TOOLBOX OF FAITH
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 13: LOVE (GLOVES)
BY KATE TWEEDIE COVEY
© Copyright 2008 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 7:26:39 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
But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three. The greatest of these is love. — Christian scripture (1 Corinthians 13:13)
My religion is simple, my religion is kindness. — Dalai Lama
The gloves symbolize love. In this session, engage in reflection about the strength and universality of love.
Allow time for participants to explore why it may sound simple and desirable to love, or to act from love; it can actually be very hard. Emphasize compassion as the goal of every major religion. In addition, you will want to articulate ways the concept of universal love is connected to the love we feel for and show to our families and friends.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
ACTIVITY | MINUTES |
Welcoming and Entering | |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Story ?Two Brothers | 10 |
Activity 2: Games ?The Strength of Cooperation | 10 |
Activity 3: Singing Love | 10 |
Activity 4: Cinnamon Heart Ornaments | 15 |
Activity 5: Council Circle | 10 |
Faith in Action: Ideas | |
Alternate Activity 1: ASL "I Love You" Badge | 15 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Take a moment and let your body and mind settle. If you are comfortable doing so, spend a few moments in peaceful meditation.
Founders of major religions taught that living compassionately could help one experience an enhancement of being. Before you lead the group in an exploration of love and compassion, consider something Buddha said: Test my teaching against your experience." Take a few moments to reflect on times when you have received and given compassion and love. This may help you guide the session authentically and with the power of living compassionately in mind.
As an adult leader, your opinion may have more influence than those of participants. Therefore, your personal disclosure should not become part of the discussion unless participants ask you a question directly. In that case, be sure to preface your opinion by setting the context that each of us, adults and children, has different opinions, and yours is one among many. Then guide the conversation away from your own opinion and allow participants to reflect on their own thoughts.
SESSION PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This section is intended for the time before the beginning of a session when participants arrive individually over a period of time (that is, "straggle in").
Welcome participants. Invite them to trace their hands on a piece of paper and create a glove form. Suggest they draw with pencil first, then decorate with markers, and finally cut out the outline of the glove. Encourage creative additions such as glove decorations, tattoos, beaded gloves, lace gloves, armored gloves, etc.
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
As participants explore the purposes gloves can serve, they will become familiar with a glove as a metaphor for love and compassion in our faith. They will learn about the universality of compassion.
Invite the children to gather in a circle, in your Council Circle space. Light the chalice.
Indicate where the opening words are posted for any children who are unfamiliar with them. Lead the group in reciting:
We are Unitarian Universalists
with minds that think,
hearts that love,
and hands that are ready to serve.
Hold up a glove, or a pair of gloves. Tell the children gloves are the Tool of the Day. Pass the glove(s) around the circle. Invite participants to share their prior experiences with gloves, including different kinds of gloves they have different purposes.
You might ask, "What do you think makes this a Unitarian Universalist tool?" Allow participants to share ideas. Affirm that there is no one answer. Say, in your own words:
Gloves can represent the tool of love in our Toolbox of Faith. Even the word, "glove" has the word "love" embedded in it! Unitarian Universalism is a faith that values justice, compassion, and equity in human relations. We recognize many different ways to express love, just like there are many different types of gloves. There are warm woolen gloves, rubber gardening gloves, canvas work gloves and softball gloves.
The sources of our Unitarian Universalist faith include Jewish and Christian teachings, as well as teachings of other religions. Does it surprise you to know that all major religions call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves? The Golden Rule of Christian teaching, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," is found in some form in all major religions.
You may also share with the group this excerpt from a Parabola magazine (Fall, 2006) interview with Karen Armstrong about her book, The Great Transformation. Tell them that Karen Armstrong is an author who writes about world religions:
When the major religions were being founded, each spiritual genius (Jesus, Confucius, Mohammed, and Buddha, among others) discovered on their own a beautiful base note of compassion... the last word, the ultimate religious act... [They] worked as hard at finding a cure fore the spiritual ills of society as we are working to find a cure for cancer. This is the conclusion they came to. Not because it sounded nice but because they found it worked. Buddha always said, "Test my teaching against your experience." They found that if you did live in this way [compassionately] you experience an enhancement of being. The Chinese Confucians spoke of human heartedness, of becoming more humane."
Collect the gloves. Extinguish the chalice.
Invite children to return to the worktable where, before the session began, some will have begun making cut-out paper "gloves." Allow time for each child to make and decorate a glove.
Now or later in the session, glue or tape one or more of the gloves decorated by the children to the Toolbox of Our Faith poster to represent today's quality of faith. Write the word, "Love," on the poster.
ACTIVITY 1: STORY - THE TWO BROTHERS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants will reflect on the strength and the goodness of love in the story.
Gather participants to hear a story. You may want to set out two shoeboxes, representing each brother's barn, at opposite ends of a small bath mat (preferably of a color that suggests a farm field, such as yellow or green). Or, roll out a length of mural paper and create a map.
To introduce the story, you may say:
This is a story from the Jewish tradition about love and sacrifice.
Read the story, or, if you prefer, tell the story dramatically. Develop a sense of place so you can clearly describe which brother is in which scene and which way they are sneaking across the fields between their two houses.
After the story, invite participants to share their reflections and initial thoughts about the brothers, their actions, and the founding of the temple. You can tell the group they may continue the discussion in Council Circle.
ACTIVITY 2: GAMES - THE STRENGTH OF COOPERATION (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Each game demonstrates how the strength of love, cooperation, and dialogue is greater than the strength of force. Keep each game short and lively. End this activity well before the children lose interest in the games.
Arm Wrestling
Try this old wrestling game in pairs. Participants will feel in their bodies the strength in giving way and the difficulty in forcing.
Two opponents stand facing each other with right hands interlocked and the outsides of their corresponding feet set together and attempt to unbalance each other. Let willing participants try it. Ask participants to notice that it is very hard to force a person out of their stance. Then model or suggest a "giving way" move, where instead of pulling or pushing, one wrestler relaxes their arm into their opponent. A sudden relaxation of force is often the best way to throw an opponent off balance.
Tug of Friendship
We know about Tug of War. How about a Tug of Friendship? Participants will feel how strong we can be when we support each other as they try, together, to stand up from a sitting position.
Have the group sit in a circle. Tie the rope together to make a loop, slightly smaller than the circle of people. Place the rope inside the circle in front of everyone's feet, and have them hold on with their hands. Challenge the group to get everybody to a standing position by pulling on the rope, and without touching the floor with their hands.
Variation: The Yurt Circle
Have participants stand in a tight circle. Each person holds on to a looped rope or all clasp hands. Invite everyone to keep their feet planted and lean their bodies out from the circle. Notice how each individual's movement affects the whole group's effort.
Crossing the Line
The surprise participants get with this game is seeing how cooperation can accomplish more than force. See if pairs can figure out that a quick dialogue accomplishes the win for both of them. If no pair seems to be figuring it out, stop and give the group some strategic hints.
Form Pairs.
Use the masking tape to mark a two-foot long boundary line between the members of each pair. Leave enough room around each pair for wrestling and wiggling. Tell the pairs that the person who gets their opponent across the line the fastest wins, and that they will play two rounds.
Although the fastest way to a win/win situation is for a pair to divvy up the wins — one apiece — and simply take turns, each stepping across (earning the other a point) after negotiation by discussion. However, pairs will often start wrestling immediately. Give them a moment to figure out the strategy, but do not let the wrestling drag on. Stop the play and give a tip, such as "Did I say you had to force your partner across the line?" or "What other ways can you think of to get him/her to cross the line?"
Debrief the exercise with a discussion of how it felt trying to force someone vs. making an agreement. Compare with the use of diplomacy between nations.
Variation
Have pairs clasp their hands together and challenge one partner to get them apart. Give a very short time frame, perhaps five seconds, with a loud countdown to increase the sense of pressure. After the exercise — in which many will experience the unpleasantness of pressure or the failure of using force — lead a brief discussion. Then discuss how participants have felt the sense of pressure, physical or otherwise, in other tasks and whether that pressure was real or arbitrary.
ACTIVITY 3: SINGING LOVE (10 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Further explore the metaphor of love, an aspect of Unitarian Universalist faith, through a familiar song that reinforces the value of friendship and the circle of cooperation and love.
If you are pressed for time, teach the group one or two songs, and then engage them in singing as they make Cinnamon Heart Ornaments in Activity 4.
Gather the group in a circle after the games. Introduce a song, if you are comfortable leading a song. Or try saying the song, "Make New Friends," as a spoken chant:
Make new friends but keep the old
One is silver and the other, gold.
A circle is round, it has no end,
That's how long you're going to be my friend.
ACTIVITY 4: CINNAMON HEART ORNAMENTS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The smell of cinnamon can evoke a sense of home, of comfort, and of love. Smell the cinnamon and keep compassion in your heart! To form the ornaments, roll out the mixture on a flat surface with a rolling pin, until it is 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Or, give each child a ball of chilled mixture to roll out on their own piece of waxed paper.
Then, cut out heart shapes using the cookie-cutter, or free-form with a table knife. Use a straw to poke a hole in each heart (for hanging, when dry). Instruct participants not to punch holes too close to the edge, or the heart may break.
Place each heart shape on a paper plate to dry, or place them on a wire rack with a paper towel under the ornament. While the drying process can takes up to 48 hours, encourage participants to flip it their hearts occasionally to help them to dry flat.
When ornaments are fully dry, sand the rough edges with a small piece of sandpaper to make edges even. Wipe with a damp cloth to get rid of any discoloration. Cut a piece of ribbon to thread through hole. Knot it to make a loop and hang the ornament.
ACTIVITY 5: COUNCIL CIRCLE (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Each session closes with a Council Circle. The goal of the Council Circle is to share our stories, listen to each other, and grow in faith together. Listening to each other is a religious act. The Council Circle includes three rituals: Reflection, Sharing of Joys and Concerns, and a Closing.
Reflection
Gather the group in the Council Circle. Light the chalice.
Offer words spoken routinely in your congregational worship, or these:
We are Unitarian Universalists
with minds that think,
hearts that love,
and hands that are ready to serve.
Invite participants to pass the Tool of the Day as a talking stick. Ask participants to reflect on times when they have received and have given compassion and love. You may ask:
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
After discussion has closed, invite participants to share important things in their lives. What they share may or may not be related to the session topic and discussion.
Invite participants to light a council candle from the chalice flame as they share. If there are not enough candles, it is OK to snuff out and re-light a candle. Save the candle of a different color for last. When all who want to share joys and concerns have done so, light this candle with the words, "For all the joys and concerns that remain unspoken."
If you are using a glass bowl, water, and stones instead of council candles, invite participants to drop a stone into the bowl when they share. End the sharing by adding one last stone for unspoken joys and concerns.
Closing
Extinguish the council candles. Gather participants around the chalice; if it has been extinguished, re-light it.
Read aloud this story from The Heart of the Enlightened by Anthony de Mello, S.J. (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1997:
Buddha was once threatened with death by a bandit called Angulimal.
"Then be good enough to fulfill my dying wish," said Buddha. "Cut off the branch of that tree."
One slash of the sword, and it was done! "What now?" asked the bandit.
'Put it back again,' said Buddha.
The bandit laughed. "You must be crazy to think that anyone can do that."
"On the contrary, it is you who are crazy to think that you are mighty because you can wound and destroy. That is the task of children. The mighty know how to create and heal."
Close with an element (meditation, benediction, song) commonly used in your congregational worship, or use one or more of the suggestions below. Base your choice(s) on the needs and energy level of your group. With your co-leaders, you may elect to use the same ritual to close every session.
A. Lead the group in singing "Meditation on Breathing," Hymn 1009 in Singing the Journey: A Hymnbook Supplement to Singing the Living Tradition. Hear the simple tune online (at www.uua.org/publications/singingjourney/52328.shtml).
B. Have the group read in unison Reading 452 by Marjorie Montgomery in Singing the Living Tradition:
Life is a gift for which we are grateful.
We gather in community to celebrate
the glories
and mysteries
of this great gift.
C. Sing or say the words to "From You I Receive," Hymn 402 in Singing the Living Tradition. Teach the group the accompanying movements.
From you I receive | Scoop the air by reaching toward other participants, then bringing air toward yourself at chest level, that is, receiving it. |
To you I give | Opposite from above — scoop the air at chest level and push it outward to "give" to other participants. |
Together we share | All grasp hands. |
By this we live | Make fist of strength with each hand and stack one hand on top of the other at belly button level. |
D. Go around the circle — using the Tool of the Day as a talking stick again, if you like —and invite each participant to say one thing they will do to express their inner thoughts and selves. A higher-energy version of the above could involve the group repeating back, chant-style, the statement of each participant, and adding, "Go out into the world and love!"
E. Sing a familiar song. Suggestions: "Thula Klizeo," Hymn 1056 in Singing the Journey; "I Know This Rose Will Open," Hymn 396 in Singing the Living Tradition; or "Rejoice in Love," Hymn 380 in Singing the Living Tradition.
F. Use this team spirit chant, "Pump It Up!"
Leader: Pump, pump, pump it up!
Group: Pump, pump, pump it up!
Leader: Pump that UU spirit up!
Group: Pump that UU spirit up!
Instead of "Pump it up!" you may use "Fire it up!" or "Keep it up!"
Pass the Tool of the Day around the circle and invite participants, one at a time, to voice a way they plan to use the quality of faith that was explored today. Guide them to say:
With my UU [quality of faith, e.g., love], I will...
Lead the group in responding to each participant's contribution:
Group: Go, UU, go!
If you have not yet done so, invite a participant to attach one of the gloves the children have decorated to the Toolbox of Our Faith poster. Write "Love" on the poster.
Extinguish the chalice. Distribute Taking It Home handouts. Thank and dismiss participants.
FAITH IN ACTION: IDEAS
Description of Activity
Engage in an activity which expresses love as a quality of our faith, through action. The group might:
Bring the Golden Rule into Your Congregation
Provide as decor the colorful, 22x28 inch poster, "The Golden Rule." (at www.scarboromissions.ca/Golden_rule/) The group may wish to hold a bake sale or other fundraiser to purchase a copy of the poster, which provides sacred writings from many of the world's religious and spiritual traditions equivalent to what is known in the Jewish and Christian traditions as the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." The poster was published by religious educator Paul McKenna and the interfaith office of Scarboro Mission, a Canadian society of Catholic priests and laity. The Unitarian Universalist seventh Principle appears on the poster: "We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Reflect on these questions and discuss them with your co-leaders:
TAKING IT HOME
But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three. The greatest of these is love. — Christian scripture (1 Corinthians 13:13)
My religion is simple, my religion is kindness. — Dalai Lama
IN TODAY'S SESSION...
The gloves symbolize love. In this session, children explored the strength and universality of love and the difficulty of choosing love instead of force. We talked about how loving, or acting with love, may seem simple but is actually very hard to do. We emphasized that every major religion values compassionate love. It is a universal concept.
We explored love to illustrate that:
The children heard a story from Hebrew scripture, "Two Brothers," which demonstrates sacrifice in compassionate love.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about...
Talking together about "love" can help each member of the family realize ways they use and understand compassionate love as a quality of faith. You may like to each explore these questions:
EXTEND THE TOPIC. Try...
The children made (non-edible) Cinnamon Heart Ornaments, a fragrant item to represent the warmth and beauty of compassion. Use our recipe to make extra heart ornaments to give to neighbors and friends or to decorate and scent your home with a display that reminds us of love.
FAMILY DISCOVERY
Visit the animated sign language dictionary "ASL browser," (at commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm), which includes the "I Love You" sign. The sign blends the hand shapes for the letters I, L, and Y into one hand shape.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: ASL "I LOVE YOU" BADGE (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Create a badge to wear or display.
The sign for "I love you" is made by extending all five fingers, palm facing out and folding the third and fourth fingers to the palm. The sign language dictionary, "ASL Browser," (at commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm) includes the "I Love You" sign. The sign blends the hand shapes for the letters I, L, and Y into one hand shape.
Once you teach the ASL sign, as shown in the illustration from "A Better Model for Animating ASL," (at www.csun.edu/cod/conf/2002/proceedings/90.htm) invite participants to outline their own hand on a piece of construction paper (or craft foam), cut out the hand shape, and bend the two fingers to create the sign. Glue the bent fingers to the palm.
Have the children cut out paper heart shapes to decorate the palms and glue a heart onto their paper hand (or place a heart sticker on it).
Pin or tape paper hands to children's name tags or shirts, or invite children to display their hands wherever they wish.
TOOLBOX OF FAITH: SESSION 13:
STORY: TWO BROTHERS
The story, "Two Brothers," in this session is based on a story from the Jewish Talmud. Other contemporary versions of the story include "Brotherly Love," in Angels, Prophets, Rabbis and Kings, from the Stories of the Jewish People, by Jose Patterson (New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1991); The Two Brothers: A Legend of Jerusalem, retold and illustrated by Neil Waldman (New York: Athenaeum Books for Young Readers, 1997); and "Two Brothers," retold by Elisa Davy Pearmain in Once Upon a Time: Storytelling to Teach Character and Prevent Bullying (Greensboro, NC: Character Development Group, 2006).
Read or tell the story.
Once upon a time in the land of Israel, there lived an old farmer. When he died the farmer left his land to his two sons. They divided the land evenly and built their own houses on opposite sides. The younger brother soon married and had a family. The older brother did not marry but lived alone. Both brothers remained the best of friends and often helped each other on their farms.
One year at harvest time, both brothers undertook the process of harvesting their crop of (barley). They bundled the stalks of grain into sheaves, counted them, and took them into their barns to store. (Later, they would take some of it to the market to sell.) After a long day of work, the brothers usually slept well. But on this night, the elder brother lay awake.
"It is not right," he thought, "that I should reap as much grain as my brother. He has a family to feed and I have only myself. He needs more barley to sell so that he can buy all that he needs for his family." Making up his mind to set things right, he dressed and slipped out to his barn. There he took as many sheaves as he could carry across the field to his brother's barn. Feeling better, he returned to his bed and slept well.
The younger brother also had slept badly that night. He awoke and lay worrying. He too thought of his brother. "It is not right," he thought, "that I should reap as much grain as my brother. I have a family to help me, and to care for me in old age, while he works alone." So saying, he too rose, dressed, and went to his barn, not long after his brother had left. There he took as many sheaves as he could carry and walked across the fields to his brother's barn. Feeling better, he returned to his bed.
The next day the two brothers each went to their barns. They looked and looked again at their grain. There was as much there as there had been the day before. The two brothers worked again in their fields all day and did not speak of what had happened.
The next night they did the same thing. First, the older brother, taking as many sheaves of grain as he could carry to his brother's barn, and then the younger brother, narrowly missing him, did the same. Again, the next day both brothers stood in awe and counted their grain, which was as much as before they had given it away. Again, both kept their thoughts to themselves.
Then on the third night, both brothers rose late. The moon had gone down and they went to their barns. Again, they gathered as much grain as they could carry and headed out across the field to their brother's barns.
It was so dark, that they almost collided in the middle of the fields. They both stopped and peered at one another. What they saw made them smile, and then laugh. They dropped their bundles, and hugged one another for a long, long time. They promised one another that there would always be help for each other, no matter what. Then they each knelt down right there in the field, and thanked God for giving them such a thoughtful and generous brother.
It is said that King Solomon, who was the ruler of that place, could understand the speech of the animals. They told him of the two brothers and their tale of generosity. The king was much moved and decided to build a great temple on that spot where the two brothers had met. The temple became the center of Jerusalem. It still stands there today.
TOOLBOX OF FAITH: SESSION 13:
HANDOUT: CINNAMON HEART ORNAMENTS
This recipe makes about ten non-edible Ornaments
To make Cinnamon Heart Ornaments, you will need:
· 1 cup of applesauce
· 1 1/2 cups of cinnamon
· 1/4 to 1/3 cup white school glue
· A roll of waxed paper
· A roll of plastic wrap
· A rolling pin
· Heart-shaped cookie cutters, or table knives for free-form cutting
· Straws
· Paper plates, or a wire rack and paper towels
· Marker for writing children’s names on paper plates or paper towels
Once ornaments are dry, you will need:
· Fine-grain sandpaper
· Dampened cloth
· Ribbon and scissors
Tear off sheets of waxed paper into squares, one for each ornament maker.
Mix ingredients in a large bowl. Remove the mixture and form a ball, then knead for five to ten minutes, until it is easy to work with and holds together well. If the mixture seems too dry, add more glue.
Wrap the ball of mixture in plastic wrap, and chill it for at least 30 minutes.
When you are ready to form the ornaments, roll out the mixture on a flat surface with a rolling pin, until it is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Then, cut out heart shapes using the cookie cutter, or free-form with a table knife. Use a straw to poke a hole in each heart (for hanging, when dry.) Don’t punch too close to the edge, or the heart may break.
Place each heart shape on a paper plate to dry, or place them on a wire rack with a paper towel under the ornament.
The drying process may take up to 48 hours. Flip the ornaments occasionally to help them dry flat. When they are dry, sand their rough edges with fine-grain sandpaper. Wipe with a damp cloth to get rid of discoloration.
For each ornament, cut a piece of ribbon to thread through hole. Knot the ribbon to make a loop, and hang the ornament. Smell the cinnamon and keep compassion in your heart!
FIND OUT MORE
The Universality of Love in the World's Religions
Though their teachings differ in many significant ways, Jesus, Confucius, Mohammed, Buddha, and other spiritual teachers each discovered on their own what theologian and author Karen Armstrong calls "a beautiful base note of compassion... the last word, the ultimate religious act... ." In an interview in Parabola magazine (fall, 2006) about her book, The Great Transformation, she continued:
[They] worked as hard at finding a cure fore the spiritual ills of society as we are working to find a cure for cancer. This is the conclusion they came to. Not because it sounded nice but because they found it worked. The Buddha always said, "Test my teaching against your experience." They found that if you did live in this way [compassionately] you experience an enhancement of being. The Chinese Confucians spoke of human heartedness, of becoming more humane.
On the Buddhist Channel website, read an article about the Dalai Lama's visit (at www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=2,1696,0,0,1,0) and message to 10,000 children in Idaho, in September 2005.
Multi-Faith "Golden Rule" Poster
The colorful, 22x28 inch poster, "The Golden Rule," (at www.scarboromissions.ca/Golden_rule/) provides sacred writings from many of the world's religious and spiritual traditions equivalent to what is known in the Jewish and Christian traditions as the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." The poster was published by religious educator Paul McKenna and the interfaith office of Scarboro Mission, a Canadian society of Catholic priests and laity. The Unitarian Universalist seventh Principle appears on the poster: "We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."
Games for Unitarian Universalist Groups
The Yurt Circle variation on the game, Tug of Friendship, in Activity 2 comes from the online publication, "Deep Fun" (at www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/deepfun/index.shtml) from the Unitarian Universalist Association website. "Deep Fun" presents many cooperative games popular with Unitarian Universalist youth groups.