By Sarah E. Skwire; used with permission. This story appears in What If Nobody Forgave? and Other Stories edited by Colleen M....

This story is based on the first of two versions of the creation story found in Hebrew scripture in the Book of Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2. It comes from Stories in Faith: Exploring Our Unitarian Universalist Principles and Sources Through Wisdom Tales by Gail Forsyth-Vail (Boston: Unitarian...

Adapted from Hebrew scripture (I Kings 19:11-12). Read or tell the story. There are many stories from Hebrew scripture and Jewish tradition about a prophet, Elijah. Elijah believed there was one, single god when many others believed that there were a number of different gods, one stronger or more...

A useful visual aid for this story is a map of the United States to show Reverend Wilkes extensive travel all over the country. Other visual aids might include pictures of Universalist circuit riders and pictures of frontier life and transportation modes of the mid-nineteenth century....

An Ethiopian tale, retold by Heather Forest in Wisdom Tales from around the World (Little Rock, ARK: August House, Inc., 1996). Read the story, or, if you prefer, tell it dramatically. Start by placing a cup of water in front of you....

You may like to introduce the story with these words: This story is about a time when a group of Unitarian Universalists had to make a difficult decision together and needed to listen to each other. Unitarian Universalism is a living faith. We think that people should be free to believe what they...

Adapted with permission from UU World, Summer 2006, "Righteous among the nations: Israel honors two Unitarians for heroism in World War II" by Michelle Bates Deakin, UU World contributing editor and author of Gay Marriage, Real Life: 10 Stories of Love. Read or tell the story....

This story is based on references to Miriam in Hebrew scripture. Read or tell the story. It is said that for many years, the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt. A slave works hard for no pay. A slave is not allowed to say or do what they want. A slave is a person, owned by someone else....

An Islamic folk tale. To engage participants in the storytelling, ask for three volunteers to pantomime the actions of Mullah Nasruddin, his neighbor, and the donkey. One day, a neighbor whom Mullah Nasruddin didn't like came to see him. The neighbor asked Nasruddin, "May I borrow your donkey?"...

Read or tell the story. A farm wagon bumped along through the Kansas prairie, under a blazing August sun. Next to the wagon’s driver sat a young woman in a long black dress. She had been up since four a.m. and, after a hasty breakfast, had taken her leave. Now, as her eyes took in the great sweep...

You do not have to be rich or famous or even an adult to make a difference in the world. You do not need to have special training or be the ruler of a country. Many people who feel passionately about injustice in the world speak up about it....

Adapted by Elisa Pearmain from a Japanese and Chinese folk tale. To tell the story dramatically, tape a spoon to a ruler so that the entire length is longer than your own arm to demonstrate how people ate in hell. When you get to the next paragraph about heaven, tape another spoon to another ruler.

From "The Stargazer Who Discovered a Comet" in The UU Kids Book by Anne Fields and Charlene Brotman (Biddeford, Maine: Brotman-Marshfield, 1989); used with permission. "Afterward" from Rooftop Astronomer: A Story about Maria Mitchell by Stephanie SammartiRead the story aloud....

For a more interactive storytelling, assign a few participants to give voice to the words of Theodore Parker and Millard Fillmore, both of whose writings are quoted in the story....

The story, "Two Brothers," in this session is based on a story widely thought to come from the Jewish Talmud that may have older roots in Muslim and Hindu culture. Contemporary versions of the story include "Brotherly Love," in Angels, Prophets, Rabbis and Kings, fromThe Stories of the Jewish...

Adapted from "A Step Toward Racial Reconciliation", UU World, May/June 2002, permission pending. ...