# Confessions of a Child of the Half-Light

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-21 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Jack McLean, Confessions of a Child of the Half-Light, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Confessions of a Child of the Half-Light
> 
> Jack McLean
> 
> Ottawa: n.p., 2022
> 
> Summary contents (see book below)
> 
> Confessions of a Child of the Half-Light has passed Bahá'í review, but I did not submit it to any Bahá'í publisher because I don't think they would be interested in such an atypical book that is a medley of mostly unrelated chapters. Here is a summary of the book's content by chapter:
> 
> Abdu'l-Bahá: Remembering the Master. The revisited 1967 Paris interview with Laura Dreyfus Barney; the old Frenchman who met Abdu'l-Bahá; highlights reported by Curtis Kelsey of his visit with the Master.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi: Remembering the Guardian. Memories of 8 Bahá'ís of my acquaintance who made the pilgrimage during the ministry of Shoghi Effendi.
> 
> Teaching the Faith, Magic Moments, Meeting Great Souls. Autobiographical.
> 
> Essays and Reflections. 21 essays on a variety of topics, both sacred and secular.
> 
> Mysticism: Experiencing the Transcendent. To examine mystical experiences by Bahá'ís, there must be personal testimony. Here are grouped under the following headings, mystical experiences of mine that began in childhood: 1. Being in the Presence 2. Visions 3. Clairvoyance 4. Clairaudience 5. Dreams
> The Book of Eighteen. Aphorisms and pensees of my own invention grouped under 18 topics.
> 
> Family Matters. Reminiscences of my English grandparents, Jessie and Will Halsted; sayings of parents and grandparents; eulogies for my parents.
> 
> Travel Teaching in the Former Soviet Union and the Ukraine (1990).
> 
> "Confessions" in the title does not refer to the confessions of sins, but to the more antiquated meaning of the word as religious and spiritual convictions and beliefs.
> 
> Detailed contents
> 
> 1. ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ: REMEMBERING THE MASTER
> 
> The Paris Interview with Laura Dreyfus Barney (1967)
> 
> Her “Imperishable Service”
> 
> The Interview
> 
> The Old Frenchman who had met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> 
> Memories of the Master: Highlights Reported by Curtis Kelsey
> 
> 2. SHOGHI EFFENDI: REMEMBERING THE GUARDIAN
> 
> The Status of Pilgrim’s Notes Revisited
> 
> Mr. Daoud Toeg, Baghdad, Iraq and Hull, Quebec
> 
> Ms. Winnifred Harvey, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Hull, Haifa
> 
> Mr. Munir Bahá’í
> 
> Mrs. Laura Rumney Davis, Toronto, Ontario
> 
> Ms. Joyce Frances Devlin, Burritts Rapids, Ontario
> 
> Mr. Allan Raynor, Toronto, Canada
> 
> Allan Raynor through Robert “Bob” Leblanc
> 
> Mr. Mozhan Khádem, Son of the Hand of the Cause Mr. Zikrulláh Khádem
> 
> The Iranian Pilgrim (Paris, France)
> 
> 3. TEACHING THE FAITH, MAGIC MOMENTS, MEETING GREAT SOULS
> 
> Divine Foundations in Childhood: Five Bright Memories
> 
> Our Spiritual Mother: Ruth Halsted Kern, “Auntie Ruthie”
> 
> Faith of Our Fathers: Our Grandparents Jessie Fallon Halsted & William Henry Halsted
> 
> The Devoted Servant of All: Violet Fallon Halsted, “Auntie Vi”
> 
> My Elder Sister Mary Louise McLean, Mary Lou
> 
> Early Youth and Declaration of Faith: Hand of the Cause of God, Mr. William Sears
> 
> Teaching the Faith to the Presbyterian Minister Reverend W.
> 
> A Bountiful Harvest: The McLean Firesides at 6 Emery Circle, Etobicoke
> 
> Success in Teaching: My brother Stephen Stewart McLean
> 
> The Declaration of Faith of my Father Allan James McLean (1969)
> 
> The Steadfast Teachers and Pioneers Who Arose
> 
> The Paris Years (1965-1968): Hands of the Cause, Outstanding Believers and Pioneers
> 
> Marriage, Family Life, Teaching School
> 
> Transition Years: Salt Spring Island, British Columbia (1997-1999)
> 
> The Return to Ottawa (1999-2013)
> 
> The Last Hand of the Cause and One of the Last Few Remaining Knights of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> Three Year Stay in Carleton Place (2013-2106): Second Return to Ottawa and Co-op Living (2016-)
> 
> Fourteen Real Life Lessons and Recommendations
> 
> 4. ESSAYS AND REFLECTIONS
> 
> “The Philosophic Mind”: Reflections on Wordsworth’s Ode at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century
> 
> The Consumer Mass Market: Bridging the Gap Between the Secular and the Sacred
> 
> Voices of Conscience
> 
> Dichotomies are not Always False
> 
> The Prophetic Call, the Voice of God and Divine Signs
> 
> Actors and Acting Today: A Mixed Assessment
> 
> The Scholars of the Second Bahá’í Century
> 
> Mr. Roger White Poet and Dancer: What the Dream Revealed
> 
> The Relevance of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle for Saving the Soul from Twenty-First Century Materialism
> 
> The Soul and the Paradoxes of Human Existence in Light of Eternity
> 
> A Modern Ballad: The Tragic Death of John Doe
> 
> Recapitulation and Endurance in the Senior Years
> 
> The Strange Paradox of Theology and Union with God
> 
> The Simplicity and Complexity of Attaining Spiritual Freedom
> 
> Correlating the Four Universal Material and Spiritual Phenomena of Nature and Spirit
> 
> The Eternal Now, Attaining the Divine Presence, Discovering the Self and the Soul
> 
> Why Love is Greater than Science, Why Science Needs Love, Why Love Needs Science
> 
> The Messianic Secret Disclosed in the Garden of Riḍván:
> 
> Contrast Between Cosmic Celebration and Historical Event
> 
> Spiritual Capacity and What the Photographs of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Reveal
> 
> The Degeneration of Morals, Broadcast News, Violence in Sports and Corporate Power
> 
> The Creative Process: A Little Bit of Heaven, a Little Bit of Hell
> 
> 5. MYSTICISM: EXPERIENCING THE TRANSCENDENT
> 
> The Place of Mysticism in Religion
> 
> Five Types of Transcendental Experiences:
> 
> I. BEING IN THE PRESENCE
> Falling on my Face Before the Glory of God
> 
> What Happened Then: What I Learned from this Experience
> 
> Hand of the Cause Mr. Zikrulláh Khádem Vehicles the Love of Shoghi Effendi
> 
> After His Passing: In my Father’s Presence with my Mother
> 
> Mother Keeps her Promise to Show me the Bliss of Heaven
> 
> And the Heavens Opened: An Experience of Cosmic Happiness
> 
> Resetting the Distressed Mind Through the Power of the Word of God
> 
> Meeting Hand of the Cause Mr. Khádem in the Rose Garden of the Spirit
> 
> Three Dreams: The Two Bábí Shaykhs, the Ark and the Lotus
> 
> The Blessed Night of Peace
> 
> II. VISIONS
> 
> III. CLAIRVOYANCE
> 
> IV. CLAIRAUDIENCE
> 
> V. DREAMS
> 
> 6. THE BOOK OF EIGHTEEN
> 
> Sayings of various lengths, aphorisms, pensées
> 
> 7. FAMILY MATTERS
> 
> My Grandparents William and Jessie Fallon Halsted
> 
> Sayings of My Maternal Grandparents Halsted
> 
> My Parents
> 
> Eulogy for Allan James McLean (November 29, 1913-April 7, 1995)
> 
> Scottish Tranquility (Allan James McLean 1913-1995)
> 
> Eulogy for Joyce Mary Halsted McLean (July 14, 1920-November 28, 2001)
> 
> 8. TRAVEL TEACHING IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION AND UKRAINE (1990)
> 
> Departure
> 
> Moscow (5-8 August, 1990)
> 
> On the Train from Moscow to Kyiv
> 
> Kyiv
> 
> Lyviv
> 
> Homeward Bound
> 
> See also To Russia with Love: Journal of a Member of the Quddus Team (2018).
> 
> Download: mclean_confessions_child_half-light.pdf.
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views3583 views since posted 2022-08-08; last edit 2023-12-03 02:05 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../mclean_confessions_child_half-light
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> Citation: ris/6143
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> — *Confessions of a Child of the Half-Light (Used by permission of the curator)*