This past Sunday the elementary level learned about Jesus' life through a story based on passages from Christian scripture. They explored the fourth Unitarian Universalist Source, "Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love all others as we love ourselves", learning that Jesus taught - and more importantly, demonstrated - the importance of taking care of everyone in a community. The children identified communities they belong to, talked about what being a community means, and tied their lesson about building community to the story of Stone Soup that was read during the worship service, and which would be experienced during the Stone Soup lunch to follow.
Children also shared personal experiences about Christmas (the birth of Jesus) and other seasonal holidays such as Hannukah and the lesser-celebrated Solstice. They heard one of Jesus' parables about the tiny mustard seed growing into a huge bush large enough for birds to nest in, and how Jesus compared the mustard seed to the way that Love grows in our hearts. They created mustard seed door hangers as a take home reminder of that story.
The lesson ended with creating a new UU Source constellation in our Night Sky display - the constellation of Jewish and Christian Teachings (a cross and a Star of David.)
Families are encouraged to explore the vast diversity of this season's holidays, and to include child-friendly story books about the teachings of Jesus such as Tomie DePaola's classic Book of Bible Stories, acclaimed for its gentle stories and sweet illustrations.
No comments:
Post a Comment