Lesson 7 this week is about Joyfulness
- What is Joyfulness?
- How do we know we are practicing Joyfulness?
- Why should we practice the virtue of Joyfulness?
- When do we practice the virtue of Joyfulness?
As we learn about Joyfulness, memorize the quote,and listen to the songs and stories, let us try to think about how we can practice Joyfulness every day.
For lessons 4 to 8, the Prayer to memorize is “O Thou kind Lord! I am a little child”. We will continue practicing the ones we already know.
Did you know that ‘Abdu’l- Baha tells us that happiness helps our spiritual progress- our spiritual growth, and that joy gives us wings? ‘Abdu’l- Baha says that when we are joyful, we are stronger, and when we are happy we are able to more quickly understand things.
Joyfulness is one of the spiritual qualities that God has given us. A being full of joy attracts the blessings of God. We need to try to be happy and joyful under all conditions. We are joyful when we trust that God is guiding us and we look for the gifts He sends us each day.
Deep feelings of joy come from things that last- like the feeling of joy in serving others, the love our parents have for us, and knowing right from wrong and choosing to do the right thing. We must try to be like brilliant lamps shedding joy everywhere!
Joyfulness was very important to ‘Abdu’l Bahá. He would often ask, “Are you happy?” and would encourage people to be happy. In New York, ‘Abdu’l Bahá said, “May everyone point to you and ask, ‘Why are these people so happy?’ I want to be happy…to laugh, to smile, and rejoice in order that others may be made happy by you.’”
ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO SAY A PRAYER?
WE ARE MEMORIZING THE PRAYER:
O God, guide me, protect me, make of me a shining lamp and a brilliant star. Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful.
Lesson 7 Quote
(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.
Meaning Of Words
REJOICE
Jasmine lived far away from her grandparents. When she heard that she would be visiting them during the school holidays, she became very happy! Her heart rejoiced!
John had studied hard in school. His heart rejoiced when he saw the results of the test he took.
WORTHY
Sjona studied very hard and received excellent grades. The teacher praised her for her hard work. Sjona was worthy of her teacher’s praise.
David always took good care of his brothers and sisters. His parents knew that they could trust him with the children. David was worthy of his parents’ trust.
What does it mean to you when it says to mirror forth His beauty?
Whose beauty?
How can we do this?
Send A Postcard
Send a postcard to a friend or neighbor.
STORY OF ABDU’L-BAHA
Powerpoint Here
Leroy Ioas was an outstanding Bahai who lived a life of service to others. In 1912 when Abdu’l-Baha visited America, he was a young boy. Can you imagine the excitement of this spiritual child at having the opportunity to meet Abdu’l-Baha?
One day, in Chicago, when he and his father were on their way to the hotel where Abdu’l-Baha was staying, Leroy had an idea: He decided that he wanted to take Abdu’l-Baha 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 Abdul-Baha, 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 Abdul-Baha without mentioning who had brought them.
Abdu’l-Baha 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. Afterward, Abdul-Baha 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 Abdu’l-Baha. “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, Abdu’l-Baha 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-Baha 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! Abdul-Baha DID know who had brought Him the white carnations after all!
God knows what is in our hearts, and when we feel that God is guiding us, and we see that He is working in our lives in special ways, helping us to grow and serve and love, we are happy!
Science Experiment
When two friends meet, their joy bubbles over!
- Clear glass
- Two tablespoons of vinegar in the glass
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Ask the children,
- Do any of you have a friend?
- Do you feel happy and excited when you know you are going to see your friend, or when your friend is planning to come over to visit?
- When your friend arrives, the joy in your heart feels like it is going to bubble over.
So I am going to show you what that looks like.
“Friend vinegar (hold up the glass with vinegar) is just about to meet Friend Baking Soda (hold up the teaspoon full of baking soda), and look what happens.”
Dump the baking soda quickly into the glass of vinegar.
GAME SUGGESTIONS
The Ha Game
One student lies down on the floor. The next student puts their head on the first one’s stomach. A third student lies down and puts their head on the second student’s stomach. This continues in a zig-zag pattern until all students are in place. Then the first student says “Ha”. The second student says “Ha ha”. The third says “Ha ha ha”. This continues until the end or until someone laughs and then you have to start over.
Dragon’s Tail
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 in a straight line. One child 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 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.
Paper Rose
Make a paper rose. This site has instructions
Create A Comic Strip Story
You can Use The Template to make it a comic strip story on Joyfulness
Easy Butterfly Craft
Use the craft with the phrase ” “Joy Gives Us Wings”
Make a butterfly that flaps its wings from the site
Make this super easy Butterfly craft. Template circles here
Here is a craft on another site of a butterfly. Use it and add the phrase “Joy Gives Us Wings”
Here is my simple butterfly template. Cut and glue together. It even has the quote on the butterfly already!
Here is another site with a butterfly template
Mirror Craft
Based On The Quote: Use a mirror. Glue the quote
(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.
on the mirror. Heart stickers can also be added.
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