When my anger’s over

may the world be young again

as after rain –

the cool clean promise

and the dance

of branches glistening green — Raymond John Baughan, in Day of Promise: Collected Meditations, Kathleen Montgomery, ed. (Skinner House, 2001); used with permission

This session looks to the third Source of Unitarian Universalism, "Wisdom from the world's religions which inspire us in our ethical and spiritual life." In the story, the Buddha responds to someone's anger in an unconventional way that teaches a lesson of love. Children learn to rely on love and faith to move themselves, and thereby others, from anger to love.

Anger is a normal, healthy feeling—our body's way of alerting us to problems. Anger can give us the energy we need to right wrongs. However, at times it can be misdirected or expressed in hurtful ways. Rather than tell children they should not feel angry, we want to help them harness their anger—to use it constructively, not destructively.

In Activity 4, children create calming beads they can use to cool their anger. Alternate Activity 3, Yoga — Salutation to the Sun, offers a movement option to nurture anger self-awareness and management.

Goals

This session will:

• Highlight the third Source of Unitarian Universalism, "ethical and spiritual wisdom of the world's religions," with a Buddhist story
• Empower participants to recognize and manage their anger
• Teach that anger is normal, and can be useful when it alerts us that something is unfair or wrong, but can harm us when we hold onto it too long.

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

• Identify the third Source of Unitarian Universalism—in child-friendly words, "Our Unitarian Universalist beliefs come from the ethical and spiritual wisdom of the world's religions"
• Learn a Buddhist story about how to handle anger
• Understand how anger physically and emotionally affects us
• Practice strategies for managing anger and letting anger go.