Robison Family Home Evening Guide: The Parable of the Kite

Guyana Kite Flying Tradition on Easter Monday

Kite Sailing High Above The Beach

Kite Crashing Because Someone Let Go Of the String

Today is Easter Monday. In Guyana, the members all gather together for an annual outing with their branches to fly kites and have a picnic. It is a fun tradition and when people think of flying kites in March throughout the world, no one celebrates kite flying more than the Guyanese on Easter Monday.

Have you ever thought about a kite and how to be successful in flying a kite? This family home evening lesson is entitled the Parable of the Kite.

Parable of the Kite

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Sanjay Singh who lived in Guyana. Sanjay loved flying kites. He could hardly wait until March rolled around each year because then he and his dad would gather string, strips of cloth, small pieces of wood, and paper and make a kite from scratch.

Now this was not any ordinary kite. Indeed the little boy and his father would plan for days how to make this year's kite even better than the one they made the year before. They would draw up plans, then gather up material and then with painstaking effort they would create their kite, each year's kite becoming more of a masterpiece than the year before.

Little Sanjay learned several lessons from his dad about kites. He learned the importance of planning. He learned how exact the measurements had to be or else the kite would be too top-heavy and would not fly. He also learned what colors of paper to use so that he could keep his eye on the kite when it was way up high in the sky.

Oh, how little Sanjay loved Easter Monday. That day was a holiday in Guyana and everyone seemed to meet down by the seawall to fly their kites. How proud the little boy was of his creation ....the kite made by him and his father. How excited he was when they held the kite in the air and just the right amount of wind caught the kite and took it high in the sky.

When the Sanjay was 10 years old, he and his father had been doing this for every Easter Monday that he could remember. He will always remember the excitement he had for making and flying the kite that year. Only this year, he tried something different. He learned a lesson from his experiment that he will always remember the rest of his life. When his kite was high in the sky and the wind was pulling on the string, but the string was pulling just right against the kite, the little boy had the bright idea that he did not want his kite to be just the highest (as it was), but that he wanted it to fly right up to heaven. So without thinking the little boy let go of the string, and anxiously watched, expecting the kite to keep rising high above the clouds and keep going straight to heaven. But was he ever surprised? Instead of continuing the fly, the kite started a nose dive to earth. Not too many seconds later, what was once magestic kite creation was a soaked, crumpled up former kite that had crashed into the water.

Now what do we learn from the parable of the kite?

Why did the kite fly high so long as string was tugging at it to remain anchored? In our own lives we always need to be anchored in order to fly high. Our anchor is the commandments of the gospel. If we let go of the commandments, we will crash and fall.

Ether 12:6 teaches us a valuable lesson in that "ye receive no witness until after a trial of your faith."

The kite needed the string tugging on it in order for it to fly high.

2 Nephi 2:11 says "there is an opposition in all things."

Again the kite needed that constant tug of the string in order to stay airborn.

Another way to look at the parable of the kite is to look at the tree of life and the iron rod in Lehi's dream.

What do you think anchored the people in Lehi's dream that made it to the tree of life?

In 1 Nephi 8: 21 there was a group of people that pressed forward that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree." Another group in verse 24 pressed forward and caught hold of the rod and clung to the rod until they got to the tree....But even that was not the strongest group...this group in verse 30 caught hold of the end of the iron rod and pressed forward. They did not cling like on monkey bars where they could fall at any minute. They held fast with a firm grip. This is like the little boy and his kite. If he holds on tight to the string, the kite will fly high and the experience will be thrilling. If he lets go, the kite will crash to the earth.

Questions:

1. What did you learn about the little boy and the kite that made him successful?

2. What happened to the little boy's kite when he let go of the string so it could fly even higher?

3. What do the people in Guyana do on Easter Monday?

Activity:

1. Make a kite from a kit in the store and then fly it. It is still March! Don't let go of the string.
2. Make a kite from scratch.

Materials Needed

1 yard of 60-64" wide nylon

string

2 - 1/4" wooden dowels

thread

fine tooth saw

A quarter

Optional - nylon fabric scrap for applique

Directions

Refer to Cutting Diagram (below) for measurements and cutting instructions. We used two yard sticks laid at right angles to each other to maintain the diamond shape.

The nylon fabric I purchased was 64" wide, and I was able to cut two out at one time. If yours is only 60" wide you will have to cut them out one at a time by reversing the direction for the second kite.

Press all edges under 1/2". Be careful not to use too hot an iron on the nylon. It will melt.

Measure in 1" from each corner. Use a quarter to cut a semi circle into each corner, by lining the quarter up with the one inch mark.

Holding a long tail on your string, insert string into folded under edge, starting at the bottom corner. Stitch down the Nylon, being sure not to stitch the string and leaving an exposed loop of string at each corner. I used a zig zag stitch to stitch down these edges and around the semi circled corners.

Fold Kite in half lengthwise and make a mark on the fold 7" from the top curved edge and 13" from the bottom curved edge, for the guide string to be inserted through. Refer to diagram B on the Cutting Diagram. Unfold the kites and using your sewing machine make and eyelet (round hole with stitched edges) or a very small button hole.

Leave a long tail of string when your stitching is complete for adjustments.

Cut one dowel to measure 30" and cut the other to measure 34 1/4" long. Make a perpendicular cut into the ends of each dowel, 1/4" deep.

Insert the 30" dowel into the cross area and the 34 1/4" dowel from top to bottom. If you are going to applique a design on your kite, make a small mark at where the dowels cross each other.