A curriculum that offers personal reflection, learning, and spiritual growth focused on the topic of death and dying. It brings death, dying, and grief into the light of our daily lives, and invites participants to experience death and dying as a healthy part of life.

Sources used for this story include: “Rai… Heaven: Where Rocks Go Wandering,” by Tim Cahill (National Geographic). The world still holds many wonders that science—so far— cannot explain. As you learn about the three mysteries described, see if you can hypothesize any scientific...

Golden Rule versions from the book The Golden Rule. ...

Ricardo and his grandparents arrived at Camp Taylor for the congregation's weekend retreat. This was Ricardo's third year at the retreat and he had been looking forward to this weekend for months. He helped bring the bags to their cabin....

An adaptation of a traditional story, retold by Doug Lipman, used with permission. Some students of the Rabbi Baal Shem Tov came to him one day with a question. "Every year we travel here to learn from you. Nothing could make us stop doing that. But we have learned of a man in our own town who...

From The Power of Now (Novato: New World Library, 2004). A beggar had been sitting by the side of a road for over thirty years. One day a stranger walked by. "Spare some change?" mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his old baseball cap. "I have nothing to give you," said the stranger....

One of the reasons Muhammad was able to get people to listen to him was because, from a young age, he had proven himself to be wise and just. Here is an example of a problem he was asked to solve. Mecca found the walls of the holy building, the Ka’ba, needed repairing. So they fixed the walls.

Daniel firmly grips his paddle and pulls hard against the water. He watches as the paddle tip dives below the surface, then leaves behind a tiny whirlpool as the paddle rises above the water. The kayak glides forward....

At the Central Park Zoo in New York City, there were two penguins named Roy and Silo, who adored each other. It is typical for penguins to find a partner, a mate – one other penguin that is special to them. Usually, it is one female and one male penguin that like each other and become a penguin...

Adapted from The Family Finds Out by Edith Hunter (Boston: Beacon Press, 1966).Ellen was sitting up on a branch of the apple tree, swinging her legs. Her mother was looking over the vegetable garden. "Want to see a nice fat green worm?" her mother called. Ellen jumped down from the tree and ran...

(Light a chalice, if there isn't already one lit, and have some matches at hand.) Have you ever watched a candle burn? (Lean forward to impart the secret.) The fire is alive. Watch it! It moves. It flickers. It dances on the wind. It changes with every breath of air. (Demonstrate this.) Fire is...

“The Magic Vase” was adapted from "The Magic Vase" as retold by Margaret Silf in One Hundred Wisdom Stories from Around the World, compiled by Margaret Silf (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2003), 41-42. Used by permission, all rights reserved. There was once a poor family who lived in a drab...

Several years ago, I spent an evening discussing Covenant Groups with members of a New England church who were interested in starting a small group ministry program....

In July 2003, I went on an eight-day spiritual retreat at a Benedictine monastery in Wisconsin. The night before I left Chicago to drive to the monastery, as preparation for the journey, I made a series of decisions about what kinds of clothes I would need while on this retreat. I was thorough. I...

Excerpted from the 2006 Berry Street Lecture. When I was seven or eight years old, I lived across the street from a little dog named Amy. Every afternoon after my school let out, Amy and I would play together for an hour. One of Amy's favorite games was a dancing game in which I held her two...

"Honey, those girls were being chased for at least half a mile once school got out," Ms. Myra recalled. I shook my head knowingly. We had just walked out of the subway station across the street from Boys and Girls High School and were listening to the owner of Cafe 258, one of our original safe...

The Highlander Research and Education Center is an 80-year-old popular education center in the mountains of East Tennessee, which serves as a catalyst for grassroots organizing and movement-building in Appalachia and the South....

Transgender individuals face much discrimination in the United States, in part because their struggles and their journeys are not well understood. In the spring of 2007, a public battle arose in Largo, Florida, around the struggle of one transgender person. Susan Stanton, then known as Steve, had...

Five people wearing blindfolds were once brought into a room in the middle of which stood an elephant. Each person was directed to a different part of the animal, and then all five were encouraged to explore and discover whatever they could.

A contemporary painter named Debora Jones-Buck has what many consider an unusual approach to her work. She prepares a canvas and then paints a picture on it. Then, when the paint has dried, she paints an entirely different image on top of it. And then another, and another. Eventually she puts the...