GATHER THE SPIRIT
A Multigenerational Tapestry of Faith Program
WORKSHOP 2: GATHER IN SYMPATHY
BY RICHARD S. (RICK) KIMBALL AND CHRISTINE T. RAFAL, ED.D.
© Copyright 2009 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/30/2014 12:15:49 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Anyone who can solve the problem of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes—one for peace and one for science. — John F. Kennedy
The Earth is our home, the place where waters flow and life thrives. Our Unitarian Universalist faith calls us to stewardship of the Earth, recognizing that without our stewardship, humanity and all other life may not survive.
Many users of Gather the Spirit live in areas with plentiful water resources. In this workshop, participants consider what it would be like to live where there is limited access to clean drinking water. The first activity engages participants to confront "polluted" water directly. Then they explore the impact people have on each other and on Earth's resources. They consider their responsibilities to all their neighbors on Earth, near or far.
Empowering participants with information about our Earth, its resources and how we use or misuse them is a critical goal of Gather the Spirit. Problems related to water may seem overwhelming to some. Yet, participants will learn they can express, through stewardship, a Unitarian Universalist faith in humanity's power to protect Earth's gifts and share them equitably.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Experiential Water Meditation | 15 |
Activity 2: Story — The Teachings of the Rain God | 10 |
Activity 3: River Scene — Downriver Critters | 25 |
Faith in Action: Water Steward's Pledge | 15 |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Acting out the Story | 10 |
Alternate Activity 2: The Costs of Water Fun | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Experience the community and commitment of your own congregation. At a busy time on a Sunday or other day, drift away from the group and observe it. Reflect on its purpose, power and commitment. Know you are one of many who can and must make a positive difference, by guiding the young, by nurturing the commitment of families and by joining others in dedicated work. Feel the strength of the concept that "service is our prayer". Then, with a fresh sense of renewal, rejoin the group.
Before this workshop begins, with all your preparations complete, find a quiet spot to remember your moment of observation. Take several deep, relaxing breaths. Understand that leading this workshop is well worth the time and energy it takes. It can affect participants and the world beyond them in ways you may sense but never directly know.
WORKSHOP PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The Opening for Gather the Spirit has a symbolic chalice lighting; the chalice is "lit" by pouring a cup of water into a clear bowl.
Gather the group in chairs around the table with the chalice bowl, cup and plant. Indicate where you have posted the chalice lighting words. Say you will "light" the chalice by pouring the cup of water into the clear bowl as the group says the words aloud. Lead the group to say:
In the clear light of this chalice we see that as the drop joins the brook, the stream, the river, and becomes a mighty sea, so do each of us gather with others and become a group strong enough to care for and change the world.
Invite the group to share an opening ritual to help everyone connect with the sounds of water. Say:
We will make the sounds of rain. Follow me and make a storm together.
Lead participants by verbally directing and physically demonstrating these sound steps. Pause on each for 10 or 15 seconds, gradually building the storm's intensity:
Then reverse the process. Go slowly back through the sound steps and bring the storm to an end.
You might ask the group to suggest additional body percussion or other effects and make another storm. (Turning lights on and off for lightning is one possibility. Making whoo sounds for wind is another.)
Ask participants to briefly report on their Gather the Spirit activities. Who tried a Taking It Home activity from the previous workshop? If they did the scavenger hunt suggested in Taking It Home for Workshop 3, what did they decide? Does anyone have a new idea to briefly share about stewardship or water?
If the group has a Gather the Spirit blog, share comments you have seen posted. Invite volunteers to respond to others' blog posts or offer suggestions for the blog.
Suggest participants bend and stretch before sitting again for the next activity. If needed, ask a few volunteers to help re-arrange chairs and set aside the table with chalice bowl, cup and plant.
Including All Participants
Pay attention to accessibility; arrange the chairs to accommodate participants with mobility limitations or who use a wheelchair.
If any participant cannot make sound with hand motions, adapt the activity. Assign a few participants a foot-stamping part, or a vocal part such as the sound of wind starting as a breeze, becoming a howl and then calming to a breeze as the storm subsides.
ACTIVITY 1: EXPERIENTIAL WATER MEDITATION (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This experiential exercise can powerfully illustrate the real scarcity of water for many people in the world.
Gather the group and invite all to sit comfortably for a meditation. Distribute an empty cup to each participant.
Ask participants to remain seated and to close their eyes or focus on something physical—perhaps their empty cup—while you take their thoughts on a journey. Use words like these. Speak slowly, and pause between sentences:
Imagine that you are far away from here. You are on a large, hot desert. All you can see in every direction is sand, hot desert sand. You must cross to the other side, but you are hot, very hot, too hot. And you are thirsty. You realize you have drunk all your water. You will get more only when you finish crossing the desert. So you move on, slowly, one step at a time, feeling hotter, and drier, hotter, and drier. Until finally, finally, you reach the other side. You know there is water nearby. You are so thirsty. Now slowly, slowly, open your eyes and return to the group, and we'll see about getting some water.
Bring the pitcher of polluted water to participants. Allow participants to smell the contents of the pitcher and begin to pour some into each cup. You will not have to pour many cups before participants notice the water is undrinkable. Wait for a moment to see what happens. Does anyone request fresh water?
Ask the group what it would feel like if this was the only available water to drink. Then, bring out the pitcher of clean water and new cups for any participants for whom you have poured polluted water. Pour clean water for those who want some, and process the activity using these questions:
Use some facts you have gleaned from Handout 1, Sad Statistics, to illustrate the global need for water. Help the group understand how human actions have affected Earth's water resources—but, make it clear that human action does not cause all water shortages and destructive storms. The world knew severe drought and other deadly conditions long before industrial pollution began and global warming became a problem.
Including All Participants
Be sure to make this activity comfortable for people with special needs. Those who might most need drinkable water should receive it quickly.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — THE TEACHINGS OF THE RAIN GOD (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Say that people all over the world have stories they tell about water, and now you will share one called "The Teachings of the Rain God" from the Masai culture of Kenya . Read or tell the story. Then, help the group process the story with these questions, adapting to fit the ages and maturity of participants:
ACTIVITY 3: RIVER SCENE — DOWNRIVER CRITTERS (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants continue creating the River Scene, begun in Workshop 1, Activity 2.
Invite participants to add fresh water fish and animals. Say something like:
We have already made drawings that show human activities on the banks of our river. Now we are going to make fish and other animals that might live in the river or along its banks. You can choose any animals or fish you want. Don't worry about whether those animals would actually live along a nearby river. If you want to add a kangaroo, that is fine. You have about ten minutes.
Begin playing quiet music, if you have brought some.
With a few minutes remaining, invite participants to clean up and share what they have made. Then gather the group and invite all to look at the River Scene for a minute while you speak. You might say:
Imagine that you live upstream, beside the river. (Indicate which direction you mean to be "upstream".)
If you get into a rowboat or canoe, you can float along. The river will move you past all the wonderful places and people and animals along the banks. You can see fish swimming around in the water. Let's look quietly for a moment, and see if we can feel a real sense of connection, maybe a spiritual connection, with the life in and around the river. (Pause for a moment.)
Now ask yourself: Would you want to hurt any of these people and animals? You would be doing just that, if you threw trash or other bad stuff into any water that connects with this river. All around the world, people have been destroying rivers that way, over and over again. In America , many of our rivers have become polluted, and people are working very hard to clean them up.
There's a Native American saying, "The frog does not drink up the water in which it lives." That is kind of like not throwing plastic bags into a reservoir or dumping industrial chemicals into a river that holds fresh water which someday a living creature—maybe you—may need to drink.
Including All Participants
Provide a variety of work spaces so that people with varied abilities can work easily and comfortably. If standing and attaching their work to the river scene is challenging for some, let them work with partners who can help display their creations.
Not everyone is comfortable making drawings. You can suggest some participants cut out magazine pictures to attach to the mural or enhance the river with blue paper or crepe paper. Avoid extravagant praise as well as critiques of participant contributions—affirm all who help shape the River Scene.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the group. Briefly summarize the workshop:
Today we meditated and experienced wanting water and only being offered polluted water. We heard a story about how it is important to share water. As we progress in Gather the Spirit we will find ways to be good stewards of the world's waters. We will recycle our chalice water by nurturing this plant.
Invite participants to offer a thought about what moved them during this workshop. Say something like:
Think about our time together. What will you take with you as we leave today?
Allow a moment for reflection. Then invite volunteers to answer. Then say:
We will recycle our chalice water by nurturing our plant.
Pour the water from the chalice bowl into the plant.
As you pour, recite the closing words:
We leave our Gather the Spirit friends now, but not our Gather the Spirit friendships. May they be with us until we meet again.
Distribute the Taking It Home handouts you have prepared. Thank and dismiss participants. Set aside the chalice bowl and plant where they will be safe between workshops.
FAITH IN ACTION: WATER STEWARD'S PLEDGE (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Share the statistics from Handout 1; you might read some aloud or invite a few volunteers to read. Guide a discussion about these statistics with the whole group, or, form small groups to talk about the statistics. Use these questions:
Re-gather the group. Distribute Handout 2, Water Steward's Pledge, and pens/pencils. Or, use the handout as a model and guide the group to write a pledge together. Record ideas on newsprint. Help the group finalize the wording. Then copy the pledge on a fresh sheet of newsprint and invite everyone to sign it. Or, make copies for participants to sign at a future workshop.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Meet with your co-leaders after the workshop to reflect on it. How was your mix of discussion and action? In the midst of the busy-ness, did you successfully include spiritual elements? Are participants growing in their understanding of the need to protect and equitably share the Earth's water resources? How do you know? What should you do differently at the next workshop?
If the group will do more Gather the Spirit workshops, look ahead to assign leadership responsibilities.
TAKING IT HOME
Anyone who can solve the problem of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes—one for peace and one for science. — John F. Kennedy
IN TODAY'S WORKSHOP... The group experienced, through a guided meditation, needing a drink of fresh water when none is available. We learned about the Earth's water resources, how these resources have become polluted and what that means for people who lack fresh, clean water. We heard a story about the river god from the Masai culture of Kenya and added to our River Scene.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... the Native American saying "The frog does not drink up the water in which it lives." Talk about what the saying means. Is everybody in your family always good like a frog? Or do you sometimes use up or mess up things that you need? Can you learn from the frog and stop doing that? Can humans really learn from frogs? From other animals?
Discuss the water needs and problems of your area. Do you need to be very careful how much water you use? If so, what are you doing to conserve?
What if you had to carry water on your head for six miles every day? That's what many women and girls in Africa and Asia must do. Some carry 40 pounds of water at a time. How would doing that change your lives? How would it feel? Experiment (very carefully) with carrying things on your head. Find something that weighs about 40 pounds and think how it would feel to have so much weight on your head for six long miles.
Is your congregation doing enough stewardship of water resources? If not, can you help it do more?
What do you wish to have that you don't have? Is anything on your list as basic as water or food? Or clothing you need just for protection? Do your wants qualify as needs? Or are they all "nice-to-haves"?
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try...
A FAMILY RITUAL
Visit a natural, fresh water site near your home—a place that is new to you, if possible. Walk around it, or sit near it. Be silent. Feel yourself connected with the water, with its life. Wonder where the water comes from, and where it will go. Talk about this as a spiritual moment. Maybe this place will be a new place to love.
FAMILY SCAVENGER HUNT
Chose a body of water near your home. It can be an old favorite or it can be the new one you chose for your family ritual. Make a drawing or a photograph of the body of water. Or, write the name or description of a plant that grows nearby. Bring your picture or writing to share at our next meeting.
FAMILY FISH VISIT
Go to an aquarium in your area. Spend plenty of time, and think about your connection to the life forms you see there. Don't just walk by the tanks. Stand or sit in front of them and really watch carefully.
FAMILY READING
Try The Once and Future King by T. H. White—the story of King Arthur. In chapter 5, Merlin leads the young Arthur on an adventure to experience what it is like to be a fish.
FAMILY COMPETITION
See who can write down the most water words. Consider working in mixed generation teams. Whose list makes people feel the wettest?
FA MILY CONSERVATION EXPERIMENT
How do you usually get a cold drink of water? Run the water in the sink until it is cold enough to drink. But first—put a stopper in your kitchen sink. When the water is cold enough to drink, measure the water you have collected. Then use it for watering plants. Now fill a container with water and place it in the refrigerator so it will be cold when you wish to drink it. The amount of water you used to water the plants is the amount your refrigerator can help you save every time you want a cold drink.
FAMILY RESEARCH
Do Internet research on seeding clouds to make rain. Start by finding out how it is done in the State of Texas (at www.license.state.tx.us/weather/weatherfaq.htm).
FAMILY WATER PROJECTS
Re-use a plastic bottle and look underwater. The Instructables website offers a way to recycle a two-liter plastic bottle as an (at www.instructables.com/id/E5RL0UEZQBEP2866H3/) underwater viewing scope (at www.instructables.com/id/E5RL0UEZQBEP2866H3/). Be careful of sharp edges—you may want to cover them with duct tape.
Try the Family Fun website (at familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/feature/famf78water/) for more ideas.
FAMILY STEWARDSHIP COMMITMENT
Join the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (at www.uusc.org/info/membership.html). Help with its projects to protect water resources.
Lend money to somebody poor in another country. In 2005, Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Price for microfinance in Bangladesh. It does not take much money to help someone start a small business. Start by visiting the Kiva website (at www.kiva.org/) to see how to really help someone in a developing country for $25. Projects you support might not be directly water related, but they could be important.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: ACTING OUT THE STORY (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Ask a small group to act out the Masai story in Activity 2. If there is time, let them use markers on paper bags or card stock to make masks for the elephant, tortoise, rooster, lion and Rain God. To involve more participants, lead the group to think of more roles; lots of different animals could come to drink from the small pond. Invite everyone to make a mask. There are many ways participants might make masks; using simple card stock or small paper bags is probably easiest. A card stock mask can be held in front of the face. A bag mask can be slipped over the hand and held in front of the face or used as a hand puppet.
Leave time for participants to clean up the mask-making supplies and act out the story.
Including All Participants
Encourage and assist participants with motor skills limitations, cognitive limitations or limited mobility to choose characters, make masks and act out their parts as they are able.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: THE COSTS OF WATER FUN (10 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite participants to think about water theme parks, which use large quantities of water for entertainment. Say, in your own words:
In some parts of the world, children are dying because they don't have enough water to drink. In other parts of the world, people have plenty to drink, and can go to lakes and rivers and streams to play. Some places even have a water theme park such as (name of local water theme park) where children can spend all day having fun with water and have plenty to drink, too. Is this fair? If it's not, what can we do about it?
Talk about water recreation resources in your area. Which ones are natural, and which are made by people? Tell the group about water theme parks in your area and, if you know, how much water they use.
Point out that you cannot simply take the clean water out of rivers near you and send it to dry countries far away. If all America 's water theme parks closed, the water would not go to save lives on other continents.
Suggest that we who have enough water to use some for water theme parks can express our gratitude as generosity, and help in some other way. Maybe theme parks can help, too. Invite some volunteers to check with theme parks near you and report back to the group. How do the theme parks try to conserve water? Do they recycle water so they don't waste a lot? Do they try to educate people about water?
To continue the discussion, use questions like these:
Be ready to lead the group to make an action plan.
GATHER THE SPIRIT: WORKSHOP 2:
STORY: THE TEACHINGS OF THE RAIN GOD
Adapted from a version on the 2003 International Year of FreshWater website .
One day a long time ago, the elephant acted like a bully. He challenged the Rain God.
"You covered the Earth in green," the elephant said, "and I'll bet you feel pretty good about yourself. But guess what! If I tear up the grass and the trees and the bushes, the green will all be gone. What then?"
"What then?" answered the Rain God. "I'll stop sending rain. No more green will grow, and you won't have anything to drink or eat. That's what!"
But a few words weren't going to stop the elephant. He ripped up all the trees, the bushes, and the grass with his trunk. All the green disappeared from Earth.
That made the Rain God mad. He stopped the rain. Deserts began appearing everywhere.
Soon the elephant was dying of hunger and thirst. He tried digging where the rivers used to be, but he didn't find a drop of water. So the elephant changed his tune. He praised the Rain God and apologized.
"I'm sorry," the elephant said. "I was too proud, and I misbehaved. But now I've learned my lesson. I repent, so please make it rain!"
But the Rain God said nothing. Every day the world dried up more.
The elephant knew the rooster was loud, so he asked the rooster to praise the Rain God.
After looking all over the place, the rooster found the Rain God hidden behind a cloud. The rooster praised the Rain God with such fine words that the Rain God relented. A little rain fell and made a small pool very close to the elephant's home.
The same day, the elephant decided to go into the woods and look for food. He ordered the tortoise to protect the pool.
"Don't let anybody drink here," the elephant said. "Tell them the water is mine and nobody else's."
The tortoise tried to obey, and turned some small animals away. But then the lion came, and the lion wasn't impressed. He growled at the tortoise and drank all he wanted.
When the elephant returned, he grew very angry at the tortoise.
"Sir," said the tortoise, "what could I do? The lion was big and had sharp claws. And all the other animals were mad at me, so I got out of the way."
"I'll show you mad," the elephant said. He raised one foot and stamped on the tortoise to crush her.
The tortoise was very strong, and the elephant did not kill her. But he flattened her out, and the tortoise has remained flat ever since.
Suddenly the Rain God spoke. His loud voice filled the sky, and he warned the animals not to follow the elephant's example.
"If you want more rain, don't be like the elephant," the Rain God said. "Don't challenge powerful gods or anything more powerful than you. Don't wreck the things you need. Don't make weaker animals protect your property, and don't punish animals that are trying to help you. Most of all, don't be too proud and don't try to have everything for yourself. If you are lucky and have a lot, share it with others who need it."
GATHER THE SPIRIT: WORKSHOP 2:
HANDOUT 1: SAD STATISTICS
Adapted from information on the PBS website for Bill Moyers'program, NOW, accessed July, 2009.
GATHER THE SPIRIT: WORKSHOP 2:
HANDOUT 2: WATER STEWARD'S PLEDGE
I promise to be a good steward to the Earth's water resources. I will conserve water whenever I can. I will not waste water when I can help it. I will work so more people around the world have the clean, water they need. I will clean up polluted waters whenever I have a chance. I will not make water supplies unsafe or dirty. I will remember that what I do upstream can affect all life downstream. I will honor my spiritual connection to the web of all existence by protecting it.
(signed) ___________________________
FIND OUT MORE
More Sad Statistics
See a 2008 report on global clean water and sanitation (at www.wssinfo.org/en/welcome.html), including country-by-statistics, prepared by the Joint Monitoring Programme of UNICEF and the World Health Organization. UNICEF's website offers a summary of the report (at www.unicef.org/wash/index_statistics.html).
The Pacific Institute (at www.pacinst.org/) produces an annual report on the world's water.