Persian Fabio's Devotional

Last night was devotional at PF's place. There were five of us there total, all Baha'i, and we spent a pleasant evening praying and singing and eating and laughing together. In addition to our English prayers we had some lovely Mandarin contributions from our new Baha'i from China. One person came for the first time this week, and we were happy to see her and hear her chanting.

I have been thinking about how fun and low stress devotionals are as compared to children's classes. Last year between college and medical school I taught a couple of tiny classes to my neighbors' kids, and doing all that alone could be hard work, somewhat tiring and stressful. I guess to make secular comparisons, a devotional is like throwing a party and a children's class is like babysitting. The latter is much more work intensive and there are fewer people with whom to share the burden of responsibility.

On the other hand, however, I have never experienced a sense of fulfillment that parallels what I felt teaching my little girls, none of whom were Baha'is, to say "O God guide me" and to value and aspire to spiritual qualities. Having a devotional in my house was fun, and I did feel the bounty of the blessings released in my living space, but the feeling of worth I had as a children's class teacher was on another level. I don't mean to say it was derived from egotism; more of a deep love for the children and a profound feeling of making a difference. This is not the say that the classes were high-quality or long-running.

Overall I have arrived at the conclusion that devotionals and children's classes should be mutually supportive. Children's classes really have the potential to cause a whole family to strive to have shining characters, but they are so much work and have so many potential complications that teachers long for the spiritual and emotional support of a wider community. This is where the devotional comes in as a chance for the teacher to connect with resources who could support his or her class by saying prayers, making snacks, baby-sitting kids too little for class, tutoring parents in Ruhi books or bringing their own family, friends and neighbors to participate. In this way everyone could enjoy the fun of devotions and the fulfillment of children's classes.