WINDOWS AND MIRRORS
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 2: ME IN FAITH COMMUNITY, FAITH COMMUNITY IN ME
BY BY GABRIELLE FARREL, NATALIE FENIMORE AND JENICE VIEW SUSAN LAWRENCE, MANAGING EDITOR/DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR AISHA HAUSER, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES PROGRAM DIRECTOR/DEVELOPMENTAL EDITOR
© Copyright 2009 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 11:38:44 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
It matters what we believe.
Some beliefs are expansive
and lead the way to wider and deeper sympathies.
Some beliefs are like the sunshine,
blessing children with the warmth of happiness;
some beliefs are bonds in a universal brotherhood,
where sincere differences beautify the pattern;
some beliefs are gateways
opening up wide vistas for exploration.
Some beliefs nurture self-confidence and
enrich feelings of personal worth;
some beliefs are pliable like the young sapling,
ever growing with the upward thrust of life.
It is important what we believe.
And what a child believes is also a serious matter
— not a subject for jest or sentimentality. — Sophia Lyon Fahs
Children, though natural questioners, are not skeptics, for whom doubt is an end in itself. Children are as open to belief and faith as they are to questioning. They are looking, as we are all looking, for things on which they can depend, values they can faithfully live by, ideas that make sense, things to believe in. — Rev. Earl Holt in Religious Education at Home
In our Unitarian Universalist congregations, we attend to our beliefs and values by coming together. We support one another and look to our shared Principles to guide us in making just, ethical choices about how to live and how to treat others. When parents bring their children to our congregations and religious education programs, they know that rather than a specific set of beliefs, children will gain tools to help them pay attention to what they believe. They know their children will be encouraged to articulate their beliefs and values, and be guided to translate their beliefs and values into attitudes and real-life actions.
Many children come to church without complaint; many enjoy coming. This session helps all children understand why it matters that they come to church. They ask a mirror question: "How does my coming to church help me live and grow?" and a window question, "How does coming to church help me see the world, and my place in it?"
Children who do not come regularly may not have friends in their religious education group. In this and other sessions, pair "regulars" with newer children to build feelings of connectedness and belonging.
The Faith in Action activity provides an opportunity to extend the story's direct teaching—feed your enemies—and reinforce that your congregation is a place where lessons like this are learned. You may like to split this session across two meeting times to ensure the Faith in Action is included.
For Activity 4, A Church Journey, you will need several adult volunteers. Invite the adults well in advance. Use the guidelines provided in Leader Resource 1, Guide for Adult Participants, to prepare them. Confirm their participation a few days before the session.
If you have time, Alternate Activity 1, Walking Meditation, nicely follows Activity 4. Instead of returning directly to the room after speaking with adult congregants, bring children to a large, open area that has space to accommodate everyone. Guide them to use the walking meditation to reflect on the session's mirror and window questions, or simply to review the ideas they have heard about why adults in the congregation come to church, and why it matters that children come, too.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Starting Our Window/Mirror Panels | 10 |
Activity 2: Story — Jelly Beans | 10 |
Activity 3: Jelly Bean Trade | 5 |
Activity 4: A Church Journey | 20 |
Activity 5: Window/Mirror Panel — Postcards from the Journey | 5 |
Faith in Action: Seven Cents a Day | 30 |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Spiritual Practice — Walking Meditation | 15 |
Alternate Activity 2: Church Matters Collage | 30 |
Alternate Activity 3: History Timeline — The Church's and Mine | 20 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Find a place where you can be quiet with your thoughts. Make yourself comfortable and light a candle to mark the time as different from your other activities. Close your eyes and breathe deeply for about five minutes; perhaps repeat a word or phrase to separate you from the activities of the day. After opening your eyes, consider:
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This ritual welcoming reminds each participant of the relational nature of the group experience. Gather children in a circle near the table with the chalice. Invite children to take a deep breath and release it, to create a deep silence for a moment.
Ask a volunteer to choose a reading from the Opening Words Basket and read the selection aloud. As the words are read, invite another volunteer to light the chalice. Then, lead a greeting:
Now we will take a moment to greet the people next to us. If you are next to someone who is new to our group, offer a welcome, tell them your first and last name, and learn their name.
You may follow the chalice lighting with a hymn. Invite participants to sing a hymn or refrain commonly done in your congregation. This is a way to help children grow in their understanding of and belongingness to congregational life. Many congregations sing "Spirit of Life," Hymn 123 in Singing the Living Tradition. If you do not sing, use a bell to signal the group to still themselves for another moment of silence.
If you are extinguishing the chalice now, ask the child who lit the chalice to extinguish it. Ask the child who read the opening words to return the reading to the Opening Words Basket.
Including All Participants
If you have a non-sighted participant who reads braille, obtain the braille version of Singing the Living Tradition from the UUA Bookstore. The bookstore orders from an outside publisher, so order several weeks ahead.
ACTIVITY 1: STARTING OUR WINDOW/MIRROR PANELS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that each person brings a unique self to this group. Each person may be drawn to different ideas, may have different skills, likes and dislikes, and ways of doing things. To represent their uniqueness, each participant will work on their own panel during the Windows and Mirrors program. Tell participants:
As you work on your panel, it can be a mirror where you see yourself as you are in this program, and how your experiences and thoughts here reflect you or affect you.
When we display our panels together, they can be a window for others to look in and observe each of you and the group. They may be able to see and understand how you see yourselves. Others may find a mirror for themselves in your panels, too.
Hold up a sample panel. Describe your plan for how and where the panels will be displayed together at the end of the program. Tell the children:
This is one way for the congregation to get a window into what you have been doing and learning. The panel will be a way to share with the whole church community. When we display our panels together, the exhibit might help some viewers see our congregation in a new way.
Invite the children to take a Window/Mirror Panel and write their names on the back with permanent marker. Show them where you will store their panels between sessions. If you have not glued on the frames, help children do this now.
Then lead them to begin decorating their frames. Suggest they recall their Outer/Inner Self-Portrait from Session 1. If you have these, return them to the children now. Invite them to consider using the ideas or perhaps the actual portrait as part of their Window/Mirror Panel; they may cut up their self-portrait to incorporate parts of it. Revisit the questions from Session 1, Activity 1. You might say:
Consider who you are in the world. You might include some "outer" features, such as your physical appearance, your interests and skills, the places you spend your time. You might also express your "inner" self, including some aspects of your personality, some of your feelings, some wishes or fears.
Direct participants' attention to the Window/Mirror Panel basket(s) you have prepared. Invite them to use precut Mylar pieces, the permanent markers and other materials to write or draw along the Mylar frame of their panel to represent at least ten things they think make up who they are. Suggest they could cut shapes from the pieces of reflective material and then use adhesive to attach them where they wish along the outer Mylar frame. If they need help, assist them. If children are using permanent markers, make sure the ink is dry before they glue the pieces onto their frames.
Keep your instructions brief. Explain that they have a short time to work now, but will add to the panels later today (Activity 5) and in future sessions.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — JELLY BEANS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Before you begin, ring the chime or other noisemaker. Make eye contact with each participant.
Read or tell the story. Sound the chime again at the end.
Invite the children to think about the story silently for a few moments.
Say:
Now we are going to practice listening and discussing skills. As we find out what one another thought about the story, both skills are needed to understand the story better from the multiple perspectives in the room.
Ask everyone to use "I think" or "I feel" statements. Remind them not to assume others think or feel the same way. You may suggest that a brief silence follow each person's comment.
Invite the children to retell the story briefly. What children recall and relay tells you what they found most meaningful or memorable. Then use these questions to facilitate discussion. Make sure every child who wants to speak has a chance.
Share one or two sentences articulating what this story teaches about being at church and how it helps us and others (re)make the world. Ask:
Besides bullies and enemies, what other kinds of problems might be good to learn about here? Can you think of stories or ideas we can talk about at church that might make your life more peaceful, more useful, or happier?
ACTIVITY 3: JELLY BEAN TRADE (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Have envelopes in hand. Ask everyone who wanted to come to church today to put his or her thumbs up. Ask those who didn't want to come to church to put their thumbs down. Ask those who indicate that they didn't want to attend: What would you be doing instead?"
After everyone has shared, ask: Who thinks it is important to come to church?
Choose one or two children to tell you why. Thank them and explain that we are now going to play a game.
Pass out the envelopes. Explain that each envelope has ten differently colored jelly beans. The object of the game is to try and get ten jelly beans of the same color by trading with other people, one at a time. The game ends when one person gets ten of a single color. Tell them that before trading, they must exchange names.
At the end of the game invite everyone into the circle to eat jelly beans and discuss the game. Have extra in case some participants don't end up with ten.
Allow trading of favorite colors.
Ask if participants enjoyed the jelly bean trade. Pay particular attention to participants who did not want to be at church today and ask them if they would have wanted to miss playing the game. Receive their answers with appreciation.
Some children may say that they attend because their parents make them. Affirm their feelings, and tell them you are really glad they are here. Thank everyone for their observations and sharing.
Including All Participants
Some children may have restricted sugar, allergies, or vegan diets that exclude items made with gelatin, an animal by-product. Check with parents or your religious education director to make sure all the children can eat jelly beans. If necessary, use another colorful treat or paper cut-outs of jelly beans instead.
ACTIVITY 4: A CHURCH JOURNEY (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity introduces several adult congregants who will express how they find meaning at church and why children are important to the congregation.
If you have instructed adults to wait for the children at different locations, the group will move to find the adults. Line up the group and explain that they are going on a journey to find out "why the heck other people come to church." Explain that at each stop on the journey we will meet someone who will share a word with us. Ask the participants to write these words on their index cards. If any have difficulty doing so, you can help them.
If you are using a panel discussion approach, explain how you would like the children to question the adults.
Ask someone in the group to lead you to the first location. If one of the locations is the sanctuary, then ask the entire group to file in, stand quietly for a moment, look carefully around the space, and then file out. The guest can then speak to the group outside the sanctuary.
Introduce each adult and then invite the group to quickly share their names. Prompt each adult with the same query: Why do you attend church? After they explain why, prompt them to (1) share their word with the group and (2) tell the group why they are grateful the children in the group attend church. Ask the children if they have questions, being mindful of the time.
Model thanking the guest for meeting the group, then ask a participant to lead the group to the next location.
After returning to the meeting space, ask everyone to sit silently at a table with their card for 30 seconds. Use the chime or bell to end the silence. Invite observations or thoughts. Thank everyone for their participation.
Including All Participants
If your building cannot accommodate the needs of participants with mobility limitations, opt for the panel approach and stay in the regular meeting space.
Although there is movement in this activity, some participants may find listening to adults tell stories of their church life challenging. Stay near these participants. If possible, use them as leaders, as a reward for their attention and stillness during the brief discussion(s). Invite them to draw on their cards.
ACTIVITY 5: WINDOW/MIRROR PANEL — POSTCARDS FROM THE JOURNEY (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Ask the children to recall the stories they heard on their journey and the words the adults shared. Invite them to consider the reasons the adults and they, themselves, come to church and what they find here. Brainstorm a list of words.
Invite them to use as many words as they wish from the list or to choose just one and illustrate a "postcard" as if they had been on vacation. Say something like, "If you wanted to share with a friend or family member what is important about coming to church, what would the postcard look like?"
Keep instructions brief. Explain that they have a very short time to complete this.
Tell them that they will add these postcards to their Window/Mirror Panels. As children finish, distribute the Window/Mirror Panels or invite the children to get their panels from where they are stored. Allow them to choose where the postcard should go on their panel and help them attach it.
You may wish to say, in your own words:
By making this art, you are co-creating the church. You are reminding everyone why church is important. Sharing helps weave the fabric of our faith community.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Explain that the session is almost over and that now we will work together as community to clean the meeting space. First, everyone should clean up their own area, put away materials they were using, and store their Window/Mirror panel in the spot you have designated. Then they should clean another area or help someone else. No one should sit in the circle until the space is clean.
Bring the group back to the circle. Ask them to think about what happened today that was good or what they wish had gone better. If you are running short of time you can ask them for a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on the session.
Invite participants to say, in a word or sentence, why it is important for each of them to be a part of this faith community. You may go around the circle for responses, allowing individuals to speak or "pass."
Ask all to hold hands and say the closing words together:
Keep alert;
Stand firm in your faith;
Be courageous and strong;
Let all that you do be done in love. — 1 Corinthians 16
If this is the first time the group is using "namaste," briefly explain its origin and meaning. Then, lead the group in the word and bowing gesture. Or, you may substitute "thank you." Invite each participant to bow their head to the individuals on either side and then bow to the center of the circle and say "thank you" together.
Distribute the Taking It Home handout you have prepared. Thank and dismiss participants.
FAITH IN ACTION: SEVEN CENTS A DAY (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Form small groups and give each group a handout to complete, a calculator, and a pencil. Ask them to fill out the worksheet with the correct amounts in each blank. Offer help to anyone who seems to need it.
After each group has computed the amounts, ask them to report the answers. Ask them if they would like to create a bank and try to collect seven cents a day. If they answer yes, invite them to make banks. If they answer no, ask them to make a bank anyway to give to someone who will try and save seven cents a day.
Ask the children to consider how hunger in this country, let alone others, might be affected by saving seven cents a day. Spend a few minutes gathering their other ideas about helping reduce hunger.
Show the groups the sample bank or the website image. Note that all the supplies needed to make the bank are easily accessible. Ask them to plan their bank labels on scrap paper before drawing or writing on a sticky label to place on the bank. Explain that you will help them put a hole in the lid. After making a hole in each lid, ask the children to screw on the lids and give them each seven cents to put in the bank.
Remind them to save seven cents each day. Tell them:
When you think you have enough saved, after 30 days or perhaps when the Windows and Mirrors program ends, return the bank here and tell us where your family decided to donate the money to an organization that fights hunger.
Follow up in subsequent Windows and Mirrors sessions. Remind children to continue saving seven cents a day. Share information about hunger relief organizations that you learn about.
Encourage the children to find an adult or older child to join the effort to save seven cents a day
Point out that if any of the children had not come to church today, they would have missed this chance to be part of reducing hunger in the world. Claim the importance of their presence at church today. Affirm that church matters!
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Evaluate with your co-leader(s) first. Then share your evaluation with others working with the group. You might find it helpful to consider these questions in a face-to-face meeting or via email:
If you identify ways the session failed to meet expectations, take time to explore some alternate approaches. Ask your religious educator for guidance, as needed.
TAKING IT HOME
It matters what we believe.
Some beliefs are expansive
and lead the way to wider and deeper sympathies.
Some beliefs are like the sunshine,
blessing children with the warmth of happiness;
some beliefs are bonds in a universal brotherhood,
where sincere differences beautify the pattern;
some beliefs are gateways
opening up wide vistas for exploration.
Some beliefs nurture self-confidence and
enrich feelings of personal worth;
some beliefs are pliable like the young sapling,
ever growing with the upward thrust of life.
It is important what we believe.
And what a child believes is also a serious matter
— not a subject for jest or sentimentality. — Sophia Lyon Fahs
Children, though natural questioners, are not skeptics, for whom doubt is an end in itself. Children are as open to belief and faith as they are to questioning. They are looking, as we are all looking, for things on which they can depend, values they can faithfully live by, ideas that make sense, things to believe in. — Rev. Earl Holt in Religious Education at Home
IN TODAY'S SESSION...
We affirmed the relevance and meaning of church attendance for individuals and asked the children to consider these for themselves. We began a long-term project of creating our own individual Window/Mirror Panels, which we plan to exhibit at the conclusion of the program. As usual, we played a game. This time everyone was a winner of ten jelly beans. Surprisingly enough, the title of today's story was "Jelly Beans." It comes from our Quaker brothers and sisters and reminds us that kindness often is what people need. The story also helped us demonstrate how church and what we learn here can help make our lives happier and better. We asked some adults why they come to church and why it is important that children to come to church, regularly. Finally, we began a Faith in Action project to help relieve world hunger by each of us putting aside seven cents a day.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about...
Ask your child(ren) what they found most meaningful about church today—having this conversation directly after church tends to yield the most information. They may share something that happened outside of the religious education program. That is appropriate. Ask them what they have liked the best during your family's relationship with this congregation, or what they remember most.
Share what prompted your initial attendance and why you are part of our congregation now. Share something your child may not know about your childhood religious upbringing and how it affects the choices you make for them. Explain in a meaningful way why it is important to you that your child attend church with you. Using the phrase "church matters" in the conversation might surprise them.
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER . Try...
Create a "seven cents a day" bank for each family member. Place banks where coins are likely to be discovered and added to the bank—grandparents and cousins are not to be excluded! Search the congregational newsletter for other social justice efforts if your church is not involved with hunger work. On the Unitarian Universalist website, research projects that help alleviate poverty and hunger. Talk about where else in your daily lives issues of hunger or poverty arise and where else are you called to attend to them? How does church or religious education attendance connect to your family's response to hunger or poverty locally or in the larger world?
As a family, choose an organization to receive the money you will collect over time.
A FAMILY RITUAL
Develop a Sunday-after-church or Sunday-before-church ritual. Choose one small activity or food treat that your family can include into Sunday morning churchgoing. It is vital that your child (not just you) perceive this as a treat. Involve your child in developing the ritual. Consider realistic timing—before church or after—especially if the ritual involves a stop for food. Consider the seasonal activities that happen on Sunday, such as sports, that might interfere with the ritual. Some suggestions:
A FAMILY GAME
Church Charade s. (at travelwithkids.about.com/cs/travelgamestoys/l/blcharades.htm) Charades originated in France . It is a great game to play with your children, as you have to act silly! To play a church-focused version:
FAMILY DISCOVERY
Make congregation-related tee shirts for every member of the family. Purchase some plain tee shirts and fabric paints and/or fabric markers. Spend a few minutes talking to one another about what parts of being a member of this church are fun, meaningful, or special. Help one another create symbols for those feelings or thoughts. Each person designs their own tee shirt with the name (or part of the name) of your congregation and symbols that convey why the church is important. Each person can use the symbols the entire family came up with or only those that are personally meaningful. Wear the tee shirts to a congregational gathering or any other time.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: SPIRITUAL PRACTICE — WALKING MEDITATION (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity will engage participants in mindful concentration and introduce them to walking meditation. Walking meditation can be expanded from the very basic process noted here to include more intentional realization of one's surroundings and intentionality around the physical nature of walking, such as paying close attention to the feet and how they work.
Ask the children what they know about meditation and then what they know about walking meditation. Explain briefly that a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk named Thich Nhat Hanh made walking meditation popular. Nhat Hanh is exiled from Vietnam for his peace activities. Show one of his books, if you have one.
Lead the group in a walking meditation (at www.bellaonline.com/articles/art16091.asp) designed for children: Arrange the children either in a line, so they can each cross the room back and forth without interference, or in a widely spaced in a circle, so they can walk clockwise. Explain that they are simply going to walk and breathe but they are going to try and time their breathing to their walking. Tell them:
A walking meditation practice develops concentration and balances the body and mind. Everyone will have some time to try. Then we will answer any questions, and everyone will do it again for three to five minutes without interruption.
Ring the chime to begin the meditation. Then, read aloud:
Take a walk at regular speed while letting your arms swing easily back and forth. When the left foot steps forward, the right arm swings forward; when the right foot steps forward, the left arm swings forward.
Breathe in on one step and breathe out on the next step. Or take two steps breathing in and two steps breathing out.
While walking, concentrate on breathing evenly in and out. Concentrate only on the breathing. As other thoughts enter your head, notice them, but return to counting your breath as you concentrate.
Let the group walk for about 20 seconds and then stop them and ask if they have any questions. Answer any that you can. Then say you will ring the chime or bell as a signal to begin and then again when it's time to stop, when you would like everyone to stand in silence for 15 seconds. Tell the group you will let them know when the 15 seconds are up. Encourage everyone just to try their best—meditation is something that takes practice. This first time they might get it right only a few times but assure them you will do it long enough so that everyone will get that chance. Ask them to cooperate by simply walking and breathing.
Ring the chime again to start a longer walking meditation. Then, signal the end. Allow the children to stand in silence for 15 seconds, then ring the chime a final time.
To finish, ask everyone to stretch their arms overhead and then bring them down to their sides. Ask a volunteer to lead the group back to the regular meeting space.
Thank them for trying the walking meditation.
Including All Participants
Individuals with restricted mobility can participate in the breathing aspect of the meditation while they remain seated.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: CHURCH MATTERS COLLAGE (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Photographs can evoke memories that children may not readily access in a discussion about church relevancy. Creating a collage by individually choosing congregation-related photographs and mixing them with images and/or words they find in magazines can help participants access feelings or thoughts they are not yet able to articulate. This creative process can instill a new understanding of church and faith.
Invite children to form groups of no more than four. Hand out materials and ask children to create a collage poster together that conveys to others what they find meaningful, fun or interesting at church. Ask them to consider a title as well. Ask them to create the poster to show someone who was not here today what everyone learned about why coming to church matters.
Point out the photographs from the congregation and the magazines, and suggest that groups take a few minutes to review the materials and identify some pictures and words to include in the collage. Suggest groups talk a bit with one another about how they should assemble their poster. Tell them how much time they will have to complete their collage, including clean-up. With about two minutes remaining, give a warning.
After they have cleaned up, invite them to hang the posters. If enough time remains after everyone has hung the posters, form the group into a line and review all the posters, asking questions as needed.
Thank them for their participation.
Including All Participants
Children with sight limitations may need to have an adult helper describe photographs to them so that they can choose ones that may be meaningful.
Ask the child to consider what might be in a magazine and let them direct you to find specific elements, in either pictures or words. Help the child place the items or pair the child with another in their group whom they can help, so that the poster is a fully inclusive creation.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: HISTORY TIMELINE — THE CHURCH'S AND MINE (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The children examine the confluence of the congregation's life and each of their lives by creating a picture that connects the children in the group with the larger congregation.
Invite children to separate into groups of up to seven. Give each group blank paper and a pencil, and ask each group to think about their personal history in terms of dates—birthdates; moving dates; the year when school began; the year they started playing sports or learning piano or doing another activity; sibling birthdates; dates of important participatory activities, including those in the congregation, if known (guesstimates are accepted). Ask them to jot down the dates and events on the paper.
Allow each group to add their individual dates to the calendar, leaving room for others. Caution that everyone in the room is relatively the same age, so it is likely the dates will be close together and practicing good manners is necessary. Ask one group to work from one side while the other group works from the other.
Help individuals add dates, occasionally asking all to pause while you add an important congregational history event among their personal dates.
Give a two-minute warning. Then guide the group to attach the timeline to the wall, with the invitation to add more information next time you meet (if you may leave the timeline up from week to week).
Ask participants for their observations about the timeline—not how it looks, but what they can learn from it. Ask them:
Ask them to help one another clean up, and thank them for their participation.
Including All Participants
For mobility restricted participants, ask someone else to add their history or wait until the timeline is done and the participant can add their information to the timeline after it is posted.
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 2:
STORY: JELLY BEANS
By Isabel Champ Wolseley. From Lighting Candles in the Dark: Stories of Courage and Love in Action (Philadelphia: Friends General Conference, 2001). Used by permission.
A family had all heard a story recently in church that included a verse from the bible that read, "If your enemy is hungry, feed them." It was a confusing idea—be nice to your enemies, treat evil with good. And it seemed a really hard thing to do.
The children who were seven and ten were especially puzzled. "Why feed your enemy?" they wondered.
The parents wondered too.
Day after day, John Jr. came home from school complaining about a classmate who sat behind him in fourth grade. "Bob keeps jabbing me when Mrs. Bailey isn't looking. One of these days when we're out of the playground, I am going to jab him right back—at least."
His parents weren't too happy either, thinking that Bob was really a brat! Besides, they thought the teacher should be doing a better job with kids in the class. The parents sat at the table wondering what they were going to do when John's seven-year-old sister, Amelia, spoke up: "Maybe he should feed Bob."
Everyone stopped eating and stared, with John Jr. asking, "Because he is my enemy?" His sister nodded.
We all looked at each other quickly, clearly uncomfortable with thinking of Bob as an enemy. It didn't seem as if an enemy could be in the fourth grade. An enemy was someone far off in another country, a grown-up.
John looked at us and asked, "What do you think?"
"Well," his parents said, "God said it, so maybe you should try it. Do you know what Bob likes to eat? If you are going to feed him, you may as well feed him something he likes."
Amelia asked, "Does he like goldfish?" which was her favorite snack.
No.
"How about cookies?" his mother who loved to bake asked.
"Maybe, but he can get cookies anywhere," John answered.
Everyone was quiet.
Especially John.
"Jelly beans!" he shouted. "Bob just loves jelly beans."
So John bought a bag of jelly beans to take to school. We would see whether or not enemy feeding worked.
The next day, sure enough Bob jabbed John in the back. John turned around and slapped the bag of jelly beans on his enemy's desk.
When the bus dropped John off at home, his mom was waiting for him. He got off the bus yelling, "It worked, it worked!"
"After he jabbed me, I gave him the jelly beans. He was so surprised he didn't say anything—he just took them. But he didn't jab me the rest of the day."
Or the next day. Or the next. In fact, John became good friends with Bob, all because of a little bag of jelly beans. John also realized that Bob was never really his enemy. He was just someone John didn't know. He was just someone who needed John to show him friendship.
Maybe people whom we think of as enemies are just hungry; maybe not for food, but for acts of kindness. Maybe. I think so. What do you think?
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 2:
HANDOUT 1: SEVEN CENTS A DAY
Adapted from the Hunger No More website.
Do this worksheet with an adult in your family. A calculator may help.
In 2000, the world's leaders set goals that would make the world a better place for everyone by 2015. One goal was to decrease by half the number of people living in poverty and hunger. If every person in the United States gave seven cents a day, we could achieve that goal.
What would seven cents a day mean for you? How much money would you have at the end of:
What would seven cents a day mean for your family?
_______family members x 7 cents = _______ a day
_______X 7 days = _______ a week
_______X 4 weeks = _______ a month
_______ X 12 months = _______ a year
What might your family give up in order to give seven cents a day for each family member? Here are some ideas:
What else can you think of?
How much would you be able to give if you gave up one of these things?
How often will you give your money to your church or another organization that fights hunger?
WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 2:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: GUIDE FOR ADULT GUESTS
Adapt and distribute to parents at least two weeks before leading this session.
Greetings!
Thank you for agreeing to share your thoughts about being part of this congregation. We want the children to hear about why people come to this church and what it means to them that children are part of the congregation.
Each adult participant will have about four minutes to share their thoughts with the group. Please prepare by thinking about how you will answer these questions:
FIND OUT MORE
Thich Nhat Hanh and Walking Meditation
Read about Thich Nhat Hanh on the Plum Village Practice Center (at www.plumvillage.org/HTML/ourteacher.html) website or Wikipedia (at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nhat_Hanh).
Walking Meditation (at www.amazon.com/Walking-Meditation-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1591794730/sr=1-2/qid=1164813434/ref=sr_1_2/103-4557645-4920647?ie=UTF8&s=books) (2006) is a mini-book and instructional DVD from Thich Nhat Hanh which features five walking exercises: Conscious Breathing Meditation, Slow Walking Meditation, Walking Meditation in Nature, Walking Meditation in Public Places and Walking Meditation to Embrace Your Emotions.
The Long Road Turns to Joy: A Guide to Walking Meditation (at www.amazon.com/Long-Road-Turns-Joy-Meditation/dp/093807783X/sr=8-1/qid=1159534742/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-5808493-7773560?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Thich Nhat Hanh is a small, pocket-sized book with dozens of simple exercises to enhance your practice of walking mindfully.
More about Movement Meditation
The 10-minute "Walking Meditation" (at www.mindfulnesscds.com/author.html) on the CD Guided Mindfulness Meditation, Series 3 (at www.mindfulnesscds.com/) by Jon Kabat-Zinn (at www.mindfulnesscds.com/author.html) guides you through a walking meditation that you can do anywhere.
Meditation 24/7: Practices to Enlighten Every Moment of the Day (at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0740747150/ref=pd_sim_b_1/103-3138832-5696668?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance) (CD & book) by C. Maurine (at www.camillemaurine.com/) and L. Roche (at www.lorinroche.com/) has a 7-minute track, "Move It," that helps you move physically with feelings flowing inside you and develop with your kinesthetic awareness. The book suggests ways to use this meditation in your life.