NEARLY TWO THOUSAND years ago Jesus was born in Palestine far across the sea. Many wonder stories have been told about his birthday. This is the oldest of them all.

Mary, the young Jewish woman who became Jesus’ mother, was beautiful to look at, and a favorite among her neighbors. If someone had hunted the world over, it is believed that he could not have found a finer woman than Mary — one whose mind was so empty of ugly and mean thoughts and whose heart was so full of kindness for everyone.

Late one afternoon, as Mary sat in her garden dreaming of the time when she would become a mother, she thought she saw someone, unlike anyone she had ever seen before. He had flown like a bird with wings down into her garden and was standing before her. A light beamed about his face and his garments shone with the beautiful colors of the rainbow.

“Happy woman! Happy woman!” said the angel softly. He even called her by her name. “Mary,” he said, “You will soon have a child. He shall be a boy. You shall call his name Jesus. When he is grown he shall be a King. His kingdom shall never be destroyed or come to an end.”

When these soft words had been said, the shining angel disappeared, and Mary was left alone, trembling with wonder at this thing which was to happen to her.

Months passed by. The baby that rested in Mary’s body had grown almost, but not quite, large enough to be born. Just at this time an order came from the governor saying that Mary and Joseph, her husband, would have to go to the town of Bethlehem to take care of their taxes. This meant a journey of three or four days. Most of the time Mary could ride their little donkey. That would help, but Joseph would have to walk all the long way.

At last, late one evening, the hard journey was almost over. Mary and Joseph were nearing the town of Bethlehem. As they climbed the hill up to the town, they were happy in the thought that soon they would be able to wash their dusty hands and feet and lie down in a quiet room to sleep.

Without delay, they went to the well-known Bethlehem Inn and asked for a room. But the inn was already crowded with people. There was not a single empty room. Even the courtyard was jammed with camels, donkeys, bundles and a noisy crowd of people. Where could Mary and Joseph go? Joseph walked about exploring every nook and corner and asking from house to house. He knew that Mary was even more tired than he, and that she must have some place where she might lie down.

At last, he found a small place that was but half a room built against a hillside and open to the road. In it were two cows munching hay from the mangers in front of them. Could the travelers make use of this place and sleep with the animals? It would give them at least some cover and protection from the cold wind. They would try it.

So, Mary lighted a couple of small oil lamps and placed them in niches in the wall so that she and her husband might see what they were doing. With the flickering light from the tiny lamps, the young couple made beds of straw on the hard mud door. And tired as they could be, they lay down, covered themselves with a sheepskin blanket and tried to sleep.

Alongside them lay the cows, peacefully chewing the cud. Outside, high in the dark sky, thousands of bright stars beamed down upon them.

But the night was not far-gone when Mary was awakened. She knew the time had come for her baby to be born. Joseph arose and busied himself at once to make her as comfortable as possible. But where would he put the new baby when it came? There was no time to spare. Joseph was thinking fast. He looked at one of the cows’ mangers on the door near Mary’s bed. This would have to be the crib.

Joseph smoothed the hay still left in the manger. On top he spread out a soft piece of sheepskin for a blanket. When the new baby was born, Joseph wrapped it up and laid it gently in this manger crib. Before long the babe was sleeping snug and warm under the soft blanket, while Mary, his Mother, lay beside him, her heart brimful of peace.

THE VISIT OF THE SHEPHERDS

Now, that very night, in an open field out on a hillside a mile or so from the town, a few shepherds were sitting around a blazing fire. Some were sleeping while others kept sharp watch of every moving thing on the hillside lest a wolf or a bear sneak up in the dark and climb the wall into the sheepfold.

But it was not a wolf or a bear that surprised these shepherds that night. A shining angel suddenly flew down from the sky and lighted on the ground beside them. On seeing him, the shepherds screamed with fright.

“Be not afraid,” said the angel softly, “for I have come to bring you good news that will make glad all the peoples of the world. This night a child has been born in Bethlehem, who is going to be that great person you have all been hoping would some day free your nation and bring you peace. This child shall be your King.”

While the angel was still speaking to the shepherds, the sky began to glow with light. Instead of one angel, there appeared high in the sky many angels and all began singing together. The beautiful chorus seemed to fill the whole wide sky. And the words of the angels’ song sounded clear and strong.

“Glory to God in the highest! Glory to God in the highest!” the angels sang. “And on Earth peace and goodwill among men.”

As soon as the song was ended, the angels disappeared just as suddenly as they had come. The shepherds were once more left sitting alone in the darkness around the fire. Nothing else seemed important to them now except to go at once and see this thing that the angels had said had happened. The child must be somewhere in Bethlehem. They must find him.

Forgetting everything else–even their sheep and the wild beasts that might break into the fold–the shepherds hurried off to Bethlehem. Nor was it difficult, when once they were in the town, to find the little half-room on the hillside opening onto the road. Perhaps it was the flickering lights from the two small lamps that pointed the way. Perhaps it was the sight of Joseph moving about doing this and that for Mary and the babe. Perhaps it was the thin little cry of the newborn babe that gave them the hint.

But how surprised they were to find cows and the mother side by side and the baby lying in a manger crib! Could this really be the babe who would some day be a King! It seemed impossible, yet they felt it was true.

The shepherds told Joseph and Mary the whole story of what had happened to them as they were keeping watch over their sheep. The two listened and wondered at the things the shepherds said.

When at last the men were satisfied that they had really seen the wonder child, they left to go back to the hillside and to their sheep. When once outside the quiet, sleeping town, they sang their hearts out for joy.

Long after the shepherds had gone, Mary kept thinking again and again of the story they had told. Over and over she said to herself the words: “Peace on Earth and good will among men.” Would her little boy some day really make these things come true?

THE STAR IN THE SKY

In a country far off, three wise men were sitting together upon the roof of their house, looking up at the stars in the sky. Night after night for years, they had been studying the skies in this same way. Many of the stars were like old friends to them. These wise men knew all the stars that always stayed in clusters and they knew equally well those other stars (or planets, as we call them) that move more quickly and alone across the sky.

In times long ago it was thought to be very important to study the stars, because people believed that God put the stars in their places in the sky in order to tell people on the Earth about important things that were going to happen. If a new star appeared in the sky, one that the wise men had never seen before, they immediately thought that something new and important had just happened or was about to happen on the Earth.

That night, as these three wise men were sitting on the roof watching the sky, they saw a new bright star where they had never seen such a star before.

“What can this star mean?” they asked. “Something important has just happened somewhere on the Earth. What can it be? Where has it happened?”

“I know,” said one of the three wise men finally. “A child has been born who is going to be a very great and good man.”

“But who can the child be? And where has he been born?” The three wise men talked about it long into the night. At last they came to this conclusion. “The child who has been born is going to become the King of the Jews. He will be that greatest of all Kings for whom the Jews have long been hoping–the King who will bring peace everywhere.”

Now when once the men felt sure, their next thought was that they must go at once to Palestine and search for this child until they found him. That very night each one of the three men decided on the kind of present he would take to give to the new baby.

The next morning, they filled many bundles with food and supplies for a long journey. Toward evening; they saddled their camels, hoisted their bundles and themselves upon the camels’ backs and off they went, toward the west in the direction of the land of Palestine. It was no short or easy journey across miles of hot desert sands. During the heat of the daytime they set up a tent and rested under its shade. During the coolness of the night they rode forward with the bright stars to give them light.

Every night they watched for the special new star they had seen from their own rooftop. And every night the star came out, like a cheerful companion on their long and lonely journey. The strange thing about that star was that each night it seemed to move along just a little ahead of them as if it were pointing in the direction in which they should go. So the three men rode along on their camels, believing the star was leading them.

Finally, strange as it seems, when the men reached the town of Bethlehem, the star seemed to stop moving, and to hang still in the sky just over the little town. And, stranger still, the star seemed to hang directly over a certain house on a certain street. The three wise men believed they had found the right place, knocked on the door, and Joseph welcomed them in.

Immediately on seeing the little babe lying in his mother’s arms, the three men fell on their knees before them and began to thank God. One by one, each pulled from a bag hanging to his belt the gift, which he had brought. The first gave the baby a piece of gold. The second pulled out a package of incense that would make a sweet smell when it burned. And the third gave the babe some perfume. Mary and Joseph could scarcely believe what their eyes saw. They could not find the words they felt like saying. All they could do was to ask:

“Who are you? Where have you come from? Why are you doing these things?” Then Mary and Joseph heard the wonderful story of the new star that the men had seen in the sky and how it had guided them all the way to Bethlehem.

Although the strangers had much to tell, their visit seemed very short. Mary and Joseph were still in a daze as they stood in the doorway and watched the three men on their three camels pass down the street and out of sight.

When indoor and alone with their babe, the two could talk again. Did not the strangers know that Joseph was just a poor carpenter? And that Mary was only the daughter of a village farmer? How could their baby ever be a King?

This, then, is the old, old wonder tale about the birth of Jesus. What really happened no one can now know.

We do know, however, that this child of Mary and Joseph never became a King. Nor did he ever wish to be made a King. Jesus was a poor man by choice. When he was grown, he did not even have a home he could call his own. He was a teacher who traveled from town to town, teaching people how to live and what being good and doing right ought to mean.

Most of those who lived in that long-ago time have been forgotten, but Jesus is still remembered. Millions of people the world over still talk about Jesus. There are a great many people who even think about Jesus every single day. Stories that Jesus told almost two thousand years ago are still being told, both to grownups and to children. There are a great many people who think that Jesus was greater than any King who ever lived. They think Jesus was great and good–even as good as God. Jesus’ birthday is still celebrated. It is called Christmas Day, which means the birthday of the King.

Tell the children,"The Sabbath is a very old Jewish celebration. Long, long ago, when the Jewish people worked hard for many hours everyday planting in the fields and caring for their farm animals, the seventh day of the week was set aside so they could rest from their work and worship their god. For the Jews, the seventh day was their day of worship and they called it Shabbat. Do you know what day of the week Jewish people worship’" Pause for answers and comments.

Continue by saying, "Yes, the Jewish Shabbat began at sundown on Friday and ended at sun-down on Saturday. Today Jews celebrate Shabbat in many different ways. Some customs include setting the Friday evening Shabbat table in the home with the best dishes, with wine, with sweet braided bread called challot and with candle-sticks. A blessing, or special words, is spoken to mark this time as holy before the meal is eaten.On Shabbat morning, the family attends services in the synagogue. On Saturday evening a special blessing is said thanking God for the Sabbath and a new week has started.

"But others observe Sunday as their Sabbath,their day to rest and worship their god. Who are these people! What is their religion called?" Pause and invite responses.

Introduce the story, The Creation. Say, "Making the seventh day of the week a day of rest and worship comes from an old, old story of how the world was made. We think that when this story says a ‘day,’ it is really talking about a long period of time–maybe even thousands and thousands of years! This is the story."

Read the story, The Creation.

"What are we going to do?" Martin Luther King asked his friends. He was worried; it looked like they were going to fail in their mission. Martin Luther King was trying to lead the black people in Birmingham in a struggle to end segregation.

In King’s day, segregation meant that black people were not allowed to do the same things or go to the same places as white people: Black people couldn’t go to most amusement parks, swimming pools, parks, hotels, or restaurants.They had to go to different schools that weren’t as nice as the schools for white kids.They had to use separate drinking fountains, and they could get in big trouble for drinking out of fountains marked for white people. They weren’t allowed to use the same bathrooms; many times, there was no bathroom at all that they could use. They weren’t allowed to try on clothes before they bought them.

Black people didn’t think that was fair; there were white people who agreed with them. But in many, many places, especially in the southern part of the United States, segregation was the law–and if black people tried to go someplace they weren’t supposed to go, they could get arrested, beaten, and even killed.

Many thousands of people were working in the 1950s and 1960s to end segregation. But one spring, Martin Luther King was in one of the largest and strictest segregated cities in the south–Birmingham, Alabama. There he could find only a few people who would help. At night they would have big meetings at a church; they would talk about segregation and ways to change things. Four hundred people would show up for the meeting, but only thirty-five or so would volunteer to protest; and not all of these volunteers would show up the next day for the protest march. Those who did would gather downtown, parade through the streets, carry signs, chant, and sing, sending the message that segregation had to end.

You see, the people were very scared. The sherif in Birmingham was a man named Bull Conner. And black people didnt know what Bull Conner might do to them if he caught them protesting. Martin Luther King had already been in jail once, and others were afraid to follow him. Besides, they werent sure protesting would do any good.

So things were bad. Very bad. Martin Luther King had run out of ideas. He was about ready to give up. And then that night, at a meeting, something surprising happened. When King asked who would demonstrate with him and be ready to go to jail, if necessary, a whole group of people stood up, and everyone’s mouth dropped wide open. The people who had stood up were children. The adults told them to sit down. Martin Luther King thanked them and told them he appreciated their offer but that he couldn’t ask them to go to jail. But they wouldn’t sit down. They wanted to help.

That night, Martin Luther King talked with his friends. "What are we going to do?" he asked. "The only volunteers we got were children. We can’t have a protest with children." Everyone nodded, except Jim Bevel. "Wait a minute," said Jim. "If they want to do it, I say bring on the children." "But they are too young!" the others said. Then Jim asked, "Are they too young to go to segregated schools?" "No! "Are they too young to be kept out of amusement parks?" "No! "Are they too young to be refused a hamburger in a restaurant?" "No!" said the others. "Then they are not too young to want their freedom. That night, they decided that any child old enough to join a church was old enough to march.

The children heard about this decision and told their friends. When the time came for the march, there were a thousand children, teenagers, and college students. And the sheriff arrested them and put them in jail. The next day even more kids showed up-and some of their parents and relatives too–and even more the next day and the next day. Soon lots of adults joined in. Finally, a thousand children were in jail, and there was no more room for anyone else.

Sheriff Conner had done awful things to try to get the children and the other protesters to turn back. He had turned loose big police dogs and allowed them to bite people. He had turned on fire hoses that were so strong, the force of the water could strip the bark off trees. He had ordered the firemen to point the hoses at the little kids and roll them right down the street. People all over the country and all over the world saw the pictures of the dogs, the fire hoses,and the children, and they were furious.

Now the white people of Birmingham began to worry. All over the world people were saying bad things about their town. Even worse, everyone was afraid to go downtown to shop because of the fire hoses and the dogs. So they decided they might have to change things. A short time later, the black people and the white people of Birmingham made an agreement to desegregate the city and let everyone go to the same places.

Today, when people tell this story, many talk about Martin Luther King. But we should also remember the thousands of brave children and teenagers whose courage defeated Bull Conner and helped end segregation in Birmingham, Alabama and the rest of the United States.

Did you know that there are 43 famous American Unitarian Universalists and at least 4 Canadian UUs who are honored on postage stamps? In The UU Kids Book, by Brotman Marshfield, CLFer Marlene Powell learned about these stamps and decided to start her own collection. But she had an idea to make the collection even more interesting. On each page of her album Marlene wrote a paragraph or two describing the person on the stamp — what she or he believed in and did that made them famous. Here is an example from Marlene’s album.

There are several ways to start a collection. Each stamp ever issued has an official number. You can find the numbers for the famous UU stamps in the UU Kids Book or write me at CLF and I’ll send you the list. Once you know a stamp’s number you can order it from the Scott Catalogue,(usually found in libraries), or from a local dealer. Have fun!

Borrow the following Dr. Seuss books from your local library. Discuss UU values and principles as they appear in the stories.

Horton Hears a Who
Lesson/UU value: Every person counts, every person has the same rights. Cooperation gets things done.

Questions for discussion:
Did you ever have someone give you a hard time because you were smaller than that person?
Did you ever have to help someone who is smaller than you?
Have you ever accomplished something big because you cooperated with someone else?

The Sneetches
Lesson/UU value: Everyone is valuable; our differences are valuable. Be yourself. Don’t try to change to copy others—it won’t work.

Questions for discussion:
What made Star-Belly Sneetches better than Plain-Belly Sneetches? (Only their belief that it was so.)
Imagine a situation in which people think peole with curly hari are better than those with straight hair. How would you feel if you had straight hair? Would you really be different if you got a perm?
Is trying to look like other peole a good way to get along with them and make them like you?
What is a good way to be a friend? What do you like about your friends?

The Lorax
Lesson/UU value: We are all responsible for caring for the environment. We are part of an interdependent web of all existence.

Questions for discussion:
Why did the Lorax leave a pile of rocks with the world “Unless?” What can be done? What do you do to help take care of the world we live in?