On a Warmly Appreciated Contribution: Mistress Redpen Is Proud of Her Mom

Only Baha'is can contribute to the Baha'i Fund. Mistress Redpen writes, " I'm non-Baha'i myself, but I certainly appreciate and support that faith. :)" While Mistress Redpen, or Elissa, is not a Baha'i, her mother is. According to Elissa her mother contributed financially to the recent restoration of the Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. It took more than 40 years to complete the initial construction of the temple, beginning in 1912 when 'Abdu'l-Baha visited North America. One of the reasons it took so long was because of the fewness of Baha'is during those years who could contribute the necessary funds. There are many times more Baha'is today than then. It's still the case that the amount of a personal contribution is not considered significant, but universal participation and sacrificial giving is. Mistress Redpen is proud of her mom. -gw

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"Baha'i Temple, Wilmette," uploaded on September 24, 2006 by wnisley on flickr

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This morning, the Treasurer for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i faith came to visit my mother and deliver something to her. Mom, being the terribly modest (unnecessarily modest, in my opinion) woman she is, thought that perhaps he was hand delivering a receipt.

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A receipt! *amused eyeroll*

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Needless to say, Mark and I dismissed that. Humble and accessible people that these Baha'i are, you still don't have folks in positions like that hand delivering receipts. Receipts get mailed. This was going to be something special, but Mom had no idea what it could be, despite the fact that she's contributed significantly to her faith in many ways. (Mom is a natural go-getter to begin with, and further "thanks" to Grandma, she feels she can never do enough, or that what she does is never "good enough." *sigh* But don't get me started on Grandma.)

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Anyway: Mark and I were right. What he was hand delivering was a special framed photo/lithograph that was also a plaque, recognizing Mom for her contributions toward the the restoration of the Wilmette (IL) House of Worship. (Although Mom is technically correct that her contributions were a "drop in the bucket" compared to how much the entire thing costed, they were still rather significantly large. I'm not going to quote figures publicly, though.)

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Mom read what was printed on it, and was happily overwhelmed. It brought tears to her eyes. As of right now, that picture is now hanging on the wall behind her chair, in a blank space that I'm glad we hadn't filled yet.

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Elissa, "Special Recognition," The Pen and the Paperwork

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{Re-posted with permission}