It was a warm spring afternoon in Okinawa. Mother saw Asma come in from school and slowly walk to the kitchen table. He sat down with a sigh, and Mother noticed that he had a very sad look on his face.
“What’s wrong Asma?” she asked. He looked up at her and said, “Why can’t I have any friends? Riaz has lots of friends! How come nobody wants to be my friend?”
“Oh Asma! I know just how you feel. I always had trouble making friends when I was a kid too, I was shy and quiet just like you!”
“You were?” Asma said in surprise. “You talk to EVERYBODY! You are always embarrassing us because you talk to total strangers like they were your best friends!”
Mother laughed and said, “Yeah now! It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized my shyness was being self-centered! I was only worrying about what people would think about me if I said anything. I wasn’t thinking about them at all. Even now, I have to always tell myself to forget ‘me’, and worry about what the other person needs.”
Just then the other three children came into the house, laughing and joking with each other. Little Anisa came skipping out from her bedroom where she had been playing with her stuffed animals. She was so happy everyone was finally home again!
Riaz looked at Mother and Asma, “What are you guys talking about so seriously?” he asked.
Asma looked at him and said, “How do you do it, Riaz? How do you get everyone to be your friend? Everyone wants to hang out with you! Even kids my age!”
Riaz thought a minute and said, “You just look around and see who needs a friend, and you become that person’s friend! Ya gotta be a friend, before you can have a friend!”
Mother clapped her hands and laughed, “Riaz, I never realized what a philosopher you were!”
“What’s a filaser?” asked little Anisa.
“A philosopher: it means a wise man,” answered Mona.
“But Riaz is more like a ‘wise guy’!” said Asma, finally breaking into a smile.
“That is someone who is always teasing and making fun of stuff,” explained Mona to little Anisa.
“Well, I guess he’s both, then!” said Anisa seriously, and everyone, even Riaz, laughed.
Mona looked at Asma and said in a serious voice, “I have trouble making friends too Asma; sometimes I wish I could be more like Riaz, too!”
“Yeah, remember when we lived in Rota, in the Marianna Islands?” Asma said. “Riaz was just a little kid, we were all at the doctor’s office, and a new doctor was there. Riaz walked up to him, stuck out his hand to shake the doctor’s hand and said, ‘Hello there! Welcome to Rota, my name is Riaz!’ The doctor said he was so impressed that he and his whole family became friends with our family, and they even said they would come and visit us here in Okinawa!”
I remember he liked the T-shirt Riaz was wearing at the time,” put in Mother. “He asked Riaz if he knew what it said…and Riaz answered quite boldly, ‘One Planet, One People….Please!’”
“I don’t know how you do it, Riaz; it is always hard for me to talk to someone, especially if I don’t know them,” said Asma, and Mona nodded.
“Baha’u’llah said that we should see His face in every person’s face,” explained Mother. “That means we should see the reflection of God from each person’s soul, when we looked into their eyes, and then we would love them.
“Baha’u’llah gave us His son, ‘Abdu’l-Baha’. He is our Example,” said Mona. “I guess we have to be more like Him! He was friends with everyone! Poor people, rich people, homeless people, sick people, young people, old people, children….”
“Even animals!” put in little Anisa. “He was friends with the little mouse!”
“Oh you mean the time when the secretary found that there was a mouse in ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s room, and he wanted to set a mouse trap to kill it, and Abdul-Baha said, ‘No, the mouse is my friend!’ He even gave the mouse His own share of cheese that a visitor brought as a gift,” explained Asma.
Mona continued, “….and then finally, one day, ‘Abdu’l-Baha said to catch the mouse gently without hurting it, and put it outside, because she was going to have some babies soon, and they needed to be outside so she could take care of them.”
“So, Asma, getting back to you and Mona’s problem about making friends, Mother said. “Forget about yourself and look around for someone that looks sad or lonely and looks like they need a friend; then, go and be their friend.”
Shahla stood up and said, “Sometimes when we are playing together, Mona or one of you get mad at me, and then all of you get mad at me, and you won’t let me play….Mom gives me treats to take to you, and then you forgive me and let me back in the group. Maybe treats are a good way to make friends?”
“And not getting so angry and scratching people is a good way to stay friends!” Riaz said, smiling. He always had scratches on his face from teasing Shahla!
All of the kids laughed, and Mona gave Shahla a hug.
“Hey, you know what! I have a riddle for you guys!” shouted Riaz. Everyone turned to look at him. They all liked riddles.
“What is the best thing to ride on?”
They all thought a bit, then finally Asma said, “A motorcycle!”… He loved motorcycles!
“A unicycle!” said Mona. She was really good at riding a unicycle.
“Roller skates!” said Shahla, “or ice skates!”
“A horse!” put in Mother. “I used to ride when I was a girl.”
“Merry Go Round! Let’s go now!” shouted little Anisa jumping up and down.
“Those are all great things to ride on,” said Riaz smiling. “But the very best thing to ride on is…. A SHIP! A FRIENDSHIP!!!”
Everyone looked surprised and then started laughing.
Mona said, “Yep, Riaz is a Wise Guy!”
And they all laughed harder.
FRIENDSHIP
“Do not be content with showing friendship in words alone, let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path.” ― ‘Abdu’l-Baha
Quiz
- Why was Asma sad?
- Which one of the children makes friends easily?
- How does he do it?
- Who did Riaz make friends with when he was little and the family lived in Rota?
- Who did Baha’u’llah say is our Example in making friends?
- What was the little animal in the story that Anisa liked that was ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s friend?
- What was Shahla’s suggestion on how to make friends?
- What is the best way to make friends?
- What is the best thing to ride on?
How did you do? Did you get them all right? The answers are on the Parents’ Page.
Art Project
Paper Plate 9 Pointed Star
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| Materials:
· Paper Plate · Scissors · Hole Punch · Yarn (various colors) · Glitter Glue · Sparkly stones (opt.)
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| Method:
1. Poke a hole in the middle of the plate 2. Using scissors cut a big hole in the plate. (just leave edge of plate.) 3. On the back of the plate pencil in 9 dots evenly spaced around the plate. (start with 3 dots evenly spaced, then put 2 dots between each dot.) 4. Number them. 5. Punch holes in the 9 dots. 6. Thread the yarn through the holes, skipping two holes and putting it in the third. Make a triangle. Go through again to make sure the triangle is in front too. Get another color thread, make another triangle, then a third. 7. Don’t forget to go through some holes twice… make sure the 3 triangles show up on the front of the plate. 8. Decorate with glitter glue, sparkly stones, etc.
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Dot to Dot
Follow the dots from 1 to 34….then color the friends nicely.
Photos
Parents
“If you desire with all your heart, friendship with every race on earth, your thought, spiritual and positive will spread, it will become the desire of others, growing stronger and stronger, until it reaches the minds of all..” ( ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 16)
One must see in every human being only that which is worthy of praise. When this is done, one can be a friend to the whole human race. If, however, we look at people from the standpoint of their faults, then being a friend to them is a formidable task.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Lights of Guidance, p. 92)
Cleanse ye your eyes, so that ye behold no man as different from yourselves. See ye no strangers; rather see all men as friends, for love and unity come hard when ye fix your gaze on otherness. And in this new and wondrous age, the Holy Writings say that we must be at one with every people…. For each of the creatures is a sign of God, and it was by the grace of the Lord and His power that each did step into the world; therefore they are not strangers, but in the family; not aliens, but friends, and to be treated as such. (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 24)
Let nothing grieve thee, and be thou angered at none. It behoveth thee to be content with the Will of God, and a true and loving and trusted friend to all the peoples of the earth, without any exceptions whatever. This is the quality of the sincere, the way of the saints, the emblem of those who believe in the unity of God, and the raiment of the people of Baha. (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, p. 26)
So intense must be the spirit of love and loving kindness, that the stranger may find himself a friend, the enemy a true brother, no difference whatsoever existing between them. (Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 13)
Wherefore must the loved ones of God associate in affectionate fellowship with stranger and friend alike, showing forth to all the utmost loving-kindness, disregarding the degree of their capacity, never asking whether they deserve to be loved. In every instance let the friends be considerate and infinitely kind. (Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 24)
Answers to the Quiz: (1 Asma didn’t know how to make friends. 2) Riaz. 3) He sees who needs a friend and goes and becomes friends with them. 4) A doctor. 5) ‘Abdu’l-Baha. 6) A mouse. 7) Share treats. 8) See someone that needs a friend, then, become their friend. 9) FRIENDSHIP!
