Tapestry of Faith: Faithful Journeys: A Program about Pilgrimages of Faith in Action for Grades 2-3

Taking It Home: The Journey Begins

In our era the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action. — Dag Hammarskjold

IN TODAY'S SESSION... Children were introduced to the central idea of the Faithful Journeys curriculum: Unitarian Universalists express faith in our actions and behaviors. We began the journey together, learning the song "Woyaya" and creating paint footprints to place on the Faithful Journeys Path we will travel together in the coming weeks. We played a matching game with the Unitarian Universalist Principles, matching the version of the Principles adults use with language that has been adapted for children. Faithful Journeys uses the Principles as a foundation of understanding how our beliefs translate into action.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Read and talk about the Principles together:

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:

The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;

Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;

A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;

The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;

The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;

Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try... Pay extra attention to times when your child's actions reflect the Principles. Point these instances out and help them articulate how their behavior reflects Unitarian Universalist beliefs. Your child will have the opportunity to share these actions with the Faithful Journeys group next time we meet.

FAMILY ADVENTURE

Walking in Principle. Select a Principle to act on and set out together on a Faithful Journeys walk. You might clean up litter as you walk together, as an expression of the importance of the interdependent web. Or, take an observation walk in which you try to notice and learn as much as you can as an expression of the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

A FAMILY RITUAL

Using the Principles handout your child brought home, write down each Principle on a slip of paper. Fold the slips in half and place them in a small container. Each morning, have each member of the family pull out a slip of paper. Challenge yourselves to think of something you can do during the day to match the Principle you selected. At dinnertime, talk about what you did.

A FAMILY GAME

Using the Principles handout your child brought home, create match game cards with adult language on one set and children's language on the other. Play a traditional match game in which the goal is to turn over the cards and find a match that pairs the children's language of a particular Principle with the adult language.