We should not always be focused on physical comfort, but rather should seek a high purpose and goal even if it is contrary to bodily ease.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on board the SS Celtic at sea, 1912-Dec-05 -- ABU2059)
Comfort, effort, and a life of service
disregarding bodily comfort
Editorial introduction
Ease has a way of becoming the quiet center of a life. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asks what bodily comfort is finally worth, the soft cushions of silk, the hoarding of the morning and the spending of the evening, if the soul has no higher aim. His own days answered the question. He wrote by lamplight while others slept, pressed on with fingers too cold to move, refused to listen to sickness or fatigue, and praised friends who traveled far to raise the call of the Kingdom. Faith, He insisted, never seeks shelter in indolence. Yet He also spoke frankly of age, of nights when He could no longer sleep in a shared room, and of a simple diet that keeps the body fit for service. Jesus, too, drew His weary disciples aside to rest [1]. Between these poles lies the path of detachment, the patience that tests and trials require, and the sacrifice that gives every effort its meaning.
Selected passages
Of what benefit to man is bodily ease and sleeping at night and talking by day and hoarding in the morning and spending in the evening and resting on soft cushions of silk and brocade?
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1911-Jul-14, to Mashhadi Rahmatullah et al -- AB05672)
Praise be to God that you have forsaken your physical comfort and rest and are engaged with utmost effort in promoting the divine teachings, and that you have traveled to Lubeck to raise the call to the Kingdom and have formed a gathering.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1919-Sep-20, to Emil Traunecker -- AB06570)
We must be equal to the hardships of traveling like a soldier in the path of truth and not be slaves to bodily ease and comfort.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to the Master's entourage, spoken on 1912-Oct-29 -- ABU2759)
Despite this, I am writing this brief note in the middle of the night, and due to the intensity of the cold my fingers will not move, but I am writing by force.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Ibn-i-Abhar -- AB11798)
Although there is absolutely no time, and all the friends are asleep in sweet slumber, it is now ten o'clock at night that I am standing by the lamp busy writing.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Mirza Muhammad Hasan Adib -- AB12000)
My health and happiness depend on the progress of the Cause of God. Nothing else merits attention.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Answer to questions, New York, 1912-May-30 -- ABU3475)
Look at me! I do not listen to sickness. I do not listen to sleeplessness. I do not listen to fatigue. I do not listen to anything. I work and strive. I toil and labor.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Edward Getsinger, spoken on 1913-Nov-10 -- ABU2388)
No one who has the least particle of Faith in God seeks the least degree of ease and indolence.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to pilgrims in June 1906 -- ABU1097)
Bodily health is not important. What is more important is spiritual health which gives eternal pleasure and has everlasting effect. The more the body is cared for, the worse it becomes. Thus denial is preferable for the body. I took only a cup of milk today and I feel much better. Why should man undergo so much trouble and hardship merely for the purpose of eating?
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to the Baha'is, spoken on 1912-Jun-24 -- ABU3003)
Formerly I was so accustomed that I slept in Acca in the same small room with 13 other souls, but now if there sleeps another person in my room I lie awake all night.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1914-Mar-06 in Haifa -- ABU3077)
We should give our bodies a healthy, simple diet, just enough to keep them for good service—no more; to think too much of what we shall or shall not eat is making too much of the material.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken ca. Sep. 1911 in London -- ABU3444)
Continue exploring
For thought and discussion
Questions to carry forward
- How might we distinguish restorative comfort from an attachment that narrows our willingness to serve?
- What do these personal recollections reveal that a general maxim about effort would miss?
- How should changing age, health, and responsibility affect the form of our service?
- What would a community look like that encouraged both devoted effort and needed rest?