Tapestry of Faith: Love Surrounds Us: A Program on the UU Principles and Beloved Community for Grades K-1

Taking It Home: Peaceful Choices

In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do. — Dorothea Dix, 19th-century reformer and Unitarian

IN TODAY'S SESSION... participants learned how the sixth Principle applied to the life of Unitarian social reformer, Dorothea Dix. They learned about a barn school and they talked about choices. Our daily choices make a difference in how we work toward a peaceful, free, and fair world.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... choices children make each day. Affirm good choices that lead to a better world. Use these questions to talk about today's topic.

  • What choices do we make every day?
  • Are there choices we make only occasionally?
  • Share your hardest choice.

EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try...

A Family Adventure. Attend a buffet meal. Decide ahead how many choices each person may have. Discuss how those choices were made at the meal. See if you can determine how the food choices you made support fairness, justice, freedom, or peace.

A Family Game. Set out many choices of games for a family game night. Together, choose a game to play that will help your family work together for a more peaceful, fair, and free world.

A Family Ritual. Place a basket of stones, feathers, leaves, or flowers on the table. Each person will choose one item from the basket and say, "I chose this ___________ because it reminds me that to keep a free, fair and peaceful world I should, ________________________.