Generosity

Today's class went something like this:

Circle Time

• Hello song
• Group prayers 
• Individual prayers (some of the children have memorized the prayers we have been saying each week and shared those for the first time today!)

We are still memorizing  "Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity...". Each prayer or quotation that we memorize in class gets added to our prayer tray. The children pick from here or say a prayer by heart during individual prayers:

Mail Time

• Passed around the 'Gem of Generosity' and read the...ahem...invisible letter (aka Laurel forgot it at home)
• Made a list on the white board of how God is generous to us (trees, rain, sun, wild animals)
• Made a list of how we are generous with each other (showing love, donating clothes/ coats to people in need, sharing toys with siblings)

Songs 

• 'Love of Baha'u'llah' (track 6)
• 'We are Baha'i Children'

Story: 

I did a (hopefully) dramatic retelling of the story of Abdu'l-Baha giving cloaks to the poor of Akka. Amazing what a single prop (in this case a piece of silk thrown over the shoulders) and a change in voice somehow creates sacred space around a story. The children went from high energy silliness to wrapt attention:

Before a winter’s cold took hold of ‘Akka, the Master would go to a clothing shop where He would arrange that a number of the poor should come to receive their annual cloaks. He would adjust the garments over some of those poor shoulders. He gave where He felt it was merited and kept a record of the recipients. He did not wish to be abused—but even abuse was known to receive kindness at His generous hands, as has been shown. Small wonder that the Arabs called Him the ‘Lord of Generosity’ and Bahá’ís became ablaze by observing His actions of continuing kindness and loved Him as the Servant of God.
(Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 76)

Art:

As an extension of the story, the children all had a chance to be tailors and sew their own cloaks. I pre-cut coat shapes, traced them onto scrapbook paper, and poked holes through both layers. The children each got a piece of string taped at one end to create a 'needle' in which to sew their coats onto the paper. Unfortunately, the 'needles' didn't function very well and it was a struggle to keep the children engaged in what they quickly realized was not worth the frustration. Lesson learned: buy enough tapestry needles for each child and poke less holes. They turned out cute nonetheless and each child went home with a copy of the story to share at home.

*Next week please bring in any warm clothes that your children have outgrown and we will donate them to a local thrift store that supports families struggling with cancer.