cities was done by train. The first transcontinental railroad, which made it possible to travel across the country, had been completed in 1869. A couple of years earlier, George Pullman had created “hotel cars,” in which travelers could sleep comfortably and dine on the train, rather than getting off of the train to buy meals. By 1910, there were 240,000 miles of train track weaving across the United States.

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VOYAGE OF LOVE

It was on a train that John had first learned about the Bahá’í Faith in 1903. On the way home to Geyersville from San Francisco, he met a friend, who was reading a book. He told her, “If I sit alongside of you, I’m not going to let you read—we’re going to talk.”

She agreed. But when she put the book down, he picked it up to take a look. It was about the teachings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. John started to read, and he forgot all about talking to his friend. John had always been interested in religion, and after reading his friend’s book about the Bahá’í Faith, he said to himself, “This is just what I wanted.”

John started going to Bahá’í meetings at the home of Helen Goodall in Oakland, California. These were usually afternoon tea parties, and John was often the only man there, among up to forty-five women. In 1905, he wrote to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that he had accepted the Bahá’í Faith.

John became good friends with Thornton Chase, the first Bahá’í in the United States. Thornton worked for an insurance company in Chicago, but he often traveled to San Francisco. John and Thornton would stay at different hotels and eat dinner together. At about eleven o’clock, Thornton would say, “Now, John, I guess it’s about time to take you home.”

The two would walk to John’s hotel, talking about the Bahá’í Faith. They would sit in the hotel parlor and continue talking. At about one o’clock, John would say, “Now, Mr. Chase, I guess it’s about time to take you home.” And they would walk back to Thornton’s hotel.

Remembering those visits, John said, “We used to wonder what the policeman on the beat thought about us. One night we brought each other home till four in the morning.”1

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A LUMINOUS STAR

Over the years, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá sent many messages to John. John was the manager of two large wineries. He had worked for years to learn the wine-making business and establish a promising career. In one Tablet, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained that alcohol is prohibited in the Bahá’í Faith because it “leads the mind astray and is the cause of weakening the body.” He told John, “I hope thou mayest become exhilarated with the wine of the love of God. . . . The after-effect of drinking is depression, but the wine of the love of God bestoweth exaltation of the spirit.”2 After receiving this message from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, John soon retired from the wine business.

At the Hotel Ansonia in New York, John booked a room for himself, then hurried to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s suite.

John recalled, “I went in as a business man. I had some questions to ask. When I saw Him I forgot everything. I was empty.” As they talked, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá told John everything he had wanted to know, though the questions were never asked.

John said, “‘Abdu’l-Bahá, I came three thousand miles to see you.”

‘Abdu’l-Bahá laughed heartily and said, “I came eight thousand miles to see you.”

John was concerned that he wasn’t doing enough service to the Bahá’í Faith. He told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “I am a foreigner, born in Switzerland, and have not the command of the English language. I would love to be a speaker. All I am doing is to give away pamphlets and as many books as are printed.”

But ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reassured him, “You are doing well. I am satisfied with you. With you it is not the movements of the lips, nor the tongue.

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VOYAGE OF LOVE

With you it is the heart that speaks. With you it is silence that speaks and radiates.”3 Later, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá got into a car that was waiting to take Him to the Kinneys’ home for lunch. John saw one of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Persian companions make a gesture in John’s direction, as if pushing the air. John backed up, thinking he was being asked to go away. But this was actually the Persian gesture for “come here.” Then an American gestured to John, and he understood that he was invited to join ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá took John’s hand and pulled him inside the car, next to Him.

The Bahá’ís had wanted to give ‘Abdu’l-Bahá a tour of New York during the drive. But John said, “He just looked at me, and all at once with an immense sigh . . . like the whole world would be lifted from Him so He could have a rest, He put His head on my left shoulder, clear down as close as He could, like a child, and went to sleep.”

John said, “I was still as a mouse; I didn’t want to move—I didn’t want to wake Him up.” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá slept for the entire half-hour ride, and woke up just as they reached the Kinneys’ home.

After lunch, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave a talk to about 150 people. Then He walked among the group, saying good-bye, because He was leaving for Washington, D.C. John said, “You always felt a nearness to Him even when He was far across the room.”4

John traveled with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to Washington, D.C. During that trip, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave John a wonderful gift—a new name. ‘Abdu’lBahá called John “Núrání.” He even wrote out the name for John to see. It means “full of light” or “luminous.” A few years earlier, ‘Abdu’l-

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A LUMINOUS STAR

Bahá had envisioned John that way. He had written in a Tablet, “Exercise on my behalf the utmost kindness and love to John D. Bosch. With the utmost humility I pray . . . that that soul may become holy, find capacity to receive the outpouring of eternity and become a luminous star in the West.”5

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