4. Alchemy of the Heart – Lessons 4
Heart Power
Overview of Lesson 4 for Children Ages 3 to 6
- Love is the strongest force in the universe.
- A few people with great love can change the world.
- When we feel gratitude, love multiplies.
- You can learn to see the beauty of people’s hearts.
SUGGESTED MUSIC: In this lesson we tell the story of Andrea Boccelli, the blind singer. Playing your favorite music by Boccelli is a good choice.
CHAPTER 2: Empowering the Heart
MATERIALS:
- Crayons and colored pencils or paints
- Half sheets of 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper cut into 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ sections – one sheet for each year of your child’s life
- A set of photographs of your child – one for each year of his or her life
- Tape
Heart power
The love in your heart is the greatest power in the universe.
It is powerful enough to change the world.
God’s love in your life
Whatever you want to do when you grow up, from being a mommy or daddy, or being a doctor or a teacher, you can do it! You can do it with God’s love and your family’s love helping you learn and grow. It is easy to know how your family helps you. They care for you and feed you and take you where you need to go. How does God’s love help us?
Activity 1: You and God
Take a sheet of paper and a crayon or some paint. Right in the middle of the page make a small picture of you. Then draw a large figure 8, with the picture of you right in the middle between the upper and lower loops.
At the top of the 8, draw a flame representing God. Around the bottom loop, make several small people representing the people you can be kind to, such as your family, your teacher, your friends and whomever you want to add.
Take your finger or a crayon and begin to trace, from you in the middle, up the left side of the upper loop to the God flame, then back down and around the lower loop, then back to the middle and up again. Trace it again and again.
As you trace the loop up to God every time you think of Him, he sends a ray of light back to you in the downward loop. With that love, we can grow with more joy and we can make other people happy by being loving and kind.
Forgiveness
Sometimes, we do not send love, or we are not obedient or helpful. We do not do the right thing and we may feel badly about it. When that happens, the most important thing we can do is say we are sorry and ask God for forgiveness. If we start making up stories about what we say we did, we do not ask for forgiveness and the lie becomes a block between us and God.
Activity 2: Asking for Forgiveness
With your parents, make up a prayer asking God for forgiveness. It can be very simple, like this:
Step 1:
Dear Lord, please forgive me for ……….
(you can fill this part in silently, or out loud.)
I am sorry and I will work on being kinder,
(or more obedient – whatever you want to do better.)
Step 2: Tell the person you did wrong to that you are sorry.
Even when we make mistakes, we can always say we are sorry!
Step 3: Ask God to send his forgiving light to dissolve the whole thing. The light we use for forgiveness is violet. Close your eyes, see the violet flame with your inner eye, and say the following prayer:
I AM a being of violet fire
I AM the purity God desires
A man who used God’s light to have a happy life
This is the story of someone who learned at an early age to focus on what he could do and what was beautiful in his life and not to worry about what he could not do. This man is a rich and successful singer who travels around the world and gives concerts. He is married and is the father of two children. He rides bicycles, rides horses and skis. Before he began to sing professionally, he went to law school and became a lawyer. It sounds like someone with many talents and the ability to succeed.
The thing that makes his story so special is that he is blind. He has been blind since he was twelve years old. When he began going blind, his mother and father continually helped him learn that he could still do everything he wanted to do. His name is Andrea Boccelli.
When people felt sorry for him that he could not see, his mother reminded him that he would see things inside his mind that others could not see. He especially had to learn not to feel sorry for himself, but to be grateful for what he could still do and still be.
When he was a little boy he went to the Shrine of Mother Mary in Lourdes, France, where she had appeared to a little girl many years ago. Millions of people visit there every year to pray and many people are healed. Andrea told a priest after he had prayed that he had not prayed to be healed, but to be peaceful.
Andrea believes that singing is his destiny, and now his music brings peace to many people who love his beautiful voice.
Activity 3: I Am Grateful!
Take a moment and make a picture of the things that you are grateful for in your life, of the things that are blessings falling as flowers from heaven all around you.
Activity 4: How I Can Serve
One important part of growing up and being happy is learning to help other people. There are many ways you can do simple service projects with your family. For example, you and your mom might make a nice lunch or dinner and take some of it to a neighbor who is ill. You might go by your grandmother’s house and offer to do some chores for her. You might invite a new child over for a play date.
The important thing is to learn to think about what other people need; not just what you want and need. (See Parents’ Place on this website, How to Spiritualize Your Family and the article on the Difference Makers for more information about why service is so important for your whole family.)
Pick one service project you can do. Do it, then you can draw a picture of how you helped.
Activity 5: Timeline of the Story of Me
This story is not written yet! You have many choices to make about how you will live your life as you grow up and how you will use the energy God has given you in your life to make a difference in our world.
You will write the story of your life by what you do, just like Andrea Boccelli wrote the story of his life by the things he did. You already started your story when you were born, even if you have not written it down yet!
To help you think about the story of your life so far, we can make a timeline of your life. We are going to think of one wonderful thing that happened each year of your life! Tape together, side by side, panels of 5 ½″ x 8″ paper. Use one sheet for each year of your child’s life. Lay out the pictures you have selected. Beginning with a baby picture, have your child tape or glue the picture on the top of the first panel. Just below it, write one sentence about your child’s life.
Continue this project through the years. Help your child celebrate with gratitude the events and people in your lives.