Kahlil Gibran & pumpkin soup

One of the books I go back to time and again is "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran. I love to quote it when I send cards, or read chunks from it if I have to give a talk. When one of my brothers got married, he asked me to read the chapter on marriage. It resonates with everyone, it's universal in its message and the words have a lyrical beauty that wakens your soul from its slumber.

I was intrigued to learn that Gibran had met, and was drawn to, the personnage of 'Abdu'l-Baha, the eldest son of Baha'u'llah, prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith. He was called by those who revered him "The Master", though he shunned that title and always maintained that his name and his station were simply that of "servant" (his name means Servant of God). Gibran drew his portrait which you can see here and read some more about their meeting.

When I was in New York in November 1992 for the Baha'i World Congress, a group of us set off on a beautiful sunny autumn day to find the house where 'Abd'ul-Baha stayed in Greenwich Village (No 48 West 10th St) at the home of Juliet Thompson in the article mentioned above. (Maybe we were standing right outside the house where Gibran lived!) But the house is privately owned so we couldn't enter. Instead we went a little further down to the Village itself and found a restaurant in the basement of one of those beautiful old houses. All nine of us needed something to warm us up so we all ordered pumpkin soup, and I have to say it was the best pumpkin soup we had tasted or will taste - ever! We called ourselves The Pumpkin Soup Group after that!