Unit Ten

Grow Love
Objectives
The aim of this unit is to help children understand more about the central role of love.
Discuss about conflicts they see around them, in family or in the school and see if
they can discover why it is people forget love.
Is it possible to learn to love somebody you hate? Can there be peace in the classroom
without love? How do we grow love? How does love for God help them in this?

Love comes from within the heart. And only the clean heart can feel it. Just as a seed
has oil, and by pressing we can get it, or just like butter comes from the milk after
churning, in the same way we can grow love by sharing with others and keeping the
heart clean.

Habits:
 When I am quiet, I feel love.
 When I think of love, I do good things.
 When I close my eyes and think of peace, I feel safe.
 In my heart I can feel I am part of everything.
 Love makes me overcome my fears.

Pictures to talk about

The Big Old Snake is Mad

A. One day Superbunny told the piglets the story of the Wind and the Sun.
B. Just then the Eagle came and said, “You have to help! The Big Old Snake
is mad.”
C. Woodpecker carried Superbunny to see the snake who was shouting, “Who
stepped on my tail!” The snake was really mad!
D. Superbunny didn’t want to fight the snake, so he sang, “Love is like a
flower .…”
E. The snake cooled down. Woodpecker carried him home. The piglets sang.
 It was sweet and peaceful.
F. They gave the snake a hat. It said, “Everybody needs love.” The snake
smiled. Piglets got hats too.
G. “And who is stronger: the wind or the sun?" Superbunny asked but nobody
answered. They were all sleeping! But do you know?

Questions

1. What made the snake so angry?

2. Do you sometimes get so angry that you ‘go mad’?
3. What made the snake calm down?
4. People say the whole universe is made of love. What do you hink?
5. Do you know how to grow love?

Ideas for movements

Make a long ‘snake’ from blankets. Prepare different hats. Act out the story as a
drama.

Are you ever alone?

Love is always with you, always surrounding you and protecting you. To help you see
the love, there are teachers, we call ‘masters’

One such master teacher once said:

‘The force that guides the stars, guides you too!’

Another teacher gave his students a little stick and sent them into the forest to find a
lonely place, where nobody could see them, and break it there. Most of them came
back in a short time with their broken stick. But one of them didn’t return, even by
night fall. The teacher told the other students to bring him back. They found him deep
in the jungle, still holding his stick. When he came to the teacher, he asked him why
he had not broken his stick. He said, ‘However far I went in to the jungle, I could not
find a place where I was alone. I always felt God looking over me!’

But how can you see love? You have to grow it!:
Song
 Love grows like a flower
In the sun and rain
Plant it in your heart
And it will grow
again and again and again.

‘Cause when you let it grow inside you,

It helps love grow in others too.

Review the habits:

 When I am quiet, I feel love.

 When I think of love, I do good things.
 When I close my eyes and think of peace, I feel safe.
 In my heart I can feel I am part of everything.
 Love makes me overcome my fears.
The Stolen Heart
Our heart is the seat of love. Now what happens when you give it away? Listen to this
story based on a tale by Godfried Boomans:

Once there was a very poor fisherman. He had six children and a seventh was to be
born the very day he set out to catch fish. Each child had given him much joy, and he
was well known in the village:
He liked to sing this song:

My heart is so big
That the whole world can fly in it.
Ten dinosaurs and a duck
Three elephants and you may add a duck,
it won’t be enough
to fill my heart,
‘cause it is made of love,
infinite love.

But each additional child also had added sadness. The food was never enough. The
house was always too small. And even though this day should have been full of joy,
he was quiet and didn’t sing.

In fact, as he put out his net for the one hundredth time, and still had not caught a
single fish, he thought of not going home again. It was right at that moment that a
man with a black coat and an ashen white face rowed his boat next to the fisherman’s
and said in a cold voice, ‘I know what you are thinking, and I can help you. I will give
you all the riches in the world if you give me your heart.’

From the sound of his voice, the fisherman knew that this was a terrible man. He told
him, ‘Go away! There is nothing I want from you.’

‘He,’ said the evil man, ‘I know you are good, But what is the use of being good if
you can not feed your own children?’
Thinking of his family and their sufferings, the fisherman could not stop shaking with
pain, took out his heart and gave it to the evil man. At once he felt lifeless, joyless and
even painless. Without his heart he had lost all his feelings. The evil man had become
alive though and was a totally changed person, even singing in his boat. ‘You may
take back your heart after ten years, if you would want it.’ He said, and disappeared.

Needless to say, the fisherman came home, without any joy at seeing his children,
now well dressed and living in a good house. Even as his riches increased, he still
didn’t feel any love. Instead he sat in his chair, lifelessly looking out the window of
the palatial home he now inhabited.

As he didn’t know how to feel anymore, his family also became distant. Only his last
born child remained affectionate and kind to his father. And when he was almost ten
years old, he said he would help him find his heart.

The young child traveled to many places, looking for his father’s heart. It was not
easy though. When it was his birthday, he was about to give up, when he heard some
people talk about a man who had suddenly become happy and full of joy. The child
went to that man’s home. There he heard a familiar song, the song of his father’s
heart.
My heart is so big
That the whole world can fly in it.
Ten dinosaurs and a duck
Three elephants and you may add a duck,
it won’t be enough
to fill my heart,
cause it is made of love,
infinite love.

At once he demanded his father’s heart back. The man first refused, but overcome
with kindness, he gave it back to the child, who at once started to run to give it back to
his father.
The old man too, had started to run, regretting his loss. But without a heart he could
not run for long and was out of breath very quickly. While the young child hurried
home, helped his father put back the stolen heart and he, for the first time in many
years started to smile, embraced his children, and hugged his wife.

My heart is so big
That the whole world can fly in it.
Ten dinosaurs and a duck
Three elephants and you may add a duck,
it won’t be enough
to fill my heart,
cause it is made of love,
infinite love.

Creation Stories from around the World

How we can see love? The world is love. Everything in this universe is made of love.
Over the period of some days, tell these stories and ask the children to illustrate them.
Do they see that all things are reflections of the divine, that the world is like a mirror
of God?
Share this rhyme:
 Where is Love? How can I see it here?
Smell the grass and feel the sun and you know love is near.
Is she strong? I asked. Then I saw the rivers roaring down
the hills.
What does love look like? And I saw my own face.

India
(tell something about this country and then tell the story. If you can, explain
something about the symbol.)

In the beginning there was absolutely nothing. God thought, "Let me have a self", and
he created the mind. As he moved about in worship, water was generated, and so were
earth, fire, air and light.

Then he made a human being. At first he was afraid, but realizing that he was alone
and had nothing of which to be afraid, his fear ceased. However, he had no happiness
because he was alone, and he longed for another. He grew as large as two persons
embracing, and he caused his self to split into two matching parts, like two halves of a
split pea, and from them arose husband and wife.

They married, and got the babies of the earth. The female reflected on having
mated with someone of whom she was once a part, and she resolved that she should
hide so that it would not happen again.

She changed to a cow to disguise herself, but he changed to a bull and mated with her,
and from their union cows arose. She changed to the form of a mare, but he changed
to that of a stallion and mated with her, and from that union came horses. She changed
to the form of a donkey, but he did likewise, and from them arose the single-hoofed
animals. She became a ewe, but he became a ram, and from their union came the
sheep and goats.

It continued thus, with her changing form to elude him but he finding her and mating
with her, until they had created all the animals that live in pairs, from humans and
horses to ants.

North American Indian

Earthmaker began to think about what he should do and in the end he began to cry,
tears flowing from his eyes and falling down to where they became bright objects,
seas formed from his tears. Earthmaker thought, 'Anything I wish will happen just as I
wish it'. He wished for light - it happened. He wished for earth and earth was formed.
Speaking for the first time, he said 'I shall make a being like myself' and he took some
earth and made it just like himself. He spoke to the creature, but it gave no answer. He
looked closely, saw it had no mind and made a mind for it. But when he spoke to it,
still it did not answer. He made it a tongue and spoke to it, but still it did not answer.
He saw it had no soul, so he made it a soul, and talked to it ... and it very nearly said
something, but failed to make itself understood. So Earthmaker breathed into its
mouth and spoke to it ... and it answered.
China

Long, long ago, when heaven and earth were still one, the entire universe was
contained in an egg-shaped cloud. Deep within that egg was Pan Gu, a huge giant.
Finally one day he awoke and stretched, and the egg broke to release the matter of the
universe. The lighter purer things drifted upwards to make the sky and heavens, and
the heavier impure things settled downwards to make the earth.

In the midst of this new world, Pan Gu worried that heaven and earth might mix
again; so he resolved to hold them apart, with the heavens on his head and the earth
under his feet.

When the giant died, the earth took on a new character. His arms and legs became the
mountains. His blood became the rivers, and his sweat became the rain and dew. His
voice became the thunder, and his breath became the winds. His hair became the
grass, and his veins became the roads and paths. His teeth and bones became the
minerals and rocks, and his flesh became the soil of the fields. Up above, his left eye
became the sun, and his right eye became the moon. Thus Pan Gu made the world as
it is today.

Many centuries later, there was a goddess named Nü Wa who roamed this wild
world that Pan Gu had left behind, and she became lonely in her solitude. Stopping by
a pond to rest, she saw her reflection and realized that there was nothing like herself in
the world. She resolved to make something like herself for company.

From the edge of the pond she took some mud and shaped it in the form of a
human being. At first her creation was lifeless, and she set it down. It took life as soon
as it touched the soil, however, and soon the human was dancing and celebrating its
new life. Pleased with her creation, Nü Wa made more of them, and soon her
loneliness disappeared in the crowd of little humans around her. For two days she
made them, and still she wanted to make more. Finaly she pulled down a long vine
and dragged it through the mud, and then she swung the vine through the air. Droplets
of mud flew everywhere and, when they fell, they became more humans that were
nearly as perfect as the ones she had made by hand. Soon she had spread humans over
the whole world

Zimbabwe

Before there was any life on earth, God made a man and named him Moon. He sent
Moon to live on the bottom of the sea, but Moon wanted to live on the land. The
lifelessness of the land made Moon so unhappy that he wept. God took pity on Moon
and sent him a wife named Morningstar to keep him company for two years. When
Morningstar came from heaven to live with Moon, she brought fire with her. The next
morning, she gave birth to the grasses and trees and other plants, and soon the world
was green with life. The trees grew until they touched the sky, and then the first rain
fell from the clouds that they touched. Thus life on the land flourished, and Moon and
Morningstar led a bountiful life in their new paradise.

At the end of her two years, Morningstar returned to the heavens to live there
forever. Again Moon wept in his loneliness. God offered him another wife, but he
warned Moon that this time the husband would die after two years. Thus Evening star
came to live with moon. She gave birth to goats and sheep and cows on the next day.
On the day after that, she gave birth to the antelopes and birds. On the third day, boys
and girls were born.
Moon wanted more children, but God warned him that he should stop. Moon
didn’t listen, and on the next day Evening star gave birth to the lions, the leopards, the
snakes, and the scorpions that plague humankind because Moon ignored the warning.
They killed Moon and threw Moon's body in the ocean. But he rose from the sea to
the skies to seek his first wife Morningstar.

Love is benevolent
Some people say that ‘Love is blind.’ Do you know what that means?
In reality love is not blind. It is very kind. But love has its tests. And there are
challenges. See what happens in this story and tell how love tested the butterflies:

We are Butterflies, you know!

Draw the story, as you tell it.

Once there were three chrysalis, one red, one blue and one green.
Inside there were butterflies, getting ready to go out. But the blue chrysalis said, ‘I
don’t want to go out. It’s too dangerous.’ ‘Hmmm,’ said the blue chrysalis, ‘There are
snakes, and mice, cats and frogs, spiders and lots of boys and girls who will try to
catch us. I also don’t want to go out.’ The red chrysalis echoed their feelings.

The sun heard them and said, ‘Butterflies, you are beautiful. But unlike others you can
not protect yourself. I will help you. As long as you are good, I will protect you. Now
go and fly.’

The three butterflies decided to stick together and get out of their chrysalis. They were
very happy and always sang:

We are butterflies

We are butterflies,
You know.
We are butterflies,
You know!
We sing and dance
Love and hold hands
And forever we are friends
And forever we are friends.

But then it started to rain. First softly, then stronger. ‘We have to go somewhere to
hide,’ they said. They went to a blue flower.
‘Can we stay with you?’ they asked
The blue flower said, ‘I only want the blue butterfly. I don’t want the others.’ The
other butterflies said, ‘Yes, you should go. It is too cold now.’ But the Blue butterfly
said, ‘I can’t do that. We are together.’
And sang,
We are butterflies, you know.
….

The three of them were flying around, but it was raining really hard, so they went to
the red flower. ‘Can we stay with you?’ they asked
The red flower said, ‘I only want the red butterfly. I don’t want the others.’ The other
butterflies said, ‘Yes, you should go. It is too cold now.’ But the red butterfly said, ‘I
can’t do that. We are together.’
And sang,
We are butterflies, you know.
….

But it was really cold now and they said, we must find another flower to stay or we
will get sick. Then they saw a green flower and asked
‘Can we stay with you?’ they asked
The green flower said, ‘I only want the green butterfly. I don’t want the others.’ The
other butterflies said, ‘You should go. It is too cold now.’ But the green butterfly said,
‘I can’t do that. We are together.’
And sang,
We are butterflies, you know.
….

The rain became stronger and the three butterflies sat together in the grass, shaking
with cold.Was there nobody who could help them?

Now, somewhere far away, the sun had been watching from very far the suffering of
the butterflies and he said, ‘I will help you.’

He started to shine very strongly, and the clouds slowly went away. The butterflies
started to smile. ‘Thank you, Sun’ they said. ‘Thank you.’ Then they got up and
started to fly and sing their song:

We are ….
Meditation - The Painter of the Sky
Tell this story at quiet time.:

Once there was a village where everybody was sad. One day there came a stranger. He
was riding an ox cart filled with ladders, tables and chairs, and pots and pots of paint.
It was a strange stranger because he was so different. Unlike everybody, he was
happy. He smiled. And not only he, his ox smiled too

The people asked him, ‘Why are you so happy?’ And he answered, ‘Well why are you
not happy?’ The people looked at him with painful faces. ‘We just don’t know.’ They
said. ‘Well,’ said the Stranger, ‘if you want to know how to be happy, come tomorrow
with your tables and chairs and pots and pots of paint and I will show you how to be
happy.’

The next day, the people from the village came with their tables and chairs, ladders
and brushes and pots and pots of paint. Together with the stranger they went to a
nearby hill, put up their tables, their chairs and their ladders and started to paint the
sky.

Within a short time, the hundreds of people had colored the clouds red, yellow, pink
and purple, blue and green. It was amazing and most of all, it made the people very
happy.
All those sad villagers started to dance and sing, smile and joke. They were really
happy. And that night they went to bed and had good dreams.

The next day morning though, when they woke up and eagerly looked out of their
windows, they found that the beautiful clouds had all gone. ‘What happened?’ they
asked the Stranger. ‘Where are our beautiful clouds?’
‘Well,’ said the man, ‘Don’t you know about the wind? The clouds have been blown
away!’
The people were shocked. ‘And what are we going to do now?’
‘Well,’ said the Stranger, ‘we’ll just have to paint again!’

The sad villagers started to complain. ‘Painting the sky every day?’ they said, ‘That is
too much work. We can’t do that.’ and they walked away. Others were angry. ‘You
have cheated us. You made us work so hard and now all is gone. Go away.’ And they
even threw stones at the man.

The Painter of the Sky got on his ox cart with his ladders, tables and chairs and pots
and pots of paint and went away, leaving the villagers in their sadness.

He went somewhere far away, to a little mountain where he made a small house and
everyday he climbed his table and his chairs and his ladders and with his pots and pots
of paint, he turned the sky into beautiful colors. He couldn’t do much, and every day
his pretty clouds would fly away. But whatever he did, it was enough, and made him
happy.

One day, one his beautiful clouds passed by a country where there lived a very good
king. This king, wanted his people to be happy, but couldn’t find the right way. But
when his people saw the colored cloud, they all start to smile. From that day onwards
the king told his soldiers to paint the sky too. This made everybody very happy.

The king was so thankful, that he wanted to pay the first Painter of the Sky. He sent
his soldiers everywhere in the world. They went to many cities and many rich
countries, but no one had ever heard of the Painter of the Sky. Finally they came to the
sad village. There they people told them about the Stranger, and that he now lived
somewhere in the mountains.

That his how the soldiers found the old man, just as he was getting ready to paint the
sky. ‘Are you the Painter of the Sky?’ they asked. The old man nodded and said, ‘Yes,
I am.’ ‘Then come with us. Our king wants to give you a reward.’
The old man smiled. ‘Do all of you paint the sky?’ he asked. The soldiers said, ‘Yes,
we do.’
‘Then let me do another work.’ Said the old man, and climbed his table, and chair, the
ladders and slowly walked off into the clouds, into the sky and disappeared.
Nobody has ever seen the Painter of the Sky again. Some people say that he still
paints the sky when there is sun and rain. Others say that he comes in your heart when
you are very quiet, and paints your heart with beautiful colors to make you happy.
And though nobody has ever seen him, maybe if you are very quiet and close your
eyes, you too can feel him very, very deeply within.

How can a raindrop live forever.

How can a raindrop live
And not die.

Throw it in the ocean

Throw it in the sea.
Throw it in the ocean
And forever it will be.