Elaine of St. Paul, AB
We met Elaine during the summer of 2017, and her open heart and soft-spoken conversation style is a characteristic that you easily fall in love with. Today, we spent the afternoon enjoying an outdoor potluck picnic in St. Paul and listened to our new friend describe her life before and after her declaration to Baha’u’llah’s purpose for this millennium.
She described that she’d always been a seeker and was encouraged by her mother to follow the Catholic doctrine as advocated in the Bible and her father’s inclination to dismiss the formal application of religion and explore the spiritual aspects of faith in God.
Later in life, Elaine was introduced to the World Wide Church of God and studied their methodology for learning about the return of Christ. She admitted that she still wasn’t able to satisfy her insatiable need for that ‘something’ which would make her content. The church’s search for the return of Jesus encouraged her to pursue her own exploration and mystical wondering.
In 2010, She met a Baha’i in St. Paul who graciously presented her with a copy of the book titled, “Wings of Destiny”, and after reading several more Baha’i books, it clicked. She felt that she had to do something about her strong sense of safety and truth that came from learning about the Faith.
“I enrolled,” she said.
Elaine’s teaching strategies these days is to participate in weekly Devotionals and act in accord with the virtues assigned us by God.