Greeting the Persians
Sat, 27 Dec 2003 Filed in:
Journal
Yesterday and today were spent serving
at the Grand Canyon Bahá’í Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. I was
security there, which at these conferences means standing at the
door and checking for proof of registration. I like doing it
because it allows me to meet with the people, and have a moment of
connection with some I might otherwise never meet — from old
couples speaking nothing but Persian, to young ladies dressed to
impress (and succeeding at it). It was during this time, greeting a
stream of Persian and other faces and friendly eyes, that I came to
realize something: I was not there serving for the sake of God.
That alone does not convey the satisfaction it gave me, or that
after fourteen hours of standing, I was exhausted but not wearied.
The way to explain it is that I came to see: these people *were*
God. Whenever I did something for them, I was doing it for Him. And
whenever they smiled back at me (which most did, often), I saw in
their eyes a light as if He were smiling back at me. It was a time
of service that became like communion — and exchange of gifts
between lover and Beloved. For this reason, when I was done, I felt
I’d been done a favor by the chance to be there, and look forward
very much to doing it again next year.