SIGNS OF OUR FAITH
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 4: SEEKING KNOWLEDGE
BY JESSICA YORK
© Copyright 2013 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 12:30:20 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
I am not going to question your opinions. I am not going to meddle with your belief. I am not going to dictate to you mine. All that I say is, examine, inquire. Look into the nature of things. Search out the grounds of your opinions, the for and against. Know why you believe, understand what you believe, and possess a reason for the faith that is in you. — Frances Wright, writer, feminist, abolitionist, and utopian
Children discover there can be multiple answers to big questions. They learn that to seek and evaluate answers to big questions is a sign of UU faith. They experience prayer or mediation, the ritual of this session, as a way of seeking answers within and a way to articulate and feel their own appreciation, gratitude, wishes, and hopes.
For Activity 1, you will need the puzzle pieces children made in Session 3 and blank puzzle pieces from the same set.
If your congregation has a prayer or meditation ritual, add the relevant words to Handout 1, UU Prayers and Meditations and plan to teach the ritual as part of Activity 3.
In Activity 4, children receive their first emblem to add to the stoles they received in Session 2. Decide whether you will use the image provided in Leader Resource 1 or create emblems another way, such as having children use the symbols of themselves they made in Session 1. See the program Introduction for more guidance.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 2 |
Activity 1: Religious Explorers | 10 |
Activity 2: Story — Sitting on the Answer | 10 |
Activity 3: Ritual of Prayer or Meditation | 25 |
Activity 4: First Emblem | 10 |
Faith in Action: Collecting Prayers and Meditations | |
Closing | 3 |
Alternate Activity 1: Leadership in Action — Question Board | |
Alternate Activity 2: Personal Spiritual Practice | 10 |
Alternate Activity 3: Question Me an Answer | 15 |
Alternate Activity 4: Story — How Do You Know? | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
What does religious exploration mean to you? How does it occur in the context of your involvement with Unitarian Universalism? Discuss this question and your own journey of religious exploration with your co-leader or another partner. What resources, including people, have helped you on your journey so far? How can you help children recognize resources that support them to seek and evaluate answers to their faith questions?
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (2 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
If the children wear stoles for Opening and Closing rituals, distribute stoles. Invite the children to put on their stoles. Offer any visitors a stole and explain that they may wear it during the Opening time and the Closing time if they wish. Remind the children their stoles are a sign that everyone in the group is a worship leader.
Welcome all participants. Gather everyone in a circle around the chalice table. Ring the centering chime. Ask a volunteer to light the chalice together. Lead the group to say these Opening words:
We gather together as Unitarian Universalists and members of the Signs of Our Faith community.
Together, we take a journey of spiritual exploration. Together, we ask questions and continue our lifelong search for truth and meaning.
ACTIVITY 1: RELIGIOUS EXPLORERS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants experience a search for answers to big questions, and encounter multiple answers rooted in various theologies.
Show the children the puzzle pieces on which they wrote questions in Session 3. Remind them that the last time the group met they brainstormed big, theological questions—questions about life and how we should live it, the kind of questions religions help people answer. Say, in these words or your own:
Unitarian Universalists believe it is good to ask big questions and seek the answers using many different sources. When we explore our big questions, that is a sign of our UU faith.
We are going to have a chance to search for answers to our own big questions, right now. Some answers from different religions are written on puzzle pieces just like the ones with your questions, and they are hidden. Let's be religious explorers now, and find the hidden answers.
Monitor the search to make sure all children who want to find pieces find them, and that all pieces are eventually found.
Re-gather the children at work tables and invite them to match each question with its answer. The children may quickly discover that each question has more than one answer. If they do not, ask if they think there is only one answer for each question. Give them the hint that they may find more than one answer that could fit each question. Monitor and assist the matching.
Read the questions and answers. Ask:
Affirm people with different beliefs answer big questions differently. People in different times, places, and circumstances have believed different answers. Even one person may change their answer as they get older and their life goes along and they come to believe different things.
Post blank newsprint. Brainstorm ways we look for answers when we have big questions about life and how we should live it: How do Unitarian Universalists do a religious exploration? Prompt for answers such as: read books, listen to wise people, and learn from our own experiences. Say that Unitarian Universalists understand that many Sources can have good answers—like other cultures and religions, wise teachers in the past or in our lives, and even the way we feel inside about things that happen to us. Affirm that asking questions is a sign of UU faith and the first and most important step toward finding answers.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — SITTING ON THE ANSWER (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Children discuss a story about finding answers.
Read or tell the story.
Process the story with these questions:
Including All Participants
You may wish to make fidget objects available to children who find it difficult to sit still while listening or can focus better with sensory stimulation. For a full description and guidance, see Session 1, Leader Resource 2.
Consider using rug squares in the storytelling area. Place them in a semi-circle with the rule "One person per square." This can be very helpful for controlling active bodies.
ACTIVITY 3: RITUAL OF PRAYER OR MEDITATION (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants experience the UU ritual of prayer or meditation, and write a prayer or meditation.
Say, in these words or your own:
What could be a good way to look for answers that are already inside you? Some people use prayer or mediation. That is a UU ritual. When UUs gather for worship, we sometimes pray together out loud or listen to the words of a meditation together. We can also pray or meditate without making a sound. Prayers and meditations are a good ritual for looking inside our hearts and spirits and minds.
Ask the children if they have ever said or heard a prayer or meditation. Affirm that a blessing, such as one might say before eating a meal, is a form of prayer or meditation.
Meditation is a way to quiet your body and your thoughts, so you can hear your big questions inside yourself and listen for answers.
Ask the children if they can think of more reasons, besides giving thanks or thinking about big questions, that people might pray or meditate. Prompt children to brainstorm situations where they might like to look inside for their important thoughts and hopes and wishes—for example, when someone they love is sick, when they are scared, when something especially nice has happened and they feel happy, when they feel sad about someone else's suffering, when they have a big decision to make, or at the start or close of the day.
Now invite the children to sit comfortably in a place where they are not touching someone else. Say they may close their eyes or put their head down, if they wish. Say:
I am going to lead you in a UU meditation. Once I sound the chime, keep yourself quiet and still. If you are comfortable doing so, close your eyes. That will help you listen with not just your ears but also your inside self.
Sound the chime. Read to the group the meditation or prayer words you have selected. Sound the chime again to end the meditation.
Now distribute Handout 1, UU Prayers and Meditations. Read a few aloud or have volunteers read.
Point out that some prayers and mediations are addressed to God, and others do not mention God. Explain that UUs have many different beliefs about whether there is a God, or another power larger than humankind, and what to call that power if there is one. Point out the prayers addressed to "spirit of life and love" and "Earth."
Say that we often sit still when we pray or meditate, but at times we may use our bodies as part of a prayer or meditation ritual, if that helps us understand and express what we feel. Lead the group to act out one or more prayers or meditations from Handout 1in the way you have planned.
Now invite participants to write a short meditation on their own. Distribute writing paper and pencils, and assign or suggest a theme you have chosen. Remind the children they can address a meditation or prayer to God, to something else they wish to connect with, such as the Earth, or the whole universe, or to nothing in particular if that feels right to them.
Circulate and help individuals articulate and write their meditations, as needed. Give the group ten minutes. Optional: As children finish writing, invite them to decorate their paper.
Reconvene the large group and let volunteers share their meditations. Tell the group your plan for sharing their meditations with the larger congregation. Say that sharing their meditations is a sign that they are worship leaders in the Unitarian Universalist community. Ask if they can think of other ways to share their meditations with the congregation, and make a commitment to follow up on their suggestions.
ACTIVITY 4: FIRST EMBLEM (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Children add an emblem to their stole.
This emblem represents "The way I act is a sign of the faith that is inside me." It is based on the experiences children have had in the first unit of this program (Sessions 1-4).
Remind children that the stole is a symbol that they are growing as leaders in the congregation and in their UU faith. Say, in your own words:
The first few times we have met to study Signs of Our Faith, we have talked about signs of faith that each one of us can do on our own. Each of us can show leadership. Each of us can decide what we love about the Unitarian Universalist religion or about coming to our UU congregation. Each of us has our own big questions about life and looks to our UU faith in our own way to look for answers. Today, you may add an emblem to your leadership stole. This emblem shows that the way you act is a sign of the faith that is inside you.
Lead children to make emblems (optional) and attach the emblems to their stoles.
Have children help put away the craft materials they have used. Invite them to put on their stoles to wear during the Closing ritual.
CLOSING (3 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Optional: If children wear stoles for every Opening and Closing, distribute stoles and invite participants to put them on.
Distribute Taking It Home. Ask participants to share these fun activities with their parents and try them with family or friends.
Gather everyone in a circle around the chalice table. Say:
We end as we began: together.
May we remember to be UU not just when we are together here, but every day and in every way.
Invite each child thank the child to the right of them for being a religious explorer. Ask all participants to blow out the chalice together.
FAITH IN ACTION: COLLECTING PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants collect the favorite prayers and meditations of members of the congregation and share them with the ministry team.
On collection day, set up a table that is accessible to everyone entering or leaving the building. Provide paper and pens. Ask congregants to share any favorite prayers or meditations. Suggest they share words from their childhood or youth, words that are part of a current spiritual practice, and/or words that address specific occasions, such as a grace for meals or a Jewish prayer for lighting Sabbath candles.
Invite the children to explore the collection. Can they identify common themes or words in the pieces? Are any of the prayers or meditations familiar to the children?
Give the collection to the congregational ministry team. Invite them to use the prayers and meditations in worship, as graces before potlucks, and as readings to open meetings. Meditations can be used to center groups before religious education workshops, at retreats, and myriad congregational activities.
A word of caution: Be aware of copyright issues. Any piece submitted by an original author may be reprinted with their permission. If a prayer or meditation was written by someone else, you may use it in worship, but you may not reprint it or publish it without the author's permission.
Including All Participants
Have at least one adult available on collection day to transcribe any prayer or meditation a congregational member asks to dictate.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
What went well in this session? What would you do differently next time? What did the children understand about the use of prayer or meditation as a UU ritual?
Read the next session and assign advance preparation, as needed.
TAKING IT HOME
I am not going to question your opinions. I am not going to meddle with your belief. I am not going to dictate to you mine. All that I say is, examine, inquire. Look into the nature of things. Search out the grounds of your opinions, the for and against. Know why you believe, understand what you believe, and possess a reason for the faith that is in you. —Frances Wright, writer, feminist, abolitionist, and utopian
IN TODAY'S SESSION... we discussed how asking questions and seeking the answers can be a sign of our UU faith. The children learned they can look inside themselves for answers to their big questions. They experienced the UU ritual of prayer or meditation and explored reasons to meditate or pray besides seeking answers. They learned that many UUs engage in prayer or meditation to stay connected to that which is greater than just themselves, and that our faith does not require us to address a prayer or meditation to God.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... the spiritual practices of family members. Who has used prayer or meditation? Why? Have they used it regularly, that is, as a ritual?
Family Ritual. Read Handout 1, UU Prayers and Meditations together. Pick one to recite regularly as a new family ritual.
Family Discovery. How does your family deal with questions? Did adults or older youth in the family ask many questions when they were children? When younger people in the family ask questions, do adults or older youth try to answer them? Is there a family member who is the "go to" person for answers?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: LEADERSHIP IN ACTION — QUESTION BOARD
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants create a forum for collecting congregational questions and wisdom.
Ask:
There are many Unitarian Universalists who come to our congregation, but each one's religious exploration is unique. If you could poll our congregation about religious exploration, what kinds of questions would you ask?
Post blank newsprint. Prompt the group to generate questions to ask the congregation related to faith, spiritual practices, religious questions, and religious beliefs. Questions should be open-ended (not "yes/no") to invite personal answers. Questions might include "What is your personal spiritual practice?" or "What leadership roles have you held at this or another congregation?" or "What is your favorite piece of wisdom to share?" or "What is the biggest religious question you have ever wondered?"
Once you have a few good questions, tell the children you want them to create a bulletin board of questions and invite the congregation to respond by writing their answers. Engage the children in planning. Do they want to put all the questions on the board at once, or post one question at a time and so there will be room for many people to write their answers to each question.
Decorate the board and post one or more questions. Leave an assortment of colored markers by the board. Plan to have children look at the responses on the board in future sessions. Remember to change the question periodically if you have agreed to do so.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: PERSONAL SPIRITUAL PRACTICE (10 MINUTES)
Description of Activity
Say in these words, or your own:
A spiritual practice is an activity you do regularly to deepen your spirituality, or connect yourself to something greater than just you. Prayer or meditation are common spiritual practices among Unitarian Universalists. When people perform a spiritual practice regularly, it becomes a ritual.
Many people say their spiritual practice helps them feel centered and connected to their values. It can help you remember what you love and remind you to act every day being faithful to what you love.
Help the children name spiritual practices. These might include yoga, journaling, reading from holy texts, and attending worship. Point out that different spiritual practices suit different people. You might say:
For someone, saying grace at mealtime might help them focus on how thankful they are to be nourished. For someone else, reading the newspaper every morning might remind them how much they wish for fairness and justice and peace all around the world. Gardening or taking a walk can be a spiritual practice if it helps us feel connected to nature and the Spirit of Life.
Ask if the children know anyone who engages in a spiritual practice, or if they themselves do. Encourage them to explore different spiritual practices and find one that fits them.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: QUESTION ME AN ANSWER (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Children learn a funny song about questions.
Teach children the song, "Question Me an Answer," from the film musical Lost Horizon. Post the lyrics on newsprint and play the song a few times, asking children to join in after the first time.
Though the song is meant for fun, it has one especially wise phrase: "They say knowledge sets you free." After children learn and sing the song, point out this line. Ask the children:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 4: STORY — HOW DO WE KNOW (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Children respond to a story that demonstrates no one has all the answers.
Read or tell the story.
Process the story with these questions:
SIGNS OF OUR FAITH: SESSION 4:
STORY: HOW DO WE KNOW?
An adaptation of a traditional story, retold by Doug Lipman, used with permission.
Some students of the Rabbi Baal Shem Tov came to him one day with a question. "Every year we travel here to learn from you. Nothing could make us stop doing that. But we have learned of a man in our own town who claims to be a tzaddik, a learned and righteous one. If he is genuine, we would love to profit from his wisdom. But how will we know if he is a fake?"
The Baal Shem Tov looked at his earnest students. "You must test him by asking him a question." He paused. "You have had difficulty with stray thoughts during prayer?"
"Yes!" The students answered eagerly. "We try to think only of our holy intentions as we pray, but other thoughts come into our minds. We have tried many methods not to be troubled by them."
"Good," said the Baal Shem Tov. "Ask him the way to stop such thoughts from entering your minds." The Baal Shem Tov smiled. "If he has an answer, he is a fake."
SIGNS OF OUR FAITH: SESSION 4:
STORY: SITTING ON THE ANSWER
By Eckhart Tolle from The Power of Now (Novato: New World Library, 2004).
A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by.
"Spare some change?" mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap.
"I have nothing to give you," said the stranger. Then he asked: "What's that you are sitting on?"
"Nothing," replied the beggar. "Just an old box. I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember."
"Ever looked inside?" asked the stranger.
"No," said the beggar. "What's the point? There's nothing in there."
"Have a look inside," insisted the stranger.
The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold.
SIGNS OF OUR FAITH: SESSION 4:
HANDOUT 1: UU PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS
Prayers
Dear God,
May I be kind,
Strong and brave,
Joyful, useful, loving,
Honest and healthy.
— Meg Barnhouse, used with permission
Thank you for my friend next door
And my friend across the street
And please help me to be a friend
To each and every one I meet.
— Anonymous
Here at the table now we pray;
Keep us together day by day;
May this, our family circle be
Held fast by love and unity.
— John S. Mackey, used with permission
Earth, who gives to us this food,
Sun, who makes it ripe and good;
Dear Earth, dear Sun, by you we live;
To you our loving thanks we give.
— Native American prayer
Help us to be the always hopeful
Gardeners of the spirit
Who know that without darkness
Nothing comes to birth
As without light
Nothing flowers.
— May Sarton, used with permission
Meditations
There is love
Holding me.
There is love
Holding you.
There is love
Holding all.
I rest
In this love.
— Rebecca Ann Parker, used with permission
May I be peaceful.
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be safe.
May I be free from suffering.
May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be free from suffering.
— William Collinge, from Subtle Energy: Awakening to the Unseen Forces in Our Lives (Warner Books, Inc., 1998); used with permission.
SIGNS OF OUR FAITH: SESSION 4:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: FIRST EMBLEM
Download a high-resolution PDF (at www.uua.org/documents/tapestry/signs/first_emblem.pdf) for printing.
FIND OUT MORE
The UUA WorshipWeb (at www.uua.org/worship/index.php) has guidelines for writing your own prayers, meditations, and blessings. See the activity Writing Family Prayers (at www.uua.org/re/tapestry/youth/families/workshop10/workshopplan/activities/106965.shtml) in Families, a UUA Tapestry of Faith curriculum for youth; participants use Rev. Gary Smith's framework of five elements a prayer can contain.
Two Skinner House books with worship resources, available from the UUA Bookstore, are A Child's Book of Blessings and Prayers (at www.uua.org/publications/skinnerhouse/browseskinner/titles/104049.shtml) by Eliza Blanchard and Rejoice Together: Prayers, Meditations, and Other Readings for Family, Individual, and Small-Group Worship (at www.uua.org/publications/skinnerhouse/browseskinner/titles/18797.shtml) edited by Helen Picket, which provided some of the prayers and meditations in this session.