Teaching Family Unity

We've recently learned something that has really helped us in getting rid of contention in our home.  It's been so helpful that I thought I'd share.

It starts with math.

In math, the circle is the symbol for the number one.  When you want to draw a circle, you start by finding a center point - the circle's essence.

"Ancient mathematical philosophers referred to the Monad [the number one or the circle] as The First, The Seed, The Essence, The Builder, The Foundation, The Space-Producer, and, most dramatic, The Immutable Truth and Destiny" -A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe (all of the following quotes, except the scriptural ones, come from this book)

I asked the kids what the scriptures refer to when they mention One.  They immediately responded, "Jesus!"

And they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb...wherefore they both shall be established in one; for there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth. 1 Nephi 13:41

And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. 2 Nephi 31:21

So we drew a dot to represent the Godhead even though Heavenly Father, His Son - Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, they are united in purpose.

"The Monad creates all subsequent numbers (111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321)...  The ancients didn't consider unity to be a "number", but rather a parent of numbers. They noted that unity exists in all things yet remains inapparent... any number when multiplied by unity remains itself (3x1=3).  The same is true when unity divides into any number (5/1 =1).  Unity always preserves the identity of all it encounters...supporting all.  Monad is the universe's common denominator.  Everything strives in one way or another toward unity.... the circle has been a universal symbol of an ideal perfection and divine state that always exists around and within us whether we acknowledge it or not."

There are lots of great thoughts where I put the dot-dot-dots in my quotes, but I don't have time to type up the whole chapter - I highly recommend getting the book!  It's not a "religious book", but it is easy to see the spiritual symbolism.

I then put the compass on the dot.  I showed the kids that the compass makes like a little house.

"The closed upright compass on the point represents the mythological world axis, world mountain, or holy center of many cultures, they symbolic pole or spine that supports creation and around which everything turns in adoration.  Traditionally, the center is the most honorable place, known to the Greeks as "the keep of Zeus." Protector of hearths and boundries (centers and circumferences) and the source of moral order..."

We talked about what the scriptures say about mountains or a mount.  Look here for some examples.
We decided that the closed compass represents where God dwells - the Temple, our hearts, Zion, etc.

Next, I opened the compass.  I showed them how the opened compass looks like rays of light.

 In many myths, the universal creating process begins with an expansion from a divine center, like the very first Biblical command, "Let there be Light." In Hindu mythology, the dimensionless Brahma speaks aloud the word "aham", "I Am," a word made of the first, middle, and final letters of the Sanskrit alphabet which represents a circle's three parts; the center, the radius, and the circumference, and our own spiritual center, psychological reaches, and outer material form.  The opening compass represents the first manifestation of God's light...illuminating and vibrating the universe into existence, as expanding states of self-awareness, which we call "nature".  Nature's form represent invisible forces made visible....

 We played with ripples and talked about how in the scriptures, light is used to represent the Spirit and how our Spirit can ripple and touch others and help them want to draw closer to God.

The chapter goes on to explain how the motion of drawing the circle represents cycles and all of the cycles in nature and life and other principles of the circle, but you'll just have to get the book to get all that info - this is where we talked about unity.

We read this scripture:

"I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine." -D&C 38:27

We also discussed contention:

"For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another." -3 Nephi 11:29

And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another. Mosiah 18:21

We talked about how Satan loves it when there is contention in our home or anger in our hearts because it means we are separate from God, from the center, and we are not His. Then I asked the kids what we could do when we noticed that we were drifting away from "where God is" as I drew some drifting dots away from the center. They came up with some good ideas: pray, say sorry, etc. I told them those where some great ideas and that the one question that they could always ask themselves when they want to get right back in the center is, "What would Heavenly Father have me do?" and then do it. That will always get us back.
This lesson and these points took me about a week to get through. It's too much for a single lesson with little kids. It has been a great visual reminder of how to rid our home of contention. If I hear voices being raised, I'll say, "I hear contention starting to creep up, what can we do about it?" It has helped us stay focused on being united. Here's an example from this morning:

Bud wanted to try something with Little Miss' bunk bed. She wouldn't let him because she had set some blankets up and it took her a long time. He assured her that his way was a better way of setting them up. She didn't want to let him show her. They started getting angry and shouting. I told them to go sit on a step together until they could work this out. They sat on the step for about 15 minutes and they could not work it out. Bud was insistent that Little Miss let him show her and Little Miss was insistent that she had already said no and she was not going to change her mind.

Eventually, Bud was so mad at her that he threw something at her. I had him go to time-out so he could calm down and then he could go sit on the step with her again until they could work it out. After he had been in time-out for about 6 minutes, he still looked very frustrated. I reminded him that contention comes when we are seperated from Heavenly Father and I asked him if he remembered how to get back to the center and be united again. He said, "How?" I reminded him to ask himself what Heavenly Father would have him do and then do it.   He said, "I know, but she's being so frustrating!" I agreed with him, but told him that Heavenly Father would let him know what to do if he asked Him.

The timer went off a couple of minutes later and I told him to go back to the step and try again. He did and then he immediately said, "Sorry, Little Miss" and then they started to play together. I thought it was pretty miraculous how quickly a very frustrated little boy who hadn't gotten his way was willing to apologize and move on - in a couple of minutes - when something was such a big deal to him. I hope we can get rid of contention! Impossible? The city of Enoch was able to do it - a whole city. The Nephites did it for about 200 years - a whole civilization. If they can do it - why not us? We'll keep working on it anyway...

"And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people...and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God... but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God." 4 Nephi 1:15-17