“Be… a fruit upon the tree of humility.” 

Baha’u’llah

It was a warm Saturday afternoon in Okinawa. Asma came into the kitchen where Mona, Shahla and Anisa were helping Mother bake cookies.

“Mom! Riaz left my Dragon Ball Zed Manga outside on the porch! It could have gotten wet or dirty! He has no respect for my things!!!”

Riaz had followed Asma into the kitchen…perhaps drawn more by the smell of the cookies than for the conversation.

“I have the utmost respect for Dragon Ball Z!” Riaz shouted with a grin, as he saluted the book as if it were a general.

“That is not what respect means! Tell him, Mom!” shouted Asma.

Mother told them all to go sit down at the dining room table as she put some of the fresh baked cookies onto a plate and carried them over to the waiting children.

“Respect: That is a very important word with a wide and deep meaning,” said Mother as she looked at her children.

“Asma, what did you mean when you said we should have ‘respect’ for a material object?”

“He should take care of it because it’s not HIS!” said Asma angrily.

Mona spoke up, “Asma, does that mean it would be okay for you to leave the book outside or tear the pages on purpose? Mom and Dad bought it for you: doesn’t that mean you should take care of it, too?”

“Yeah, of course!” said Asma.

“Well,” said Mother, “let’s think about that… Everything we have, we received, right? Maybe we received it from our parents, or from the store keeper… and before that from the people that made the ‘thing’ we have, and before that, it probably came from some part nature, and all nature comes from God…. So when you keep on going back to the origin of anything, everything comes from God!”

The children all looked at each other in surprise. They considered each object they looked at and tried to think of where it came from originally.

Finally, Shahla said, “Yeah, Dad bought this table from the store, but the store bought it from the factory, and the factory got the wood from the forest, and God made the trees!”

“If you think about it, that goes for everything, doesn’t it,” agreed Asma.

“So ‘Respect’ means treating every object, and every living thing, and especially every person, with gentleness and kindness…because everything on earth is a gift
to
us from God,” explained Mother. “And showing respect is kind of like showing gratitude to God for what we have received.”

“Anisa, Gratitude means being thankful,” explained Mona. She thought a moment, then added, “So Gratitude is related to Respect!”

Every nodded their heads in agreement.

“That means we have to take care of the earth, and not waste anything, and never litter and throw garbage on our beautiful world,” added Mother

“And we should be nice and gentle to all the animals, and even the bugs! Right, Mommy! ‘Cause I am really thankful God gave us those!” said little Anisa, who loved anything that moved.

“That’s right, Anisa! God gave all creatures life. It is something only God can do. So only God should be the One to take life away, don’t you think?” commented Mother.

“Unless they are, or might, hurt someone,” said Riaz logically. “But avoid it if we can,” he added.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

“OK. Another import aspect of respect is how we treat people,” said Mother. “Anyone have ideas on this?”

“We should treat our teachers with respect,” put in Mona. “That means listening to them and obeying them and talking nicely to them.”

Asma added, “And policemen too—anyone in authority.” Asma grinned and looked at Mother, “I guess that means parents, too.”

Mother smiled and nodded, “Having respect also means not backbiting—not saying bad things about teachers or parents or policemen or rulers…or, anybody…when they are not around.”

Mother thought a minute. “Should we only respect people with authority over us? Should we also show respect for people our same age, or those younger than us?”

“Yeah,” said Shahla, “but you do it differently! You can’t obey a little kid!”

“Or a notebook that you respect either!” said Riaz laughing! “Yes, Mr. Dragon Ball Z Manga! I will obey your command!” he said, as he saluted the book again. Everyone laughed.

Shahla continued, “You treat little kids with respect by talking nicely to them, and not yelling at them…even when you want to,” she said, looking at little Anisa.“So, parents need to show respect for their children too!” said Riaz with a grin.

“Yes, absolutely!” agreed Mother, smiling at Riaz…. “No matter how hard you make it for us!”

All the children laughed, knowing what a troublemaker Riaz could be.

“Each little person has a soul, just like a grownup, that gets hurt when treated unkindly,” put in Asma. “Remember one of the Dr. Suess books: A Person’s a Person, No Matter How Small.”

“Very wise words!” agreed Mother. “Even a small child has a soul that reflects the attributes of God.”

Mother continued: “So, Respect is also related to Humility. Humility means thinking… knowing… that the other person is of more worth than you. You are less, they are more.”

“But Mom!” Mona put in. “What about Self Worth? That’s important, too! Shouldn’t we respect ourselves?”

“Yes, of course,” agreed Mother. “We were created by God and God’s light shines through our soul. That is our worth. That is why we take care of our bodies and minds. But we must remember that we are not of more worth than anyone else!”

“And Leaders should remember that, too,” put in Mona. “We learned at Summer School that Leaders, like Kings and Presidents, are the servants of their people. And everyone in authority should be humble!”

“I remember!” shouted Riaz. “‘Abdu’l-Baha’ explained that the rain falls on the top of the mountain, and the water flows down the river to the ocean, so the lowest point collects all the water…that means the humble person collects all the bounties of
God!”

“Good job, Riaz!” exclaimed Mother. “Son, you always seem to surprise me!”

“Yeah, teasing and making everyone angry one minute, and being surprisingly wise, the next!” laughed Mona.

“Isn’t that what ‘Wise Guy’ means?” laughed Asma. And everyone else laughed, too.

“Can you guys think of any other examples of showing respect?” asked Mother.

The children thought a moment.

Then Anisa said, “When we catch a bug and put it outside instead of spraying it dead!” Everyone laughed and agreed.

“When Mona gave the homeless man the healthy drink and didn’t let him know it was on purpose, she didn’t want to embarrass him. That was showing respect, too,” said Riaz. Everyone nodded in agreement as they looked at Mona.

Asma put in, “When Mother explains in a quiet, loving voice… for the millionth time why Anisa can’t have a snake for a pet!” and everyone laughed, except Anisa.

“Well let’s all keep our eyes and ears open to observe Respect. And we can all be more careful to be respectful of everything on God’s wonderful planet. We can also help remind other people (respectfully) to do the same thing.”

“Yeah!” shouted all the children as they finished off the plate of cookies and ran outside to play.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][vc_custom_heading text=”Quiz”][vc_column_text]

1. Who was Asma angry with?
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2. What did Riaz do to make Asma angry?
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3. Where does everything we have come from?
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4. How can we show respect for things that came from God?
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5. How can we show respect for insects and animals?
   ___________________________________________________________________________

6. How can we show respect for those in authority (teachers, parents and grandparents, policemen)?
   ___________________________________________________________________________

7. How can we show respect for children our age or younger?
   ____________________________________________________________________________
8. How are respect and gratitude related (how are they alike)?
   ____________________________________________________________________________
9. How are respect and humility related?
   ____________________________________________________________________________
10. Now think about how respect and love are related?
    ____________________________________________________________________________

Scroll to the bottom for answers

Material:

• Origami paper
• Scissors
• Straw
• Pen or marker

 

Method:

• Cut origami paper into 4 strips (fold in half and then in half again)
• Fold strip in half and then open up
• Fold one side to the half mark, then fold in half again
• Do other side the same way
• Fold the first half together so you have a tiny rectangle.
• Round off corners on both sides
• Open it up and put a caterpillar face on one end
• Using the straw blow on the middle hump of the caterpillar and watch him crawl!

 

Parent’ Page

“Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men.” Baha’u’llah

“Humility exalteth man to the heaven of glory and power, whilst pride abaseth him to the depths of wretchedness and degradation.” Baha’u’llah

“O Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other.” Baha’u’llah

“Each one of you must think how to make happy and pleased the other members of your Assembly, and each one must consider all those who are present as better and greater than himself, and each one must consider himself less than the rest. Know their station as high, and think of your own station as low.” ‘Abdu’l-Baha

“For one who frequently honours and respects elders, four things increase: age, beauty, bliss and strength.” Dhammapada

“O believers, obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.”

Muhammad

“You should respect each other and refrain from disputes; you should not, like water and oil, repel each other, but should, like milk and water, mingle together.” Buddha

“Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?” Confucius

“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” Albert Einstein

“Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners.”

Laurence Sterne

“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” Bryant H. McGill

“Treat people the way you want to be treated. Talk to people the way you want to be talked to. Respect is earned, not given.” Hussein Nishah

“This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no passible value to him.” William Lyon Phelps

“Tolerance implies a respect for another person, not because he is wrong or even because he is right, but because he is human.” John Cogley

The Golden Rule

Baha’i Faith: Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself.

Buddhism: Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

Christianity: In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

Confucianism: One word which sums up the basis of all good conduct…loving-kindness. Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.

Hinduism: This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you.

Islam: Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.

Jainism: One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated.

Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.

Native American Pima Proverb: Do not wrong or hate your neighbor. For it is not he who you wrong, but yourself.

Sikhism: As thou deemest thyself, so deem others.

Taoism: Regard your neighbour’s gain as your own gain and your neighbour’s loss as your own loss.

Yoruba (Nigeria): One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.

Zoroastrianism: Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself.

 

Answers to the Quiz

[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]1) Riaz. 2) He left Asma’s Dragon Ball Z Manga outside. 3) God. 4) Taking care of them. 5) We take care of them and don’t kill them needlessly. 6) By obeying them and speaking nicely to them. 7) By treating them nicely and talking to them nicely. 8) You are grateful for the things God gave to you, so you treat them with respect. 9) You are humble because you know you are not better than anyone else, so you respect them. 10 If you don’t have love, then you really can’t be respectful. It is not being truthful if you pretend to be respectful, but you don’t feel it.