Now that you’ve done the Pure Heart Intro – and maybe you and your littles are still sticky from sweet spoonfuls of honey – it’s time for the Inspirational quote and memorization.

I just love how this first lesson in the Ruhi curriculum starts with the first Hidden Word:

“O SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.”

– Bahá’u’lláh, The Hidden Words No. 1 from the Arabic

Awesome! If I could take one gem of guidance with me all day, this might be it! Imagine how much falls into place if we strive to live life with a pure, kindly, and radiant heart?

We’ve honed in on the Pure Heart imagery for the kids here, but notice how closely tied it is to kindness, which we’ll focus on later. A pure heart must be kind and thus it radiates light. Like a mirror that’s shiny and clean, it can reflect all the good in the world! (Check out the quote that ties this in below!)

I love how when we memorize the Word of God, we carry these inspirations with us like a superpower. They become a part of us that can be accessed anytime, like a flashlight to guide us through dark moments.

Bring on the Light!

Want some tools to help with the memorization? Here you go:

• Singing makes memorization so much easier! We truly LOVED learning the inspiration quote set to this beautiful music: http://www.ruhi.org/resources/songs2/EN_My_First_Counsel.mp3
  • If my youngest would just let me share his sweet voice sining this, I would, but alas. When he sees my sneaky phone approach, he’s onto me and quickly goofs off or turns it off. Sigh. Will keep trying…

• You can use a memorization sheet to review the quote with your children and work together to memorize it. If using a different Inspiration, type up the quote and include a table with boxes to check off or mark with stickers each time your child works on it! Amazing what some kids will do for stickers.

• If your children love coloring, invite them to color a quote page.  Here is a Pure Heart Inspiration quote coloring sheet that can be soothing to color while listening to the song. End result: beautifully decorate quote sheet and quote memorized!

• Play the Hide and Seek quote game. We played this in our Virtues Class. The next day I left the pieces out in a pile = kid bait. 😉 My sweet younger two found them each on their own in the following days and put the pieces together to review the quote. It’s a great way for restless kids to focus during morning devotional time too.

• For more ideas to make memorization fun, check out: imemorize.org

The quote from the Pure Heart Intro can be used instead or in addition to the Hidden Word. It’s so easy to memorize and so lovely:

“A pure heart is as a mirror.”   – ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

My youngest son learned this one a couple years ago, along with the youngest ones in our children’s class, and it has stuck ever since. Isn’t that a simple, yet powerful image?

If you’re doing a virtues class with people of other faiths, you may find these quotes on a Pure Heart helpful:

Ceasing to do evil, Cultivating the good, Purifying the heart: This is the teaching of the Buddhas.  – The Buddha, Dhammapada, verse 183

Joy supreme comes to the Yogi whose heart is still, whose passions are peace, who is pure from sin, who is one with Brahman, with God. – Hinduism: Bhagavad Gita 6:26-28

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  – Psalm 51:10 NIV

My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure.  – Alfred Lord Tennyson

A day when there will be no benefit in wealth or children, but only in he who comes to Allah with a pure heart.  – Quran, Surah Ash-Shu’ara 26:88-89

A pure heart open to the Light will be filled with the very essence of Truth.  – Rumi

What stories do you have about learning and tapping into the Word of God for some Pure Heart Inspiration?