Man cannot live singly and alone. He needs continuous cooperation and mutual help. Abdul Baha

Cooperation means working together to do a job. Each person does a part of the work. God wants all people to work together happily in unity. We can all help each other at home. One person should not have to do all the job alone. Everyone should have a job to do.

Here is a story about what happens when the fingers of the hand stop working together. When you tell this story to children endeavor to act it with your hands.

Learning to work together

One day the fingers said to the thumb, we don't like you, because you are different. The thumb said if you feel that way, I will not help you. The fingers said we don't want your help anyway.

The fingers decided it would be fun to pick up a stick and draw with it on the ground. They worked and worked and finally held it between two fingers. The tail finger said, Let's draw a person. The fingers tried hard, but they could not draw anything.

The third finger said, let's go milk the cow. They tried, but it was too hard. The little finger said, maybe we should tell thumb we are sorry and ask him to help us. We were happier when we did things together.

The Essential Element of Kindness.

Treat all thy friends and relatives, even strangers, with a spirit of utmost love and kindness. Baha'u'llah

When we are kind to people, we are being loved, generous, gentle, and patient. We are acting the way that we should like others to act towards us. We should be kind to all people especially those who need our help or who are not nice to us.

Here is a story about Abdul Baha and how He showed kindness to some children who were being unkind to Him.

When Abdul Baha was almost seventy years old, He was let out of prison. He visited North America to teach the Baha'i Faith. Abdul Baha was busy every minute. The Baha'i thought He needed a rest. One day they made a cake sweet bread to surprise Him. They all went to a nice place with grass, flowers, and trees. When they got there a group of boys began to follow Abdul Baha. They laughed at Him because His clothes were different. Some boys threw stones at Abdul Baha. The Baha'i ran to help Abdul Baha, but He smiled and told them to wait.

He asked someone to bring the cake and a knife. He counted the boys and cut a piece of cake for each of the boys. He gave each boy a piece and they all ran happily away.

Take no thought for yourself or your lives, whether ye eat or whether ye sleep, whether ye are comfortable, whether ye are well or ill, whether ye are with friends or foes, whether ye received praise or blame, for all these things ye must care not at all. Look at me and be as I am, ye must die to the world, so shall ye be born again and enter the kingdom of heaven. Behold a candle how it gives it light. It weeps its life away drop by drop to give forth its flame of light. Abdul Baha

The perfume is intimately commingled and blended with the bud, and once the bud hath opened the sweet scent of its spread abroad. The herb not without its fruits, although it seemeth so, for in this garden of God every plant exerted its influence and hath its properties, and every plant can even match the laughing, hundred petalled roses in rejoicing the sense with its fragrance. Be thou assured of this. Although the pages of a book know nothing of the words and meanings traced upon them, even so, because of their connection with these words, friends pass them reverently from hand to hand. This connection, furthermore, is the purest bounty. Abdul Baha