After opening prayers have been recited, the children should finish memorizing the prayer presented in lesson 10 so that they can dedicate the next class to its review and start to learn a new one.
Truthfulness
Truthfulness is brighter than the light of the sun x2
With truthfulness, O people, beautiful your tongues x2
Honesty adorns the soul of everyone x2
Honesty is brighter than the light of the sun x2
Today's quotation can be presented to the children in the following way:
All of us know of beautiful things that God has created to adorn our lives and bring joy to our hearts. Yet, more than material things, it is spiritual qualities that make human beings beautiful. One of the most beautiful qualities which can adorn our lives is honesty. When we beautify ourselves with honesty, we do not take things that belong to others without their permission, and we never deceive anyone. TO help us remember the quality of honesty, let us memorize the following quotation of Baha'u'llah:
"Beautify your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty."
Listen to the quote HERE or HERE.
Beautify:
1. Malit planted beautiful roses in the garden. The roses beautify the garden.
2. Sunil used to tell lies, but now he only tells the truth. Sunil beautified his tongue with truthfulness.
[Quotes from other religions:
Buddhism: The gift of Truth excels all gifts. Tanhavagga
Judaism: Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. Leviticus 19:11]
Mulla Bahram was a Baha'i who lived in Iran many years ago. One day, he received a letter that caused him great concern. His cousin had been jailed without justification. A few powerful individuals who wished his cousin ill had lodged a complaint against him and he had been arrested by police, even though he had committed no crime.
After reading the letter, Mulla Bahram thought deeply about this problem and decided to do to see a high government official to ask for help. When Mulla Bahram arrived at this official's home, he found him at a feast with many of his guests. One of them who saw the poorly dressed man enter the doorway, wanted to have him thrown out. But the owner of the house saw Mulla Bahram and with a great deal iof love and respect, invited him to come in. All of the guests were surprised to thee the courtesy and warmth with which the official treated Mulla Bahram, a poor and humble man. The host explained, "the respect I feel towards Mulla Bahram is well deserved because he is a righteous and honest man, even in moments of tests." Mulla Bahram explained his problem and with a great deal of pleasure, the official wrote out the order for his cousin's immediate release. The guests were surprised and asked the official how he knew that Mulla Bahram was so honest that he merited such respect from a high government official. The official answered:
"Some time ago, I had a debt which I had to pay right away, but I didn't have enough money. So I arrived at an agreement with the money-lender that he would receive a piece of property in exchange for the debt. However, we could not come to an agreement on the property's value. We could no accept the judgement of a friend of his nor a friend of mine, because each of us could have paid our friend to alter the property's price in our favour. So we asked a merchant to send one of his employees to the property to but a value on it. He sent Mulla Bahram. To ensure that the property was worth enough to pay the entire debt, I went to him the day he was to value the property and offered him a big bag of money to that he would speak in my favour. He would not have earned that much money in six years of hard work, but he did not accept it. He said it was better to wait and see the property. It turned out that Mulla Bahram estimated the property at much more than what I had thought it was worth. So, I went to him and offered him a bag of much more money so he would be pleased. He did not take it this time either. He said that the only reason he had put that value on the property was because it was the true value. His appraisal was a part of his work, for which he received a salary, and it would not be right to receive anything extra for it."
"Now," said the official to his guests, "you can appreciate why I say that Mulla Bahran obsesses an honesty and integrity which is very rare these days. Oh if everyone could be as honest as Mulla Bahram!"
It is assumed that the children know the names of least a few shapes, for instance, "square", "circle" and "triangle". Begin by reviewing the names of these shapes with the children, making sure that they can identify each one. Next hold up a card on which you have drawn a sequence of three shapes - and tell them to look at it closely. Then put the card away and ask one of the children to say the sequence out loud. You should do this several times, using cards on which you have drawn a variety of sequences beforehand. + variations.
Have the kids make decorative ornaments to reinforce the "adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty" quote. Some ideas are to repurpose plastic bakery packages, cut out ornament shapes and decorate with permanent markers and glitter glue. Or pick up some wooden ornament shapes at a craft store and let the kids decorate them with paint, markers, fabric or glitter glue.
- First, we made individual trays of salt dough - equal parts salt, flour, and water.
- Once their dough was sufficiently mixed, they pressed it onto pieces of cardboard. We used a cookie cutter to make a heart shape (to tie in the idea that honesty is one way we show love to others). Then I had them pick one colour from a big stash of beads to outline their hearts.
- After that, they used beads to create their own unique mosaic inside and outside the heart.
- Finally, we punched a hole for the kids who wanted to hang their ornaments, and sent them home in a Ziploc bag (the crafts, not the kids). They'd air dry them at home.
Honesty - From the Family Virtues Guide
What is Honesty?
Being honest is being sincere, open, trustworthy, and truthful. When people are honest, they can be relied on not to lie, cheat or steal. If they tell you they like you, you know they really mean it, because they would not say anything just to get their way or to make an impression.
If someone seems friendly, honesty means they really are friendly, just because they want to be friends, not for any hidden reasons. With honesty, you can trust things as they appear to be.
Honesty is telling the truth no matter what. It is being truthful even when admitting the truth could make someone disappointed. Honesty means not exaggerating something just to impress others.
Being honest mean you don't make false promises. You do what you said you would do. Your actions match your words. This is also called integrity.
Why Practice Honesty?
When someone lies, cheats, or steals, people around him can't trust him. If someone makes up stories to cover up a mistake, it's hard to correct the mistake. Then he feels worse and worse about himself.
Have you ever heard of false advertising? That's when people try to sell something by lying or exaggerating. How would you like to spend money on something and then find out that it doesn't do what it is supposed to do - like a toy that doesn't really work. Without honesty people would always have to be suspicious.
Sometimes people aren't honest with themselves. They try to pretend that something doesn't matter even when it really does - like hurting someone's feelings. When someone isn't honest with herself about something, she usually isn't honest with others.
Honesty keeps you from deceiving or fooling other people just to get what you want. Honesty helps you not to fool yourself either. When you are honest with yourself, you have a change to correct your mistakes. When you are honest with others, they know they can believe you.
How Do You Practice It?
Match your actions and your words. Avoid deception - don't try to fool anyone and don't let them fool you.
Say what you mean and mean what you say. When you do something, give it your best effort, and then don't pretend you did more. Don't say or do things just to make a good impression. You don't need to make things up to look good - you're quite fine as you are, honest!
Only make promises you can honestly keep. Be trustworthy in all your dealings, refusing to lie, cheat or steal.
Use your imagination, but don't let it keep you from telling the truth.
Tell the truth, no matter what. If you make a mistake, admit it. It's the best way to fix things. Be honest with yourself, and you will always be able to be honest with others.
What would honesty look like if...
- You broke one of your mother's favourite things by accident and are afraid she will be angry?
- You find yourself exaggerating about how well you did in a sports game to impress your friends?
- Your sister asks you if a new dress looks good on her, and you think it looks pretty bad?
- You say something cruel to someone when you're mad and then tell yourself he deserved it?
- You forgot to do an important homework assignment and the teacher asks you where it is.
- Some friends of yours try to convince you to steal some candy from a store?
Signs of Success
Congratulations! You are practising honesty when you...
| Keep trying! You need more practice when you...
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I am honest. I have integrity. I tell the truth, kindly or tactfully. I have no need to impress others or follow the crowd. I do what I know is right.