baha’i children’s class ideas.

learning concepts
‘Abdu’l-Bahá is a very special person: He is the Centre of Bahá’u'lláh’s Covenant, the unerring Interpreter of His Writings, and the Perfect Exemplar of His Teachings. He was given many titles during His lifetime, including “The Master”; the one He preferred and took for Himself, however, was ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which means “Servant of Bahá”—Servant of Bahá’u'lláh.

activities
story: pick some of the children’s favourite stories of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Good examples: crystal water, the expensive coat, the unkind man, etc.
song: Look At Me, Follow Me.
written: What Would ‘Abdu’l-Baha Do? (Version française: Que ferait ‘Abdu’l-Bahá?) A simple exercise that helps children reflect on some of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s character qualities.

reading/prayer for study
My name is ‘Abdu’l-Baha. My qualification is ‘Abdu’l-Baha. My reality is ‘Abdu’l-Baha. My praise is ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Thraldom to the Blessed Perfection is my glorious and refulgent diadem, and servitude to all the human race my perpetual religion . . . No name, no title, no mention, no commendation have I, nor will ever have, except ‘Abdu’l-Baha. This is my longing. This is my greatest yearning. This is my eternal life. This is my everlasting glory. (quoted in World Order of Baha’u'llah, p. 139)

reference
Bahá’u'lláh describes His son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:
“O Thou Who art the apple of Mine eye!”
Bahá’u'lláh, in His own handwriting, thus addresses ‘Abdu’l-Bahá,
“My glory, the ocean of My loving-kindness, the sun of My bounty, the heaven of My mercy rest upon Thee. We pray God to illumine the world through Thy knowledge and wisdom, to ordain for Thee that which will gladden Thine heart and impart consolation to Thine eyes.”
“The glory of God rest upon Thee,” He writes in another Tablet, “and upon whosoever serveth Thee and circleth around Thee. Woe, great woe, betide him that opposeth and injureth Thee. Well is it with him that sweareth fealty to Thee; the fire of hell torment him who is Thine enemy.”
“We have made Thee a shelter for all mankind,” He, in yet another Tablet, affirms, “a shield unto all who are in heaven and on earth, a stronghold for whosoever hath believed in God, the Incomparable, the All-Knowing. God grant that through Thee He may protect them, may enrich and sustain them, that He may inspire Thee with that which shall be a wellspring of wealth unto all created things, an ocean of bounty unto all men, and the dayspring of mercy unto all peoples.”

experience
May 26, 2006: 1.5 hours, 5 children, average age 6-7. Despite procrastinating (!!!) on this lesson up til pretty much the last moment and a rather hasty blitz of last-minute preparation, the content of this lesson turned out rather well. We had a whole set of materials available about ‘Abdu’l-Baha, created by someone (locally?) a few years back for the commemoration of His visit to Montreal in 1912. Very nice materials, including stories and an fill-in-the-blanks exercise sheet—I’ll post it here if I can get permission. We also supplemented these materials with a picture sheet called “What Would ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Do?”, so the kids had plenty to do. (N.B. La version francophone de cet exercise est disponible, titrée Que ferait ‘Abdu’l-Bahá?)

The lesson revolved around four important points about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá—points that everybody has to know about Him:

1. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the Centre of the Covenant of Bahá’u'lláh.
2. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the Servant of Bahá.
3. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the Perfect Exemplar of Bahá’u'lláh’s Teachings. (The “What Would ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Do?” sheet tied in with this.)
4. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the unerring Interpreter of Baha’u'lláh’s Words.

We discussed these until everyone got it; afterwards, these same points were repeated and illustrated in the materials used—the children cut out the illustrations (very nicely, too) and pasted them onto colouring paper for effect.

No big complaints about this class. The only place where we had a bit of a hiccup was that the fill-in-the-blanks exercise we used asked questions that we hadn’t covered in class, so we had to do tell some extra stories during that portion of the class so everyone could get it.

Also, it was impressive listening to the questions asked by the kids during the lesson. Some of them, rightly so, had (and still have) quite a difficult time understanding why someone would ever have wanted to put Baha’u'llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha—who were such loving and kind and gentle people—in prison and treat them so badly. We told them what we knew: that certain people in power saw that everyone loved and followed Baha’u'llah, and feared that they would lose their own influence over those people. So, thinking to get rid of that threat to their continued influence, they persecuted and imprisoned Baha’u'llah and His family. These aren’t easy questions to answer, but the fact that the children are asking them shows that there is a real love for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Bahá’u'lláh growing in their hearts, and that’s so good to see.