Enkindlement
- What is Enkindlement?
- How are we Enkindled?
- Why should we practice the virtue of Enkindlement?
- When do we practice the virtue of Enkindlement?
This is the last lesson for us to practice the prayer “Thy Name Is My Healing…”
Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
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Every human being was created to know God and to love Him, and we all have the spark of His love in our hearts. It is important for us to feed the flame of the love of God by praying to Him daily and by serving others, that it may grow stronger and stronger. As this flame burns ever brighter in our hearts, its warmth will be felt by all who cross our path. And their hearts, too, will be set aglow. When we are so enkindled, we become like burning candles that cannot help but to give light and warmth to those around us. Let us memorize the following quotation:
Be ye enkindled, O people, with the heat of the love of God, that ye may enkindle the hearts of others.
From a Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh
Meaning Of Words
Enkindle
- The house was cold, so Axel’s father decided to start a fire. He put large logs in the stove and lit some small twigs below. The wood soon became enkindled, and the fire warmed the room.
- A scientist came to the school and explained to the students’ many interesting things about the workings of the universe. They began to ask her various questions after the talk. She had enkindled in the students a desire to know more about the world.
Send A Postcard
Story About Enkindlement
Thomas Breakwell was a young man who held an important position in a cotton mill in the southern United States and spent his vacations in Europe. On his way to Europe in the summer of 1901, he met a woman on a steamship and began talking with her about spiritual subjects. When they arrived in Paris, the woman took him along to meet a friend of hers who lived in an apartment in the city and who, she knew, had similar interests. The young woman welcomed them, and the three talked for some time. Before leaving, Breakwell asked his hostess whether he might return to speak further. He was invited to come back the next morning.
When he arrived the next day, the young woman noticed that his eyes were shining brightly and his voice was full of emotion. She asked him to be seated. Breakwell looked at her intently for a moment and then described for her a strange experience. After he had left her home the day before, he had walked along an avenue, alone, in the warm and heavy evening air. Not a leaf stirred around him. Then, all of a sudden, a great wind came that seemed to bring with it the glad tidings of a new message from God!
The young woman urged him to be calm. You see, she knew of the message to which Breakwell referred. During the next three days, over the course of many hours, she told him everything she could about the Bahá’í Faith—its history and its teachings— and about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the perfect Exemplar of those teachings, Who was living in the prison city of ‘Akká in the Holy Land.
By the end of three days, Breakwell’s heart was so filled with joy and hope that he wanted nothing other than to travel to ‘Akká and visit ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. It happened that there was another young man who had already made plans to go to the Holy Land for this very purpose and who was most pleased to have Breakwell accompany him. So, a message was sent to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá requesting permission for him to come, and in a short time, they were on their way.
When the two men arrived at ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s home, they were taken into a room where several other men were gathered. Looking around, Breakwell became deeply troubled. There was no one in the room to whom his heart was drawn, and thinking that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá must be among those present, he feared that he had failed to recognize that Heavenly Being about Whom he had learned in Paris. He sat down in despair. At that moment, a door opened, and Breakwell looked up. He saw there a brilliant light, from which the figure of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá emerged. He immediately knew that his dearest wish had been fulfilled.
Breakwell spent two glorious days in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, during which the fire that had been enkindled in his heart grew stronger and stronger. When Breakwell told ‘Abdu’l-Bahá about his job at the cotton mill, where children were used as workers, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá advised him to resign from his post, which he did without hesitation. At the end of his visit, he returned to Paris, his spirit ablaze. For the rest of his short life, he burned like a bright candle, sharing the light enkindled in his heart with everyone he met. Upon his passing, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá revealed a Tablet in his honor, which includes the following verse: “O Breakwell, O my dear one! Thou hast lit a flame within the lamp of the Company on high, thou hast set foot in the Abhá Paradise, thou hast found a shelter in the shadow of the Blessed Tree, thou hast attained His meeting in the haven of Heaven.”
THE STRANGE STORY OF THOMAS BREAKWELL ON YOUTUBE
Help the Sick
Choose one child to pretend to be the “sick patient”. Now have two other children stand face to face, their hands clasped around one another’s forearms, in order to make a “chair”. Depending on the size and skill of the children, you could have them form a chair in another manner. In that case, have both children clasp their own right wrists with their left hands and the left wrists of one another with their right hands.
The other classmates should now help the “sick friend” into the chair. Select a tree or another spot as the “health center” and ask the two children forming the chair to carry the “sick” child there.
With a larger group, the children can be asked to form a “stretcher” instead of a chair by standing in two lines facing each other. They should bend their arms at the elbows, with each one grasping the forearms of the child across from him or her. The “sick” child should then lie on the stretcher to be carried to the “health center”. Remind the children that everyone will have to work together if they are to get the “patient” safely to the health center. “If we let the sick person fall,” you could say, “he or she will get hurt, and we will all feel sad. But if we arrive at the health center without any problems, we can feel happy and content because we will have helped our friend.”
Based On The Story
From supporting the core activities
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