Tapestry of Faith: A Place of Wholeness: A Program for Youth Exploring Their Own Unitarian Universalist Faith Journeys

Activity 2: Story - The Woodcarver

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Read the story, "The Woodcarver" until you are comfortable presenting it.

Description of Activity

Tell or read the story, then lead the group in a discussion with these questions:

  • What does this story say about wholeness or integrity?
  • Parker Palmer talks about "walking the Mobius strip." What do you think that means? [Going through life constantly balancing the workings of your inner and outer self.] How does Khing walk his Mobius strip?
  • Have there been times you were consciously walking the Mobius strip: attempting to use your inner values and faith to inform your outward actions and vice versa? What was that like?
  • Have there been times when you have realized that your inner life and outward actions were not reflecting each other? Khing guarded his spirit, fasted, and focused on his goal. He cleared his mind of distractions like gain, success, praise, criticism - even the King, who had commanded the work. He found what the bell stand meant to him and then opened himself up to find the essence of the bell stand in the forest. What do you do to try to remain true to your faith? Do spiritual practices help?
  • Only when Khing felt his inner life could support the actions he needed to take did he search for the tree to help him create the bell stand. What does this say about our lives in community? Does something special happen when we bring our authentic self into relationship with other authentic selves?