Striving Daily Grade 2 Set 2 Lesson 6

LESSON 6: STRIVING DAILY

By following God’s commandments, we show our faithfulness to Him, that we desire only that which He desires for us.  In our daily lives and through our interactions with others, we strive our utmost to put into action His teachings.  To pray daily is one of the commandments of God, and we observe it under all conditions, even, for example, if we are tired.  We are told that we should not speak ill of others, that backbiting is not acceptable.  So if people around us are gossiping, we do not take part in such conversations.  To treat animals with kindness, to be courteous and hospitable at all times, and to engage in a worthy profession or trade are also commandments of God.  We are exhorted to think each day about what we have done and consider what more we can do so that our actions increasingly come to reflect the teachings of God.  There are, of course, many other commandments that have to do with the material and spiritual life of the individual, as well as those pertaining to the life of the community, for example, marriage, education, and burial of the dead

This is the last lesson to memorize the prayer below

O my God! O my God! Unite the hearts of Thy servants, and reveal to them Thy great purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide in Thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavor, and grant them strength to serve Thee. O God! Leave them not to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of Thy knowledge, and cheer their hearts by Thy love. Verily, Thou art their Helper and their Lord.

Bahá’u’lláh

You may put the following explanation into your own words to present the quotation for this lesson:

By following God’s commandments, we show our faithfulness to Him, that we desire only that which He desires for us. In our daily lives and through our interactions with others, we strive our utmost to put into action His teachings. To pray daily is one of the commandments of God, and we observe it under all conditions, even, for example, if we are tired. We are told that we should not speak ill of others, that backbiting is not acceptable. So if people around us are gossiping, we do not take part in such conversations. To treat animals with kindness, to be courteous and hospitable at all times, and to engage in a worthy profession or trade are also commandments of God. We are exhorted to think each day about what we have done and consider what more we can do so that our actions increasingly come to reflect the teachings of God. There are, of course, many other commandments that have to do with the material and spiritual life of the individual, as well as those pertaining to the life of the community, for example, marriage, education, and burial of the dead. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá dedicated His life to serving the Cause of God and to carrying out His commands. Patiently, He showed us the way. When asked by one of The Friends how to
put into practice the teachings of God and acquire spiritual qualities, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá lovingly replied, “Kam kam, ruz beh ruz”, which means “little by little, day by day”. He told us not to look at our weaknesses and shortcomings but encouraged us instead to turn towards God and rely on His mercy and assistance. To help us remember to make every effort to adhere to God’s teachings every day, let us memorize the following words of Bahá’u’lláh:

O Son of Man! Neglect not My commandments if thou lovest My beauty, and forget not My counsels if thou wouldst attain My good pleasure

Bahá’u’lláh

MEANING OF WORDS

Neglect

Krista has a beautiful plant, which she looks after.  If she does not water it and put it in the sun, it will not grow anymore.  Krista knows that if she neglects the plant, it will die.

Ho crossed the street without looking to see whether any cars were coming and almost got hit.  Ho neglected to look before crossing the street.

MEMORIZATION AID FOR QUOTE

PICTURES TO REMEMBER THE QUOTE HERE

A Story of Haji Muhammad

You will remember the story of Haji Muhammad from our last lesson, how obedient he was to Baha’u’llah, and what strength he drew from trust in God.  But Haji Muhammad was not always so quick to obey.  Perhaps you know that he was an excellent marksman.  His bullets never missed their targets.  He could even hit a small bird in full flight while galloping on horseback.  One day, with his rifle on his shoulder, he came upon a group of Baha’is who were on an outing with Baha’u’llah and decided to join them.

When Baha’u’llah saw that Haji Muhammad was going to use his rifle, He told him not to kill innocent birds.  Haji Muhammad did not pay any attention to what Baha’ullah said because his mind was on shooting, which he loved very much.  So, he continued shooting at every bird he saw.  But he was quite surprised to find that none of his bullets hit.  He shot once, he shot twice, he shot many times – but did not bring down even one bird.  He shot at big birds and at little birds, without any success. 

The group was returning from the outing when a large, beautiful, white bird caught Haji Muhammad’s eye.  It was so big that it could not fly quickly, and Haji Muhammad thought that surely it would be easy to hit this one.  His first shot missed.  Then he fired four more times, but he missed every time.  In a panic, the frightened bird flew near them.  Haji Muhammad thought that now he could not possibly miss.  He fired two more shots, but the bird escaped.  

Haji Muhammad was astonished, and he began to think about the whole incident.  All of a sudden, he understood something very important.  He realized that Baha’u’llah had given him a clear command, but in his preoccupation with his own wishes and desires, he had ignored Baha’u’llah.  That day Haji Muhammad made a firm decision to obey the commandments of God at all times.

Draw any part of the story

DRAMA / GAMES

The following activities will strengthen the children’s skills and abilities in drama:

1. As always, start by having the children stand in their imaginary squares and do the stretching exercise.
2. Now explain to your students that, for the next activity, they are going to communicate using only the movement of their bodies.  To begin, ask them to say:
   • “Stop!” with their hands
   • “Yes” using their head
   • “I don’t understand” using their eyes
   • “I hear something” using their ears
   • “I’m surprised” using their jaw
   • “I smell fresh bread” using their nose
   • “Come here!” using their finger
   • “I’m running” using arms,
   • “I bump into a wall” using the shoulder
   • “I’m slipping” using their legs
   • “I’m tired” using their whole body,
   • “I’m waiting” using the whole body and
   • “I’m looking for someone” using whole body

1. Divide the students into groups of five or six.  Have the children in each group stand in a row, front to back, with their hands on the shoulders of the child in front of them.  All the children should close their eyes except the child at the very end of each row.  This child is the “driver” and the others are the “bus”.  When you say “Go!” all the “buses” should start moving forward.  The “driver” steers the “bus” to the right or to the left by gently pushing the corresponding shoulder of the child in front of him or her, who does the same to the next child, and so on.  To stop the “bus”, the “driver” gently pulls on both shoulders.
2. The above exercise will have contributed to the ability of the youngsters to coordinate their movements and cooperate with one another.  Now in preparation for the next exercise, explain to the children that there is a difference between doing something with diligence and doing something without proper care and effort.  Tell them that they will do an improvisation today in pairs to illustrate this point.  Divide the children into pairs and ask them to sit and listen quietly while you describe the scene they will act out.
   
   Tell the children to imagine that they are living in the mountains, in a small place that is far from the local market.  One day, their mother asks them to go to the market to buy some vegetables and return home straight away.  Soon after setting out, they encounter a herd of sheep blocking the road.  Rather than waiting for the sheep to move, they gently steer their way through the herd.  Next, they come to a river, where they must get into a boat and row their way across.  If they stop rowing even for a moment, they will start to go downstream.  Finally, they make it to the other side of the river and continue their journey. As they are walking, they meet some friends who ask them to join in a game of football. At first, they think about stopping to play but then they remember their promise to their mother to buy the vegetables and come home without delay.  On their return from the market, they think about taking a different path, one that is more beautiful, with flowers to pick along the way.  The other path is much shorter, but not as pretty. They decide to take the shorter path, and soon reach home with the vegetables requested by their mother.

Prayer inserts: “Unite the hearts of thy servants.”

Print the prayer for the right flap. Add the interactive components of uniting the heart. example video below. My template here can be modified for this. This site also has a simple slider card that can be used.

SUN IDEA:

How to put into practice the teachings of God and acquire spiritual qualities,

Cut out a large sun shape (to represent day by day) and glue the words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha “kam kam, ruz beh ruz”, which means “little by little, day by day. You can also do a folded card with a sun on the front and a moon on the inside and split the words on the two pages.

TURNING PAPER PLATES

Another way to show Day By Day concept

DRAW SCENES FROM THE STORY

comic book template

Brilliant Star Magazine

PETS ON PARADE

LEVELS TO CONQUER

PUTTING OUT THE GOSSIP FIRE

Simple Lapbook

For Burlington, we are using a simple lapbook one lapbook for each set.

In lesson 6 we will be making a bird with flapping wings.

Bird– this was the story of obedience and striving daily to do the right thing. We added a Turkish map fold and printed the Prayer for this set

To make the bird that flys (flaps its wings): you will need

1. The Template
2. String
3. 2 brads
4. Optional popsicle stick

• Print template from here
• Cut out images
• Attach wings to the body of the duck using the smaller holes
• Attach wings together using the string. tie in a loose knot
• and attach it to the popsicle stick.

When the string is pulled, the wing flaps up and down.

This craft was modeled after the following owl craft they used string instead of brads and the bird craft above can also use string to hold the wings in place.

Below is a review of the lapbook elements of lessons 4 to 5

1. Castle- Lesson 4 Stronghold theme. It was glued to the large middle section
2. Boat– This was the story in Lesson 5 we added a Turkish map fold and printed the story

Review the quotation from today’s lesson, and then remind the children of the qualities of trustworthiness and radiance and the quotations they memorized in Grade 1:

Supremely lofty will be thy station, if thou remainest steadfast in the Cause of thy Lord

 Baha’u’llah

Happy is the faithful one who is attired with the vesture of high endeavor and hath arisen to serve this Cause

Baha’u’llah

ACCESS RESOURCE HERE

ACCESS POWERPOINT AND IMAGES FOR QUOTES HERE