Beginning Prayers:
- shuklaambaradharam, saraswati namastubhyam, gururbrahma
gitaa chanting:
- none
hanumaan shlokas/bhajans:
- buddhirbalam
- hanumaan bhajans
Brain Storming:
- What is giving
Story time:
- Glass of milk
Activity:
- 5k Walk!!
Ending Prayers:
- pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
Comments:
Rashmi Aunty and Prajna didi:
Madhuri Aunty and Shilpa Aunty:
Today was a special day for balavihar! We all assembled at Mercer County Park as we were all raising money for CORD. We had already learnt that CORD stands for Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development. We spoke about why we wanted to raise money and why we had to participate in the walkathon. When we questioned the children, why do we have to walk, now that we have given the money, why can't we just go back home? The children did have an answer for that! They said, we want to show that we are a whole big team working for a cause, hence the walkathon!! Here's proof that we have a bunch of really kind hearted, intelligent and knowledgeable kids.
To go with our theme of giving, we listened to the story of 'A glass of milk'. There was once a poor boy who was very hungry and cold. He did not know where to go and stood in the cold for a long time. Finally, not able to bear it anymore, he thought of asking someone for food and knocked on the door of a house near by. A kind looking young lady opened the door. At that moment, the boy hesitated to ask for food. So, he ended up asking for just a glass of water to drink. But that lady brought him a tall warm glass of milk instead. With that, not only his hunger was quenched, he felt warm and energized!
Many years later, that same lady was admitted to a hospital with a grave disease. When a doctor was looking through her charts and saw the name of her hometown, his eyes lit up. He went to see the lady and, lo and behold, it was the same lady that had energized him on a cold winter day, years ago! He was a doctor now! He immediately took over her case, gave her the best treatment and took special care of her. After a long battle, she was cured and well enough to go home. When the bills were being made, the doctor asked to see the bills for his approval. When it came to him, he wrote something on the bottom of the bill and sent it to the lady. The lady could not hold her tears back, for, it said, 'Paid in full, with a glass of milk'!! The deed of kindness she had sown had come right back to her! Even if you never see the deed again, atleast you would have made the world a better place.
We related to this story, our act of giving to the needy. We have just assisted in making the world a better place for someone we may never come to know. But atleast, we know we did our share in helping them.
The children were even more energized and enthusiastic about the walk after hearing about the role they were playing. We all promised that if we felt fatigued during the walk, we would remind ourselves about all the children that would be able to buy books and clothes, because we were walking today.
We finished off with chanting hanumaan shloka and a couple hanumaan bhajans to make us all the more energetic! It was a great walk and even mother nature held off for the walkathon today. The way the predictions are going, hurricane Sandy may be here anytime now. All of you please be safe and we will see you all next week.
To go with our theme of giving, we listened to the story of 'A glass of milk'. There was once a poor boy who was very hungry and cold. He did not know where to go and stood in the cold for a long time. Finally, not able to bear it anymore, he thought of asking someone for food and knocked on the door of a house near by. A kind looking young lady opened the door. At that moment, the boy hesitated to ask for food. So, he ended up asking for just a glass of water to drink. But that lady brought him a tall warm glass of milk instead. With that, not only his hunger was quenched, he felt warm and energized!
Many years later, that same lady was admitted to a hospital with a grave disease. When a doctor was looking through her charts and saw the name of her hometown, his eyes lit up. He went to see the lady and, lo and behold, it was the same lady that had energized him on a cold winter day, years ago! He was a doctor now! He immediately took over her case, gave her the best treatment and took special care of her. After a long battle, she was cured and well enough to go home. When the bills were being made, the doctor asked to see the bills for his approval. When it came to him, he wrote something on the bottom of the bill and sent it to the lady. The lady could not hold her tears back, for, it said, 'Paid in full, with a glass of milk'!! The deed of kindness she had sown had come right back to her! Even if you never see the deed again, atleast you would have made the world a better place.
We related to this story, our act of giving to the needy. We have just assisted in making the world a better place for someone we may never come to know. But atleast, we know we did our share in helping them.
The children were even more energized and enthusiastic about the walk after hearing about the role they were playing. We all promised that if we felt fatigued during the walk, we would remind ourselves about all the children that would be able to buy books and clothes, because we were walking today.
We finished off with chanting hanumaan shloka and a couple hanumaan bhajans to make us all the more energetic! It was a great walk and even mother nature held off for the walkathon today. The way the predictions are going, hurricane Sandy may be here anytime now. All of you please be safe and we will see you all next week.
