Greet participants as they enter. Greet any newcomers, give them name tags if others have them, and make sure they know others in the room. Direct each participant’s attention to the Conundrum Corner, but do not say anything more about it. In answer to any questions about it...

In the days before you present this session, explore your own ideas about what it takes to be a good person in the world. Where did your ideas about good and bad behaviors and choices come from? What character traits help or hinder your striving to be a good person?

The mind is a field in which every kind of seed is sown. — Thich Nhat Hanh  This session is the first of four that focuses on ethical development. This one uses the metaphor of a garden and growing plants to explore how it is that we can develop the positive qualities we want to see in ourselves.

Terms are on the left and their definitions are on the right. Write each term on a separate hanging name tag. Do the same for each definition. During the matching game described in Activity 3: Matching in Motion, participants should align themselves to match terms and definitions as given here.

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Unitarian Universalist hymnbook, http://www.uuabookstore.org/Singing-the-Living-Tradition-Hymnal-P16918… the Living Tradition Preparation for Activity Reading 477 in Singing the Living Tradition. Description of Activity Share a few brief quotations...

Activity time: 7 minutes Materials for Activity Copies of the Unitarian Universalist hymnbook, http://www.uuabookstore.org/Singing-the-Living-Tradition-Hymnal-P16918… the Living Tradition Music player Recording of "Amazing Grace," preferably one that includes lyrics Preparation for Activity Have...

Activity time: 7 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 2, Definitions Preparation for Activity Write the twelve terms on separate name tags. Do the same for the twelve definitions....

Activity time: 15 minutes Preparation for Activity Identify a spiritual space your group can visit conveniently. If you intend to visit your congregation's sanctuary while a service is in progress, speak with the service leaders in advance about how to be present without being interruptive. Other...

To err is human, to forgive divine. — Alexander Pope To understand everything is to forgive everything — Hindu Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism IN TODAY’S SESSION… We talked about forgiveness, beginning with a quotation that says it is human to err and divine to forgive.

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Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are. — Franklin D. Roosevelt IN TODAY’S SESSION… We talked about the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments and saw art related to it. We thought about whether art sometimes makes us feel spiritual, and then about some unwritten rules in our lives.

ACTIVITY MINUTES Opening 5 Activity 1: A Spiritual Moment in Art 10 Activity 2: Your Own Commandments 17 Activity 3: Story and Discussion – Two Monks 10 Activity 4: Ethics Play 15 Faith in Action: Changing Rules 30 Closing 3 Alternate Activity 1: Life and Death Role-Plays 30 Alternate Activity 2:...

As a single, unified thing there exists in us both life and death, waking and sleeping, youth and old age, because the former things having changed are now the latter, and when those latter things change, they become the former. — Heraclitus IN TODAY’S SESSION… We found a clock and a live...

ACTIVITY MINUTES Opening 5 Activity 1: Conundrum Corner 5 Activity 2: Story and Discussion – The Brothers 5 Activity 3: Creating Right/Wrong Stories 20 Activity 4: A Spiritual Moment in Meditation 7 Activity 5: Creating Gods for Today 15 Faith in Action: You in the Other 20 Closing 5 Alternate...

The spiritual journey is the process of learning to know oneself and becoming self-aware. We learn to love ourselves as the sacred beings that we are, and discover in that love that we are connected to all that exists; thus we develop compassion and strength. — Elisa Davy Pearmain IN TODAY'S...

ACTIVITY MINUTES Opening 5 Activity 1: The Youth and the Guru – A Play 17 Activity 2: A Spiritual Moment in Music 10 Activity 3: Putting Your Advisors in Order 10 Activity 4: Stories and Discussion – Hide-and-Go-Seek and Know Yourself 14 Faith in Action: Personal Sole Search 10 Closing 3...

[T]he making of justice does not define our faith. Rather, our faith calls us to work for justice. — Rev. William G. Sinkford IN TODAY’S SESSION… We heard about some of Jesus’ ideas about right and wrong, and we talked about UU social action projects. We shared our beliefs by moving between...

ACTIVITY MINUTES Opening 5 Activity 1: Story and Discussion – Jesus and the Sheep 10 Activity 2: Conundrum Corner – Speaking of UUs and Social Justice 10 Activity 3: Finding Social Justice in Music 10 Activity 4: Ethics Play 15 Activity 5: Wall-to-Wall Questions 10 Faith in Action: Magazine...