Question: How can we teach values to children?
Mr. Furutan considered this a very important subject. He
clarified the question by saying that this implied how to bring eternal values,
not found outside of religion, to children.
"Only teach through parables and stories," he
said, "like Jesus Christ." "Those that will reach the mind of
the child."
In ‘Some Answered Questions’, ‘Abdu’l-Baha said, ''Wisdom
must be limited to the mentality of the hearer." Mr. Furutan also reminded
us of the stories in the Bible where Jesus refers to the Kingdom of God as
being like a mustard seed, and the enemies of God like dead bodies. With these
two He compared the right from the wrong. Mr. Furutan reiterated how Jesus used
the language of the farmer and the home. He told us that Jesus used the
familiar language.
In teaching these eternal values we must make use of similes
that can be comprehended, such as the one of the sun and the manifestation, and
the one that the faith of God is like a fountain that cleanses and purifies.
Mr. Furutan told us to recall the story in the Tablet to the
Son of the Wolf when Baha'u'llah refers to His own intimations of prophethood
and a maiden. How, as He was falling asleep, a feeling rushed over Him like a
flood from head to foot similar to a waterfall.
"We must create a new terminology", said the Hand
of the Cause." “Anyone with the talent and the time should glean stories
for this use from the Holy Books." He has done this in Persia and will
send us the books in order that we may translate them. Some of the methods he
uses with his classes are: In teaching Bounty and Grace. He asks,
"What makes us see?" They answer, "Light." "If you
turn off this light can you see? You have your eyes, why then can you not see?"
He then tells the students, that in this same manner if God removes His bounty
from us, our souls cannot see even though we have physical bodies.
