As a boy growing up in England, John Murray dreaded Sundays.

His family, led by a stern father, rose at dawn each Sunday to spend the whole day praying and attending church. After church John’s father would quiz him on the sermon. If John couldn’t answer every question, his father would strike him with a cane, or box his ears.

Sunday was a time to sit and think about hell–a place where most people went after they died, and burned in flames forever and ever.

John’s parents believed in the Calvinist idea of God–that God decided whether a person would go to heaven or hell before that person was even born, and a person could do nothing to change this. Furthermore, only a certain few people were chosen to go to heaven. People thought that if you attended church a lot, and if you worked very hard, and if you were very good, and if you made a good living, it could mean that God had chosen you for heaven.That is why John’s father was so strict. John tried to please his father. At the age of six, he could read entire chapters of the Bible. He developed a talent for speaking and, as a teenager, he was often asked to preach in nearby churches.

When John was nineteen, he left for London and took a job at a cloth mill. But he was careful to attend church every evening and on Sunday, and he woke every morning at 4:00 to pray. He began to think that maybe he was one of the special few persons chosen by God to be saved. He started to feel and act superior to others.

Then one day in church John met Eliza, the most beautiful young woman he had ever seen. He immediately fell in love with her, and she with him. Soon after, John and Eliza married.

At this same time in London, a small group of people called Universalists were preaching ideas about God that were very different from the Calvinists. "John," said Eliza one day, "who are these Universalists?"

"I don’t know," he answered. "I hear they are evil and dangerous people."

"What do they believe?" asked Eliza.

"From what I hear; they believe some crazy idea that…well, that every person will go to heaven because God is so good!" said John.

"To tell you the truth, John." said Eliza,"I sometimes wonder myself why a truly good God would want millions of humans to go to hell, through no fault of their own. Besides, John, is anyone really completely good?"

John felt uneasy. It seemed wrong to question what he had been taught all his life.

"Let’s find out more," said Eliza.

John and Eliza learned about theUniversalist ideas about God. They spent several years carefully thinking through their beliefs. In the end, they chose Universalism.

Their friends were shocked and refused to be friends anymore. John and Eliza didn’t care. Universalism gave them hope in place of stern judgment. John discovered that he no longer looked down on people. He now cared deeply about others, rich and poor. He and Eliza made new friends, and to add to their happiness, they had a baby boy.

Then suddenly everything changed. Their baby died and Eliza became sick. John spent all their money and borrowed more to save her, but she died, also. John was thrown into debtors prison for owing money.

"I have come to pay your debts, John, and get you out of this place," said Eliza’s brother who came to John’s rescue. John replied, "My wife and my baby are dead. I don’t care whether I live or die. Just leave me."

But Eliza’s brother brought John home anyway. "Come on, John," said his friends. "Preach Universalism for us. We need you."

"I shall never preach again," John said,"but I know what I will do. I’m going to cross the ocean to America, and lose myself in the wilderness. I am done with the world."

In 1770, John sailed to America in the Hand in Hand. The ship was supposed to dock in New York City, but the captain miscalculated, and instead, the Hand in Hand got stuck on a sand bar off the coast of New Jersey. The captain asked John to go ashore to find fresh food and water for the crew.

John was glad to get off the ship and after walking some distance through the tall pines, he came to a clearing with a large house and, to his astonishment, a trim looking church made of rough sawed lumber. A tall farmer stood in front of the house cleaning fish.

"Welcome" called out the farmer. "My name is Thomas Potter."

"And I am John Murray, from the ship Hand in Hand."

"Yes," said Thomas, "I saw your ship in the bay, stuck on the sand bar, she is."

"May I buy your fish to take back to the ship’s crew?" asked John.

"You can have them for the taking, and gladly:’ answered Thomas,"and please come back to spend the night with my wife and me. I will tell you all about this little church and why it is here."

John gratefully carried the fish to the sailors, and then returned to Thomas’ home for the night.

"Come, my friend, sit in front of our fire, this chilly fall evening," said Thomas. "I’m so glad you have come. You may be the very person I’ve been waiting for."

John wondered,"Waiting for! What could he be talking about?".

Thomas explained. "You see, I grew up here in these woods. I never had a chance to read or write, but I always liked hearing the Bible read, and I’ve thought a lot about religion. Trouble is, my ideas are different from the ideas of the preachers who travel through these parts. I built this little church myself for all the traveling preachers to use. I ask them questions and talk to them, but they don’t know what to make of me and my ideas. I keep looking for a preacher of a very different stamp. I want a preacher who will teach about a loving God who saves all people, not just a chosen few."

Today, when I saw your ship in the bay, a voice inside me seemed to say, "There, Potter, in that ship may be the preacher you have been so long expecting."

John said quickly,"I am not a preacher."

"But," said Thomas Potter, leaning forward, "can you say that you have never preached?"

"I have preached," answered John slowly,"and I believe, as you do, in a loving God."

"I knew it! I knew it!" shouted Thomas."You are the preacher for whom I have waited for so long! You’ve got to preach in my church on Sunday!"

"No," replied John firmly. "I never want to preach again. Tomorrow, as soon as the wind changes, I will be on my way!"

After John went to bed, he couldn’t sleep. He thought to himself as he tossed and turned,"I just want to get away from everything…if I preach Universalism I know there will be trouble. Folks here in America mostly have Calvinist views, just as in England.Why start trouble for myself in a new country? But Thomas Potter has such faith in me. And he’s so kind. Oh, I wish I knew what to do.

By Saturday night the wind had still not changed, and John finally agreed to preach the next moming. Thomas Potter was overjoyed. He grabbed his coat and hat and ran for the door."I’m going to spread the word to all the neighbors! They can expect a sermon such as they have never heard before!"

And so, on Sunday morning September 30, 1770, Thomas Potter’s dream came true and the first Universalist sermon was delivered in America. At last he could hear a preacher who talked of love instead of punishment.

As for John Murray, after that Sunday he knew he wanted to preach. Just as he expected, there were people who were angry at him for preaching ideas so different from Calvinism. They spread lies about him and stoned him, but he stuck to his beliefs and, in 1779, organized the first Universalist church in America in Gloucester, Mass. After many years, he fell in love again and married. He and his wife, Judith, had a daughter.

And if you’re ever in Lanoka Harbor, New Jersey, the little church that waited so long is waiting for you to visit in Murray Grove.

Characters:
Siddhartha Guatama
Queen Maya
An elephant
A charioteer (Channa)
A sick man, an old man and a dead man (one person)
A monk
Siddhartha’s wife and child
A large tree
Mara, the evil spirit

Props:
an umbrella
a large tree
a belt with sword
paper flowers
cane
bathrobe

Scene 1: Buddha’s birth, 563 BCE in India
Characters: Queen Maya, elephant, Siddhartha
Props: paper flowers

One night Queen Maya had a wonderful dream in which an elephant with six tusks, carrying a lotus flower in its trunk, touched her right side. At that moment a child was miraculously conceived. When Queen Maya told her husband of this dream he called the Brahmins (or wise men) to interpret it. They predicted that a son would be born who would become either a great king or a great religious leader. His name would be Siddhartha, which means "he whose aim is accomplished." According to legend, Siddhartha later emerged as an infant from his mother’s right side, walked seven steps in the four directions of the compass and said, "No further births have I to endure, for this is my last body. Now shall I destroy and pluck out by the roots the sorrow that is caused by birth and death." According to tradition, it rained flowers at the time of Siddhartha’s birth.

Scene 2: Siddhartha grows up
Characters: Siddhartha
Props: umbrella

The King very much wanted Siddhartha to grow up to become a great king, not a religious leader. So he decided to give him everything he desired and protect him from all sorrows and trouble, so he would never want to leave the palace. The prince was never allowed to go alone outside the palace grounds. He never saw sick, injured, or old people, and he was never told of death. He learned all the arts of royalty: to shoot with a bow and arrow, drive a chariot. ride a horse. He wore silk clothes and always carried an umbrella over his head to protect him from the sun and dust. At age 16 he married a beautiful princess. In time they had a child and were very happy together.

Scene 3: The "Four Sights" that changed Siddhartha’s life
Characters: Siddhartha, Channa (charioteer), old man, monk
Props: cane, bathrobe

At age 29, Siddhartha called his faithful charioteer Channa to take him for a secret ride outside the palace grounds. As they drove through the city, Siddhartha saw three things he had never seen before. One was an old man lying on the road, groaning with pain. "What is the matter with this man?" he asked Channa. "He is sick and in pain," Channa answered. "But why should anyone have to suffer such pain?" Siddhartha asked. Channa shrugged his shoulders, "It is the way of life." And they traveled on. Soon they came to another man, all bent over and hobbling: along with a cane. "What is the matter with that man?" Siddhartha again asked. "He is old" answered Channa. "It is something that comes to all people who live a long time. Bodies become tired and weak." Finally, they came on a man in rags, Iying beside the road as if he were asleep. "What is wrong with this man?" asked Siddhartha. "He is dead," came the answer. "What does "dead" mean?" Channa answered, "I cannot tell you, but it happens to all people, rich or poor."

Later that same night, when Channa and Siddhartha returned to the city, they saw a man dressed in a yellow robe with a shaven head, begging for food. Siddhartha stopped the chariot and questioned the man, "I am a monk," he replied, "I have adopted a homeless life to win salvation. I search for the most blessed state in which suffering, old age, and death are unknown."

Scene 4: Siddhartha leaves the palace
Characters: Siddhartha, Channa, Siddhartha’s wife and child,
Props: belt with sword, bathrobe

Shocked, Siddhartha returned to the palace and thought about what he had seen. For the first time he was aware of suffering in life, and he felt he could no longer enjoy his own life of ease and riches. That very night Siddhartha decided to leave the palace. "If I were to live like one of these monks, perhaps I could learn the truth about suffering and how to end it." Silently kissing his wife and child goodbye. he asked Channa to drive him to the outskirts of the city. There he took off his jeweled sword and cut off his hair and beard. He took off his Princely clothes, put on the yellow robe of a monk, and told Channa to take his possessions back to his father.

Scene 5: Siddhartha’s wanderings
Characters: Siddhartha

For years Siddhartha wandered throughout northeast India, seeking holy men who taught him, among other things, techniques of meditation. He studied the teachings of Hinduism, the ancient religion of India. He was most interested in Samsara, or reincarnation, the idea that after death a person’s soul is born again in a new body. The common Hindu belief at the time was that only by leading a highly spiritual life (or several lives) could a person break the endless cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. Siddhartha was attracted by this idea and he adopted a life of extreme self-denial, not eating or sleeping and meditating constantly. For six years he stayed along the bank of the Nairanjana River, eating and drinking only enough to stay alive. He was determined to force himself to this highest state of being through self-denial. But over time he only became extremely weak.

Scene 6: Under the Bo Tree
Characters: Siddhartha, evil spirit Mara, Siddhartha’s wife and child
props: large tree

One day, Siddhartha realized that his years of denial had weakened his body to the point where he could not think clearly about the world or religion. So he started to eat normally again. Refreshed by food, he sat down under a fig tree (known to Buddhists as the Bo Tree, the Tree of Enlightenment) and entered a state of very deep meditation. Buddhist scriptures say that during this meditation an evil spirit, Mara, tempted Siddhartha with all sorts of pleasures to distract him. But he was not swayed. His deep meditation continued until he had recalled all of his previous rebirths (550 previous states of existence). He gained knowledge of his cycles of births and deaths, and was able to cast off the things that bound him to the world. He had attained enlightenment, "Nirvana," the end of suffering.

From that day on Siddhartha was known as the Buddha, "the enlightened one," or "the one who has found the light." The light that Buddha found was not the kind that you see with your eyes. It was an inward light that makes you feel peaceful and helps you to think more clearly. Tradition says that when Buddha reached Nirvana, he could have cast off his body and his existence. Instead he turned back to the world, determined to share his enlightenment with others so that all living things could end the cycles of their own rebirth and suffering.

During his lifetime Buddha institutionalized his teachings by forming Sangha, a community of monks and nuns who practiced the religion and taught it to others. Buddha’s wife and son joined him in the Sangha, as well as other relatives. Today members of the Sangha continue this tradition and provide an important link with the religion’s founder.

THE END

This story about the half-boy of Borneo is very, very old. It has been told by the people of the island of Borneo in the South Pacific for hundreds of years. How much is really true in the story and how much has been imagined as true is for readers today to think over and decide. Here is the story:

Long, long ago on the island of Borneo, in the village of Tambahillar, there once lived a boy who was the dread and worry of all who came in contact with him. This was because he was only a half-boy. Somehow, sometime, somewhere, he had lost his good half. Now he was merely his bad half, and the bad half was always doing bad tricks.

A woman in the village might be doing her washing in the shallow part of the river, pounding the clothes with a stick to get them clean. Half-Boy, who had only one hand and one leg, would hop by on his one leg and spatter mud all over her newly-washed clothes. Another woman might be spinning. Half-Boy would slip up behind her, and with his one hand, would tear the wool off the spinning wheel. A man might be picking fruit and Half-Boy would pelt him with coconuts.
When Half-Boy played games with the other boys, he always seemed to find a way to spoil their fun. The women of the village called Half-Boy a pest. The boys jeered at him behind his back and threw sticks at him and the men scolded him and chased him off their fields.

As Half-Boy grew older, he became more and more annoying to the other villagers. They were almost ready to drive him out of the village, and some even wanted to kill him. There was only one young woman of the village who felt sorry for him. She believed that he might change.

One day the young woman said to him, "You are only half a person. I am sorry to say you are only the bad half. Somewhere in the world is the other half of you—the good half. If you will go away and find your other half and then come back with it and let it live with you, I will marry you!"

Half-Boy was surprised; he could hardly believe what he had heard. He even hopped away as if he had not heard. But later he came back to the young woman and said, "You are the first person who has ever said a kind thing about me. I will do what you say. I will start tomorrow and I will never come back until I have found my good half and am a whole boy."

Next morning, with his spear in his belt, Half-Boy started off. But where could his other half be? He had not the slightest idea. The first day he hopped along for twenty miles, almost without stopping. At evening time he came to a village deep in the jungle. The people were all sitting about a big fire when Half-Boy hopped up and asked, "Is there a half-boy here? Is there one who has only one hand and does nothing but what is kind and good?"

The villagers shook their heads. "We heard once of a person like that," one of them said, pointing to the setting sun. "He is supposed to live two days journey from here."

Next morning Half-Boy started on his second journey. This time he hopped thirty miles before he found anyone. At last one evening he came to another village, beside a lake. Again he asked the same question, "Is there a half-boy here who has only one hand and does only good and kind things?" Everyone shook his head. They had heard of no such person.

Finally a stranger stepped up and said, "I saw a half-boy once in a village a day’s journey west. But I do not know whether he is good or bad, or whether he has only one hand. I only know he was a half-boy."

With that encouragement, Half-Boy started off again on his journey. This time he hopped forty miles. It took him several days. At last at evening time he came to the ocean and a little village on the shore. Even while he was quite far off from the village, a loud cry went up from the people.

"Another half-boy!" they shouted. "Another half-boy! This one has the opposite hand missing. Where is our own half-boy? We must find him right away. He must see his brother. While the people were still shouting and hurrying about excitedly, Half-Boy saw the other half-boy coming toward him. There could be no doubt whatever that he had at last found his other half. The two boys were the same size. They wore their hair done up the same way. One had only a right hand; the other, only a left hand. Each had a bracelet and an anklet to match the other’s. The only difference anyone could see between the two was in their eyes. The eye of the other was soft and warm and happy.
"Brother," said the bad half-boy, "I have come a long way to find you!"

"I am glad," said the other half-boy, "For I certainly would never have gone a long way to hunt you!"
"That may be true," said the bad half-boy, "but what are we going to do about it? Can we be joined together so as to make one whole boy again?"

As the two half-boys stood watching each other uneasily, the chief of the village came near. Taking each boy’s one had in his, he said, "The two of you must go off by yourselves into the bush and wrestle there. If necessary, you must wrestle for a day and a night or longer. As you wrestle, you will find yourselves growing together."

"It will be a short wrestle," said the bad half-boy. "I am strong and up to all sorts of tricks!"
"Don’t be boasting," said the good half-boy. "You may find a match in me, for I too am strong. I have a spirit in me, the spirit of the sunrise, which will help me."

The bad half-boy smiled. "I have a spirit in me that is more powerful than yours," he said, "It is the spirit of the night. It can blow out the fires of the sunrise."

So the two half-boys went alone into the jungle. When they had found a clearing, they grabbed each other. Back and forth they swung as they wrestled. All night long they struggled. At sunrise the good half was clearly the stronger, but they still wrestled on. By sunset time. when it began to be dark, the bad half had got the upper hand. But they were not ready to stop.

All the while in the village a heavy storm raged. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and rain flooded the land. The villagers said to one another, "Those two half-boys are not the only ones who are fighting. The stars are shooting their silver arrows at each other. Listen to the north and south winds. They are wrestling together in the palm trees."

Finally, the next morning at sunrise all was calm. The birds were singing. The wind went to sleep in the palm trees. And when the people of the village went forth from their huts, they looked out toward the jungle and behold! They saw a beautiful boy coming toward them. He held his head high and was looking in the direction of the rising sun.

The good half must have conquered!" said the chieftain of the village. "The two half-boys are now become one person."

The people shouted for gladness. They ran to the young man and asked him to come and live with them in their village. He shook his head. "No," he said, "I shall go back to the other village where my bad half has been living. I must find the maiden who believed in me, and marry her."

After thanking the chief of the village for the help he had given, the boy with two halves said good-bye to all the villagers. He started off again alone.

After some days he finally reached his own village, but his old neighbors did not recognize him. They thought he was a stranger! Only the one young woman who had believed in Half-Boy knew him at once, and she showed the others by what signs she knew him. "Our old half-boy accepted his good half," she said, "and the two together make a real person like the rest of us."

As his old neighbors looked and listened, they began to like the new boy. But the maiden loved him and the two were married that very day.

(This legend is found in New Found Tales From Many Lands by Joseph Burke Egan, published by John C. Winston Co., Philadelphia, 1929.)

Goal:
To learn about the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and how important freedom is to them, and to us.

Preparation: Read Background

Activities:
Read “A Free People” or find the following in your local library:
Festival of Freedom: The Story of Passover, re-told by Maida Silverman
The Four Questions, by Lynne Sharon Schwarts
Jewish Days and Holidays, by Greer Fay Cashman
Jewish Holiday Fun, by Judith Hoffman Corwin
Passover, A Season of Freedom, by Malka Drucker
A Picture Book of Passover, by David A. Adler

Goal:
To think about what it means to you to be a UU and to learn a simple way to remember the UU principles.

Materials:
• Story: Free to Believe
• Copies of We Believe Poster to color: markers, colored pencils, crayons etc. for coloring.
• Pony beads in a variety of colors
• Sculpting clay (Fimo or Sculpy) to make special beads representing each of the 7 principles
• Cord and needle for stringing
• Pattern and instructions for UU Fortune Teller

Background:
A rosary is a string of beads used in the Catholic tradition as an aid in prayer. Each bead represents a prayer or a creed. It was invented in early medieval times by a monk to help his people, who couldn’t read. They used it to help them remember their prayers. Prayer beads are common in many faiths.

Activities:
Color a We Believe poster, one for each child.
Make your own rosary to help you remember the 7 UU principles. You can use this list of single words to help you think of a symbol for each principle. Then, make a bead to represent that idea; the shape itself could be the symbol, or you could draw a symbol on it. Here are the words and symbols in Traditions With a Wink. Use your own creativity!

• Equality: a bead with an equal sign
• love: a heart bead
• growth: a flower
• search: a horizontal bead, or a bead with an arrow
• vote: a small square box bead (like a ballot box)
• peace: bead with a peace sign on it
• earth: an earth or blue and green colored bead

String your special beads on a cord, placing your favorite color pony bead between each “principle bead.” Tie the ends together. Practice saying the principle as you finger each bead in the circle of beads you have created.

Make a UU Principles Fortune Teller