After you and a few of the children have recited opening prayers, they can learn by heart a few more phrases of the prayer introduced in Lesson 4. Remember that they should be ready to say the entire prayer in the next lesson, so that they can review it in Lesson 9.
Joy Gives Us Wings - listen HERE.
Joy gives us wings to fly, joy gives us wings
Joy gives us wings to fly, joy gives us wings
In times of joy, our strength grows in might
In times of joy, our intellect takes flight
In times of joy, our understanding is bright
Joy gives us wings to fly, joy gives us wings
But when sadness visits us, when sadness visits us
We become weak, our strength goes away
Our insights are dim, our thoughts become gray
How-ev-er
Joy gives us wings to fly, joy gives us wings
Joy gives us wings to fly, joy gives us wings
In times of joy, our strength grows in might
In times of joy, our intellect takes flight
In times of joy, our understanding is bright
Joy gives us wings to fly, joy gives us wings
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The following will assist you in presenting the quotation that the children will memorize in this class:
‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells us that happiness helps our spiritual progress, that joy gives us wings, that when joyful we are stronger, that when happy we are quicker to understand. Joyfulness is a quality of the human heart. A heart full of joy attracts blessings from the Kingdom on high. We must be happy and joyful under all conditions. It was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s wish that Bahá’í children should shine like brilliant lamps shedding the light of joy everywhere. To help us remember that we should always be joyful, let us memorize the following quotation:
“O Son of Man! Rejoice in the gladness of thine heart, that thou mayest be worthy to meet Me and to mirror forth My beauty.” Listen HERE.
1. Ronald lived far from his grandparents. When he heard that he would be visiting them during the school holidays, he became very happy. His heart rejoiced.
2. Mouzhgan had studied hard in school. Her heart rejoiced when she saw the results of her final examinations.
Worthy
1. Sjona studied very hard and received excellent grades. The teacher praised her for her hard work. Sjona was worthy of her teacher’s praise.
2. David always took good care of his brothers and sisters. His parents knew they could trust him with the children. David was worthy of his parents’ trust.
Begin by asking the children to stand in a row, placing their hands on the shoulders of the one in front of them. The first child in the row is the dragon’s head. The last in the row is the dragon’s tail, eager to lash to the right and left in order to escape the head. Until the signal “Go” is given, the dragon must be a straight line. One youngster counts “One, two, three, go!” On the signal “Go”, the head runs around toward the tail and tries to catch it. The whole body must move with the head and remain unbroken. If the head succeeds in touching the tail, the child in the front can continue to be the head. If the body breaks before he or she catches the tail, the head becomes the tail, and the next in line becomes the head. The game continues in this way until every child has had a chance to be the head and the tail at least once.
The story below will illustrate for the children how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá brought joy to the hearts of those around Him. In telling the story, you should help the children see that one’s actions can be a source of joy to others.
Leroy Ioas was an outstanding Bahá’í who was named a Hand of the Cause of God by the Guardian in 1951. He was a young boy in 1912 when the Master visited the city of Chicago. Can you imagine the excitement of this spiritual child at having the opportunity to be in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá? One day, as he and his father were on their way to the hotel where the Master was staying, Leroy had an idea: He decided that he wanted to take ‘Abdu’l-Bahá some flowers. With the little money he had, he managed to buy a beautiful bouquet of white carnations. But by the time they reached the hotel, he had changed his mind. He decided that he did not want to give anything material to the Master, not even beautiful flowers. He would offer Him his heart. That was the most important thing he had to offer. So, Leroy’s father presented the flowers to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá without mentioning who had brought them.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá then gave a talk to all the friends who had gathered at the hotel to meet Him. During His talk, Leroy sat quietly at His feet and listened to His wise and loving words. Afterwards, the Master stood up and shook hands with the guests, giving each one a white carnation as a token of His love. Leroy was now standing behind the Master. “Oh! I wish He would turn around and give me one of those flowers,” thought the young boy. Maybe, secretly in his heart, he wanted the Master to know who had really brought Him the beautiful flowers. But, one by one, the white carnations were being given to other people, and it seemed unlikely that Leroy was going to get one. Then, suddenly, the Master turned around and fixed His gaze on Leroy Ioas. His face radiated love and His eyes were full of kindness. And did He hand him a white carnation? No. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave Leroy something even more precious. He was wearing a beautiful red rose on His coat. He pulled it off and presented it to the young boy. Leroy’s heart leaped with joy. The Master did know who had brought Him the white carnations after all.
[Leroy Ioas was a Hand of the Cause of God, read about HERE]
- Cut the tissue paper by the fold-lines. This gives you 4 pieces of 8″ x 8″ double layer party tissue.
- Wad the tissue paper up in your hand tightly until they get really crumpled like wrinkles.
- Separate out all layers, so you will have 8 thin crumpled tissue papers.
- Smooth out the tissue and pinch both edges a little as you gather to create small pleats.
- Get all 8 pieces done, align them neatly with same width together as shown in the picture.
- Grab the center and fold it into halve. Make a little twist will help it to hold in place.
- Bend one of the end of the floral wire, hook it on the center of the crumpled tissue papers.
- Use a pair of pliers to squeeze or wrench the hook to tighten the tissue papers. This will need a little help from adult as girl might not have the strength to do it.
- Cut 2 short lengths of strong thread (about 10″ each), tie in 2 sections for the receptacle. Squeeze the receptacle area a little and tight it hard. Again, this might need help from adult. Leave the thread uncut.
- Wrap the receptacle and peduncle or stem with floral tape. Pull the floral tape as you wrap with adhesive side facing the flower..
- Move down spirally as you wrap the floral wire with the thread in it, add in straw leaves or paper leaves as you move.
- Fluff the flower and make it blooms like real carnation. DONE!!!
lesson7joyfulness.pdf |