Flaming chalice basic lesson



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Connie Dunn Version

HOW KINDNESS LEADS TO GREAT JOY (BUDDHIST)
Opening Circle
Light the chalice using the hand-motions:
We light this chalice to celebrate

Unitarian Universalism

This is the church of open minds

This is the church of loving hearts

This is the church of helping hands
Do introductions and joys & concerns with a talking object of some kind.
Pass around the collection jug, reminding participants that any money collected will go to the organization chosen by the children to receive donations this program year.
Say something like this:
This classroom is a special place. While we are here, we treat each other with respect and care. That’s because each of us is important, and when we are together we can learn and grow.
You can show respect and care right now by getting yourself ready to listen to the story for today. That means sitting as quietly as you can, with your legs folded. If you would like a pipe-cleaner to use to busy your hands to help your ears listen, you may take one.


How Kindness Leads to Great Joy

from How the Children Became Stars by Aaron Zerah

Traditional Buddhist story

Adapted by Vicki Merriam


Materials:


  • Red underlay

  • pictures of:

    • town with people

    • single house

    • Brahmin

    • Calf

    • bags of food

    • large ox

    • loaded carts

    • merchant

    • 2 bags of silver pieces

    • stick


Presentation:
Words for you to say are in italics; actions are in plain type.
Spread underlay.
I wonder where this story takes place?
Place picture of town at top, far right of underlay.
I wonder who lives here?
Place picture of single house at far left of underlay.
In the land of Gandhara in India, there lived a good and noble man, a Brahmin.
Place picture of Brahmin at left of underlay next to single house.
He was given a gift of a young ox-calf and was so happy with the ox that he named him Great Joy.
Place picture of calf next to Brahmin.
He treated the young ox with kindness, feeding him rice and other special foods.
Place picture of bags of food in front of calf.
Great Joy grew and grew, until he was very, very big and very, very strong.
Remove picture of calf and replace with large ox.
One day Great Joy said to himself, “The Brahmin has been so loving and kind to me and I have grown to be the strongest, most powerful bull in all the land. Now I want to do something for him.” So Great Joy leaned over to the Brahmin and said, “Kind sir, I know a way I can repay you for your goodness to me. Please listen.” And Great Joy told the Brahmin his plan.
Move ox close to Brahmin as though whispering to him.
Great Joy told the Brahmin to go to town and say to the merchants there, “My ox, Great Joy, is so strong that he can pull a hundred carts filled with sand, gravel, and stones.”
Move Brahmin to town. Place picture of carts beneath town.
One rich merchant answered, “That is impossible!”
Place merchant near carts.
The Brahmin said, “I will bet you one thousand pieces of silver that he can do it.”
The merchant agreed to the bet.
Place one bag of silver pieces next to merchant.
So the next day the Brahmin brought Great Joy to town and hooked him up to the one hundred carts filled with heavy sand, gravel, and rocks. The whole town turned out to see what would happen.
Place ox in front of carts as though attached
The Brahmin climbed into the seat right behind Great Joy. He started waving his driving stick and shouted at the top of his voice, “Now you beast pull with all your strength!” And then the Brahmin hit the ox with the stick.
Place Brahmin in front of ox. Place stick in his hand.
Great Joy was very surprised at the Brahmin’s actions. “Beast! What kind of name do you call me? And you hit me with your stick!” Great Joy thought, and he refused to move. The Brahmin yelled and hit Great Joy some more, but he still refused to move.
Make actions as though Brahmin is yelling and hitting ox with stick.
Everybody laughed and made fun of the Brahmin and his ox. Finally, the Brahmin had to pay the merchant the one thousand pieces of silver.
Move merchant with bag of silver behind town.
Then he unhooked Great Joy from the one hundred carts and took him home.
Move Brahmin and ox back to their house. Leave carts and stick in place.
The Brahmin was heartbroken and crying. Great Joy went to the Brahmin and asked him, “Why are you crying my friend?”
How can you ask me that question?” the Brahmin wailed. “You know I have lost all my money today. Everyone in town is laughing at me, and it’s all because of you.”
Move ox up close to Brahmin.
Dear Brahmin,” said the ox, “in all my days living with you, have I ever tramped through your garden? Or broken a plow? Or stepped on your children’s feet?”
No,” answered the Brahmin. “In truth, you have never done any harm to me.”
Then why did you hit me with your stick?” Great Joy asked. “Do I not deserve to be treated with kindness?”
Pause and mime thinking about this good question.
The Brahmin was ashamed of what he had done. He knew the ox was right.
In kindness, Great Joy said, “Look. Let us start over again. Go back to the merchant and bet him two thousand pieces of silver. Be kind to me and we will win!”
Move Brahmin back to town. Bring merchant out from behind the town.
The Brahmin followed Great Joy’s advice and the bet was made. Again, they went to town. The townspeople came to watch. Great Joy was hooked up to the carts again.
Move ox to carts.
But this time, the Brahmin left the stick behind. Instead, he gently said, “My good friend, my dear brother, my Great Joy, you have the strength. Please pull the carts now.”
Remove stick back to basket.
And with one great pull, Great Joy pulled the carts. At first they moved just a little. Then the carts got rolling and Great Joy pulled them all the way out of town and back again.
Move ox and carts around edge of underlay and back to the town
The Brahmin was paid the two thousand pieces of silver and everyone cheered for Great Joy.
Place two bags of silver next to Brahmin.
And then the Brahmin gave Great Joy a huge hug and promised to always treat him with kindness.
Ask some of these wondering questions (as time and interest allow):
I wonder if you have ever seen or heard any of this before?
I wonder which part of this story is the most important?
I wonder which part you like the best?
I wonder where you might be in this story?
I wonder if there is a part of the story that we could leave out and still have a story?
I wonder …what you would have done if Great Joy was your ox?
I wonder …how you feel when someone is mean to you?
I wonder …how you feel if you are mean to others?
I wonder …if you ever say you are sorry?
I wonder …if there are ways you are kind to others?
I wonder …how it feels to be kind?
I wonder …how you feel when others are kind to you?
I wonder …if you have a pet?
I wonder …how you treat your pet?
I wonder …how you could be kind to animals?
Choices:
Say something like:
In this classroom you are able to choose what you would like to do with your time here after the story and before class is over.
Today’s choices are:





  • How Strong Are You?




  • Random Acts of Kindness Hands (craft)




  • Beat the Dealer Card Game

Or other activities you have chosen as the teacher. It is up to you whether to give totally free choice to each child individually (this will work best when you have enough adults to assist any child who needs help with a chosen activity without too much waiting) or whether to help the class as a whole decide on one or two activities to do together.


Whichever you decide, be sure to let the children know clearly what choices they have (and do not have).
Activity Directions
Retelling the story independently:
Coach children to take turns, and to treat the materials with respect so that they will be available for other children and teachers to use in the future. For older/reading children, provide a copy of the script (above). For younger/non-reading children, provide a photo of the finished storyboard.
How Strong Are You?:
Provide a variety of heavy objects and some way to lift or pull them. If you have gym weights those would work, but so could a stack of magazines in a plastic grocery bag or a heavy chair from your classroom and a length of fabric to wrap around it. For that matter, kids can pull each other using a length of fabric. Experiment to see how much weight each child can move, what techniques work best to move large/heavy objects, how objects of different sizes vary in weight, etc.
Random Acts of Kindness Hands (Craft):
Use foam hand shapes to make random acts of kindness reminders for kids to take home and use at their discretion. You will need foam hand shapes, several copies of the below Random Acts of Kindness list, glue, and a variety of decorative items (stickers, collage materials, etc.)
Have each child pick one or more Random Act of Kindness to put on his or her hand shape. This can be done by cutting and pasting, or simply by writing on the hand shape with a permanent marker. Then allow kids to decorate hands (we have lots of these left over from a project, 2015!).
Beat the Dealer Card Game:
Similar to the game show "Card Sharks," "Beat the Dealer" requires kids to guess whether cards will be higher or lower than the preceding card. With aces played as the highest card, an adult dealer flips over one card, leaving kids to make their "higher or lower" guess. The game ends whenever kids guess incorrectly.
If you’d like, you can give some kind of small prize (pennies, stickers, whatever) for each correct guess or for every 5 correct guesses, etc. Or, just keep track on the blackboard, or not at all.
100 Acts of Kindness for Kids


  1. Put change in a vending machine.

  2. Hold the door open for someone.

  3. Do a chore for someone without them knowing.

  4. Tell a joke.

  5. Return someone’s cart at the store.

  6. Give candy to your bank teller.

  7. Leave a letter in a library book.

  8. Feed the birds.

  9. Leave happy notes around town.

  10. Put a small bin in your car to collect recycling.

  11. Call your grandparents or other elders and ask them about their childhood.

  12. Pick up litter.

  13. Let someone go ahead of you in line.

  14. Compliment a friend.

  15. Wash someone’s car.

  16. Write a thank you note for your mail carrier.

  17. Plant something.

  18. Bake dessert for a neighbor

  19. Walk dogs at the animal shelter.

  20. Check in on an elderly neighbor.

  21. Set up a lemonade stand and donate the profits.

  22. Send a card to a service member.

  23. Bury treasure at the playground.

  24. Set the table for dinner.

  25. Leave bubbles on someone’s doorstep.

  26. Put money on a stranger’s layaway bill.

  27. Tell someone why they are special to you.

  28. Donate outgrown clothes.

  29. Buy a coffee for a stranger.

  30. Pass out stickers to kids waiting in line.

  31. Talk to someone new at school.

  32. Write chalk messages on the sidewalk.

  33. Weed or shovel for a neighbor.

  34. Donate food to the food pantry.

  35. Bring flowers to your teacher.

  36. Tell a manager how good your service was.

  37. Tape change to a parking meter.

  38. Donate socks and supplies to the homeless shelter.

  39. Give a lottery ticket to a stranger.

  40. Call a friend you haven’t seen in a while to say hello.

  41. Tape money for the ice cream truck to a friend’s front door.

  42. Take treats to the fire station.

  43. Read a book to someone.

  44. Leave heads up pennies on the sidewalk.

  45. Donate a book to a doctor’s office waiting room.

  46. Tell someone how much you love them.

  47. Say hello to everyone you see.

  48. Make someone else’s bed.

  49. Hold the door open for someone.

  50. Wave at kids on school buses.

  51. Sing songs at a nursing home.

  52. Invite someone to play on the playground.

  53. Tell the principal how great your teacher is.

  54. Donate a toy to Toys for Tots.

  55. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth.

  56. Say thank you when you see service members.

  57. Fill a kindness jar with candy for another family.

  58. Make a thank you sign for sanitation workers.

  59. Make a busy bag for a family with young children.

  60. Bring cookies to the custodian.

  61. Help make dinner.

  62. Donate new pajamas for foster kids.

  63. Make a get well card for someone.

  64. Bring your neighbors’ garbage cans up for them.

  65. Take care of someone’s pet while they’re away.

  66. Leave a popcorn surprise on a DVD rental machine.

  67. Share a special toy with a friend.

  68. Clean up your room without being asked.

  69. Tape a video message for faraway friends.

  70. Leave kindness stones at the park.

  71. Give a candy bar to the bus driver.

  72. Send dessert to another family at a restaurant.

  73. Give spare change to the food pantry.

  74. Buy extra school supplies for a teacher.

  75. Make muffins for your pharmacist.

  76. Teach someone something new.

  77. Reuse paper when you are drawing.

  78. Pay for someone’s toll.

  79. Give someone a hug coupon.

  80. Volunteer at a soup kitchen.

  81. Write a note for someone’s lunch.

  82. Collect money or items for your favorite charity.

  83. Donate coloring books and crayons to the children’s hospital.

  84. Write a poem for a friend.

  85. Ask for donations instead of birthday gifts.

  86. Help someone unload groceries at the store.

  87. Make a candy gram for the police department.

  88. Collect books for the library.

  89. Adopt an animal online.

  90. Decorate tissue boxes and hand sanitizer for nursing stations.

  91. Make a homemade gift for someone.

  92. Clean up your toys without being asked.

  93. Deliver water bottles to the homeless shelter.

  94. Create activity bags for families of deployed soldiers.

  95. Give high fives to a friend.

  96. Make a thank you card for your librarian.

  97. Dry the slides at the park with a towel after it rains.

  98. Make play dough for a preschool class.

  99. Send a postcard to a friend.

  100. Smile at everybody. It’s contagious.

HEAVEN AND HELL FOLKTALE (TAOIST)
Opening Circle
Light the chalice using the hand-motions:
We light this chalice to celebrate

Unitarian Universalism

This is the church of open minds

This is the church of loving hearts

This is the church of helping hands
Do introductions and joys & concerns with a talking object of some kind.
Pass around the collection jug, reminding participants that any money collected will go to the organization chosen by the children to receive donations this program year.
Say something like this:
This classroom is a special place. While we are here, we treat each other with respect and care. That’s because each of us is important, and when we are together we can learn and grow.
You can show respect and care right now by getting yourself ready to listen to the story for today. That means sitting as quietly as you can, with your legs folded. If you would like a pipe-cleaner to use to busy your hands to help your ears listen, you may take one.



Heaven and Hell: A Chinese Folktale

New Year’s Story (from Treasure Hunting)



Adapted by Nita Penfold
Materials:


  • Half light blue and half dark blue or black circle underlay sewn together—36”

  • Figure of Chinese man

  • Table with food

  • 7 People

  • Long chopsticks for each person

  • Circle with smiling face


Presentation:
Words for you to say are in italics; actions are in plain type.
Take out circular underlay, drop onto floor and smooth out. Put blue side at the bottom away from you nearest children.
Hmmm. I wonder what this could be, it’s dark and light. Blue and light blue. It could be water, or sky. (let children wonder with you)
That’s all we have to get us ready. So let’s begin the story.
Everyone makes wishes sometimes. All over the world people who speak different languages, wear different kinds of clothes, and live in different sorts of homes, make wishes. Sometimes people make wishes when they blow out their birthday candles or when the New Year comes.
Once there was a man in China who made a wish on New Year’s Eve.
Set Chinese man right side of underlay.
This man had heard a lot about heaven and hell. He wanted to know what the difference was between heaven and hell before he died. His wish was granted in a dream.
First in the dream, he was transported to hell. It didn’t look like such a bad place.
There were many big tables heaped with the most delicious foods you can imagine.
Place table with food in middle of underlay, overlapping blue and light blue sides.
But he could see there was a problem. The people were forced to sit very far away from the tables.
Place people around the table chopstick length from the table on blue side.
They were forced to use chopsticks that were four feet long. The chopsticks were so long that the people could not reach the food on their own plates, just other people’s, and then, they could not get the chopsticks turned around to get the food into their mouths.
Place pair of chopsticks from each person to the table.
Oh, the noise of arguing, fighting, and crying was terrible to hear! The people were very unhappy and very hungry.
Place circle with smile upside down near the old man.

Next the man was transported to heaven.
Pick up old man, then return to same place.
Place the people and chopsticks on the light blue side above table.
He was surprised to find it looked the same. Big tables full of delicious food. People seated several feet away with four foot long chopsticks that made it impossible to get any food into their own mouths.
It was just like hell, but in heaven the people were well-fed and happy.
Place chopsticks from person to person.
Turn frown to smile.
In heaven, the people fed each other.
Ask some of these Wondering Questions (as time and interest allow):
I wonder if you have ever seen or heard any of this before?
I wonder which part of this story is the most important?
I wonder which part you like the best?
I wonder where you might be in this story?
I wonder why heaven and hell were almost the same in the man’s dream?
I wonder why the people in hell were arguing?
I wonder why the people in heaven helped each other?
I wonder if you and your family celebrate New Year’s Day?
I wonder how the man felt when his wish was granted?
I wonder if you have ever made a wish?
I wonder if your wish came true?
I wonder if there is a part of the story that we could leave out and still have a story?
Choices:
Say something like:
In this classroom you are able to choose what you would like to do with your time here after the story and before class is over.
Today’s choices are:


  • Retelling the story to yourself




  • Chopstick Relay Race




  • Wishes and Questions




  • Sing “From You I Receive”

Or other activities you have chosen as the teacher. It is up to you whether to give totally free choice to each child individually (this will work best when you have enough adults to assist any child who needs help with a chosen activity without too much waiting) or whether to help the class as a whole decide on one or two activities to do together.


Whichever you decide, be sure to let the children know clearly what choices they have (and do not have).
Activity Directions
Retelling the story independently:
Coach children to take turns, and to treat the materials with respect so that they will be available for other children and teachers to use in the future. For older/reading children, provide a copy of the script (above). For younger/non-reading children, provide a photo of the finished storyboard.
Chopstick Relay Race:
Divide the group into two teams. Give each team a pair of chopsticks and a soft ball (made of foam, yarn, or slightly deflated rubber – smaller is better for ease of carrying). Have each team line up at a starting line, with a finish line opposite on the other side of the room. The first person on each team is to hold the ball between his or her chopsticks and run to the other end of the room, turn around, and come back to the starting line and the line of his/her teammates. Then s/he passes the ball and chopsticks to the next person in line, who repeats. There will be lots of dropping, and that’s okay – just pick up the ball again and keep going. The goal is to get the ball back and forth with help from everyone. If you’d rather not have it be competitive, there can be just one line and then it’s not a race, just a project.
Note: if there is a child with a mobility challenge, you can accommodate him or her in a variety of ways. Doing the non-competitive version will take away the benefit of going fast. Or if you also know you don’t have food allergies, you could use long wooden spoons taped to yardsticks to have kids practice feeding each other small bits of food as the people in the story do.
Wishes and Questions:
Referring to the part of the story where the old man wished to know what heaven and hell were like, ask the children to think about what they would like to know if they could learn anything or know anything. This could be just a conversation, but it could also turn into and individual or group craft: kids could draw or write their wishes on individual papers, or draw or write their wishes on a large piece of paper to make a class poster.
Sing “From You I Receive”
Have the group stand in a circle and introduce the song, "From You I Receive." (It’s number 402 in the Hymnal.)
As you teach the words, teach the movements that accompany them:
From you I receive: Participants reach out toward others, then scoop air toward themselves at chest level — that is, receiving it.
To you I give: Opposite from above. Participants scoop the air at chest level and push it outward to "give" to others.
Together we share: All grasp hands.
By this we live: Participants each make fists of strength and stack both hands together at belly button level.


THE BUTTERFLY AND THE COCOON (ISLAM)
Opening Circle
Light the chalice using the hand-motions:
We light this chalice to celebrate

Unitarian Universalism

This is the church of open minds

This is the church of loving hearts

This is the church of helping hands
Do introductions and joys & concerns with a talking object of some kind.
Pass around the collection jug, reminding participants that any money collected will go to the organization chosen by the children to receive donations this program year.
Say something like this:
This classroom is a special place. While we are here, we treat each other with respect and care. That’s because each of us is important, and when we are together we can learn and grow.
You can show respect and care right now by getting yourself ready to listen to the story for today. That means sitting as quietly as you can, with your legs folded. If you would like a pipe-cleaner to use to busy your hands to help your ears listen, you may take one.


The Butterfly and the Cocoon: A Tale from Islam

Story retold by Connie Dunn



Lesson Edited by Kirsten Robertson and Nita Penfold
Materials:


  • Light Green rectangular underlay long enough to place the materials in a line with about a two inch frame around them.

  • Symbol of Islam

  • Cocoon

  • Butterfly

  • Small Scissors

  • Man

  • gold circle (representing mystery or God or Allah)

  • card with Islamic prayer.


Presentation:
Words for you to say are in italics; actions are in plain type.
Take the light green underlay and spread it out in front of you, smoothing it out.
Place the symbol of Islam on your right hand part of the underlay. Each piece after this will be placed to the left of the piece before it.
This is a tale from the Islamic religion about a man who found the cocoon of a butterfly.
Take the cocoon out of the tray and lay it on the underlay.
The cocoon is one of the stages of a butterfly, which starts out as a caterpillar. A caterpillar looks somewhat like a worm, but when it begins to change into a butterfly, it creates a cocoon. Cocoons are spun with a silk-like substance from the caterpillar.
Take out the butterfly and lay it on the underlay.
In this stage, it is hard to see if it is alive or dead. But if you find a cocoon at just the right time, you can see a small opening and a butterfly will emerge. That is what happened to the man who found the cocoon. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole.
Take out a small pair of scissors and lay them on the underlay.
When it got to a point that appeared the butterfly could go no further, the man decided he should help the butterfly. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took out a pair of scissors from his backpack and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.
Take out the Man and lay him on the underlay.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly because it came too soon out of the cocoon.
What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were Allah's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon. Without the struggle, without this obstacle, it could never be ready to fly.
Place a gold (mystery) circle on the underlay.
Allah is what the Muslim’s call God, which is what some people also see as the Spirit of mystery, awe and wonder. In the Islamic faith, the people pray kneeling like this:
Show the children how Islamic or Muslim people pray kneeling, head forward until it touches the ground. Then ask the children to listen to the prayer.
This is an Islamic Prayer:
I asked for Strength
And Allah gave me Difficulties to make me strong.
I asked for Wisdom
And Allah gave me Problems to solve.

I asked for Prosperity
And Allah gave me Brain and Brawn to work.
I asked for Courage
And Allah gave me Danger to overcome.
I asked for Love.
And Allah gave me Troubled People to help.
I asked for Favors.
And Allah gave me Opportunities.
I received nothing I wanted
I received everything I needed!
So blessed be Allah, the best of creators!
Place the card with the prayer on the underlay.
Ask some of these Wondering Questions (as time and interest allow):
I wonder if you have seen or heard any of this before?
I wonder which part of this you liked the best?
I wonder which part of this is most important?
I wonder where you might be in this story?
I wonder if you have ever watched a butterfly come out of a cocoon?
I wonder if you have ever felt sorry for an animal, bird or insect and tried to help it out?
I wonder if you have ever struggled with obstacles in your life?
I wonder how it feels to try to grow?
I wonder what it feels like to worship Allah as the Muslims do?
I wonder what this prayer means to you?
I wonder what other ways people pray?
Choices:
Say something like:
In this classroom you are able to choose what you would like to do with your time here after the story and before class is over.
Today’s choices are:


  • Retelling the story to yourself




  • Making butterflies




  • Butterfly life cycle dance




  • Doing Hard Things

Or other activities you have chosen as the teacher. It is up to you whether to give totally free choice to each child individually (this will work best when you have enough adults to assist any child who needs help with a chosen activity without too much waiting) or whether to help the class as a whole decide on one or two activities to do together.


Whichever you decide, be sure to let the children know clearly what choices they have (and do not have).
Activity Directions
Retelling the story independently:
Coach children to take turns, and to treat the materials with respect so that they will be available for other children and teachers to use in the future. For older/reading children, provide a copy of the script (above). For younger/non-reading children, provide a photo of the finished storyboard.
Making Butterflies:
There are a wide variety of crafty ways to make a butterfly:
http://www.freekidscrafts.com/pipe-cleaner-butterfly-craft/ (pipe cleaners and beads)
http://www.freekidscrafts.com/crayon-butterfly/ (use up old crayon bits, wax paper)
http://learncreatelove.com/cupcake-liner-butterfly-craft/ (popsicle sticks and cupcake liners)
Or do a quick search online and find one you like better!

Butterfly life cycle dance:
Discuss the four stages of a butterfly’s life cycle: egg/hatching, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly.
Help each child or the group choose movements to show each of these phases; for example, curling up in a little ball and popping out into a crawling position, then crawling around and ‘eating’ leaves, lying down in a mummy position, and then getting up and flying around. More elaborate ideas are, of course, possible, with props of various kinds! Have fun!
Doing Hard Things:
Make lists with the kids of things they think would be hard to do – but worth doing. These can be individual, or as a group. Try to come up with at least 3 – 5 and challenge each other to keep the lists and look back at them in a year’s time (or different length of time as appropriate) to see if they have made progress towards being able to do them!

THE BUTTERFLY AND THE COCOON (ISLAM)
Opening Circle
Light the chalice using the hand-motions:
We light this chalice to celebrate

Unitarian Universalism

This is the church of open minds

This is the church of loving hearts

This is the church of helping hands
Do introductions and joys & concerns with a talking object of some kind.
Pass around the collection jug, reminding participants that any money collected will go to the organization chosen by the children to receive donations this program year.
Say something like this:
This classroom is a special place. While we are here, we treat each other with respect and care. That’s because each of us is important, and when we are together we can learn and grow.
You can show respect and care right now by getting yourself ready to listen to the story for today. That means sitting as quietly as you can, with your legs folded. If you would like a pipe-cleaner to use to busy your hands to help your ears listen, you may take one.


The Torch and the Pitcher

A story from a Spanish Sufi mystic: St. Rabia



Written by Ralph Roberts
Materials:


  • Underlay (Maroon rectangle with fringe on the shorter end so that it looks a bit like a prayer rug)

  • Paradise Image

  • Last Judgment Image

  • 4 Faces in profile

  • Torch Image

  • Pitcher Image



Presentation:
Words for you to say are in italic; actions are in plain type.
Once Long ago there lived a great teacher named Rabia. Like many great teachers she taught people with stories. This is one of her stories.
Spread the underlay and run your hand across the surface.
She lived in a beautiful land, this teacher. It was a land with many teachers and many people who spent a great deal of time thinking about religious things.
Take the image of paradise and lay it on the top of the underlay closest to you and right-side up to the children.
What could this be? It looks like a city? It also looks like a garden? It looks like a beautiful place.
Take two faces and place them on the underlay to your far right so that they are looking up towards the image of paradise. Touch the faces as you say . . .
There were many people who spent their days just thinking about what paradise might be like. They talked all day about heaven and what it is a person could do to get there.
Take the image of the final judgment and lay it at the bottom of the underlay so that it is right side up to the children.
What could this be? There is fire, and rocks, and chains. It doesn’t look happy.
Place two faces on the far left of the underlay so they are looking to the right and down at the last judgment image. Touch the faces as you say . . .
There were other people who spent their days just thinking about a place and time of punishment that some people call hell. They talked all day about it and who they thought would suffer from it and they tried to figure out how to avoid finding themselves in that time of punishment.
Take out the pitcher and place it on the underlay in between the two sets of faces, slightly to the left of center, as you say . . .
The great teacher told her people that truth is a pitcher full of water.
Take out the torch and place it on the underlay in between the two sets of faces, slightly to the right of center, as you say . . .
She told her people that truth was like a torch.
Touch both pitcher and torch.
She said truth is a pitcher and torch.
Lift the pitcher and set it just above the last judgment image and tip the torch as if it might spill water out on the last judgment.
But it was a special torch and pitcher. Truth is like a pitcher that can pour its water out and douse the flames of hell.
Remove the last judgment piece. Lift the torch and place it just under the paradise piece as if it might set fire to paradise.
And truth is like a torch which can spread its fire and burn all the mansions of heaven.
Remove the paradise piece. Then begin shifting the angle of the face pieces so that the faces on the left are facing the faces on the right, and the faces on the right are facing the faces on the left. As you do this say . . .
When there is no more punishment waiting below, and no more promise waiting above then the people will face each other and know the will of God, this is truth, this is paradise.
Ask some of these Wondering Questions (as time and interest allow:
I wonder if you have ever seen or heard any of this before?
I wonder which part of this story is the most important?
I wonder which part you like the best?
I wonder where you might be in this story?
I wonder if there is a part of this story that we could leave out and still have the story.
I wonder if people still imagine what heaven was like?
I wonder what the people thought about this story?
I wonder if these people have names?
I wonder how much water it would have had to be in that pitcher?
Choices:
Say something like:
In this classroom you are able to choose what you would like to do with your time here after the story and before class is over.
Today’s choices are:


  • Retelling the story to yourself




  • Mirror Game




  • Sufi Dancing (Video)




  • Imagining Heaven and/or Hell

Or other activities you have chosen as the teacher. It is up to you whether to give totally free choice to each child individually (this will work best when you have enough adults to assist any child who needs help with a chosen activity without too much waiting) or whether to help the class as a whole decide on one or two activities to do together.


Whichever you decide, be sure to let the children know clearly what choices they have (and do not have).
Activity Directions
Retelling the story independently:
Coach children to take turns, and to treat the materials with respect so that they will be available for other children and teachers to use in the future. For older/reading children, provide a copy of the script (above). For younger/non-reading children, provide a photo of the finished storyboard.
Mirror Game:
Break the group into pairs. Tell pairs to choose one to be the mirror, one to be the actor. Let them start slow, improvising a dance or carrying out a specific action usually done in front of a mirror, like brushing teeth, or checking out their outfit). Tell them to switch after a while. Then introduce new elements: you are a fun house mirror, exaggerating instead of reflecting; you are an opposite mirror. After a while, let them abandon the switching back and forth, and try to initiate movement and reflect the movement of their partner at the same time.
Sufi Dancing (video):
Watch one or more videos on-line of people dancing Sufi dances:
http://youtu.be/L_Cf-ZxDfZA (from Turkey - culturally authentic so far as I can tell.)
http://youtu.be/0vNpZlpcHs8 (an American group doing Dances of Universal Peace, a derivative form.)
If you want to, play some music and invite the children to twirl and whirl!
Imagining Heaven and/or Hell:
Invite the children to imagine what paradise would look like and draw it, paint it, or build it out of Legos.
If you have a more mature group and you think they would find it interesting, you could invite them to draw, paint, or build hell or a place of judgment, too. This would be inappropriate for children under about the age of 7, however.





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