Session 1: Naming Miracles

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Part of Miracles, Wide Age Span

In This Section

Introduction
From Miracles

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle. Every cubic inch of space is a miracle. — Walt Whitman Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted. — Albert Einstein It is inherently Unitarian Universalist to explore the…
Session-at-a-Glance
From Miracles

ACTIVITY MINUTES Opening 10 Activity 1: It’s a Miracle 10 Activity 2: Our Own Definition 10 Activity 3: Story – Maui and Pele Make Hawai’i 5 Activity 4: Story: Grandmother Spider Brings The Light 5 Activity 5: Story – The Big Bang Theory 5 Activity 6: Conclusions 5 Faith In Action: Miracles…
Spiritual Preparation
From Miracles

Try to leave yourself five minutes before the class in which you are not worried or preoccupied—five minutes to center yourself and sink into the topic of miracles. Find a comfortable position. Take three deep breaths. Feel the details of your body—where it is touching the chair, how your feet…
Opening
From Miracles

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Chalice and LED battery-operated candle Bell or chime Preparation for Activity Have name tag materials out for all participants to create a name tag. Description of Activity Briefly introduce the idea of miracles and the miraculous. Tell the group…
Activity 1: It's a Miracle
From Miracles

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Leader Resource 1, It’s a Miracle Basket Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Print Leader Resource 1, It’s a Miracle, and cut the phrases apart. Put the slips of paper into the basket. Make sure you have enough unique slips for…
Activity 2: Our Own Dedication
From Miracles

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Post a sheet of newsprint….
Activity 3: Story ─ Maui and Pele Make Hawai’i
From Miracles

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity A copy of the story, “Maui and Pele Make Hawai’i” Preparation for Activity Read through the story a few times, paying close attention to the Hawaiian pronunciations so you are ready to read the story aloud. Description of Activity Explain that…
Activity 4: Story ─ Grandmother Spider Brings the Light
From Miracles

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity A copy of the story, “Grandmother Spider Brings the Light” Preparation for Activity Read the story a few times, so you will be comfortable reading or telling it. Description of Activity Our second story is about a much different culture and…
Activity 5: Story ─ The Big Bang Theory
From Miracles

Activity time: 8 minutes Materials for Activity A copy of the story, “The Big Bang Theory” Preparation for Activity Read the story a few times, so you will be comfortable reading or telling it. Description of Activity Even in our modern times we are still searching for the answer to the miracle…
Activity 6: Conclusions
From Miracles

Activity time: 5 minutes Description of Activity Use these questions to elicit participants’ conclusions from today’s activities: Does everyone agree on what is a miracle and what is not? Must we agree in order to talk about miracles? Why do you think so many different stories about the creation…
Closing
From Miracles

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Taking It Home Optional: Handout 1, Say “Yes” to a Miracle Optional: Handout 2, For the Beauty of the Earth Optional: Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Review the two song suggestions (Handouts 1 and 2). Find lyrics for “Say…
Leader Reflection and Planning
From Miracles

Briefly recap the central theme of this session—to consider miracles in the world around us. Say, “We have started with our own beginning definition and a series of images that take our very existence on Earth and in the Universe as a starting point for wonder.” Take ten minutes to share your…
Faith In Action: Miracles Are All Around Us
From Miracles

Materials for Activity Poster board or large sheets of paper Art materials, including drawing paper and color markers or pencils List of miracles affirmed by the group in Activity 1, It’s a Miracle Preparation for Activity Gather poster board/paper and art materials. Identify wall space(s) where…
Alternate Activity 1: The Universe on a Human Scale
From Miracles

Activity time: 10 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint or a large roll of paper, and markers Leader Resource 2, You Are Here Leader Resource 3, The Atom Preparation for Activity Print Leader Resource 2 and Leader Resource 3….
Alternate Activity 2: Our Own Story
From Miracles

Activity time: 10 minutes Preparation for Activity Choose one of the topics below or make up your own. Make sure the animal you choose for a topic is one everyone will be familiar with (or, bring an illustration or model to show the group)….
Alternate Activity 3: It's a Draw
From Miracles

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Slips of paper, pencils, and a basket Newsprint, markers, and tape A timer Description of Activity Give each person a pencil and slip of paper and ask everyone to write something they think is miraculous….
Taking It Home: Naming Miracles
From Miracles

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle. Every cubic inch of space is a miracle. — Walt Whitman Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted. — Albert Einstein IN TODAY’S SESSION… we talked about miracles: what we…
Maui and Pele Create Hawai’i
From Miracles

A retelling of a Hawaiian legend. The god Maui was the smallest but smartest of his brothers, who often made fun of him because he couldn’t fish very well. Sometimes Maui would go out on a boat with his brothers, distract them when they had a fish on the line, and steal it from them, claiming it…
Grandmother Spider Brings the Light
From Miracles

A retelling of a story from Cherokee tradition. When the earth was first made, it was very dark, and the animals were afraid. One day Bear said, “I have seen light on the other side of the world, but the people will not share. Perhaps we could steal some for ourselves.” The others thought this…
The Big Bang Theory
From Miracles

In 1927 a Roman Catholic priest and scientist Georges Lemaitre proposed what later became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe, based on work by Edwin Hubble who theorized and then proved that the Universe was getting bigger and bigger. Many scientists have discovered other…
Handout 1: Say "Yes" to a Miracle
From Miracles

Words and music…
Handout 2: For the Beauty of the Earth
From Miracles

Hymn 21 in Singing the Living Tradition. Words adapted by Folliott Sandford Pierpoint; music by Conrad Kocher (abridged). Public domain. 1….
Leader Resource 1: It's a Miracle
From Miracles

The Universe The Sun Stars Earth Seasons Love Snowflakes Human hands The brain Fingerprints A beating heart Childbirth Our senses Growing Breathing Thinking Healing A stone statue crying real tears A baby found alive five days after a tsunami A mother chimpanzee caring for a baby tiger One person…
Leader Resource 2: You Are Here
From Miracles

Photo credit: Robert Hurt, IPAC; Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF. From the website of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation.
Leader Resource 3: The Atom
From Miracles
Find Out More
From Miracles

A vast array of photographic images of the universe are available to view on the Internet. To become familiar with the concept of an ever-expanding universe, search images for these terms, sequentially: the solar system, the Milky Way, star nebula, galaxies near the Milky Way….