Tapestry of Faith: Faithful Journeys: A Program about Pilgrimages of Faith in Action for Grades 2-3

Activity 4: Story - The Perfect Peace Harvest

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Read the story a few times, paying special attention to the refrain about Lammas. Practice the refrain and if possible create a drumbeat for it.
  • Consider telling the story rather than reading it. Practice telling it aloud.

Description of Activity

In the story "The Perfect Peace Harvest," a pagan Unitarian Universalist child describes what is going on inside her and around her as she takes the stage and leads the gathering at a peace rally on the pagan harvest holiday, Lammas. In the story, Aisha and the others gathered with her demonstrate our third Unitarian Universalist Principle, acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth.

Teach the children the refrain that repeats through the story:

On Lammas you've gotta stomp your dancing feet,

On Lammas you've gotta raise your voice and speak,

Lammas is the harvest, we've gotta harvest peace.

If possible, create a drumbeat to use each time you chant the refrain.

Before you begin, look around the room and make eye contact with each person. Read or tell the story.

Sound the instrument to indicate that the story is over. Then, guide a brief discussion using these questions:

  • I wonder, have any of you ever done something that you were afraid of, like Aisha's getting up onto the stage in front of all the people?
  • If you got onto the stage to talk about peace, what sorts of things might you say?
  • Some people might think it was like "magic," the way Aisha was able to get up and speak in front of all of those people. I wonder, what helped her do that?