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

Taking It Home: Faith for the Journey

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.

Rabindranath Tagore

DURING TODAY'S WORKSHOP...

We discussed Dorothy's journey in The Wizard of Oz and its analogy to a spiritual quest. We asked ourselves how faith helps us on a spiritual quest and talked about various definitions of "faith." We read a poem about faith and prayer and wrote our own faith poems.

REFLECTION QUESTION:

How do you think faith relates to religion?

EXPLORE THE TOPICS FURTHER WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS...

  • Interview people in your congregation about their faith. A few possible questions you can ask are:
    • How do you define faith?
    • In what do you have faith?
    • How does being a part of a UU community relate to your faith?
    • Has your faith changed over your lifetime?
  • The survey will be most interesting if you interview a variety of people. Try to include different genders, ethnicities, ages, and theologies. Interview people who are new to the congregation and the elders who have been involved with the congregation for a long time. Interview children and other youth. Look for patterns in the answers. Share your findings with the members of your Poetry workshop, family, friends, and/or the congregation through an article in the newsletter.
  • Watch The Wizard of Oz with your family and/or friends and discuss Dorothy's journey. The movie is based on a series of books by Frank L. Baum. The books are more complex than the movie. Read the books and look for differences between the series and the movie. Are the differences significant?
  • Invite your family to share, through creating art, their own spiritual quest and the role faith played in that journey. Try including poetry, drawing, painting, and drama in your choices of art form.