My speech

Today I did a speech on racial prejudice in niagra on the lake and there was about 20 people listening to my talk. I think they liked it a lot and so many people asked me questions and congratulated me. It was an amazing experience and I wish to do it again.

Junior youth

Here is a story from our junior youth program it goes like this. 

Androcles was a slave who had managed to escape from his cruel master. Moving quietly through the forest, he suddenly came upon a lion. Fear seized him, and he began to run from the ferocious beast. After only a few steps though, he noticed that the lion was not following. So he stopped and went back to see what was happening. The lion was lying on the ground with a swollen and bloodied paw, and Androcles could see a large thorn in it. The suffering of so noble a beast touched his heart. He overcame his fear, approached the lion, and gently pulled out the thorn. He then went on to bind the wound with a strip of fabric torn from his own clothes. In this way, Androcles and the lion became friends.

Unfortunately, Androcles  was later captured by the emperor's soldiers. As an escaped slave, he was sentenced to fight a hungry lion in front of the emperor  and a large crowd. This usually meant death.

On the day of the fight, Androcles was placed in the arena. He prepared himself to meet his fate. A lion was released from a cage. Growling fiercely, it leaped towards its victim. Then suddenly it stopped. It approached Androcles slowly, licked his hand, and received a hug in return. The two friends had met once again.

The crowd called for Androcles to be freed. The emperor summoned him yo his presence. When he heard the story of this unusual friendship, he gave Androcles his freedom and released the lion to roam the forests. 

Junior youth

At my junior youth we heard a story it goes like this.

With a scream two frogs fell into a deep bowl of cream. The first was a persistent kind of soul, but the other took a gloomy role. "we'll drown," he lamented, and with a despairing cry he flung up his legs and said "Goodbye!" Said the first frog with a determined grin, "I can't get out, but I won't give in. I'll swim around till my strength is spent, then, if I must, I'll die content." Bravely he swam to work his scheme and his struggles began to churn the cream. The more he swam, his legs a flutter, the more cream turned into butter. On top of the butter at last he stopped, and out of the bowl he gaily hopped. The end

Coffee

A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general...

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the kitchen and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal - some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee.

When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering... ''You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leaving behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems! "

He continued...''Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink. What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups... Then you began eyeing each other's cups....''

''Now consider this: Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. Enjoy your coffee!''

The happiest people don't have the best of everything - they just make the best of everything they have... So please remember: Live simply. Love generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly.

And remember - the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.

junior youth

Hi today I just had my junior youth group and we went in depth into the topic about greed or also known as ego. We talked about how greed can corrupt ourselves like for example if a poor man with no money  is in need of great help and if we help him we will get no reward. Our greed will tell us we could go to a rich person that is in little need and get a reward by helping them.

Here is a story I got it goes like this, A dog found a nice juicy bone lying in the trash. He quickly grabbed it and headed home, imagining all the time the pleasure of eating that bone in peace. On the way, he had to cross a small river that ran through the village. As he stepped on the plank used for crossing his eyes fell on a delightful sight.There in the calm waters of the river was another dog, Just like himself, with a delicious looking bone in his mouth.

''This is really my lucky day,'' he thought. ''Surely I can take away that bone from this silly dog. By the time he gets out of the water, I will have reached home.''But the moment he opened his mouth, his own bone fell into the water and disappeared. All he could see, then, was the other dog staring back at him with a sad look on his face. It was the face of a disappointed dog who had lost not one but two delicious meals.

Junior youth

On Wednesday January 30 I attended my junior youth and we discussed things like looking for other people's faults instead of your own. My other junior youth class we discussed flattery and praise and how people use this technique to manipulate and take advantage of you. I also learned a quotation. Protect yourself with utmost vigilance, lest you be entrapped in the snare of deception and fraud.

Junior Youth

On Wednesday January 16th I attended my junior youth group and really all we did that day was discuss what are we going to do for the Junior youth. Like doing a social service project like going to an old folks home and help like cleaning or picking up garbage off the streets or teach the faith. Then we got to know each other a little more.

Newtown shooting

On Christmas vacation I was grateful that my dad brought me to Newtown that is because this is where those children died at the gun shooting and I saw many tears and broken hearts. There were stuffed animals beside the victims names.

Louis Gregory

In 1912, American society practiced strict racial segregation. Blacks or “coloreds” as they were then known were second class citizens by law. In 1896 the Supreme Court (Plessy v. Ferguson) permitted enforcement of segregation wherever races comingled. Indeed, 30 of the 48 states enforced laws banning interracial marriage.

Against this backdrop ‘Abdu’l-Bahá arrived in April 1912, ready to dramatically demonstrate by word and deed the Bahá’í teaching of the ‘Oneness of Mankind’.

Louis George Gregory (1874-1951) was an African-American attorney born just after the emancipation of slaves. He earned a law degree from Howard University and was admitted to the bar in Washington D.C. in 1902. He became a Bahá’í in 1909 and was distinguished by being the first African-American to be invited by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to the Holy Land for Bahá’í pilgrimage.

Almost without exception, Washington D.C. Bahá’í society in 1912 generally reflected the racial practices of society in general.

Today I am most happy, for I see here a gathering of the servants of God. I see white and black sitting together. There are no whites and blacks before God. All colors are one, and that is the color of servitude to God … the heart is important. If the heart is pure, white or black or any color makes no difference. God does not look at colors; He looks at the hearts. He whose heart is pure is better. He whose character is better is more pleasing.

Following the talk, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the guest of honor at a reception hosted by the charge d’affaires of the Persian Legation. Prior to the the luncheon Louis Gregory had been summoned to the reception by the Master. Some of the guests present were very prominent in the social life of the Capital—all were white. Before the luncheon could begin ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stood up, looked all around the room, and asked, “Where is Mr. Gregory? Bring Mr. Gregory!” The host scrambled to find Louis Gregory. At ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s request, a place setting had been made on his right, so when Mr. Gregory was brought forward and seated, he became the de facto guest of honor!

This was accomplished easily by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. “He stated He was very pleased to have Mr. Gregory there, and then, in the most natural way as if nothing unusual had happened, proceeded to give a talk on the oneness of mankind.”

Louis Gregory and a white English Bahá’í, Louisa (Louise) A. M. Mathew were married through the encouragement of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on September 27, 1912 in New York City.

Louis Gregory devoted the remainder of his life to the cause of racial amity and his promotion of the Bahá’í teachings. He is buried with his devoted wife Louisa near the Green Acre Bahá’í School in Eliot, Maine

 
Louis Gregory (1874-1951)

Louhelen

Yesterday I went to Louhelen Bahai school for New Years I learned many virtues like tactfulness, and that backbiting is worse than murder because when you kill a man your taking their physical body. But when you backbite your hurting there sole. Before that I went to newtown Connecticut were the school shooting was and said some prayers and that was my holiday.