Surely they hitched their wagon to a star — and though it fell to Earth, it left a pathway so bright that it still points the way to perfection. — Susan Thwang, on the Hopedale Community co-founded by Adin Ballou

IN TODAY'S SESSION... We learned about why and how to be a peacemaker by hearing the story of Adin Ballou, an early Universalist minister and founder of the Hopedale Community. We began to put in action our sixth Unitarian Universalist Principle, that we affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. We thought about our hopes and prayers for peace and made peace pinwheels. We sang peace songs during a peace parade. Our signpost to help guide us in faithful action was "Make Peace."

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... Ask your child to show you the peace pinwheel they made and the hopes and prayers for peace they wrote or drew on it.

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try... Pay extra attention to times when your child is a peacemaker. Point out instances of your child acting faithfully in a way that promotes the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. In everyday conflict situations that arise, help your child see the cause-and-effect relationship between making things fair and establishing peace. Your child will have the opportunity to share their actions next time Faithful Journeys meets.

FAMILY ADVENTURE

Identify a peace organization in your area. Find a regular peace vigil to visit or a peace walk to join. Make a family poster for peace and bring it with you.

A FAMILY RITUAL

Hold a family meeting once a week and include a discussion of conflicts that arose both within and outside the family. Light a chalice to start your meeting to help set a serious, worshipful atmosphere. Give everyone an equal chance to speak. Celebrate peaceful solutions that occurred, and brainstorm ways to address similar conflicts in the future. Listen to all sides of unresolved conflicts, and work as a family to generate a fair solution. Close the meeting with a song, prayer, or reading and a special, inherently peaceful activity such as playing a game, enjoying a snack or reading out loud together.

FAMILY DISCOVERY

Read together books that can help children learn about peace, war and nonviolent conflict resolution.

Picture Books about Peace, War and Being a Peacemaker

Sitti's Secret, by Naomi Shihab Nye, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Somewhere Today: A Book of Peace, by Shelley Moore Thomas, illustrated by Eric Futran

Whoever You Are, by Mem Fox, illustrated by Leslie Staub

All the Colors of the Earth, by Sheila Hamanaka

It's Okay to Be Different, by Todd Parr

What Does Peace Feel Like? by Vladimir Radunsky

Make Someone Smile: And 40 More Ways to Be a Peaceful Person, by Judy Lalli, illustrated by Douglas L. Mason-Fry

Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust, by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Stephen Gammell

Star of Fear, Star of Hope, by Jo Hoestlandt, illustrated by Johanna Kang, translated by Mark Polizzotti

The Butter Battle  Book, by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)

Peacebound Trains, by Haemi Balgassi, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet

I Like Being Me: Poems for Children About Feeling Special, Appreciating Others, and Getting Along, by Judy Lalli, illustrated by Douglas L. Mason-Fry

The Coconut Monk and The Hermit and the Well, both by Thich Nhat Hanh and illustrated by Vo-Dinh Mai

If Peace Is ..., by Jane Baskwill , illustrated by Stephanie Carter

The Peace Book, by Todd Parr

A Little Peace, by Barbara Kerley

The Wall, by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ronald Himler

When I Grow Up, I Will Win the Nobel Peace Prize, by Isabel Pin, translated by Nancy Seitz

The Reluctant Dragon, by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Inga Moore

Books for Eight- to Twelve- Year - Olds about Peace, War and  Being a Peacemaker

One Thousand Paper Cranes: The Story of Sadako and the Children's Peace Statue, by Takayuki Ishii

Hiroshima (Apple Paperbacks), by Laurence Yep

Daniel's Story, by Carol Matas

Peace Tales, by Margaret MacDonald

Peace Begins With You, by Katharine Scholes, illustrated by Robert Ingpen

Peace One Day, by Jeremy Gilley and Karen Blessen

Under the Rose Apple Tree, by Thich Nhat Hanh, illustrated by Philippe Ames

Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World, by Jane Breskin Zalben