"I did at least go..."

“I did at least go and I can assure whoever goes will have rebuffs. But
remember this, no one can remove the footprints you made, or the echo of
your voice, or the smiles you gave and those you got in return, and as you go
around in your travels, you will see beauty spots, all belonging to God. ”
These are the words of Knight of Bahhá’u’lláh Charles Dunning, a UK pioneer
on the home front. A pioneer to Belfast and Sheffield, in 1953 Charles arose to
become the first Bahá’í on the Orkney Islands and thus a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh.
As an outsider on the islands, Charles was often ridiculed and treated with
suspicion; and on occasion pursued by gangs of children throwing stones at
him, a situation he faced with qualities of sincerity, endurance and radiance
of spirit, as recounted by Brigitte Hasselblatt. Two children, who never joined
their peers in taunting him, because they felt attracted to him, are now Bahá’ís
living in Kirkwall.
Brigitte tells us also: “The Guardian received Charles Dunning with great
love when he went on Pilgrimage to Haifa in the winter of 1957. Charles was
completely himself during the evening meal with the guardian. After dinner,
he took a cigarette butt from his pocket, impaled it on a needle and began to
smoke it with great enjoyment. The Guardian asked him why he would smoke
such a short cigarette end. Charles’ reply was: “I am a poor man and I have
to use everything to the very last in order to get by.” The following evening, a
pack of American cigarettes was beside his place. They had been put there at
the wish of the Guardian.
A story follows in the words of Mr Ian Semple - a story often told by Rúhhíyyih
Khánum.
“Charlie Dunning was the Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for the Orkney Islands, a
wonderful Bahá’í. He was a little man, and he looked like Popeye. He and
Shoghi Effendi would talk, and he would wave his finger at Shoghi Effendi’s
nose and say “Guardian, they tell me so and so”, and the Guardian would lean
towards him and answer, and they would talk in this way. The Guardian loved
Charles Dunning. He saw the beauty and the spirit in Charlie although most
people would think he was a funny little man. And the thing that struck me after
Charlie had been on pilgrimage, and it’s made me think a lot about the way
one’s appearance mirrors one’s soul, you might say, because Charlie spoke
at the National Convention about his pilgrimage, and the thing that struck me
was that superficially Charlie was an ugly little man, but when he was talking
about his pilgrimage he was beautiful, really beautiful. He hadn’t changed, his
features were the same, but this was a beautiful person talking, and I think his
soul was as it were reflecting what the Guardian had seen in him.”
London 28 January 2006.
"I did at least go..."
If you met Charles Dunning, the Bahá’ís in the Orkneys would love to hear from you. They are
researching information and stories on this Knight of Bahá’u’lláh during this anniversary year of his
arrival in Kirkwall.
---FromUK Bahai  issue 13  march 2014