Tapestry of Faith: Exploring Our Values Through Poetry: A Program for High School Youth

Alternate Activity 3: Reconciliation

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Journals and pens or pencils
  • Stationery

Description of Activity

Participants write poems or letters to people in their lives who seem quite different from themselves and with whom they have had difficult relationships.

Make sure each participant has pen or pencil, her/his journal, and a private, comfortable place to sit and write.

Direct participants to close their eyes and think about particular people they have encountered in their lives who seem to be very different from them and with whom they have had extreme conflict or misunderstanding. After a minute or two, have participants open their eyes and write in their journals the names of the people who came to mind.

Give the group this instruction, and allow time for writing:

Write a poem or a letter in which you address someone you have had a difficult time with in your life. The theme of your poem or letter should be how you and this person are "the same inside.

Make stationery available.