Justice

The Centenary Commemoration of the Ascension of ‘Abdul-Bahá

Bahá’u’lláh was then exiled to Constantinople and Adrianople together with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the whole family.  ‘Abdu’l-Bahá won people’s respect in both cities. He helped and taught people through His example. Bahá’u’lláh called Him, “The Master”, as did everyone else. Then Bahá’u’lláh and His family were exiled to Akka, the horrible prison city, described as being so foul that birds flying overhead would fall dead out of the sky. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did everything He could to help Bahá’u’lláh, including meeting with visitors. Everyone who met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá went home very satisfied and came to respect Bahá’u’lláh.

Bahá’u’lláh passed away at the age of 75, and in His will and testament, He appointed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as the Interpreter of all His teachings and the Person whom the Bahá’í community should obey. In 1908, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá finally

became free, and from then, He traveled to the West and to

 America, where He addressed audiences and met people

from various religions, races, and social classes.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá is the perfect exemplar of His Father’s

teachings. The Children’s Class lessons incorporate

many stories from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s life, showing His

outstanding virtues such as love, compassion,

selflessness, and justice.

Let’s find out!!

• What were people’s lives like in the 1800-1900s?
• Let’s find the places mentioned above on a world map. Constantinople and Adrianople are old names. What are those cities called now?
• ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s funeral was attended by many people from different walks of life, and this was an unusual thing in those days. Do you know why?

There were events all over Japan to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Abdul- Baha’s ascension.  In Tokyo, it seems that trees were planted in the land where the house of worship will be built in the future!  Here, we will introduce a few events in which children participated ☆

Let’s play together！

How to play “Go Fishing”

Prepare

　Cards with the virtues on them　→　4 cards each make it like a deck of cards, so there are 2 pairs for each virtue.

☆ Deal each player 7 cards.  Each player takes out any pairs.

Each pair is worth 1 point.

☆ The first player asks anyone they like, 　

“(Player’s name) do you have (for example) Kindness?”

The player answers　→ 　”No I don’t. I’m sorry, Go fishing.” Or..

“Yes I do, Here you are.”

                     “Thank you!”   “Your welcome.”

☆ When someone uses their last card the game ends for everyone.

   Count the points.　The person with the highest number of points wins.

The purpose of the game：Learn the virtues in English and Japanese.

And the most important point is to “be courteous” to each other and have FUN!!

Use polite phrases such as, “I’m sorry,” Thank you.” “Your welcome”. etc.

Example of Cards

Story – Smells and Jingles

Let’s learn from the story! What is justice in this story?

In old Japan, there lived an old woman who loved to

eat broiled eels.  And how lucky for her, for she

lived next door to the eel-seller’s shop.

During the night, the eel-seller caught his eels,

and in the daytime, he served them, smoking hot,

to his customers.  He cut the eels into pieces three or four inches long and cooked them on a griddle over red hot charcoal until they were ready to eat.

Although she dearly loved eels, the old woman could not

 afford to buy them as often as she liked, and when she

was short of money, she would take her bowl of rice and

sit close to her neighbor’s door. Eating her boiled rice,

 and sniffing the aroma of the broiled eels, she enjoyed

with her nose what she could not pay for to put in her mouth. 

When the eel-seller found this out, he became quite angry and thought he would charge his neighbor for the smell of the eels.  So, he made out his bill and presented it gruffly to the old woman.

But she only smiled.  She brought out her iron

moneybox, which at that time was nearly empty.

But it doesn’t take many coins in a moneybox to

make a good jingle. The woman shook the moneybox in the eel-seller’s face.

   ‘Did you hear that, neighbor?’  ‘Indeed, I did!’ he said.

   ‘Then we are even,’ said the woman, with a bow.

   ‘What?’ cried the eel-seller.  ‘Aren’t you going to pay me?’

   ‘I have paid you,’ said the woman. 

‘You have charged me for the smell of eels, and I have

paid you with the sound of money.

To the parents

Greetings from the Hiru no Hoshi Committee

Hello, I am Akiko Hijino. Currently, I am struggling to raise three children (4 years old, 3 years old, 10 months old). I have a lot of ideals in my head (“I like this when raising children, and I want to do it like this”), but every day I fall into the gap between my ideals and my reality. The quote above expresses the ideal of the way I want my children to be as human beings, but if I want my children to be like this, I have to do it myself first. I have to become a better person. Through Hiru no Hoshi, I would like to share my thoughts about child-rearing with everyone and also learn prospectives other than my own from the readers. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Q＆A

☆ What about Christmas celebrations and Christmas gifts at your home?

 How do you tell your children about Santa Claus?”

―When my children were small, I would explain to them Santa Claus was

the “Spirit of Giving” and Christmas is the celebration of the Birthday

of Christ; when Wise men and shepherds, rich and poor gave to the Baby Jesus.

This too is the “Spirit of Giving!” So we should not think about what we can

get for Christmas, or anytime…but what we can give!!  Also, all the Teachers

from God, were born at some time, not just Jesus…Buddha, Moses, Muhammed,

 Bahá’u’lláh…and many more! We can’t celebrate all of Their Birthdays, or

we would be always celebrating!!

―They may have friends who believe in Santa Claus in kindergarten or school, so I try not to say “he does not exist”. I try to talk about who is Santa Claus and what Christmas is.  Most importantly, to not to focus on getting presents!

―I tell my children about Ayyám-i-Há, (Intercalary Days in the Bahá’í calender); that it is for giving presents and having fun!!

♪ About child-rearing Q & A ♪

 Please let us know if you have any questions or worries about child-rearing, or if you would like to ask everyone for their opinions!