The Ten Commandments
AFTER THE HEBREWS LEFT EGYPT, they traveled in the wilderness. It was a very hard trip, and they were hungry and discouraged by the time they camped, three months later, at the foot of Mount Sinai. Mountains were considered holy places then. So Moses went up on Mount Sinai to talk to God. God told Moses that the children of Israel would become a holy nation. When Moses reported to the people what God said, they replied, "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do,"
The next time Moses went up on the mountain, God told him to have the people devote themselves to goodness for two days. On the third day Moses was to come back on the mountain and God would appear.
On the third day there were thunder and lightning and a thick cloud on the mountain, God had come down to the mountaintop in fire and smoke, and the mountain shook violently. God called Moses to come to the top of the mountain, saying, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and the commandments, which I have written for their instruction." Moses set out with his assistant, Joshua, while the people waited at the foot of the mountain. Moses was on the cloud-covered mountain for six days before he heard from God. Moses remained with God for another forty days and forty nights. When God finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, God gave him the two tablets of commandments, two tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
While Moses was away, the people complained that they didn’t know what had happened to him. They wanted Aaron,Moses’ brother, to make a god they could worship. Aaron took all the gold in the camp and made a statue of a golden calf. When Moses returned, after forty-seven days, with the two stone tablets, he found the people dancing and worshiping the golden calf. Moses was so angry he threw the stone tablets from his hand and broke them at the foot of the mountain. This broke the covenant between the people and God. Then Moses took the calf they had made, burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on the water, and made the people drink it.
Some time later, after the people had shown that they repented, God forgave them. God said to Moses, "Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which you broke." God was willing to renew the covenant because the people were now willing to follow God’s commandments. This is what the ten commandments said:
I. I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me.
2 You shall not make for yourself an idol to worship.
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of God.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. You shall not kill.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor’s.
Bible Pictionary Background and Instructions
When I was growing up, the Bible was a big part of my religious indoctrination. I know my kids need to learn about the Bible it’s so much a part of the world. But getting back into it pushes so many of my buttons — it’s just too confusing. Sound familiar? The Bible is one of those "difficult topics" for many UU parents. We want our children to know the classic stories and famous quotes of the Bible but are unsure how to teach them and, in some cases, unsure why it is important. This hesitancy is understandable.
Many UUs who come from faith traditions in which the Bible is considered the "word of God" — the only religious authority — fear any Bible instruction as potential indoctrination. I have often found the old Universalist image of the Bible-as-a-gold-mine helpful in thinking about Bible study. As you dig for the gold, you find a lot of stuff you want to reject, some you want to save and decide about later, and some you know is the real thing.
We need to teach our children to be Bible gold-miners, for there is much in the Bible that speaks to our UU faith. After all, liberal religion evolved from traditional Christianity.
Many UU precepts and values are stated in the Bible. Knowing where and how to find these spiritual and religious gems reinforces the values and helps children converse intelligently in our Judeo/Christian-dominant culture. You can start introducing the Bible when your children are young by reading from either a children’s Bible or a collection of Bible stories.
Timeless Themes and The Life and Teachings of Jesus are two good sources to borrow from the CLF Loan Library. The UUA Bookstore carries several different illustrated children’s Bibles. But to really become "Bible literate," children need to be familiar with the real thing. Being naturally curious about where things come from, children enjoy using their reading skills to look things up in the Bible–especially if it’s made into a game. Here’s an idea from UU educator Virginia Steele called Bible Pictionary. This summer, add this game to your family’s repertoire. It’s a lively, fun way to learn famous Biblical quotations. Reading in greater depth may naturally follow. Here’s how to play.
Bible Pictionary Materials:
Bible Cards with Biblical quotes —cut from this page or make your own–placed in a basket or "grab bag"
Pencils, crayons or markers
Timer (optional)
Object: To get your teammates to guess within one minute the word you are drawing (or untimed if you prefer) and to then locate the Bible passage in which the word is found.
How to Play:
Divide your family into two teams. Taking turns, one person from each team picks a quote from the basket and tries to get his/her teammates to guess the key word (the one in capital letters) by drawing pictures.
After the keyword is identified, the drawer looks up the quote in the Bible and reads the whole passage aloud. (e.g.: BREAD "Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 5:24, is found in the book of Matthew, chapter 5, verse 24.)
Why do we celebrate Easter?
Goal: To experience, as a family, the Jewish Passover ritual of asking questions to gain a UU understanding of Easter.
Materials: “A Spring Haggadah,” by Joan Goodwin
Was Jesus really born on Christmas?
Goal:
To place the story of the birth of Jesus in the context of other legends surrounding religious figures. To understand the story as a conglomeration of several references in the Bible.
Preparation:
Make copies of “What to look for in Jesus’ birth stories.”
Read “Background for Teachers”
Gather Bibles
Introduction:
UUs can enjoy the birth legend of Jesus at Christmas time without worrying about whether it is true or not. We realize that such stories as this one and those about the births of other great prophets cannot be scientifically true, yet many of us like to hear them. Why? Because the stories remind us that these great and good people were admired and loved and honored long ago as well as now. They are myths that may not be true on the outside, but are true on the inside, in our hearts.
Activities:
Read “The Birth of Jesus,” “The Birth of Buddha,” and “The Birth of Confucius.” Discuss some of the similarities and differences in the birth stories (ie: the angel, the elephant and the unicorn all announce the births and the presence of music in the sky). Talk about how people with imagination, coming from different countries, paint ideas differently. Each one introduces symbols that are meaningful to them. Help your kids see myths not as untruths but as imaginative responses to religious questions.
Find the story of Jesus’ birth in the 4 gospels in the New Testament: Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Using the chart “What to look for in Jesus’ birth stories,” find the sources for each question in each of the 4 gospels. Notice similarities and differences. Which version are you most familiar with? You may also wish to see the Cheat Sheet.
What does it mean that “peace begins with me?”
Goal:
To develop awareness that there are things each of us can do to be peace makers in our world.
Materials:
Large poster board
Magazines for cutting out pictures
Blank paper and materials for drawing
Activity:
Make a Peace Poster
Procedures:
At the top of the poster write the words:
"Peace means taking care of ourselves, each other, and our earth”
Draw a circle in the middle of the poster board to represent the earth (color if you want). Then draw three lines out from the circle forming peace symbol on the poster board that divides it into thirds.
Write the words “OURSELVES,” “EACH OTHER,” and “OUR EARTH” around the edge of the circle in each of the three sections.
Using pictures (either photos or drawings) fill in each section with images of your family and friends, people taking care of each other, and people taking care of the earth.
Stress: Peacemaking begins with each individual—and that means you and me!
What does stereotype mean?
Goal:
To explore the concepts of prejudice and stereotyping and your family’s experience with them.
Definitions:
For this session define the terms as follows:
Prejudice: an unfavorable attitude toward or feeling about a person or group of people based on ignorance and/or misinformation.
Stereotype: a generalization about a group of people also based on ignorance and/or misinformation
Preparation:
Print the following statements on a large piece of paper:
All children are noisy.
I think people who wear glasses are dumb.
All African-Americans play basketball.
Everyone has a right to a free education.
No UUs believe in God.
I don’t like people who speak Spanish at home.
All old people are hard of hearing.
I don’t like people who are tall.
All adults are smart.
Activites:
Movement Game: Ask everyone to find a space in the room where they can stretch out their arms and legs without touching anything. Say something like: Our world is full of opposites like:wet—dry; little—big; hot—cold; old—young; night—day; short—tall; low—high. Can you think of more?
We’re going to play a game where we explore some of these pairs of opposites through the way we move our bodies. When I say a word, I want you to try it on like it was a piece of clothing. See how it fits you. The only rule is that you have to stay in one place, keep your feet where they are now all the time. We’ll start with huge. Let your body and your movements be as big as you can. (Pause for 5-10 seconds.) Now let your body and your movements get tiny, as small as you can. (Pause) Now let your body and your movements be all straight lines. (Pause) And now make curved lines. (Pause) Can you make your movements very loud? And now make them totally silent. Now, everyone explore moving like a boy. How do boys move? (Pause) Now switch and try moving like a girl. Now move like an old person. Now move like a teenager. Now move like a parent.
Did anyone make any discoveries while you were moving in different ways? (Be aware of movements that indicate prejudice or stereotyping about boys, girls, old people etc.)
True or False?
Read the list of statements you printed out above, ask your family to vote on whether they think the statement is true or false. When you’ve finished voting, discuss the statements with questions like:
What do most of these statements have in common?
How do statements like this make you feel?
Read the definitions of prejudice and stereotype. Then read each statement again and ask your family to say whether the statement is a statement of prejudice or a stereotype. (note that some are neither.)
Jewish & Christian Heritage for Adolescents (14-18)
All the questions within the Adolescence category for Jewish & Christian Heritage.
Why do we go to church on Christmas Eve?
& Long Ago and Many Lands by Sophia Fahs
Goal:
To know the traditional Christmas story of the birth of Jesus as a source of joy and wonder. Also, to gain a UU understanding of Christmas that “each night a child is born is a holy night.”
Preparation: Read Background
Activities:
1. Read: “The Story of the Birth of Jesus” or
“The Birth of Jesus”
2. Family albums: Get out family albums that show pictures of when your children were born, and when you were born, if you have them. Talk about your feelings on “the night” your child was born.
What is God?
Goal:
To introduce the idea that people find God in many different places.
Preparation: Read Background for “Hide and Seek with God”
Activities:
Introduce the story:
In our Unitarian Universalist church people have many different ideas about God. For some people God is what’s really real, for some God is what’s most important, and for some God is what’s most mysterious. But there are also some UUs who have ideas about what’s most real and most important and most mysterious but they don’t call those things God. They use other words, like Universe, Life, or Love. In our church we each decide for ourselves which words to use and what we believe.
The stories I’m going to read were written to help kids decide for themselves what they thing about God. Here’s the first one.
Discuss:
Would you want to play Hide and Seek with God? Would it be fun? Would it be scary?
If you were playing the game, where would you look? What do you think God might look like?
One girl found mysterious things but she wasn’t’ sure she wanted to call them God. Do you ever feel this way?
Draw a picture of what you think God looks like. Hide your pictures around the room and play “hot” and “cold” to find them – telling the finder they’re getting hotter if they’re getting closer to it and colder if they’re getting further away.
