This week's story is called "The Anteater and the Fox", and it is based in our Second Promise, Our Orange Promise: Offer Fair and Kind Treatment to all. This story is about a fox who invites an anteater to have tea. The anteater isn't the best guest, and the fox must figure out how to treat him.
Our wondering questions for this week are:
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 Fox will invite Anteater back to his house for tea?I wonder if Anteater understands why he does not get invited to places?I wonder if Fox should have told Anteater what he was doing wrong during his visit?I wonder if you have ever been invited to someone's house?I wonder if you have ever made a mess and didn't clean up after yourself?I wonder if you care if other children make a mess at your house and don't clean up?I wonder if your parent cares if other children make a mess at your house and don't clean up?I wonder what lesson this story teaches us about being a friend? I wonder if this lesson reminds you of any of our other Unitarian Universalist Promises?
Grades K-2: Wonderful Welcome
Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
IN TODAY'S SESSION...
The children learned about the intangible gift of helping. Although helping is intangible, the results of help are tangible. The children made a Helping Hands Wreath constructed of their traced hands — a metaphor for hands linked together to help others.
The opportunity to help presents itself daily in concrete ways such as helping to clean the house. However, this session focused on helping people whom we will never meet, people who live very different lives from our own. The organization, Heifer International, empowers people by giving them farm animals to raise. Before receiving an animal, each family agrees to pass on the offspring to other families in need, thereby passing along the gift of helping.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about...
how you contribute to organizations that help others. This can include contributions made through your congregation. Often congregations collectively sponsor organizations such as Heifer or Habitat for Humanity. Talk about why you have chosen to help. How does it feel to know that people you may never meet can improve their lives with your help?
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try...
forgoing birthday gifts from one another so that family members can instead contribute money to a charitable organization. Point out that the birthday gift you receive is the gift of helping. Grades 3-5: Love Will Guide Us
Science and religion are two windows that people look through, trying to understand the big universe outside, trying to understand why we are here. The two windows give different views, but both look out at the same universe. Both views are one-sided, neither is complete. Both leave out essential features of the real world. And both are worthy of respect. — Freeman Dyson, physics professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, in a speech accepting the 2000 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion
IN TODAY'S SESSION... The children explored our fifth Unitarian Universalist Source, "the use of reason and the discoveries of science." They heard a story about how a 19th-century discovery of dinosaur bones in New Jersey helped prove the earth is older than claimed in the Bible. The group talked about how reason is a way we listen to what others say; pay attention to what we ourselves see, hear, and feel; and combine what we find to try to figure out what is true.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... theology vs. science. Is there really a conflict between the notions of evolution and Divine Creation? Affirm for your children that Unitarian Universalism affirms science. The wisdom we gain using reason and learning from scientific discoveries is one Sources of Unitarian Universalist faith.
There are wonderful natural history museums around the country. If possible, go as a family (as opposed to a school field trip). Seek out displays that highlight evolution; pay close attention to birds and shells. Look for a timeline to help you show your children that evolution is a slow process that takes a very long time.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER.
Family Discovery. Read about Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow, Unitarian Universalists who travel the country talking about the spirituality of evolution. Explore Michael Dowd and his publications further on his Thank God for Evolution website.
Books about evolution for children include:
The Tree of Life: The Wonders of Evolution by Ellen Jackson, illustrated by Judeanne Winter Wiley (Prometheus Books, 2004), the story children heard in our session today. Jackson's approach to evolution has a spiritual quality, as do the wonderful illustrations.
Life on Earth: The Evolution by Steve Jenkins (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2002).
Born with a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story by Jennifer Morgan (Dawn Publications, 2002).
Middle School
Our middle school youth are choosing a social justice project to develop and implement. We will vote this week on project ideas from the categories of human rights, poverty, environment, health, and global crises. We discussed two kinds of projects -- service or advocacy oriented. A significant focus for this next step is learning to come to consensus, even when very different ideas are coming to the table. Our votes will leave us with the top two projects of interest, and then the group will need to come to consensus about which one to implement for this first project, and how.
Some considerations for consensus building:
1. Listen for understanding.
2. Support one another's learning.
3. If you wonder, ask.
4. Speak your truth, knowing it is only part of the truth.
5. Be mindful of your airtime. Be equitable.
6. Keep it safe enough to encourage risk taking.
You might ask your middle school youth questions like these:
- How do you know when you're listening for understanding? What does it look like, sounds like, and feel like?
- How do you support someone else's learning? Why is this important? How does this relate to our UU principles?
- What does it mean to "speak your truth?" Does consensus building really work if someone feels strongly about something, but doesn't share that?
- Think of a time when you felt really comfortable in a group. Did you feel comfortable enough to take risks, like sharing an idea that was different from everyone else? Or like asking for help?
- What do you think needs to happen for your to feel that comfortable in the middle school class? How can you help to make that happen?
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