Lesson

So, I went to the local community Reflection Gathering today, Mr Nice Guy in tow- voluntarily.
Having never been to a Reflection Gathering, I wasn't aware just how administrative it is.
I learned tonight.
Mr Nice Guy sat patiently through an hour of discussion, despite being tired and probably more than a little impatient, but he hid it well.
After we took a break, we came back and sat down (I'd made sure by this point he was okay with staying through the second half) and, well, my community surprised even me.
By this point, it had been well established that Mr Nice Guy knew little to nothing of the Baha'i Faith. Several people had approached him with bits and pieces and offerings of info. One of our Persian Friends, though, took a special interest immediately, if rather indirectly. He pulled the organizer of tonight's meeting aside during the break to ask if we could do a small fireside.
Very quickly, it turned from a 'small fireside' into a very, very animated discussion as each of us went around the room, to include the Youth-age folks, and explained how they became Baha'i. Needless to say, hilarity ensued. We have some wonderfully funny and talented Persians in our community, one in particular who is a fantastic storyteller. Even the folks who were born into a Baha'i family generally had pretty interesting or funny stories passed down from parents and grandparents about how they had become Baha'i. One of our Youth ladies simply stated "I've been a Baha'i eighteen years. Anyone wanna guess how old I am?!" Naturally, the room erupted into laughter, after having only just heard quite the emotional discourse from one of our more weathered Friends.
Mr Nice Guy hasn't said much, and I plan to talk to him a bit over the coming week, but so far, I really can't gauge how he feels about it over all, though he still has only fairly vague information about it, I suppose.

I can't possibly explain how good it felt to be back with the community.