On Baha’i Pioneering at 17: The ones who serve get what they deserve
By george wesley dannells on Nov 6, 2008 in All categories
There is a line in Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen” that goes as follows:
A brown eyed girl in hand me downs
Whose name I never could pronounce
Said: “Pity please the ones who serve
They only get what they deserve”
I don’t know if I fully understand the songwriter’s intended meaning here, but given the signficance of service for Baha’is, my take on these verses are as follows: Those who serve get what they deserve, God’s approval and blessing, indeed. There is certainly no need for pity here. -gw
he asked me if I was Maryam’s mother. When I said yes, he immediately said how proud I must be of her…I said absolutely and had a short discussion about her talents, especially when it comes to learning languages. I told him the story of how I ended up taking her to Hungary on the way to her first pilgrimage and how that lead to her move over there at age 17… He mentioned her bravery (for going over there so young), her language talents…and more.
