The lessons with a bible theme aim to teach middle schoolers about our Unitarian Universalist approach to the Bible. In Unitarian Universalism, the bible is seen as a library, a collection of small books bound together. The word "Bible" is Greek for "books". The Bible is made up of 2 sections, sometimes called the Old Testament and the New Testament. We, as UU’s, want to honor the fact that the Jewish people do not refer to their sacred text as "Old Testament". Instead, we can refer to the 2 sections as the Jewish Scriptures, or Torah, and the Christian Scriptures.

We believe that the Bible is the result of many people and writing over centuries of time, a long time ago. These people were trying to answer some very important questions, such as "When did the world begin, and how?" "Where did people come from" and "What does it mean that men and women feel about each other the way they do?" Although some people believe that the Bible’s answers to these questions are the only right ones (and they often call the Bible "the Word of God" for that reason), UU’s believe that there is no one final answer. There is "truth" in the Bible, in the truth of the insights and stories that still speak to us today. There is beauty, and myth, and poetry, and compelling stories that are worth knowing.

We acknowledge that our world has changed, though, and these stories are the result of times that are very ancient. We must use our own experiences and think for ourselves as well.
      -paraphrased from "What to Tell Young People About Unitarian Universalism… a guide for adults to help in answering large questions simply." by Charles S. Giles.

" (William Ellery Channing’s) defense of Unitarianism was also a defense of the Bible and of religion. He recoiled against "the contemptuous manner in which human reason is often spoken of by our adversaries, because it leads, we believe, to universal skepticism." His words remain important even today, because fundamentalism of the right has its whiplash in fundamentalism of the left. When the true believer proclaims that the Bible is the unique word of God – to be accepted without question – the true unbeliever responds by dismissing scripture as a figment of demented imaginations.

A handful of Unitarian Universalists boast that in their church the only time the words "Jesus Christ" are uttered during worship is when their minister trips on the steps. Channing would have found them as unreasonable as those in this day who read their Bibles without thinking. To him the Bible was written not by God, but by inspired people, drawing from both history and experience, who sought to understand better the larger meaning of life and death. Fundamentalists may trivialize the Bible by excluding reason as the principal tool by which it may be understood, but this does not mean that reasonable reflections upon the stories and teachings contained therein cannot markedly advance our own humble search for meaning and for faith.

In addition to William Ellery Channing, another Bostonian who had something new to say about religion was Theodore Parker. In his great sermon, "The Transient and the Permanent in Christianity, " Parker offered a dynamic resolution for those of us who wish to mine the Bible for its wisdom without sacrificing our critical faculties. Much of what the Bible contains is time- bound, he argued, and therefore of marginal relevance to us today. But it also contains eternal truths, which we can mine without ever exhausting. "The solar system as it exists in fact is permanent", Parker wrote, "though the notions of Thales and Ptolemy, of Copernicus and Descartes, about this system, prove transient, imperfect approximations to the true expression. So the Christianity of Jesus is permanent, though what passes for Christianity with popes and catechisms, with sects and churches, in the first century or in the nineteenth century, prove transient also."

…ln the Bible, when religion is defined, its requirements entail concrete duties, not abstract theological formulations. "What does the Lord require of you," the prophet Micah asked, "but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." That is as abstract and theological as it gets. …Like many other Unitarian Universalists, I mine the Bible for that which inspires me to be a better person, more loving, more neighborly. It is rich in such material. But the Bible is not a single, sacrosanct book; it is a whole library of books representing the history, legends, laws, wisdom, and poetry of a people. And even these have been edited and re-edited over the centuries; some are of lesser intrinsic interest, more dated by historical context and theological circumstance, than others; some are dramatically uneven in spiritual quality, the most sublime sentiments coupled with theological and ethical barbarisms in the same text. Thus, in drawing inspiration from scriptural teachings as one of the sources of our faith, most Unitarian Universalists approach them more critically than do some orthodox Christians and Jews. Biblical literalists claim that the Bible is the transcript of God’s word; biblical humanists are more likely to look beyond the letter to the spirit- the spirit of neighborliness, of kinship, of love.

…Some Unitarian Universalists, who still suffer from a religious education based on teachings from the Bible that inspired fear rather than love in their hearts, have little desire to return to the Bible and reclaim its essential teachings as part of their own faith. Others, Unitarian Universalist Christians, center their faith and their devotions on the scriptures. But however we gauge the nature of the Bible’s authority, nearly all of us can embrace the principle of neighborliness at the heart of the Judeo-Christian tradition. From A Chosen Faith by Buehrens and Church, p. 131.

Passover and Easter are both celebrations which highlight the spring season. How do Unitarian Universalists respond to these deeply significant religious festivals? Some respond by turning with the secular culture to flowers, eggs, lambs and bunnies–all ancient symbols of the renewal of life, which is also a central message of Easter and Passover. The rich layers of human custom and belief come together now, and as we draw our living tradition from many sources, UUs may serve forth a generous slice that includes all those layers.

What follows, inspired by the Jewish Haggadah, or "telling" of the Passover story during the Seder meal, is an attempt to bring all the stories together in a celebration for UU families. The dialogue may take place around the dinner table where symbols of the season have been placed. The menu is of your choosing, with a glass of wine or juice for each person. The first question should be asked by the youngest person present and answered by the oldest person present. After that, you may take turns asking and answering in any order around the table. If you like, make copies of the dialogue available to everyone ahead of time, or simply pass this one copy from person to person for an impromptu reading.

First question: Why is this time of year different from other times?

First answer: This is the time when we remember that death is a natural part of life on earth and that all living things renew themselves over and over, year after year. This is the time when Passover and Easter are celebrated. It is the time of Easter bunnies and decorated eggs.

All: We lift our glasses in celebration of life everlasting!

Second question: What is the story of Passover?

Second answer: Long ago, the Hebrew people were slaves in the land of Egypt. Because the Pharaoh refused to free the slaves, Moses and Aaron and their god, Yahweh, brought one affliction after another to the Egyptians. Finally Yahweh passed through the land by night, bringing death to the firstborn son of every Egyptian family. So that the Hebrews would be spared, Yahweh told them to kill a lamb and mark their doorways with its blood. When Yahweh came to a door marked with the blood of the lamb, he would passover that house. The Hebrews were able to escape from Egypt, and after wandering for many years, finally came to a Promised Land of their own. At the time of Passover, Jewish people all over the world celebrate their freedom with a Seder dinner.

All: We lift our glasses in celebration of freedom from oppression!

Third question: What is the story of Easter?

Third answer: The Easter story happened many, many years after the Hebrews left Egypt. It is the story of a man named Jesus, a Jew who lived during the time of the Roman empire. Jesus brought new inspiration to his people. He talked about love and non-violence and respect for every person. Some of the Roman rulers were afraid he might start a rebellion, and some of the Jewish leaders were afraid he might change their religion. It was just after Jesus and his friends had celebrated a Passover Seder together that he was arrested and put to death on the cross. However, his teaching lived on, and today Christians all over the world celebrate Easter in his memory as a time of love and hope reborn.

All: We lift our glasses in celebration of love and hope reborn!

Fourth question: What is the story of the Easter bunny and colored eggs:

Fourth answer: This is the oldest story of all. Ancient people who lived in northern lands waited anxiously each year for spring to return.They saw the egg as a symbol of new life, and they noticed that rabbits had large and frequent families. They watched eagerly for the first green shoots of spring, which meant fresh food for their own families. Many people in all times and places have decorated eggs for spring celebrations. A roasted egg is one of the symbolic foods of Passover. Baby animals and flowers and green, growing things are also symbols of new life.

All: We lift our glasses in celebration of life everlasting!

This story is new. It was written for you.

Imagine a time long ago when things were just getting started. The first flowers were blooming; the first birds were building their nests high in the branches of sheltering trees; girls and boys, men and women setting up their first families and homes. These are the things that you might have seen if it wasn’t so dark. No one could see, because it was the first night, and the first day hadn’t happened yet.

The First People could hear the wind whining in the trees, and the birds twittering and whistling. It was so dark they couldn’t see anything, but the First People were too busy to worry about the dark. They were thinking about all the first things they would need to live beyond that first night. The First People were working so hard that they really didn’t care that they couldn’t see each other in the dark. As they spoke, they would turn their bodies toward sounds of voices that didn’t have faces.

When the sun finally rose on that first morning, the whole world looked like it was made of glass. [Show the cellophane wrap on the frame.] One by one the First People realized they still couldn’t see anything. Their faces and muscles and bones were all clear. Light passed straight through their bodies to the clear ground below. The sky was clear. The trees, birds, flowers, and rocks were all as clear as glass.

Finally, one of the First Children broke the silence. "I have eyes to see with," the child cried. "But there’s nothing to see" One of the adults tried to comfort the child, but the First People were all sad.

"What will we do?" one woman said. "Last night we planned to gather the tall grass that rustles in the breeze. We planned to bend and fold, and twist and tie that grass to make the first baskets. Then, we were going to go down to the river, which we hear moving past us, to collect baskets full of water, so all the First People could have a drink."

" Oh-hh-hh," moaned a thirsty man. "How will you find the grass if you can’t see it’ How will you know if you’ve made a tight basket if you can’t see your work? How will you find your way to the water and back?"

The First People were very creative and solved all these problems, one by one. Holding hands, they formed a human chain to make a trail to the tall grass. They took small, careful steps, never knowing when clear grass might give way to clear rocks or clear tree stumps. Once the human chain was finally in place, the person on the end felt carefully for one long, thick blade of grass, pulled it out of the ground and passed it to the next person, who passed it to the next, until the blade of grass reached the last person in line. [You could have the children close their eyes and pass a long blade of grass around the circle.]

After the grass had been plucked, several First People started weaving baskets, feeling their work with their fingers to find even the tiniest holes that would let water out. Finally they had a few baskets that could hold water. Once again all the First People formed a human chain and worked their way to the river. When a basket was passed to the last man in line, he dipped it carefully into the river he couldn’t see and pulled it up full of water. The First People breathed a sigh of relief when the man shouted, "It’s holding! It’s holding! And so it was that the First People shared their first drink of water.

The First People had been hard at work all day, and they’d only accomplished one thing–getting a drink! Although the First People had plenty to drink, they had nothing to eat, and they all went to sleep hungry.

When the sun came up again, nothing had changed, except the First People were more worried about how to take care of themselves in a world where nothing could be seen. As the day passed, the First Women and Men planned ways to collect food. A First Child who was playing found something hard–a rock, a crystal-clear rock. She tossed the rock up in the air and it twinkled in the sun. The child held it up for her mother to see. Stretching out her clear arm, with the clear rock in her clear hand, something happened. Stripes of something not-clear showed on her face and reflected on the ground below. [Demonstrate with a prism.]

When the girl’s mother saw the stripes of something not-clear, she called the others around. The First People were excited as they felt on the ground for more clear stones that would make those seven wonderful not-clear stripes. The girl’s mother decided to name the stripes. Pointing to each in turn she called out, "Red! Orange! Yellow! Green! Blue! Indigo! Violet! " The First People played with the stripes until the sun set.

On the third morning, a gentle rain fell. The First People set out their baskets to catch the rain and talked again about how to gather food. They almost didn’t notice when the rain stopped and the sun came out. Looking up, the First People saw above them the same not-clear stripes they had played with the day before: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. As the sun grew brighter, the stripes glowed stronger.

Suddenly one man said, "What if we take our baskets and form a line to the stripes? Can we bring the red, orange, and yellow home? Can we pass green and blue, indigo and violet down the line, and use the stripes to make our world not-clear?"

No one knew the answers, but everyone was willing to try. They formed a human chain so long it led straight to the stripes in the sky. At the head of the line was the woman who had named the stripes. She filled the baskets and passed them back down the line. As she turned with the last basket full of violet, the First People gasped. All the beautiful colors were dripping out of the baskets! But the groans soon turned to cheers, for when the very first drop fell to the earth, it colored a flower a brilliant shade of red. The next drop caught a bird’s wing in flight. The whole world came alive in shades of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Trees appeared, and blue and yellow mingled to color the grasses green.

The First People were so busy watching their world change that they almost forgot that they were still as clear as glass. Suddenly a man tossed his basket of indigo high over-head and ran down the line of First People to await the shower of color below. Others followed his lead. Soon all the First People were playing with the colors falling from the sky. They rolled in the green grass and hugged gray tree trunks. They chased orange butter- flies and marveled at purple flowers. All the colors were still quite wet, and a bit of each rubbed off on everybody. When the colors finally dried, the First People found that they were all different colors. Some were warm, dark brown like the earth. Others were the color of honey, or shades of rose and burnished bronze mingled together. Some were pink all over, and others were touched by the yellow of the sun and golden buttercups.

They were thankful for this blessing of color. Now they could see the color of ripe apples and the blush of juicy peaches, and gather good food to eat. They could see the river run, birds fly, and fish swim. They could walk with their heads held high, their eyes seeking the best path. And they could learn from everything they could see.

When they looked at each other and saw all the beautiful colors of the First People, they were especially happy, and never wanted to be in a world without color again.

“How come you won’t get me the latest video game?”

“Gimme, get me, I want it, I saw it on T. V.”

“Amanda gets double what I get as an allowance!”

“I’m the only one in my class whose parents are tightwads. Just because you think this simple lifestyle stuff is cool, doesn’t mean I want it!”

“We tried to share our value of a simple lifestyle with our children, but some resented never having what other kids had, and now they’re typical yuppies.”

“My husband and I can live happily on very little, but now that we have kids we want them to have the advantages of a good school system, a safe place to live, and enough money to handle medical emergencies. What’s responsible and what’s luxury?”

This “simple lifestyle” stuff can sound great in theory but be anything but simple in the very day living of it. In fact, it can cause guilt, conflict, resentment, and self-righteousness. So why don’t we just give it all up and enjoy the good life? Perhaps because we take seriously the motto “Live simply so that others can simply live.” Over the years, my husband and I have struggled with many of the above situations and offer the following snippets of wisdom as part of the ever evolving discussion on children, money, and values.

1. Simple lifestyles need not mean living in destitution, but we must never be so isolated from the poor that we fail to be touched by their pain.

For example, if our own neighborhood is not poor, can we find ways to come into face to face contact with people who have less than us.

2. People are more important than things.

If we have a choice between protecting a possession and protecting a relationship, the person comes first. For example, buying a house, car, etc., should not be at the expense of time needed for the family.

3. Start young.

It’s a lot easier to maintain a modest lifestyle if that’s how the children have grown up. For example, if the policy at the grocery store has always been no trinkets, it’s easier than backing off from these treats later.

4. Seek a balance.

If parents are perceived as scrooges, children may resent having a thrifty lifestyle forced upon them and rebel to the opposite extreme. An occasional splurge is good for the soul and can let your kids know you’re human. For example, although we don’t typically buy expensive brand-name clothes for our children, sometimes we’ve made an exception if it was a quality item, just to break our image as tightwads.

5. Hang around with people with values like yours.

One of the hardest things for a parent is the concern that their child will suffer by not having something important that their peers have. It’s easier to say “no” to a purchase when you can point out friends who have similar family standards.

6. What about Allowances?

A modest amount of regular spending money can help the child learn the value of money and have the power to get things the parents might think are frivolous. The child then learns his/her own lessons about what is worth buying without the parent preaching.

7. Gift-giving criteria.

Encourage the giving of gifts that are creative and may not cost money. The gift of one’s effort and time are thus highlighted. Although we have done a lot of coupons for services and craft projects, we also found out the hard way that it’s important to give at least one item that they can unwrap and might be considered a “heart’s desire.”

8. Reduce temptation.

Although children should learn how to say “no” to the consumerism of our society, sometimes it can be so overwhelming that it’s easier to just minimize the commercials seen by limiting TV, and not spend much time in stores.

9. Make the “green movement” an ally.

Although our kids sometimes think this “simple lifestyle stuff” is pretty square, they can get turned on by the environmental ideas of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Saving mother earth is attractive and in.

10. Favorite personal tip.

We instituted an annual clothing allowance once the kids got to an age that they contested the reasonable and thrifty clothes we bought for them. This took us out of the argument and let them decide whether to blow the whole year’s allowance on a couple pair of popular running shoes or rather to discover the joys of bargains and discount stores. What’s your best tip?

Source: Parenting for Peace and Justice Newsletter, Issue No. 65, December 1994