Beginning prayers
· 'om' chanting - 3 times
· saha naavavatu
Ending prayers
· pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
5k Walkathon for CORD
Comments:
Rashmi Aunty and Indira Aunty:
Alka Aunty and Prasad Uncle:
Today's class was different and special. Today, we met outdoors - at the Mercer county park for a very special cause! We were taking gurudev's teachings to the practical level. There was a walkathon arranged in the park so that we could raise money for the women and children in the rural areas of India, who are in need of our assistance. It was a 5k walk for bringing awareness about the activities of CORD and to do our bit in helping them in a wee little way that we could. Before the walk, we met briefly as a class.
Since the walk was for raising money for rural development in India, we spoke about what CORD stands for, why we were at the park, what our role was in assisting the not so fortunate children.
To emphasize the purpose of the walk, we heard a story called 'The 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 the class with 'pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam...' and dispersed to enjoy the walk in the park on this beautiful, sunny, fall day. The weather also looked as if was inclined to make it as pleasant as possible for all the walkers! We all had loads of fun and a great energizing work out as well, even as we were raising awareness and funds for CORD.
See you all at Cross Roads School for the next balavihar on Nov 6th.
· 'om' chanting - 3 times
· saha naavavatu
Ending prayers
· pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam
5k Walkathon for CORD
Comments:
Rashmi Aunty and Indira Aunty:
Alka Aunty and Prasad Uncle:
Today's class was different and special. Today, we met outdoors - at the Mercer county park for a very special cause! We were taking gurudev's teachings to the practical level. There was a walkathon arranged in the park so that we could raise money for the women and children in the rural areas of India, who are in need of our assistance. It was a 5k walk for bringing awareness about the activities of CORD and to do our bit in helping them in a wee little way that we could. Before the walk, we met briefly as a class.
Since the walk was for raising money for rural development in India, we spoke about what CORD stands for, why we were at the park, what our role was in assisting the not so fortunate children.
To emphasize the purpose of the walk, we heard a story called 'The 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 the class with 'pUrNamadaH pUrNamidam...' and dispersed to enjoy the walk in the park on this beautiful, sunny, fall day. The weather also looked as if was inclined to make it as pleasant as possible for all the walkers! We all had loads of fun and a great energizing work out as well, even as we were raising awareness and funds for CORD.
See you all at Cross Roads School for the next balavihar on Nov 6th.
