14 April, 1912, New York City, Sunday morning:
On His first Sunday in America ‘Abdu’l-Bahá makes His first public talks.
In the morning He spoke at the Church of the Ascension (located at Fifth Avenue and 10th Street) at the invitation of Dr. Percy Grant, the rector and long time friend of Juliet Thompson. (Dr. Grant, the minister, had, just a few months before, warned his congregation about the 'Bahá'í sect!) 239 Days, p. 21
Following Dr. Grant’s introduction ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: “Dr. Grant has just read from the thirteenth Chapter of Corinthians that the day would come when you would see face to face.”
Following this statement He swerved to another subject.
“I have come hither,” He said, “to find that material civilization has progressed greatly, but the spiritual civilization has been left behind. The material civilization is likened unto the glass of a lamp chimney. the spiritual civilization is like the light in that chimney. The material civilization should go hand-in-hand with the spiritual civilization. Material civilization be likened unto a beautiful body, while spiritual civilization is the spirit that enters the body and gives to it life. With the propelling power of spiritual civilization the result will be greater.” He continued on . . . .
(The Diary of Juliet Thompson ; by Juliet Thompson. ©1983 by Kalimát Press. First edition. Published from the 1947 typescript prepared and annotated by Juliet Thompson. (Juliet Thompson’s house located at 48 West Tenth Street–in 239 Days?) p. 245.
*He spoke to a congregation of two thousand. . . .[ On the following day, Monday, the New York Herald reported
“ ‘Abdul Bahå in Episcopal Pulpit’ Leader of Oriental Cult Causes Stir by Preaching in Church of the Ascension”]
239 Days, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Journey in America, by Allan L. Ward, ©1979, National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, p, 22-23.
Sunday evening, April 14, ‘Abdu’l Bahá gave His second public talk of the day when He spoke at the
Carnegie Lyceum for the Union Meeting of Advanced Thought Centers.(See Promulgation of Universal Peace,
2nd ed. pp. 14-16.
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