This session engages the children in exploring the roots of the day of worship and rest–Shabbat/Sabbath. The Bible (Genesis 1 and 2) says that God created day and night, earth and sky, the sun, moon and stars, trees and plants, birds and fishes, and all the wild and gentle animals that lived on earth. When all other creations were finished, God created man and woman and called them Adam and Eve. And on the seventh day of creation, God rested from all work, and all that was created rested, too. It was the first Shabbat,the first Sabbath. It was a very peaceful and holy time.

It is likely that the Sabbath was observed before the writing of the Genesis story in sixth century B.C.E. (Before the Common Era). In agricultural societies of that time, the seventh and final day of the week was observed as a day of rest. Since the formulation of the Genesis stories from oral tradition in the fifth century B.C,E., the origin of the Sabbath has been linked with the story of creation in which God rested on the seventh day. The Jewish Shabbat is observed each week on Friday night and all day Saturday–from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. Early Jewish Christians observed the Sabbath on Saturday, but Gentile Christianity gradually shifted the Sabbath to Sunday, honoring the day of Jesus’ resurrection.

This concept of the Sabbath is one of Judaism’s major contributions to the culture of the western world. Jews remember the Sabbath, and they are obeying the fourth of the Ten Commandments which says, "Six days shall you labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You shall not do any manner of work for the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." This concept is explored more fully in Session 23 on Shavuot.

This session uses the book The Creation by Steven Mitchell. Before the session, obtain a copy of it and familiarize yourself with the story.

To whom does the water belong?

There was once a drought in the country. The streams dried up and the wells went dry. There was no place for anybody to get water. The animals met to discuss the situation-the cow, the dog, the goat, the horse, the donkey, and all the others. They decided to ask God for help. Together they went to God and told him how bad things were.

God thought, then he said, "Don’t bother your heads. They don’t call me God for nothing. I will give you one well for everyone to use."

The animals thanked God. They told him he was very considerate. God said, "But you’ll have to take good care of my well. One of you will have to be caretaker. He will stay by the well at all times to see that no one abuses it or makes it dirty."

Mabouya, the ground lizard spoke up saying, "I will be the caretaker."

God looked at all the animals. He said at last, "Mabouya, the lizard, looks like the best caretaker. Therefore, I appoint him. He will be the watchman. The well is over there in the mango grove."

The animals went away. The lizard went directly to the well. When the other animals began to come back for water, Mabouya challenged them. First the cow came to drink. The lizard sang out in a deep voice:

"Who is it? Who is it?
Who is walking in my grove?"

The cow replied:

"It is I, the cow,
I am coming for water."

And the lizard called back:

"Go away! This is God’s grove,
And the well is dry."

So the cow went away and suffered from thirst.
Then the horse came and the lizard challenged him, saying:

‘Who is it? Who is it?
Who is walking in my grove?"

The horse answered:

"It is I, the horse,
I am coming for water."

And the lizard called back:

"Go away! This is God’s grove,
And the well is dry."

So the horse went away and he too suffered from thirst.
Each animal came to the well and the lizard challenged all of them in the same way, saying

:"Go away! This is God’s grove,
And the well is dry."

So the animals went away and suffered much because they had no water to drink.

When God saw all the suffering going on, he said, "I gave the animals a well to drink from, but they are all dying of thirst. What is the matter?" And he himself went to the well.When the lizard heard his footsteps, he called out:

"Who is it? Who is it?
Who is walking in my grove’?"

God answered:

"It is I, Papa God.
I am coming for water."

And the lizard said:

"Go away, Papa God.
The well is dry."

God was very angry. He said once more:

"It is I, Papa God.
I am coming for water."

And the lizard called back to him again:

"Go away, Papa God.
The well is dry."

God said no more to the lizard. He sent for the animals to come to the well. He said, "You came to me because you were thirsty and I gave you a well. I made Mabouya the caretaker. But he gave no thought to the suffering creatures all around him. If a man has a banana tree in his garden, it is his. If a man has a cotton tree in his garden, it is his. But if a man has a well in his garden, only the hole in the ground belongs to him. The water is God’s and belongs to all creatures. Because Mabouya, the lizard, became drunk with conceit, he is no longer the caretaker. Henceforth, he must drink his water from puddles wherever the rain falls. The new care-taker will be the frog. The frog will not say,’Go away, the well is dry.’ He will say,’This is God’s well; this is God’s well’."

So the animals drank at the well, while Mabouya, the lizard, went away from it and drank rain water wherever he could find it. The frog is now the caretaker. And all night he calls out:

"This is God’s well!
This is God’s well!
This is God’s well!"

And it is a saying among the people:

"The hole in the ground is yours,
The water is God’s."

(This story was taken from The Piece of Fire and Other Haitian Tales, 1964 by Harold Courlander. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, Inc., New York. Story came originally from West Africa.)

Goal:
To learn the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23, to put these prayers into your own words, and to consider the role of prayer in your life.

Preparation:
Read “Background for Teachers”
Make copies of “Bedtime Prayer Thoughts for UU Kids”
Make copies of “The Lord’s Prayer” and “Psalm 23”

Introduction:
Prayer as supplication (asking for something) can’t change lives, but prayer can change people and people can change lives. A prayer can be simply silence, it can be meditation, or it can be words spoken repeatedly. The two ancient prayers in this lesson are part of our culture and will be heard over and over in our lives. They can inspire us with their poetry and message. We keep them and interpret them in our own words for today.

Activities:
Bedtime Prayer Thoughts: Years ago, a UU minister suggested a bedtime prayer that includes one thing you are thankful for, one thing you are sorry for, and something you are hopeful for. Give one to each of your children to color or decorate and hang in his or her bedroom.

The Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23: Give everyone a copy of each of these prayers. Talk about what each line means. Then, ask everyone to write their own version of each line. Discuss what you wrote. If you want, you could decide on which version you like best, then decorate a nice copy of your family version to hang in your house.

Introduce the activity by saying: To help us think about who owns the earth, we’re going to make puppets and act out a story from West Africa. (Show West Africa on map, globe, or atlas.)

Getting ready for the play: There are many possible ways to do the play, depending on the ages and size of your group. Characters include a narrator (could be leader) and God, who have the largest speaking parts, and a lizard and frog with smaller parts. The remaining children can choose whichever puppet-animal they’d like to be.

Decorate puppets according to taste, assembling the parts and attaching them to the body sticks as shown. Youngest participants may color the body sticks and cut them out while older ones do the more complicated work. Some might create a well by rolling and coiling clay or play dough, or by coloring and decorating a small box.

Begin the play!

Narrator: There was once a drought in the country. The streams dried up, and the wells went dry. There was no place for anybody to get water. The animals met to talk it over–(list your animals). They decided to ask God for help. Together they went to God and told God how bad things were.
God: Hmmm. I’m thinking. But don’t worry. They don’t call me God for nothing. Hmmm. I will give you one well for everyone to use.

All animals: Thank you God. You are very kind.

God: You will have to take good care of the well. One of you will have to be caretaker. The caretaker will stay by the well at all times and see that no one makes it dirty. Hmmm. (God looks at all the animals.) The lizard looks like the best caretaker. Therefore I appoint the lizard to be caretaker.The well is over there in the grove.

Narrator: The animals went away. The lizard went straight to the well. Soon the animals began coming to the well. Lizard stopped them.

Lizard: (In a deep voice.) Who is it? Who is it? Who is walking in my grove?

1st animal: It is I, the _______. I am coming for water.

Lizard: Go away! This is my well, and the well is dry!

Narrator: So the ___________ went away thirsty. Then another animal came to the well.

Repeat until all the animals have asked for water.

Narrator: So the animals went away thirsty because they had no water to drink. God saw all the suffering going on.

God: I gave the animals a well to drink from, but they are all dying of thirst. What is the matter? I will go to the well and find out.

Lizard: Who is it? Who is it? Who is walking in my grove?

God: It is I, God. I am coming for water.

Lizard: Go away, God. The well is dry.

God: Lizard, you are making me angry. It is I, God. I am coming for water.

Lizard: I told you already. Go away, God. The well is dry.

Narrator: God said no more to the lizard. God sent for the animals to come to the well.

God: You came to me because you were thirsty and I gave you a well. I made Lizard the caretaker. But Lizard gave no thought to all the other animals. If a woman has a banana tree in her garden, it is hers. If a man has a cotton tree in his garden, it is his. But if a person has a well in the garden, only the hole in the ground belongs to the person. The water is God’s and belongs to all creatures.

Because the lizard abused the responsibility, the lizard is no longer caretaker. Henceforth Lizard must drink water from rain puddles. The new caretaker will be the frog. The frog will not say, "Go away, the well is dry." Frog will say, "This is God’s well. It belongs to everyone."

Narrator: So the animals drank at the well. The lizard went away and drank rain water wherever it could be found. The frog is now the caretaker. All night Frog calls out:

Frog: This is God’s well. It belongs to everyone. This is God’s well. It belongs to everyone.

Narrator: People have a saying: The hole in the ground is yours, the water is God’s.

Materials:
Copies of the People Puzzle. (best if copied on heavy paper or light paper glued on to cardboard) Cut the pieces apart and put all 4 pieces in an envelope.
Crayons, colored pencils, markers, and other art supplies like stickers, glitter, bits of ribbon, sequins, feathers etc.
Adhesive tape

Procedure:
Begin by making sure everyone understands that a puzzle is made up of many pieces of different sizes and shapes, and that when the pieces are put together, they make an interesting whole. Point out that a puzzle isn’t complete until all the pieces have been joined together.

Randomly give each person in the family a puzzle piece. (If you have more than 4 people, do more than one puzzle.) Have each person decorate the puzzle piece(s) however he or she chooses.

When all pieces are decorated, sit in a circle and hold up your piece. Say, “I’m looking for a piece that will join with this one.” Go around the circle until you find a piece that fits.

Before putting the pieces together, you and the person with the fitting piece must name 2 ways in which you are different (ie: hair, age, height, clothing etc.) and 2 ways you are the same (both have 10 fingers, both wearing shoes, etc.)

Next, the person with the fitting piece looks for a third piece to join with the first two. Again, the two players must name 2 ways in which they are different and 2 ways in which they are the same before they fit the pieces together. The person with the third piece then looks for the fourth and so on until all the pieces of the puzzle(s) have been completed.

Fasten the puzzle pieces together with adhesive tape. Arrange the pieces along a wall or window ledge so everyone can see them all. Talk about how each piece is different. Each is unique—like the people themselves. Yet, together they make interesting and beautiful puzzles. And together your family (or group) makes an interesting and beautiful group!

Conclude by saying something like:
"Each one of us is special and one-of-a-kind. No one is exactly like anyone else. Our differences make us interesting and unique. When we learn about our differences, and when we appreciate and value our differences, this helps us get along.”