EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER

Talk about what it means to observe carefully and why and how we each use a unique lens as we look at our world. What does it mean that each person sees things differently?

Try a family activity. Everyone gets a clean sock. Decorate the outer part of the sock with buttons, ribbon, and other materials found around the house. For the inside of your sock, write or draw on little pieces of paper your thoughts, wishes and dreams. Fold these and place them inside. You might like to fill each sock in a ceremonious way, with a candle-lighting to begin and words for each person's sock-filling such as:

Bless (family member), beloved inside and out.

Invite family members to share what they have written on the paper and talk about what it reveals.

Walk through your home together and examine your windows. Are they framed as decorations or "dressed" in a way that encourages people to look outward? Or walk outside. Do your windows invite looking in or are they closed to outside passers-by?

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  A variety of complex fine art images (see Leader Resource 3 (included in this document) )
  
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  Optional: To include a vision-impaired participant, tactile art objects, such as sculpture or fabric weaving
  
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  Optional: Tape or putty to post images on walls or attach to table surfaces
  

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  Print the images provided in Leader Resource 3, Photographic or Fine Arts Images or obtain other images you wish to use. Display the images on work tables or on walls.
  

Invite participants to examine each image and consider:

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  What do you notice about it?
  
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  What do you think it is a picture of?
  

Be mindful of vision-impaired participants. If any in the group have vision limitations, make sure objects can be observed in a tactile way and encourage all to observe by touch.

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  Large roll of brown paper, pencils and scissors (including left-handed scissors)
  
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  Markers in a variety of colors
  
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  Optional: Paints, paintbrushes, bowls for water, clean-up supplies
  
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  Optional: Arts and crafts materials such as stickers, colored paper, glue sticks, and magazines to cut up
  

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  Make sure you have enough floor space or work tables to accommodate all participants working on large self-portraits.
  
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  Cut sheets of paper large enough for the children to lie on while someone traces their bodies.
  
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  Gather the art materials.
  

Participants will create "inner" self-portraits of their dreams, hopes, wishes and feelings by writing and drawing on life-size outlines of themselves.

Give each child a large piece of paper. Have the group divide into pairs and take turns tracing the outlines of each other's bodies on the paper. Then, invite the children to create an inner self-portrait inside their body outlines. Suggest that they draw and write about their dreams, wishes, hopes, feelings, or goals. They might also include the people, animals, and things they most care about and love. Decide whether to ask the children to work in silence or to let them discuss the process as they work.

When portraits are completed or time is almost up, invite participants to describe their inner self-portraits to the group. Have each child who volunteers share without interruption or comment from others. Display the portraits in the room. Avoid praising or criticizing the content or execution of the self-portraits. Instead, affirm the variety and point out that our Unitarian Universalist faith community helps each of us know and express our true selves.

If accessibility issues will prevent any child from fully participating in this activity, skip the body outline and simply use 8 1/2 X 11-inch paper for the portraits.

Adapted from "Charles Darwin" in Stories in Faith: Exploring Our Unitarian Universalist Principles and Sources Through Wisdom Tales, by Gail Forsyth-Vail (Boston: Unitarian Universalist Association, 2007).

From the time he was a little boy, Charles Darwin was an explorer. He loved to roam the fields and hills near his home in Shrewsbury, England. He was fascinated by the movements of small animals and insects and knew each wildflower by name. He was curious about everything he saw and heard and touched, wondering at the lives of ants and butterflies, examining and collecting rocks, delighting in the grasses, trees, leaves, and flowers that provided homes for his very favorite creature—the beetle.

Curiosity about the world and the place of humans in it was a gift given to Charles by both his grandfathers. They were Unitarians and believed that human beings did not yet know all the answers to life's great questions. The clues were to be found in observing the world around them.

When Charles was eight, his mother died. Not long after, his father decided to send Charles away to school, where he might learn the things that young gentlemen in his day were expected to know: Greek, Latin, and ancient history. But Charles was more interested in the workings of an anthill or the mysteries found in a rock pile than he was in what was taught at school. At every opportunity he took long walks outdoors—watching, listening, and collecting. He delighted in figuring out how creatures behaved and how the natural world worked.

This wasn't at all what Charles's father had in mind. He was worried. What would young Charles do when he grew up? What kind of man would he be?

When Charles was fifteen, his father sent him to medical school to become a doctor like his father and grandfather. But he was not interested in medicine. Instead, he found people who would teach him all about different kinds of plants. He began to draw these plants in great detail, labeling all the parts, learning to tell one variety from another.

Two years later, Charles left medical school; it was clear that he didn't want to be a doctor. His father was furious and thought that the endless hours Charles spent outdoors were a waste of time. Determined that Charles would make something of himself, his father sent him to Cambridge University to become a minister.

Charles was not unhappy with that decision; in those days, ministers often did science experiments and observations in their spare time. Charles planned to find a small church in the countryside and spend most of his time observing and drawing plants, animals, rocks, and insects.

He was still very interested in collecting beetles. One day, Charles tore a piece of bark off a tree and saw two rare kinds of beetles. He had one in each hand when he saw a third that he wanted to add to his collection. He quickly popped one beetle into his mouth in order to grab the third—with very bad results. The beetle squirted something nasty-tasting and Charles was forced to spit it out.

At Cambridge, Charles discovered what his life's work would be and he began to call himself a naturalist.

Charles went on a journey around the world and as he traveled, he filled notebooks with drawings and notes. He stayed open to the curiosities of the natural world as they presented themselves: frogs, salamanders, armadillos, insects, and lots of fossils. When he returned to England five years later, he understood how plants and animals evolved from one form to another over the course of many, many thousands and millions of years.

Twenty-two years later Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species. Scientists, preachers, and teachers took notice, and so did the press. The boy collector with the gift of wonder, a spirit of adventure, and openness to new ideas had become the scientist whose theory responded to the "mystery of mysteries." Today, people still take notice and debate what Charles Darwin had to say.

WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: OPENING WORDS FOR BASKET

The authors of these readings have given approval for their use.

After downloading, add opening words alternatives commonly used in your congregation or other readings you like. Print them and cut so each reading is on a separate slip of paper.

We gather this hour as people of faith

With joys and sorrows, gifts and needs

We light this beacon of hope, sign of our quest

For truth and meaning,

In celebration of the life we share together.

— Christine Robinson, Reading 448, Singing the Living Tradition

Life is a gift for which we are grateful. We gather in community to celebrate the glories and the mysteries of this gift.

— Marjorie Montgomery, Reading 452, Singing the Living Tradition

May the light we now kindle

Inspire us to use our powers

To heal and not to harm,

To help and not to hinder,

To bless and not to curse,

To serve you,

Spirit of freedom.

— from a Jewish Passover Haggadah, Reading 453, Singing the Living Tradition

We are Unitarian Universalists

With minds that think (hands tap head lightly)

Hearts that love (hands tap heart lightly)

And hands that are ready to serve (hands outstretched).

— David Herndon (from Rejoice Together)

We light this chalice to celebrate the love within us, among us, and all around us.

— David Herndon (from Rejoice Together)

WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: NAMASTE

Adapted from an article on Wikipedia.

Namaste is a Sanskrit word that is a common spoken greeting in India and other South Asian countries. Literally, it means "I bow to you." When spoken to another person, it is commonly accompanied by a slight bow made with hands pressed together in front of the chest, palms touching and fingers pointed upward. The word and accompanying gesture express deep respect. The gesture can be performed wordlessly and carry the same meaning. Namaste is also used as a friendly greeting in written communication.

In everyday life, namaste is not necessarily a religious gesture. However, many consider it a spiritual one, recognizing a common divinity within the other person.

When greeting a peer, a namaste with the hands in front of the chest and a slight bow is considered polite. To indicate deep respect, one may place the hands in front of the forehead. Reverence for a god or the holiest of persons may be indicated by placing the hands together completely above the head. In the gesture of bringing both hands together with palms touching, one hand represents the higher, spiritual nature, while the other represents the worldly self. The person making the gesture is attempting to rise above their differences with others and connect with the other person to whom they bow. The bow is symbolic of love and respect.

In recent times, and more globally, the term namaste has come to be associated with yoga and spiritual meditation. In this context, it takes on a number of meanings tied to the spiritual origins of the word. It may be expressed as "I honor the Light/Spirit/Divine in you which is also in me," or "All that is best and highest in me greets/salutes all that is best and highest in you."

WINDOWS AND MIRRORS: SESSION 1:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: PHOTOGRAPHIC OR FINE ART IMAGES

Photographs "Beard" and "Light at the End" by Elizabeth Stidsen, from her website. Used with permission.

Beard

Light at the End

OPENING (5 MINUTES)

Materials for Activity

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  Chalice or LED/battery-operated candle
  
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  Large, round mirror to hold the chalice
  
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  Reflective materials, such as beads or pieces of stained glass
  
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  Newsprint, markers, and tape
  
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  Opening Words Basket and opening words (see Session 1, Leader Resource 1 (included in this document) )
  
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  Optional: A copy of the Unitarian Universalist hymn book, Singing the Living Tradition
  
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  Optional: Bell , chime or other sound instrument
  

Preparation for Activity

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  Set up the chalice on the mirror to enhance its reflection. The chalice may be filled with reflective materials, such as beads or pieces of stained glass, to represent the idea of light, reflection and mirrors.
  
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  Write the words to "Spirit of Life," Hymn 123 in Singing the Living Tradition, or another hymn you prefer to use, on newsprint, and post.
  
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  If needed, obtain a basket to hold slips of paper with alternate opening words. Download and adapt Session 1, Leader Resource 1, Opening Words. Print it and cut so that each reading is on a separate slip of paper. Place slips of paper in basket.
  

Description of Activity

This ritual welcoming reminds each participant of the relational nature of the group experience. Gather children in a circle near the table with the chalice. Invite children to take a deep breath and release it, to create a deep silence for a moment.

Ask a volunteer to choose a reading from the Opening Words Basket and read the selection aloud. As the words are read, invite another volunteer to light the chalice. Then, lead a greeting:

Now we will take a moment to greet the people next to us. If you are next to someone who is new to our group, offer a welcome, tell them your first and last name, and learn their name.

You may follow the chalice lighting with a hymn. Invite participants to sing a hymn or refrain commonly done in your congregation. This is a way to help children grow in their understanding of and belongingness to congregational life. Many congregations sing "Spirit of Life," Hymn 123 in Singing the Living Tradition. If you do not sing, use a bell to signal the group to still themselves for another moment of silence.

If you are extinguishing the chalice now, ask the child who lit the chalice to extinguish it. Ask the child who read the opening words to return the reading to the Opening Words Basket.

Directory: sites -> live-new.uua.org -> files
sites -> Glossary for Chapter 1 Algorithm
sites -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose
sites -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations
sites -> Physical custody of 1033 program property accountibility form statement of Physical Custody: By signing for the below 1033 property I am a Law Enforcement Officer of the aforementioned Law Enforcement Agency
sites -> Nstructions for Acquiring Excess Equipment online, through the 1033 Program
sites -> Memorandum of agreement
files -> By mark hicks gail forsyth-vail, developmental editor

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