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Take My Love to the Friends
Appeared: 08/22/2009
Take My Love to the Friends. Marlene Macke. Chestnut Park Press, St. Marys, Ontario.
I'm not much of an historian, but I find that the early history of the Faith in the west has some interest for me anyway. I think this is primarily because the Bahá'í community is something of an ongoing experiment. We're slowly learning how to make what one of my online correspondents likes to call "this thing of His" work. To that end, it is probably helpful to see what past generations did and how it worked for them, so we have a better idea of how we got here and where we are, perhaps, going.
In Take My Love to the Friends: The Story of Laura R. Davis, author Marlene Macke gives us a look at how the Bahá'í Faith in Canada grew from its earliest days through 1990. Although ostensibly a biography of Laura Davis (1895 – 1990), one of the key players in the early growth of the Bahá'í community and the Administrative Order in Canada, this book actually has a rather broader scope than just one life. Some of the material will probably be familiar to those who have an interest in Canadian Bahá'í history, while others will be new: Martha Root's role in the establishment of the Faith in Toronto, for example. I also was quite interested in the account of events leading up to the establishment of an independent National Spiritual Assembly in Canada, an Institution on which Laura Davis would serve for seven years, and the effect this development had on energizing the Canadian Bahá'ís.
The title of the book is taken not from anything Laura said, but from the last words the Guardian spoke to Laura at the end of her pilgrimage in December, 1954: "Take my love to the friends." Those words became a central focus of Laura's life for her remaining 36 years. Although she and her husband Victor had made their home a place where teaching the Faith, both through words and through deeds, came first, and although teaching remained a priority for her for the rest of her life, Laura found a special mission in carrying the Guardian's love to the Bahá'ís she met. Perhaps ironically, Shoghi Effendi himself only lived three years after giving her that request, but that ultimately made Laura's determination to carry it out stronger. As time passed, the number of Baha'is who had actually had the opportunity to meet the Guardian in person dwindled, and the newer Baha'is could only know him through his writings. Laura wanted them to know what he was like as a person, and how much he loved the followers of Bahá'u'lláh. In a very real sense, Laura became a living link between Shoghi Effendi and those of us (probably most who are reading this article included) who could only come to know him through stories.
Take my Love to the Friends is well-researched and does take on a scholarly tone, but it's not a dry volume. The author makes liberal use of correspondence written by the key people in the story of the Faith in Canada as well as the recollections of those who knew Laura Davis, to tell that story. As a result, we get a deep and well-rounded look at the Bahá'í history of that country.
There is a tradeoff, of course. Such a work necessarily leaves out a lot that would help us to better know Laura and her contemporaries as human beings. Of course, her devotion and service to the Faith shine through, but we might wish for a bit more. Even so, this is certainly a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the Faith's history, and particularly for those interested in Canadian Bahá'í history.
Email Dale E. Lehman about "Take My Love to the Friends"
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