Looking for The Truth
Do you know what most people like best about drinks like Coca Cola or Sprite? They like the bubbles and the fizz. And it was a Unitarian minister in England, Joseph Priestley, who experimented with gases in his laboratory and made th very first fitty drinks.
Messing Around
It’s hard to imagine a minister messing around in a science lab with chemicals. But that’s just what Priestley did back II in the mid-1700s. He was a curious person who asked lots of questions. He had questions about how things worked in the universe and he hiid questions about religion, too. To Priestley, the things that science taught us about the world and the things religion taught us about the world couldn’t be separated from each other. Priestley thought they were both important and he could see that both were always changing as human beings had new experiences and new ideas.
This was a very different way of thinking, especially for a minister. In fact, in those days it was against the law to believe things that were different from what the Church of England taught people about religion. The Church of England taught that Jesus was the son of God and that all human beings are born sinful. But Priestley liked to study things when he had questions about them. He wasn’t sure he believed that Jesus was the son of God so he studied the Bible. He decided that a person could believe that Jesus was a wonderful teacher without believing that he was the son of God who was sent to earth to save sinful people.
Joseph Priestley had lots of questions about animals and plants and gases, too. His questions led him to study and perform experiments that helped him to discover some important things about science that you learn in school today. He is considered the person who "discovered" oxygen.
Ask Questions
It was pretty hard to believe things that were different from what everybody else believed. The
Unitarian churches where Priestley found work as a minister were always small and poor and they were often attacked by people who were afraid of his ideas.
For a few years, Priestley left church work and started his own school. In Priestley’s school, students were taught to ask questions about everything and to work on their own ideas and experiments. His ideas about education, just like his ideas about religion, were very different from what was normal at the time. Although some people thought his teaching was very good, the school never made enough money to support his family, so it closed.
Looking for the Truth
Finally, in 1773, Priestley got a job as a librarian and family tutor for a very wealthy man, the Earl of Shelbourne. The Earl liked Priestley and gave him space and money to do his experiments. During his years with the Earl’s Family, Priestley wrote many books about air, electricity, and even about drawing! In his writing, he always told the whole story of his experiments — the mistakes he made, as well as his successes. Priestley was more interested in finding the truth, in both religion and science, than in proving his ideas were right.
Move to USA
When his job with the Earl ended, Priestley took another job as minister, this time in a church where people agreed with his religious ideas. He was very happy there for about ten years, but the fighting between the traditional church leaders and the new churches got worse until finally Priestley’s house, church, library, and science laboratory were burned to the ground by an angry mob. Priestley and his wife barely escaped. Shortly after that they moved to the United States where Priestley’s grown-up sons had already come to start a new community in Pennsylvania.
The Priestleys settled in the small town of Northumberland, about a five-day trip from Philadelphia. It took four years for Priestley to build his house, and it was even longer before he had a scientific laboratory to work in again. During those years, Priestley traveled several times to Philadelphia to help set up a Unitarian congregation. The church wanted him to be their minister but he always returned to Northumberland. And although he never took a job as a Unitarian minister in the United States, we remember him as a founder of Unitarianism in America because of his work with this church. Priestley spent the last years of his life doing experiments and writing about the history of Christianity. Science and religion were the two great interests in his life until he died in January, 1804 at the age of 70.
Sources: "A Bit of History: Joseph Priestley" by Bill Weston
(http://home.otd.net/-sirubin/uuscv/history.txt)
"Joseph Priestley: Motion Towards Perfection" by the Rev. Jane Rzepka
The UU Kids Book by Brotman-Marshfield
Psalm 23, A Psalm of David
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want;
Your version:
he makes me lie down in green pastures.
Your version:
He leads me beside still waters;
Your version:
he restores my soul.
Your version:
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Your version:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
Your version:
I fear no evil; for thou art with me;
Your version:
thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Your version:
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
Your version:
thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Your version:
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
Your version:
and I shall dwell in the house ofthe LORD forever.
Your version:
Amen .
Your version:
Is war ever right?
Goal: To consider two opposing points of view about war: 1. that fighting leads to less happiness in the end and 2. that war can lead to lasting peace.
Activities:
Read: Two Selfish Kings and Krishna, Champion of the Oppressed
Discuss:
How useful do you think Buddha’s advice was in Two Selfish Kings? Would it work today?
What makes land belong to a country or to a person?
Have you ever had little “wars” of your own? Think of some examples. How have some of these been settled? What are some consequences and results of quarrels and fights?
How do you think Krishna felt, knowing that his dharma (his social duty, his fate) committed him to a life of war and struggle, when he was not really a warlike person?
How did he try to live out his dharma? (By championing the cause of the weak and the right.)
Why did Arjuna believe that even if he won and destroyed the army of the evil king, his own sin would be greater than theirs? (Because he believed killing was a sin.) Krishna gave him a response that was based on the religious belief that the real life (soul) within each person cannot be killed; therefore, he should not mourn those he must kill in order to achieve peace. What do you think of this? Is this the kind of answer you would have given Arjuna? What would be yours?
Can you think of examples today where religion is used by political leaders to promote certain policies, including war, and forbid independent thinking?
Reflect on the soul-searching of Arjuna and the words of the suffering widow and mother. Do you think the peaceful years following the war could make these women forget their husbands and sons? Could the results of the war been achieved another way?
Debate:
Divide your family into two groups. Discuss among yourselves the pros and cons of proceeding with this war. Then conduct a mini-debate: state, in your own words, the arguments for proceeding with this war and the arguments against proceeding with this war.
Helping Children with Allowances and Savings
Children Saving Money
In Newale S. Godfrey’s book, Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children (Fireside Books, 1994), the author makes the following points:
Saving money is essentially a discipline that youngsters must be taught just like brushing their teeth or doing their homework. She offers a three-step process for teaching children how to save money.
We save money for three reasons: first, for protection in case of an emergency; second, for retirement; and third, to buy something we really want. For younger children, she suggests that you approach with the third reason(to save for something they really want to buy.
The principles for inspiring anyone to save money are the same for youngsters age six to sixteen:
1. Provide your children with the tools to save. They must have a source of money of their own to save.
2. Provide the proper environment where the children can safely keep the money saved. This can be a piggy bank or toy safe.
Monitor the activity and provide encouragement. Set attainable goals and then reward your children with praise for successfully saving the money.
Allowances: When and How Much
To learn about money management, youngsters must have real money on their own to manage. Rather than handing youngsters a sizable sum of money, or doling it out a dollar at a time, a weekly allowance gives children a source of income that they can learn to make decisions about.
It has been debated whether this weekly money should be tied to chores. Yes, yes, yes! In addition to using an allowance to teach money management, this weekly sum will also show your children the relationship between work (chores) and money (allowance), clearly an important concept. Not only will the children someday work for money, but earning an allowance will underscore the fact that you, the parent, work hard for your money, too.
Once you’ve decided that an allowance is a useful teaching tool and that your children are ready to begin “earning and learning,” then you need to formulate a starting “salary.” For my own two children, I started them on an allowance when they were 3 and 6 years old. I used an easy rule of thumb: their allowance was the same number of dollars as their age. I’ve continued to use this rule as they’ve grown.
Many people’s first reaction is that three dollars is a lot of money for a three-year-old. Let me explain what you and your youngsters will be doing with this money. There are three basic areas of money management we will be working on. I call it my S. O. S. system. Briefly, they are:
1. Savings. Some portion of the allowance needs to be allotted for both short-term savings, like for a special toy or outing, and long-term savings, such as for a bicycle or college fund.
2. Offerings. This is a small amount of money set aside for donation to charity or to the less fortunate. However small the sum, it is a valuable way for a parent to teach personal values through money by showing the children how to share their good fortune.
3. Spending. Depending on the budget you develop with your children, part of their spending money may go to cover specific expenses. It can range from lunch money or bus fare for young ones, to total management of a year’s clothing budget for more sophisticated teenagers. At any age, however, there needs to be some money that is the children’s discretionary fund to spend as they wish (with whatever limitations you set—for example, no drugs).
I believe in assigning specific chores that each child does weekly to earn the allowance. In my household, we have two kinds of chores: personal maintenance (like keeping one’s bedroom free from fire hazards) and general household chores (such as setting the table or dusting the living room furniture). Payment of the allowance is based on the latter. Each child has specific chores that must be completed each week before the allowance is paid . . .
Here is where children should be in terms of financial independence at different ages:
Ages 3–9: Allowance
Ages 10–15: Allowance supplemented by outside jobs (baby-sitting, yard work, etc.).
Ages 16 and up: Teenagers’ outside jobs cover expenses like dating and gas. All basic necessities are funded by parents in an account the teenagers control.
Additionally, a parent should have certain odd jobs available to the youngster who wants to supplement their allowance the same way some employers offer overtime pay. Make a list of the not-urgent jobs you need done with the “overtime” fee you would pay, and post it on the refrigerator. Then, when your offspring asks for a second pair of designer sneakers or money to go ice skating with friends, refer to the list.
Source: Parenting for Peace and Justice Newsletter, Issue Number 65, December 1994
What happens when you die?
& Long Ago and Many Lands by Sopia Fahs
Goal: 1) To consider the idea that the spirit of God is with people throughout their lives, including when they die; and 2) To hear an ancient story that explains life and death and to talk about the reality of death.
Activities:
1) Make collage:
Preparation:
1. Read Background for The Spirit of God Is There When Someone Dies
2. Cut out a large circle (24” in diameter) from posterboard or heavy craft paper.
3. Draw an inner circle about 8” in diameter.
4. Cut out several circles 3” in diameter from light-colored construction paper.
5. Gather magazines with pictures of people of all ages, scissors, and glue.
Begin by going through the magazines you collected and cut out pictures of people of all ages from babies to elderly. Make piles by approximate ages: babies, children, teenagers, adults, elders.
Place pictures on the outer edge of the large circle you cut out: start with babies, then progress around the circle with people getting progressively older, ending with the eldest beside the babies. Glue the pictures in place.
Read: “The Spirit of God Is There When Someone Dies.”
Discuss: The story said that the spirit of God was with the woman in her dying. What do you think happens when a person or an animal dies?
Service of Remembering:
Ask everyone to think of names of people or pets who they would like to remember and to write each names on one of the colored construction paper circles. Attach them to the inner ring of the large paper circle. As each small circle is placed on the larger one, ask everyone to join you in saying the following:
“We remember_______________. The spirit of God is with him (or her).
End the service by saying “The spirit of God is there when we remember loved ones who have died.”
2) Tell a Story
Introduce the story by telling the children that this story was told nearly two thousand years ago. It is a story from India (show on a map). Back then there were people who wondered and puzzled over the same questions the children were thinking about, and a certain man named Kassapa (Kas-sa’-pa) tried to put his ideas into a story.
Read: “A Musician and His Trumpet.”
Discuss:
If you have had a pet die, ask your children how they felt when the pet died? What was different about you pet after it had died?
How would you say, in your own words, what Kassapa meant to say about what happens when a person’s body dies?
The Mystery of God
One time when the children were playing "Hide and Seek with God" one of them found God hiding in the wind and another found God hiding in some beautiful music and several found God hiding in people who were building a house for people with no home but the game was over they began to want something different. One of the children said, "We find God in all these different places but I don’t want to see just a part of God. I want to see all of God, all at once!" The other children agreed, and they called to God saying, "God, the next time you hide and we find you we want to find all of you, all at once. We want to see everything."
Surprised to hear their request, God said to them, "That is not as easy as you might think. Let me think about it for a little while." So God thought, "They don’t know yet that even though they can know some things about me, they can never know all of me, all at once. Why, even I don’t know all of me, all at once. Sometimes, I even surprise myself. How can I help them to understand this?" and God, thought and thought some more.
After a while God got an idea and then called to the children saying, "All right, I will hide again and this time when you find me, you will find all of me, all at once but be prepared for a surprise!" The children jumped up and down they were so excited. One said, "I think God will be something like the sky at night, with all kinds of shining lights." And another said, "I think God will be like the earth with everything growing out of it." And a third child said, "Maybe God will be like a person you can talk to." But one child reminded them, "Don’t forget God said, Be prepared for a surprise so maybe God won’t be like any of those things."
The God said, "I’m ready to hide now. Close your eyes and count to ten." So the children did and then they went to seek God, this time staying together. They looked and looked but didn’t find anything for quite a while, until finally they discovered a box all wrapped up like a present. They looked at each other and said, "Could this be God?" "Should we open it?" and finally they agreed that they should. Very carefully they took off the ribbon, and very carefully they removed the paper and then very carefully they opened the box and peeked inside.
What they saw did surprise them! It looked like lots and lots of puzzle pieces. Then they heard God say, "Put me together and then you will see all of me, all at once." So the children began to work and everyone helped. There was a piece that was a loving heart and they started with that. Next to it fitted a piece that was a peaceful, quiet feeling and next to that fitted a family sharing with others. Once they got the first pieces going, it became easier and they began to work faster. They found where the new growth of spring went and where a powerful thunder storm went. And they did find a person and the sky and the earth though they were only parts. They worked and worked, putting in more and more of the pieces until they had put in a great number of the pieces. Then they looked to see what pieces they had left and they were really surprised. The pieces that were left were empty. They fit in but they weren’t anything.
Then they said to God, "Is this truly all of you, all at once?" and God said, "Yes." But one child said, "But there are some pieces where we still don’t see you." "That’s true," said God. "Those pieces are where my mystery is." "Your mystery?" the children replied. ”You see," God said, "There is much of me that you can see but there is always a part of me that is a mystery. That is where my wonders and surprises come from." The children stood quietly for a few min, looking at the finished puzzle, with the places in it where the mystery was and they knew that they knew something wonderful.
Then they said to God, "Okay, I guess we’re ready to play Hide and Seek again, the old way. Will you go hide for us?" "Off I go!" said God and they knew that they were going to be surprised once again.
In-HEREnt Worth Game
From We Believe by Ann Fields and Joan Goodwin (UUA)
Goal:
To build self-esteem and recognize their own inherent worth
Materials:
1 game board (needs assembly) – Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4
playing pieces (need to personalize)
Life cards – Page 1, Page 2, Page 3
Basic cards (more on Life card & button pages)
In-Herent worth "buttons" (can be attached to clothing with sticky tape)
1 die
Preparation:
Everyone makes a playing piece by cutting out a strip with an outlined figure and drawing or coloring in features, then rolling and taping the strip so that the figure will stand up.
Cut out cards and place on game board where indicated. "In-HEREnt Worth Buttons" should be concealed until game ends.
How To Play:
The player or team with the most Experience Points wins. Eperience Points are won by landing on a Life space, drawing an age-appropriate Life card and discussing.
Leader beings game by having players palce their playing pieces at the School space, the Movies, or the Pizza space. It’s their choice!
1) Oldest player begins by rolling the die, taking the top Basic card, reading it aloud for discussion. (Leader’s Note: discussion is the real goal of the game, so get players involved. Ask questions like, "If this were you would it mean you were worth more or less as a person? Do you know anyone described by the card? Does this affect inherent worth?" Of course, the answer in all cases is a resounding "No!" Encourage a resounding response.)
2) Player then moves the number of spaces on the die. Players may move in any one direction, forward or backword. Younger players may be helped or may move forward only. Players will want to land where they can draw the most Life cards (to win Experience Points): when they land on Park or Mall, they get to draw two Life cards; on Life, only one.
3) When a player lands on a Life, Park, or Mall space, the player immediately draws a Life card (or cards) appropriate to his/her age. Read and discuss. (A discussion of feelings is appropriate. "If this were you, how would you feel? What might others think of you? Does this affect your inherent worth?") After discussion, the player gets one Experience Point for each Life card discussed. (Leader may wish to keep track of Experience scares — or players can keep their own scores.) The turn ends. Player to his/her right takes the next turn.
4) If player lands on a Go (Back) To space, s/he proceeds immediately to the space indicated and the turn ends, unless it is to the Park or the Mall where the player then draws two Life cards.
5) The game can continue indefinately. Shuffle and reuse cards as necessary.
6) When time is up, players check their scores. The player with the most Experience Points wins an In-HEREnt Worth Button. "Does winning or losing affect your inerent worth?" A resounding "NO!" So everyone gets a button.
Who was Muhammad?
Goal:
To learn about the life of Muhammad
Activities:
Read or enact the skit “The Story of Muhammad.”
Are All Churches the Same?
Goals:
To become aware of how houses of worship differ in appearance
To understand the similar purpose of different religious communities
Materials for making your own church:
Large corrugated cardboard boxes, such as TV or appliance cartons and several sheets of corrugated cardboard
Several shoeboxes
Carpet squares, cloth scraps
Colored cellophane or tissue paper
Construction paper, poster paint, markers
Activities:
• Do an internet search of pictures of different places of worship: churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques; some links to try: Sacred Sites, AlltheWeb Picture Search (click on "Pictures" to start), Historic American Buildings search, UU architect, Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings
• Drive around your town, city or county and take pictures of all the houses of worship you find. Make a poster of your photos.
• Play “I spy” when you’re driving around town, or on a long trip. Who can find the most houses of worship?
Discussion Questions:
How were the places of worship you saw different?
Was there something about them that helped you know what they were?
Did you have a favorite building?
Was there anything about any of the buildings that you really liked?
Discuss what happens inside a house of worship and how these activities are similar despite the differences in the buildings.
Project:
What would a church building look like if you could make it? List ideas. Encourage kids’ thinking with questions like: What kind of outside would it have? Bricks? Shingles? Glass? Would it have a steeple? A bell? Would there be stained-glass windows? Clear ones? None at all? What would the front door look like? Dark? Bright? Painted?
Using the boxes and other materials you have collected, construct a church building. Insofar as possible, incorporate the features mentioned in your discussion. Begin by turning the cardboard carton on its side, so that the top becomes a set of doors. Attach two other sheets of cardboard to form a roof. Use small boxes to make a steeple if the children want one. Draw windows with black markers and fill in with colored markers to make a stained glass effect. Or cut flaps in the cardboard so they can be opened. Tape scraps of material inside for drapes or curtains. Paint the outside of the box to resemble painted clapboard, or draw bricks on it with markers. Paint the doors. Put carpet samples or bright colored construction papers inside for floor covering. Let imagination and the resources you’ve collected be the only limits to your creativity!
Words and Motions for Chalice Lighting
We come together (Bring hands together and clasp them in front of you.) To remind ourselves (Touch your index and middle fingers to your temple.) To treat all people kindly (Spread arms wide, encircling.) Because they are our brothers and sisters, (Fold your arms across your chest, in a hug.) To take good care of the earth, (Raise your arms above your head, in a circle.) Because it is our home, (Fold your arms, holding your elbows, and motion as though rocking a baby.) To live lives full of goodness and love, (Put both hands over your heart.) Because that is how we will make our world (Raise your arms above your head, in a circle.) The best place it can be. (Clap your hands quietly.)
