Kindness
- What is Kindness?
- How are we Kind?
- Why should we practice the virtue of Kindness?
- When do we practice the virtue of Kindness?
We are Memorizing The Prayer: O Lord! Plant this tender seedling in the garden
O Lord! Plant this tender seedling in the garden of Thy manifold bounties, water it from the fountains of Thy loving-kindness and grant that it may grow into a goodly plant through the outpourings of Thy favor and grace. Thou art the Mighty and the Powerful.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá
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Memorize
God created all of humanity to live together as one family. If we are to do this, we cannot let differences come between us. Instead, we should mingle with people of every religion, nation, and background with love and kindness in our hearts. To help us remember this, let us memorize the following quotation of Bahá’u’lláh:
Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness and love.
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
Meaning Of Words
Mingle
- Egrets and cowbirds are two kinds of birds that live in the meadows. They are often seen together. These two kinds of birds mingle.
- In the devotional meeting, after the prayers were read, people stayed and mingled.
Send A Postcard To A Friend
Story About Kindness
You know from some of our earlier stories that, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá first arrived in ‘Akká, many of the people treated Him badly. They were cruel to the Bahá’ís and did not want to speak to them. Soon, however, they came to see that the Bahá’ís were loving and kind, and slowly most of the townspeople began to show them kindness in return. But there were a few who clung to their anger and hatred.
Now, one day, a man who still carried much hatred in his heart towards ‘Abdu’l- Bahá heard others praising His greatness and goodness. The man became outraged. He would show them, he said with anger, that this Person they all revered was not so wonderful after all. And off he went, his heart burning with anger. He knew that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá could be found praying in the mosque at that hour, and he rushed there, ready to lay violent hands upon the beloved Master. But ‘Abdu’l-Bahá looked at the man with serenity and dignity. Lovingly, He reminded him of the teachings of God that we are to be generous to all guests, even those that are different from us. At this, the man realized that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the Bahá’ís were, indeed, like guests in ‘Akká, his home. And, like a generous host, he should welcome them with love and treat them with kindness.
The Hidden Quality
Tell the children to form a circle, with their two hands cupped together in front of them. Stand in the middle of the circle, holding a small object like a pebble. The object will represent a quality, for instance, “kindness”. As you walk along the circle, pass your hand over the hands of each child and say, for example, “John is kind,” “Isabella is kind,” “Dervi is kind,” and so on. Each child should close his or her hands, acting as though you have given him or her the object. You should actually leave the item in the hands of one of the children. When you have gone around the entire circle, one child should try to guess who has the object by saying, for example, “Kenji is very kind.” Then Kenji should open his hands and show whether or not he has it. The child should be given three tries to guess who has the object, after which the game can be repeated using another quality. You should make sure that each child is given the object in at least one round.
Kindness Jar
Make a jar and fill it with ideas to be kind, or every time someone is kind to you, or you display the virtue of kindness, put a note in the jar.
Printable Kindness cards here
Need Some Ideas For Kindness? Download here
Teachers Pay Teachers
Many free kindness crafts to download
Also a game Kindness Bingo
Paint kindness rocks
Paint and decorate rocks with kind words on them. see the example on this blog.
Kindness Flower
Will upload a template soon