Truth, like surgery, may hurt, but it cures. — Han Suyin, writer, A Many Splendored Thing

The Blake covenant asserts that we "seek the truth in love." This session offers the story of Unitarian Universalist minister David Pettee, who sought the truth about his family's history of owning slaves. In finding truth, he found pain, but also joy and healing. The children discern truth from lies in a game, and express the "tied together" theme of this program by weaving a God's Eye, an emblem of true seeing.

Goals

This session will:

• Demonstrate the risks and opportunities inherent in a search for truth
• Engage participants in discerning truth from lies
• Empower participants as truth-tellers and truth-seekers
• Promote both rational inquiry and thoughtful intuition as tools for determining what is true.

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

• Articulate ways their own acts of truth-telling and truth-seeking embody a faith covenant
• Reflect on the capacity of "hard truths" to bring discomfort and pain yet also healing and joy, through the Rev. David Pettee's personal story of researching his family's history of slave ownership
• Practice discerning truth, by playing the game Two Truths and a Lie
• Embody the "tied together" theme of the curriculum by weaving their own God's Eyes, an emblem of true seeing.