Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. — Leo F. Buscaglia

As Unitarian Universalists, we believe members of communities take care of each other. This session identifies ways we care for others in our families, at school, in the congregation, and in the wider world. Children learn about the common Unitarian Universalist ritual of sharing our joys and concerns. Many congregations include Sharing of Joys and Concerns in worship. However, if your congregation call this ritual by a different name or conducts it in a different manner than is described in this session, replace the details with ones that fit your congregation. Feel free to include other rituals around caring that your congregation may practice.

Goals

This session will:

• Identify actions and experiences of caring for others and being cared for, in the congregation and in other communities
• Demonstrate that actions of taking care of one another are ways to be UU every day
• Introduce Sharing of Joys and Concerns, a UU ritual of caring

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

• Understand a Sharing of Joys and Concerns ritual as a symbol of our UU belief that we are interconnected and must care for one another
• Share joys and concerns in the Signs of Our Faith community
• Identify themselves as loving individuals, capable of providing care and worthy of receiving care, and understand that caring actions can be a sign of their UU faith
• Demonstrate caring, by making "caring candles" for the congregation.