This week’s story is “My Many Colored Days,” a Yellow promise story, which is our 5th principle – yearn to accept and learn about ourselves and others. This story is all about feelings – exploring the full range of our feelings, and accepting them all as part of us.
Wondering Questions:
I
wonder if you have ever seen any of this before?
I
wonder which part of this story is the most important?
I
wonder which part you like the best?
I
wonder where you are in this story?
I
wonder if there is a part of the story that we could leave out and still have a
story?
I wonder if you have felt any of these feelings before?
I wonder if you have thought of your feelings as colors?
I wonder what it would be like if any of these feelings went
away, what would it be like if you never felt happy anymore? Or Mad? Or cool and quiet?
I wonder if you like some of these feelings more than
others?
I wonder if it is OK to be angry and mad sometimes as long
as you feel this way without hurting anyone?
I wonder if there are other feelings that aren’t on the
underlay?
Grades K-2: Wonderful Welcome
Taking It Home, Session 5: The Gift Of Invitation
Come, come, whoever you are,
Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving....
— Rumi
IN TODAY'S SESSION...
When children opened the Wonder Box today, they found a goblet, symbolizing the cup for Elijah that is part of the table setting at a Jewish Passover Seder. We talked about the intangible gift of invitation and explored a variety of ways we use the gift of invitation to let people know they are welcome.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about...
At this age, children do much of their "inviting" in the context of family. Talk about how your family uses different ways to show you are welcoming others with invitation. Be aware of ways you model invitation for your child(ren), including ways you show welcome to new people in your congregation and your neighborhood.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try...
This session may give your family the impetus to invite friends for a meal who have never been to your home before.
FAMILY DISCOVERY
Do you have neighbors you have never met? As a family, reach out in invitation to a neighboring family.
Grades 3-5: Love Will Guide Us
Taking It Home, Session 1: Love Is Like a Seed
Love is the vital essence that pervades and permeates, from the center to the circumference, the graduating circles of all thought and action. Love is the talisman of human weal and woe — the open sesame to every soul.
— Elizabeth Cady Stanton, women's civil rights activist in a speech given in 1860
IN TODAY'S SESSION... the children heard the story of "The Everything Seed," which describes the origins of our universe in metaphoric language. We discussed the idea that love was included in that original "everything seed" and learned that love is a guiding force for Unitarian Universalists. Participants created universe seed art representing the love and creativity within our universe.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... theories about how the universe came into being, such as the Big Bang. Talk together about the awesome aspect of our universe's origin. Take turns naming things that were contained in the original, strange ball of matter which exploded to become our universe.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try... learning about seeds together. Dissect a seed and see what is inside. If possible, look at seeds under a microscope. Plants some seeds and watch them grow. Help your child create their own indoor or outdoor garden.
Family Adventure. Go on a walk to find as many seeds and seed holders as you can and try to identify the types of plants they will become.
Family Discovery. To learn more about seeds, watch the Scholastic video The Magic School Bus Goes to Seed. Or, read, The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds: A Book About How Living Things Grow or The Magic School Bus Gets Planted: A Book About Photosynthesis, both by Joanna Cole.
To hear about the universe's origin in metaphoric language, read together The Everything Seed (www.uuabookstore.org/) by Carole Martignacco (Minnesota: Beaver's Pond Press, 2003). Another book to read together is Born with a Bang: The Universe Tells Its Cosmic Story: Book One by Jennifer Morgan (Dawn Publications, 2002).
A Family Game. In the African game Mancala, two opponents try to collect the most seeds by taking turns dropping seeds into small cups carved into a board. The goal is to capture as many of your opponents' seeds as possible. Purchase Mancala at a toy and game store or play a version online (www.lookoutnow.com/game/mancala.htm) .
A Family Ritual. Start a yearly tradition: Plant a garden together. Create a ritual for the planting. For instance, you might read the story "The Garden," from the book Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel, or sing "The Garden Song" by David Mallett, recorded by many artists. You could gather water from rivers and lakes that you visit over the course of the year and use it to water the newly planted seeds.
Middle School: Riddle and Mystery
Taking It Home, Session 5: Out of Nothing
Out of the stars in their flight, out of the dust of eternity, here have we come.
— Robert T. Weston
Talk about the quote. When you think about how life began, do you go all the way back to the stars?
WHAT WE DID TODAY
Today's Big Question is "How did life begin?" We saw that science is one of the best UU Sources to help answer that question, and we heard an answer in the story of evolution. We broadcast a WCUU show about life as a great wonder of the world, and we took a stand to show what we think about the beginning of life.
ANSWERING TODAY'S BIG QUESTION
How do members of your family feel about the theory of evolution? Do all of your relatives feel the same way? How about your friends? Talk about the Source that explains the beginning of life best. Is it religion? Science? Your own experiences and inner feelings?
SEE A SHOW
Watch a DVD called "The Awakening Universe." It is a capsule summary of the past 14 billion years prepared by Thomas Berry and based on the work of cosmologist Brian Swimme. Your congregation or your local library may have a copy, or you can find it online for your family to purchase. You will hear this narration, near the end:
The universe arose and gave rise to the galaxies. The galaxies gave rise to the stars. Our sun gave rise to the earth, and the earth gave rise to life and to all that we are. And now it is causing us to awaken from our dream of lonely isolation so we may rejoin the great community of life and take on our part in the stupendous unfolding story. As Thomas Berry says, "This is our great work."
What does that mean to your family?
SHARED SEARCH
Go together to a place that makes you or somebody else in the family think about how life began. Maybe it is a starlit field, or the shore of an ocean. Maybe . . . but you decide.
PHOTO CHALLENGE
Photograph something that makes you think about how all of life began. It could be something outdoors, such as flower buds on a tree. It might be a book inside your house. Get a camera and decide what calls to you.
FAMILY FAITH IN ACTION
The story of evolution not only explains how life began, it also demonstrates how strongly we are connected to all other life on the planet. Encourage your family to deepen their relationship with another life form. You could do this by caring for plants in a garden, spending more time with pets, or building birdhouses.
No comments:
Post a Comment