Faith Curriculum Library: Tapestry of Faith: Riddle and Mystery: A Program on the Big Questions for Grade 6

Leader Resource 2: WCUU Script - Soul Talk

To the Anchor:

Today's WCUU program is a report on UU ideas about soul. Your job is to follow the script, read your part, and otherwise keep things going. When the broadcast begins, you are alone, sitting or standing in front of a microphone.

[Director: Cue the station break.]

[Director: Cue the Anchor.]

Anchor: This is WCUU, Wisdom of the Community of Unitarian Universalists, on the air.

[Director: Cue the theme music.]

Good morning. I am [give your real or stage name], and I am here in the WCUU newsroom with a series of stunning reports about UU ideas on soul. Today we will hear from five reporters who have risked their lives traveling through time and space in search of truth and news. We will then hear from everybody's favorite NUUs Analyst. But first things first, and here is First Reporter. [First Reporter joins Anchor at the microphone.] Tell us your story, First Reporter.

[First Reporter reports.]

Anchor: Wonderful, First Reporter. Now let's hear from Second Reporter.

[First Reporter leaves. Second Reporter joins Anchor.]

Anchor: So what's the news from you, Second Reporter?

[Second Reporter reports.]

Anchor: Fascinating. But time is short. Come in, Third Reporter.

[Second Reporter leaves. Third Reporter joins Anchor.]

Anchor: You are on, Third Reporter.

[Third Reporter reports.]

Anchor: Thank you, thank you, Third Reporter. Time for Fourth Reporter now.

[Third Reporter leaves. Fourth Reporter joins Anchor.]

Anchor: I am sure that you, too, have fascinating news for us, Fourth Reporter. What is it?

[Fourth Reporter reports.]

Anchor: Another wonderful story. Now, where is Fifth Reporter?

[Fourth Reporter leaves. Fifth Reporter joins Anchor.]

[Fifth Reporter reports.]

Anchor: Wow! Good stuff! So many different ideas from so many different times and places. I think we need our NUUs Analyst to sort it all out.

[Fifth Reporter leaves. NUUs Analyst joins Anchor.]

Anchor: Good morning, NUUs Analyst. Well we certainly have a big pile of information to sort out.

NUUs Analyst: We sure do. But I think I can help.

Anchor: Please do. So, what do most UUs have to say about soul?

NUUs Analyst: Well here is something helpful one UU minister said. He is Reverend Joel Miller. He was giving a sermon in Buffalo, New York, and he said that soul "is a frustrating word for most people." And, he added, "Soul is a word that is like Unitarian Universalism: There isn't just one right way to describe it."

NUUs Analyst: Oh yes. A lot of UUs talk about soul. But most of them are not thinking of the eternal sort of souls that some other religions believe in, souls that go to heaven or hell. UUs concentrate more on life than on death, and they think the soul counts more in life than in death.

NUUs Analyst: That is right. The soul has no weight or measurement. It is your deepest self, the place inside yourself you go to meditate or pray. From here you reach out to connect with other people's souls and centers. It is the place where you connect with the Great Mystery.

NUUs Analyst: A lot of people would say so, yes. If every human being has a divine spark, then it lives in the soul. That is how we think about connecting with the holy. And the holy is the mystery.

Anchor: Doesn't holy mean God?

NUUs Analyst: Some UUs find the concept of God helpful. Others do not. Many UUs say there is something larger than themselves, maybe larger than the Universe and all that we can ever know, maybe even more than that. It's a mystery, they say.

NUUs Analyst: Most UUs seem to think the idea of soul is helpful, and they use it to talk about themselves and their spiritual centers, all that they are in the deepest parts of themselves.

Anchor: Well thank you so much, NUUs Analyst. But our time is just about up.

NUUs Analyst: Hey, guess what? When I heard what this show was about, I had a full body X-ray taken. I was looking for my soul.

Anchor: No! We are smack dab out of time. Bring on the music!

[Director: Cue the theme music.]

[Director: Cue the station break.]

Anchor: This is [your real or stage name] signing off for WCUU.