FAITHFUL JOURNEYS
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 2: UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, A GIFT FROM OUR UNIVERSALIST HERITAGE
BY BY ALICE ANACHEKA-NASEMANN AND LYNN UNGAR SUSAN DANA LAWRENCE, DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR JUDITH A. FREDIANI, DIRECTOR OF LIFESPAN FAITH DEVELOPMENT
© Copyright 2009 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/7/2014 1:31:18 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
The law of heaven is love. — Hosea Ballou
In this session, a story about Hosea Ballou (1771-1852), one of the most influential preachers of Universalism, introduces participants to the first Unitarian Universalist Principle, the inherent worth and dignity of every person. The story, "Muddy Children," describes a young Ballou whose father loves him unconditionally despite his tendency to get muddy. Discussion and activities amplify the story's teaching, reassuring participants that they, like Hosea Ballou, are loved and worthy even when they are literally muddy or have made a mistake. The signpost "Respect Everyone" is added to the Faithful Journeys Path.
Activity 1, Faithful Footprints, asks you to prepare in advance a footprint (or wheelchair track) for yourself for the Faithful Journeys Path. Be ready to briefly describe an action you have taken that reflects Unitarian Universalist faith. You will also need blank footprints (or wheelchair tracks) for participants; see Session 1, Leader Resources 3 and 4.
Alternate Activity 1 offers a foot-washing ritual based on a Christian tradition of expressing caring and reverence for a person in this way. If you are open to a messy art project, Alternate Activity 2, Unconditional Love Mud Art, gives children an experience making self-portraits that emphasizes the Universalist teaching of unconditional love. If you prefer not to play with mud, Alternate Activity 3 guides participants to make clay symbols of unconditional love to take home.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 2 |
Activity 1: Faithful Footprints | 5 |
Activity 2: Signing the Behavior Covenant | 5 |
Activity 3: Move It! Horrific Tai Chi Welcome Exercise | 5 |
Activity 4: Story Basket and Centering | 5 |
Activity 5: Story — Muddy Children: Hosea Ballou | 12 |
Activity 6: Gift Catchers | 21 |
Faith in Action: Coffee Hour Interviews | |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Foot-washing Ceremony | 20 |
Alternate Activity 2: Unconditional Love Mud Art | 22 |
Alternate Activity 3: Clay Symbols of Unconditional Love | 20 |
Alternate Activity 4: Game — Darling If You Love Me, Won't You Please, Please, Smile | 8 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
If it will help you create sacred space, light a candle or chalice. Read this session's central story, "Muddy Children." Recall times in your own life when you experienced unconditional love and what that meant to you. Take a few moments to ponder the Universalist message of love. Try to imagine a love that is bigger than the universe and encompasses all beings. Think about the children you will be working with today. Try to open up your heart to love them as fully as possible — mud and all.
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (2 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle. Light the chalice. Point out the chalice-lighting words on the newsprint and invite the group to read together:
We light this flame for the light of truth, the warmth of love, and the energy of action.
Indicate the poster(s) of the Unitarian Universalist Principles. Or, give each child a copy of the handout. Ask a volunteer to read the first Principle in the adult language. Ask a second volunteer to read the children's version of the first Principle. Then, say:
Today we will learn about this Unitarian Universalist Principle — what it means, and what kinds of actions show it. Let's get started.
Collect handouts for reuse.
Including All Participants
If not all participants are fluent readers, take the time to teach the group to say the opening words from memory.
If the group has children who are sensitive to perfumes or other chemicals, use unscented candles or an electric or battery-operated flame. An electric flame is also recommended if you may not use open flames or if any participants are afraid of fire.
ACTIVITY 1: FAITHFUL FOOTPRINTS (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity reinforces children's learning as they model translating faith into action for one another. To strengthen children's Unitarian Universalist identity, help participants see how their own behavior demonstrates specific Principles.
Gather in a circle. Point to the Faithful Journeys Path and say:
Together we are taking a journey to learn what it means to live as Unitarian Universalists. Each time we meet, we have a chance to talk about ways our actions show our beliefs about what is right and good. This is called "putting our faith into action."
When you share about something you have done that shows what you believe, you can choose a footprint or tracks for us to put on our Faithful Journeys Path.
Hold up the footprint you made of your own faithful action. Tell what you did and how it represents your Unitarian Universalist beliefs. If you can connect your action to a Principle, briefly explain. For example:
Ask the children to think of an act they have done, since you met last, that reflects Unitarian Universalism. You may wish to prompt:
As participants name their actions, write a word or phrase describing the action on a footprint or wheelchair tracks cutout. Invite children to write their names on their cutouts and post them along the edge of the Faithful Journeys Path. In early sessions, post cutouts near the start of the path. Have them progress along the path over the course of the program.
To stay within the time frame for this activity, use these guidelines:
It is very important to avoid judging participants, either with criticism or praise. Avoid phrases like "Great job!" or "You're fantastic!" which might suggest that acts of faith vary in their value or encourage children to compete to share the "best" act.
You should, however, respond to each child's contribution. Listen carefully to what a child tells you. After each child shares, say something like, "Thank you for sharing," followed by a summarizing sentence, such as:
Identify the Unitarian Universalist Principles each act represents; refer to the Principles poster if the room has one or indicate a relevant signpost on the Faithful Journeys Path. By responding specifically to each child's faithful actions, you will help them feel pride, a sense of accomplishment, and their own empowerment as agents whose actions and choices reflect Unitarian Universalist beliefs and values.
Including All Participants
Along with cut-out footprints (Session 1, Handout 3, Faithful Footprints), provide wheelchairs (Session 1, Handout 4, Making Tracks for Faith) in the same colors of paper. Encourage all the children — not just those who use wheelchairs for mobility — to sometimes use a wheelchair instead of footprints to represent their faithful actions.
ACTIVITY 2: SIGNING THE BEHAVIOR COVENANT (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity gives the children ownership over the behavioral rules for Faithful Journeys and helps establish a sense of safety and community. Show the group the covenant. Lay it on the floor, in the center of the group. Remind the children that the covenant is a promise to one another to keep a safe, cooperative community in Faithful Journeys. You may wish to tell the children that making this covenant is a way to practice Unitarian Universalism's third Principle of accepting one another and helping each other to grow.
Read the covenant aloud. You may choose to sign it first, to model. Then invite the children to sign it as a promise to abide by its rules. Ask them to go two or three at a time to sign their names, using any color marker they wish. When all have signed, including the adults, post the covenant.
Tell the children, in your own words:
Anyone who feels at any time that the rules of the covenant are not being followed can ask for a time outside of our group activities to discuss it, either with the whole group or one of the leaders.
Including All Participants
If any child cannot get down on the floor, place the covenant on a table where all can reach it or bring the covenant to individual children to sign. Invite children who are physically unable to sign their names to choose another child to write it for them.
ACTIVITY 3: MOVE IT! HORRIFIC TAI CHI WELCOME EXERCISE (5 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the group in a circle. Tell them:
Horrific Tai Chi is a way of warming up our bodies and spirits, but it is also a way of welcoming, greeting, and honoring each person in the circle. Horrific Tai Chi has three stages. We begin with the first, simplest stage. As you try to make eye contact with each person in the circle, make the weirdest faces that you can, but use only your face; the rest of your body should remain still. Honor and welcome each person whose eyes you meet by making a really strange face at them.
Model the first stage and give the group a half minute or so to try it. Then say:
Next we move to stage two. While continuing to stretch your face in the weirdest ways you can, move your upper body as well. You can use your arms and your torso as well as your head to move and bend in strange ways. But remember, as we do this we are trying to catch the eye of each person in the circle and salute them with our strange poses.
Again, give the group a half minute of practice. Then say:
Finally, for stage three, you are free to move your whole body as you greet and honor each person with your unique poses. Keep your place in the circle, and make sure you do not actually touch anyone, but you may use your whole body, still including your face, to salute each person in the strangest possible way.
After a half minute of stage three, invite the group to come back to stillness, and take them through all three stages again. This time, you may like to give the group a bit more time for each stage. Make sure you bring the group back to stillness to conclude the activity.
Including All Participants
If any children in the group use wheelchairs and do not have use of their lower bodies, you may wish to make the Horrific Tai Chi circle a seated one for all, and limit this exercise to the first two stages.
ACTIVITY 4: STORY BASKET AND CENTERING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children in a circle in your storytelling area. Show them the storytelling basket. Say something like, "Let's see what's in our story basket this week."
Tell the group the items in the story basket will be placed on this altar or table after the children have passed them around the circle. Take the story-related items from the basket, one at a time, and pass them around. Objects that are fragile or should not be passed around for any reason can be held up for all to see and then placed directly on the altar.
Briefly name the various objects. Show the picture of Hosea Ballou and explain that he was a Universalist minister more than two hundred years ago when most Christians believed that most people would go to hell when they died.
As the items come back to you, display them on the altar for children to look at as they listen to the story.
Now remove the sound instrument from the story basket. Tell the children that every time you tell a story in Faithful Journeys, you will first use the instrument to help them get their ears, minds, and bodies ready to listen. Invite them to sit comfortably and close their eyes (if they are comfortable doing so). You may tell them that closing their eyes can help them focus on just listening.
In a calm voice, say:
As you breathe in, feel your body opening up with air. As you breathe out, feel yourself relaxing.
Repeat this once or twice. Then, say:
Now you are ready to listen. When I hit the chime (turn the rain stick over), listen as carefully as you can. See how long you can hear its sound. When you can no longer hear it, open your eyes and you will know it is time for the story to begin.
Sound the instrument. When the sound has gone, begin telling the story.
Including All Participants
If anyone in the group is unable to hold or pass items, or cannot see the items, make sure you or a child in the group offers the person a chance to see and touch each object, as needed.
Some people do not feel safe closing their eyes when they are in a group. If any children resist, respect their resistance and suggest that they find a single point of focus to look at instead.
If you have a basket of fidget objects for children who may listen and learn more effectively with something in their hands, make the fidget object basket available during this activity. Remind children where it is before you begin the "centering" part of this activity. For a full description of fidget objects and guidance on using them, see Leader Resource 2, Fidget Objects.
ACTIVITY 5: STORY — MUDDY CHILDREN — HOSEA BALLOU (12 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
In this activity you will tell the story "Muddy Children: Hosea Ballou," which presents an example of someone acting based on our first Unitarian Universalist Principle, the inherent worth and dignity of all people. In addition, the story introduces children to basic Universalist history and theology.
Sound the instrument to indicate the story is over. Take a few minutes to guide the children in a brief discussion, using these questions:
ACTIVITY 6: GIFT CATCHERS (21 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Using your own words, say something like:
Our first Unitarian Universalist Principle says that all people have inherent worth and dignity. That means every person around the world is important — and every person in this Faithful Journeys group is important, too. Today we are going to make gift catchers to take home to remind us about our first Principle.
Hand out the blank paper, scissors, and (optional) copies of Leader Resource 3 to share. Show the group the model you created in advance. Tell the children everyone will fold their gift catchers before drawing or writing on them. Lead and help the group to complete steps 1 through 10 of the instructions.
When most children have completed folding their gift catchers, invite them to write their names on them and decorate the flat side (the opposite side from where they write numbers 1 through 8 on the triangle flaps). Suggest they make self-portraits, write their names in a decorative way and/or draw things they are good at or things they love.
Give a one-minute warning to finish. Then, gather the children in a circle, with their gift catchers. Distribute Handout 1. Explain that affirmations are nice things you say that express caring and appreciation for others. Read the affirmations aloud. Ask the group to suggest any other affirmations they would like you to spell out on the newsprint for them to use in their gift catchers.
Distribute markers and pencils and/or affirmation stickers. If you would like them to cut out affirmations from the Handout 1, pass around scissors and glue sticks. Invite the children to pass their gift catchers around for others to write or stick affirmations in one of the hidden triangle areas, and then pass along to the next child. Ask children to pay attention to whose gift catcher they are holding so they can tailor their affirmation to that person.
Note: Pass the gift catchers around until all are complete. In a small group, some children may write twice on each gift catcher. In larger groups, not all the children will get to write on everyone's gift catcher.
When all the gift catchers are filled with affirmations, return them to the children who made them. Show the group how to make the final folds so they can use the gift catchers, and invite them to use their gift catchers with one another.
Point out that while the affirmations were written for the owners of the gift catchers, when they use them with friends it will be an opportunity to affirm their friends, too.
Including All Participants
At this age there is a wide range in writing abilities. Give children the option of dictating their thoughts to an adult or older child in the group or drawing a picture message.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity helps children get used to practicing a closing ritual as a way of affirming their belonging in the faith community.
Gather the group in a circle. Thank the children for participating and sharing their stories and ideas in this session. Tell them something you liked about the way they worked together as a community.
Point out the Faithful Journeys Path. Say, in your own words:
Our Faithful Journeys Path shows our journey to live our lives and act in ways that reflect our Unitarian Universalist beliefs and faith. The signposts direct us by reminding us about our Principles.
Today's signpost is "Respect Everyone." It stands for our first Unitarian Universalist Principle that everyone is important and valuable, and we need to always treat one another with respect.
Attach the signpost to the Faithful Journeys Path.
Remind the children that the next time they meet they will have a chance to add Faithful Footprints to the Faithful Journeys Path. Encourage them to do an action during the week that shows fairness or justice. Take a few minutes to brainstorm some actions together. If the children have difficulty coming up with ideas, you might suggest including someone new in your game, saying please and thank you, listening when others are talking to you, or being kind to someone.
Point out the words to the UU Principles Song. Tell the children it is sung to the tune of "Old McDonald Had a Farm." Lead the children in singing the verse about the first Principle. Then, sing the entire song together. Explain that you will learn about all of the Principles during your time together in Faithful Journeys.
Distribute the Taking It Home handout. Thank the children, tell them you look forward to seeing them next time, and dismiss the group.
FAITH IN ACTION: COFFEE HOUR INTERVIEWS
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children together and explain that you are going to learn more about some people in your congregation by interviewing them. Form pairs of children and have each pair interview at least two or three congregants or visitors — anyone except their Faithful Journeys peers. You may wish to write out the questions for the children to use:
You may also ask the children if there are any other questions they would like to use.
After ten or fifteen minutes, regather the children. Give them an opportunity to share about their interviews. Ask them what they learned that was surprising or interesting.
Including All Participants
Encourage a child who is particularly shy to interview a familiar person, perhaps even a parent. You can also have an adult leader be that child's partner. Do not push children to engage in conversations that they find uncomfortable.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few minutes to evaluate the session with your co-leader immediately afterward, while it is fresh. Share your thoughts with any other team co-leaders and your director of religious education. You might find it helpful to consider these questions:
TAKING IT HOME
The law of heaven is love. – Hosea Ballou
IN TODAY'S SESSION... We focused on early Universalist preacher Hosea Ballou as an example of someone in history who translated Unitarian Universalist beliefs into faithful action. The children learned about the first Unitarian Universalist Principle, which states that we affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people. We heard the story "Muddy Children," which tells how Universalist Hosea Ballou experienced unconditional love in his family when, as a child, he had difficulty refraining from playing in mud. This childhood experience informed Ballou's preaching and theology, which emphasized love and universal salvation. We also created gift catchers with affirmations to remind us that we are all loved and endowed with inherent worth and dignity. Our signpost to help guide us in faithful action was "Respect Everyone."
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... As Unitarian Universalists, we want to treat every person in a way that shows we believe they have inherent worth and dignity – as if they are important. Discuss ways the members of your family show respect for one another and for other people. You may wish to play a game where one person suggests the name of someone you all know – the postal delivery person, an adult family friend, a teacher, one of your child's friends and all contribute ways you show that person you consider them important and worthy of respect.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try... Pay extra attention to times when your child shows respect for other people through acts of kindness and consideration. Point out instances of your child acting faithfully, that is, in a way that reflects the Principle of inherent worth and dignity. Your child will have the opportunity to share these actions with the Faithful Journeys group next time we meet.
FAMILY ADVENTURE
Put on your play clothes and go play together in the mud or do something else that is messy – preferably something that at other times may be forbidden. When you are done, wash up and talk about the fact that when we get dirty we can clean ourselves up again. It's the same when we make mistakes. When we do something wrong we can "clean" ourselves by apologizing, trying to repair any damages we've done, and trying harder to do things differently in the future.
A FAMILY RITUAL
Make it a daily ritual to express your unconditional love to your child. You might say, "I love you always and forever, no matter what." Be sure to say this even (or especially) when you have been angry at your child. You can say, "I am still angry at you, but that doesn't change the fact that I love you always and forever, no matter what."
A FAMILY GAME
Play the game "Darling, If You Love Me, Won't You Please, Please Smile?" To play, one person asks another person this question. Without smiling at any point, the second person has to answer, "Darling, I am terribly sorry. I will love you forever but I just can't smile." The first person can attempt to get the second person to smile or laugh by making funny faces, telling jokes, or using other methods that don't involve physical contact. If the second person does not smile or laugh, they win. If you are playing this as a small group and the second person smiles before finishing the complete statement above, they become "it" and must now ask someone else the question while trying to elicit a smile.
FAMILY DISCOVERY
Watch the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch together, and discuss the Hawaiian concept of ohana, or family, that it portrays. Talk about the ways Stitch makes trouble and yet is still loved in a family where no one gets left behind or forgotten.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: FOOT-WASHING CEREMONY (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
In this activity, participants experience giving and receiving respect and caring from peers by washing one another's feet.
Have participants take off their shoes and socks. Then, form trios by counting off ones, twos and threes. (Or, you may wish to form groups of children who will likely work well together in this activity.) Ask all the "ones" to sit in a chair and the "twos" and "threes" to sit at the seated child's feet.
Explain, in your own words:
The Christian bible has a story about how Jesus washed the feet of his apostles, the people who followed him. Jesus did this to show he was not more important than the others, even though many thought he was a special teacher. He wanted people to realize that none of us is more important or valuable than another.
Because of this story about Jesus, foot washing is a Christian ritual. When we wash each other's feet today, it is a way to show we are being humble, like Jesus was in the story. Unitarian Universalists do not think one person is more important or worthwhile than another. We will each have a chance to give and receive respect.
Tell the children if something tickles they should ask their foot-washers to press a little harder. Emphasize that when it is their turn to be a foot-washer, children should be gentle and respectful.
Have the children on the floor each wash one foot of the child in the chair, using the soap and washcloth. After a few minutes of washing, one foot-washer should towel the child's feet dry with the seated child's hand towel and rub lotion on both feet. The other foot-washer should dump out the dirty water and fill the basin with warm, clean water. If the water source is far away or the basin heavy, co-leaders should do this job.
Once there is a second basin full of clean water, one of the foot-washers should now sit in the chair. Repeat the process until all children in the trio have had an opportunity to have their feet washed.
Including All Participants
If any in the group are especially ticklish, unable to feel their feet, or squeamish about the foot-washing ceremony, have the children wash one another's hands instead.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: UNCONDITIONAL LOVE MUD ART (22 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite children to put on smocks and sit at a work table. Give each participant a copy of Handout 2, I Am Loved. Explain that they will draw themselves on the figure and fill in the blanks for the categories found at the bottom of the page. They can write, draw, or dictate their answers.
Give them a few minutes to do this while you distribute water to participants, pouring a small amount in their individual cups. Then, invite them to mix mud by adding water from their cup to their bowl of dirt. Avoid making the mud too watery.
Finally, direct participants to finger paint their self-portraits with the mud. They can choose how much mud to add to their pictures but should try not to cover the words and images on their paper. Avoid globs of mud that will simply harden and fall off. When everyone is done, leave the pictures to dry and then hang them up in an "Unconditional Love" gallery underneath the banner "All Are Loved."
Participants who finish quickly can be invited to play with their mud or to make mud paintings on blank paper until everyone is done.
Engage everyone in cleanup, using the paper towels, wet wipes, or wash basin.
Including All Participants
Whether or not the group includes children of color, it is very important to avoid suggesting links between muddy faces and darker skin colors. Avoid words like "dark," "brown" and "black," as you talk about the muddy images. Use language that describes muddiness, dirtiness, or messiness.
Children who have sensory stimulation challenges may be uncomfortable painting in mud with their fingers. Provide paintbrushes or other implements.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: CLAY SYMBOLS OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Have children sit at work tables and give each participant a handful of self-hardening clay or modeling dough. You may say:
As Unitarian Universalists, we believe all people have inherent worth and dignity. That means we think all people are important. We believe people are important even if they sometimes make bad choices or do wrong things. The first Universalists taught that God loves all people unconditionally — no matter what.
Invite the children to use the clay or modeling dough to make a symbol of love or to express what it feels like to be loved even though you are not perfect.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 4: GAME — DARLING, IF YOU LOVE ME, WON'T YOU PLEASE, PLEASE SMILE (8 MINUTES)
Description of Activity
Gather in a standing circle. Choose one volunteer to be the "Darling" and stand in the center of the circle. This person's goal is to get someone else in the circle to smile or laugh. If this person succeeds, the one who smiled becomes the new "Darling." The original "Darling" rejoins the circle.
The "Darling" gets others to smile by approaching someone in the circle and saying, "Darling, if you love me, won't you please, please smile." The "Darling" can make funny faces, use silly voices, tell jokes, or use other means to get the person to smile, but physically touching the person is not allowed.
The person who has been approached must respond by saying, "I am sorry, darling. I love you, but I just can't smile," without smiling before or during this statement. If the person succeeds, the "Darling" must try to make someone else smile. If the person smiles, however, the two exchange places and the person who smiled becomes the new "Darling."
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 2:
STORY: MUDDY CHILDREN — HOSEA BALLOU
By Janeen K. Grohsmeyer; from her book A Lamp in Every Corner: Our Unitarian Universalist Storybook.
To make the story more engaging and to help make it very clear who is speaking during dialogues, try developing different voices for the different characters in the story, especially the father. Before you begin, look around the room and make eye contact with each person. Read or tell the story. Ring the chime (or other sound instrument) to indicate that the story is over.
Over two hundred years ago, in a small house in a small town, on the edge of a forest of very big trees in the state of New Hampshire , there lived a small boy. His name was Hosea Ballou.
Hosea, just like other children, liked to learn and do new things. He was always asking questions, about what and why and how. And, just like other children, Hosea liked to play. He liked to play hide-and-seek with his nine older brothers and sisters. He liked to play word games inside when it was rainy, and he liked to play tag outside when it was sunny. In the winter, he liked to jump into snowdrifts. In the summer, he liked to jump into the creek. In the fall, he liked to jump into leaf piles. And in the spring — why, spring was Hosea's favorite season of all — because in the spring, it would rain and rain and rain, and then Hosea could jump into mud.
Hosea, just like other children, loved mud. He liked it when it was soft and squishy, and he liked it when it was thick and sticky. If it didn't rain quite enough, that wasn't a problem. Hosea would carry water to the dirt and create glorious mud puddles all of his own. He liked to poke sticks into puddles and see how deep the mud was. He liked to make mud pies and to build mud dams. He liked to jump in puddles hard with both feet and make the muddy water splash really high, so that the mud splattered all over his brothers' and sisters' clothes, and he loved to step in puddles v-e-r-y slowly, so that the mud oozed up just a little bit at a time between his toes.
Yes, Hosea loved mud.
Now, you can imagine that not everybody in his family liked mud quite as much as Hosea did. His mother had died when he was not quite two, so his older sisters took care of him. His sister, who did laundry and scrubbed the family's dirty clothes in big washtubs, didn't like having to scrub all that mud off Hosea's clothes — or off everybody else's clothes, either, after Hosea had stomped in a mud puddle extra hard.
His other older sister, who kept the little children clean, didn't like having to scrub all that mud off Hosea. And Hosea (just like other children) didn't like having baths, either, especially when it meant he had to stand in a washtub in front of the fire and have water dumped over his head. But his sisters loved him, so they took him home and washed him and dried him and made him clean.
Then Hosea's sisters went to their father and said, "Father, please tell Hosea to stop playing in the mud."
"Hosea," said his father, very sternly, "you should not play in the mud."
"Why?" asked Hosea, because (just like other children) asking questions was another thing he loved to do.
"Because," said his father, who was one of the preachers in the Baptist church the family went to, "just as we try to live a good life, to be kind to other people and to follow God's plan, we try to stay clean."
"Yes, Father," Hosea said, and after that day, he did indeed try to stay clean.
But it wasn't easy. He stopped stomping in the mud puddles on purpose and splashing the muddy water everywhere, and he stopped making enormous mud pies, but sometimes the mud was just there. Then he had to walk through the mud to get across the yard to gather the eggs from the chickens. He had to walk in the mud to feed the pigs. And sometimes, when he was already muddy from doing his chores, he played in the mud, just a little bit, and got even muddier. His sisters, who loved him, took him home and washed him and dried him and made him all clean.
But Hosea's sisters went to their father again and said, "Father, please tell Hosea to stop playing in the mud."
"Hosea," said his father even more sternly, "you must not play in the mud."
"Yes, Father," Hosea said. He was sad, because he had truly tried not to get muddy, most of the time anyway. "Are you very angry with me, Father?"
"I am disappointed in you, Hosea, and I am a little angry with you."
Hosea hung his head and kicked at the dirt with his toes, then he dared to look up, just a little, to ask, "Do you still love me?"
"Hosea," said his father, and his father didn't sound stern anymore, "I will always love you, Hosea, no matter what you do."
"Even if I get muddy again?"
"Yes."
"Even if I get really, really muddy?"
"Yes."
"Even if I get mud all the way up to my eyebrows and between my fingers and my toes and in my hair?"
"Even then," his father said with a smile. Then he added, very stern again, "But remember, Hosea. You must try to stay clean."
"I'll remember, and I'll try," Hosea promised, and he did. He stayed clean, most of the time anyway. As he grew up, he stopped liking mud quite so much, but he still liked to ask questions about what and how and why.
"Father," Hosea asked when he was a teenager, "how can it be that our church believes that God will let only one in a thousand people into heaven, even if many of those thousand people lead good lives?" His father didn't have an answer for that question.
"Father," Hosea asked, "if I had the power to create a living creature, and if I knew that the creature would have a miserable life, would suffer and die, and then go to hell and be miserable forever, and I went ahead and created it anyway, would that be a good thing or a bad thing? And would I be good or bad?"
His father didn't have an answer for that question, either. Hosea had to find his own answers. So he read the Bible, a book with many stories about religious people and about God. He went to some Universalist churches and asked more questions there. At the age of nineteen, Hosea decided that he believed in universal salvation, which is the idea that everyone everywhere — everyone in the universe — will be given salvation. Eventually, everyone will be "saved" from hell. And not only did Hosea believe that God would let more than a thousand people into heaven, Hosea Ballou believed God would eventually let everyone into heaven, good and bad.
"How can you believe that?" asked his father. "How can you believe that God would let bad people into heaven?"
"Because, Father, I remember what you told me when I was small. I believe that even if God is disappointed with people, or a little angry with them, God will always love them and want them to be happy, no matter what they do, and no matter how muddy they are."
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 2:
HANDOUT 1: AFFIRMATIONS
Use these affirmations in Activity 6, Gift Catchers. Children may copy these phrases or cut them out to paste into the gift catchers.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 2:
HANDOUT 2: I AM LOVED
Color in the figure as a self-portrait. Fill in the blanks at the bottom of the page with either words or pictures. Then finger paint with mud to make your self-portrait muddy, but do not cover the words or pictures at the bottom.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 2:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: SIGNPOST FOR SESSION 2
Cut out the signpost. During your closing circle, show it to the children and attach it to your Faithful Journeys Path.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 2:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: FIDGET OBJECTS
The idea of having a basket of "fidget objects" available during session activities comes from Sally Patton, author, workshop leader and advocate for children with special needs.
A fidget basket is a simple, inexpensive way to include and welcome children who find it difficult to sit still or who learn better while moving.
Provide a basket for fidget objects. Fill it with pipe cleaners, Koosh balls, and other quiet, manipulable objects.
When you introduce the fidget object basket to the group, begin by saying that some people learn best when their hands are busy. Give an example such as someone who knits while listening to a radio program or doodles during a meeting or class. Point out the fidget object basket. Tell the children they may quietly help themselves to items they may wish to use to keep their hands busy if this helps them to listen. However, also tell the children that the fidget object basket will be put away if the items become a distraction from the story or any other group activity.
You can make the basket available for the duration of the session, or bring the basket out only during activities, such as hearing a story told, that require children to sit still and listen for a significant period of time.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 2:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: GIFT CATCHERS INSTRUCTIONS
Adapted from Barb Willmer's Squigly's Arts & Crafts website. Permission pending.
There are seven principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote: You will need scissors, plain paper, and pencils, pens, or fine-tip markers.
FAITHFUL JOURNEYS: SESSION 2:
LEADER RESOURCE 4: UNCONDITIONAL LOVE LETTERS
FIND OUT MORE
Hosea Ballou
Books about Universalist history which include information on Hosea Ballou include American Universalism: Fourth Edition, by George Huntston Williams (Boston: Skinner House Books, 2002); Universalism in America: A Documentary of History of a Liberal Faith, edited by Ernest Cassara (Boston: Skinner House Books, 1997); and The Larger Faith: A Short History of American Universalism, by Charles A. Howe (Boston: Skinner House Books, 1993).
Hosea Ballou's Universalist theology is established in this reprint of his influential book, A Treatise on Atonement (Boston: Skinner House Books, 1986).
Find an article about Hosea Ballou (at www25-temp.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/hoseaballou.html) on the website of the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society.