Carve out a meditative moment for yourself. Relax. Take several deep breaths. Recall, early in your life, when you began to understand that life is unfair. Recall a time when you saw your own life as abundant, safe or blessed, in comparison to others, and recognized unfairness....

Activity Minutes Opening 5 Activity 1: Snack Time 10 Activity 2: Story — UUs in Action 12 Activity 3: WCUU — The UU Advisor 20 Activity 4: WIT Time — Sharing Stories 10 Faith in Action: Teaching Fairness Closing 3 Alternate Activity 1: Notable Thoughts 5 Alternate Activity 2: Song — There Is...

Do more than belong: participate. Do more than care: help. Do more than believe: practice. Do more than be fair: be kind. Do more than forgive: forget. Do more than dream: work. — William Arthur Ward Big Question: Is life fair? This session's Big Question may be the only one in Riddle and Mystery...

1.a. Your name is Jay. You are one of three finalists for the single scholarship that Super Summer Camp offers every year. You hear the camp is a great place and you really want to go. But you will not be able to unless you win the scholarship. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What...

You break your arm—the one you write with. A hurricane destroys the homes of 5,000 families in another part of the country. You had let go of your dog's leash for one minute and now you can't find your dog. A parent found all your hidden candy and threw it away. Fighting soldiers in a nation far...

To the Anchor: Today's WCUU broadcast explores UU answers to today's Big Question: "Why do bad things happen?" The script has three parts. In the first, a panel of four UUs share UU responses to the question....

Includes material from Why Do Bad Things Happen? by Charlene Brotman, Barbara Marsh, and Ann Field (Brotman Marsh-Field Curriculums, 1975)....

To the Kid for the Day: You have two jobs. The first is getting your group excited about hearing today's Big Question. The second is announcing the question. 1. Say to the group, "Give me a drum roll!" Then wait for a minute while the drum roll builds....

Based on Hebrew scripture. Have you heard about Job? He had quite a story. You can find it in Hebrew scripture—the Book of Job. Job lived in the land of Uz, and at the beginning, he was a happy man—as he should have been. He had ten great kids and a wonderful wife. He was wealthy, and he was a...

Activity time: 12 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 4, Hopeful People Preparation for Activity Print out Leader Resource 4 and cut up as shown. Description of Activity This activity asks youth to assume roles and report on what a perfect and a rotten day would be like for their...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Optional: Newsprint, markers and tape Preparation for Activity Optional: Write the challenge question on newsprint, and post. Description of Activity Challenge questions guide a deeper inquiry for especially thoughtful individuals and groups....

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Copy(ies) of the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook Singing the Living Tradition Optional: A recording of the song and a music player Preparation for Activity Decide how best to present the song "We'll Build a Land," Hymn 121 in Singing the Living...

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Bag or box containing participants' Big Questions notebooks (see Session 1, Alternate Activity 1, Notable Thoughts) Blank notebooks for new participants Pencils or pens Masking tape Preparation for Activity Retrieve participants' Big Questions...

Activity time: 12 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 3, Bad Things That Happen Newsprint, markers and tape Preparation for Activity Use Leader Resource 3 to prepare six newsprint sheets. On each sheet, write one of the bad events with plenty of room for youth to write around or under it.

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Microphone(s), video camera(s) and tripod(s), real or simulated For studio set Backdrop made in Session 1 Painter's tape or masking tape Leader Resource 2, WCUU Script - A UU Panel A copy of Singing the Journey: A Supplement to Singing the Living...

Reconciling Faith and Evil Rabbi Harold Kushner's classic book When Bad Things Happen to Good People attempts to reconcile a belief in God with evidence of evil in the world, based on some of the author's own experiences. That's Good! That's Bad!...

I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense. — Harold Kushner Big Question: Why do bad things happen? The flat statement that "stuff happens" seems to ask that we shrug, accept whatever fate befalls us and shuffle on, head down, through life....

Paraphrased from the 1961 UUA General Resolution.All our laws must respect human life. Our laws and courts should help criminals, not hurt or kill them. Nobody can prove that capital punishment stops crime. If we make a mistake and put the wrong person to death, we cannot correct the mistake.

Find this 1961 UUA General Resolution text online....

The WCUU script includes short speaking parts for four UUville Citizens. You will need to decide exactly what to say when the Roving Reporter interviews you. The paragraph about your role will help you get started....