Learning About Hannuakah

This time of the year is a special time when some families all over the world celebrate freedom, miracles, and love.  This wonderful celebration is called Hanukkah.  Today, the children in our youngest classes learned about the celebration of Hannukah.  

On Hannukah, Jewish people celebrate this miracle of the light that lasted eight days and their freedom to believe and worship as they choose.  They bring out their Menorahs, a beautiful candleholder with room for nine candles.  The extra candle is called the “shammash”, a candle to light all the other candles.  Each night for eight nights, they light the candles adding one each night until the last night.  And they do things together on each of the nights. 

They gather family together.

They play dreidel (a spinning top) together.

 They eat potato latkes together.

They sing songs together.

They share simple gifts together.

They eat jelly donuts together.

They find chocolate gelt together.

They say blessings together. 

On the eighth night, all the candles burn brightly.  Everyone remembers the story of the fight for freedom and of the miracle of the lights.  Everyone is happy to be with people who love them.  

5 Questions

This year our classes for children and youth are learning stories from Jewish and Christian scriptures, and thinking about the stories in terms of five questions that can be asked about any religion.  

The Authority question:  Who decides what is right and true in life?  Whose ideas are right?  Who can we learn from?

The Cosmology question:  What is the universe like and where did it come from?  What is sacred or holy?  What is God?

The Anthropology question:  What are people like?  Are we good or are we evil?  How should we treat one another?

The Sociology question:  How should we live our lives?  How should we treat the world?

The Ecclesiology question:  What is church for?  What do people in our church believe?  Why do we go to church?

Today the Treasure Hunters class reviewed five of the stories we have read this year, and related them to the five questions.  

Noah's Ark by Jerry Pinkney

This story reminds us that it is a blessing that we were born. Knowing that each one of us is a blessing can help us to answer some big questions, such as “What are people like?” “Are we good, or are we evil?” and “How should we treat one another?” When people ask “What are people like?” they are asking the anthropology question. Unitarian Universalists believe that all people are good. People may do bad things, or make bad choices, but they are not bad people. All people deserve respect and to be treated with fairness and kindness.  This is what we mean when we say we are the church of the loving hearts.

Cain and Abel by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

This story reminds us that it matters what we do. Knowing that what we do matters can help us to answer some big questions, such as “How should we live our lives?” and “How should we treat the world?” When people ask “How should we live our lives?” they are asking the sociology question. Unitarian Universalists believe that we should each work to make the world a better place. All people deserve peace and freedom. We believe in taking care of the earth and all living things. This is what we mean when we say we are the church of the helping hands.

Jonah and the Great Fish by Warwick Hutton

This story reminds us that what each of us knows about God is a piece of the truth. Knowing that what each of us knows about the mystery is a piece of the truth can help us to answer some big questions, such as “Who decides what is right and true in life?” “Whose ideas are right?” and “Who can we learn from?” When people ask “Who decides what is right and true?” they are asking the authority question.  Unitarian Universalists believe that we are always learning and growing.  We believe that each person has the right to decide what is right and true and that we can all learn from each other. This is what we mean when we say we are the church of the open minds.

Adam and Eve's First Sunset by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

This story reminds us to let the beauty that we love be what we do. This can be a very hard idea to understand, even for grown ups! How can what we love be what we do? Remember how we are always learning and growing, and how we can learn from each other? We can also learn by paying attention to our world, to everything we see and hear and smell and touch and taste. When we find something beautiful—when we small a beautiful flower, or hear beautiful music, or see a beautiful sunset, or eat delicious food, or enjoy a snuggly hug from someone we love – we can take the good feelings we get from that beauty, and that can help us remember that we believe that people are good and that the world is good. It can help us remember that god is good, for those of us that believe in god.

Knowing that the beauty that we love can be what we do can help us to answer some big questions, such as “What is the universe like?” “What is God?” and “What is sacred or holy?” When people ask “What is sacred or holy?” they are asking the cosmology question. Unitarian Universalists believe that the world, that the whole universe and everything in it, is a wonderful and creative place, filled with all sorts of things to explore and learn from. Our task is to pay attention to the beauty in the world, and to make more beauty. How can we make more beauty? By treating each other with kindness, by caring for each other and for the earth, by learning and growing, and by creating beautiful things and beautiful ideas that help other people find the beauty in the world and in their lives. Unitarian Universalists believe we are all connected to each other and to everything, and there is beauty to be found everywhere. This is also what we mean when we say we are the church of the open minds, and the loving hearts, and the helping hands.

Joseph by Brian Wildsmith

This story reminds us that we are not alone, that we have friends at church that will help us when we need help. This is a very easy idea, but it is also easy to forget! Knowing that we have help, that we “don’t have to do it alone” can help us to answer some big questions, such as “What is church for?” “What do people in our church believe?” and “Why do we go to church?” When people ask “What is church for?” they are asking the ecclesiology question. Unitarian Universalists believe that we can do more if we work together. We can learn from each other.  We can help each other realize that we each are good and worthy of love. We can work together for peace and justice in the world.  We can help each other speak up for what is true and right. We can help each other find the beauty in the world.

We can create more beauty together. This is also what we mean when we say we are the church of the open minds, and the loving hearts, and the helping hands.

Playing and Learning Together

Discovery class enjoyed playing together with blocks and paints . . .

. . . after hearing the story of the Fox and The Stork, about offering help that is needed.

The Treasure Hunters class heard a story about Noah and the Ark . . . 

 . . . and acted it out with lots of stuffed animals.

The Explorers class learned about Jesus' early life, and examined a map to see where Jesus lived.

The middle school youth group created an interpretive dance to act out the story of Creation.

In Another's Shoes

This month's lessons in the Explorers class focus on the question "Who decides what is right and true in life?"  People's lives are in part determined by the things they experience; but we each have a choice in how we will respond to the negative experiences, whether they will break our spirits or build our character. Today's goal in the Explorer's class was to better understand the culture Jesus was born into, and to notice the similarities and differences with our world today.  

The children watched an excerpt from the Reader's Digest film "Jesus Among the People" to show some images of what life may have looked like in Palestine during the time of Jesus.  The children made sandals similar in style to those worn at that time (although ours were made from cardboard and ribbon, rather than leather).  We tried to "put ourselves in the shoes" of people in another place and time.

Throughout the year, we will be asking our young people to "put themselves in another's shoes" by seeing things from other people's perspectives.  As we study stories from the Bible this year, we will talk about what they may have meant to the people telling and writing them many years ago, what they might have meant to our Unitarian and Universalist ancestors, and what they mean to us today.  

Best Seller for the Ages

Have you ever seen in the bookstore or library a list of “Best Sellers?” It is a list of books that people are currently buying and reading. Who remembers people standing in lines to purchase the Harry Potter books when they were first coming out? Did you know that there is not just one “best seller list” in the publishing world? There are lists for the best selling fiction (made up stories) and best selling non-fiction (true stories or informational). There are lists of hard cover books, paperback books, children’s books, and I think now even electronic books! But there a book that has been a best seller for AGES--the Bible.

The Bible is actually a collection of smaller “books” without their separate covers. There were written by different people, at different times, and for different groups of people. They all have their special point of view about God and how people live in light of that. There is a Hebrew Bible. The first five books are called the Torah that is read during Jewish Shabbat services. And there is a Christian Bible with some of the same books, but more too. A group of Christians met together at the First Council of Nicaea in the year 325! and they decided which books would make up the Christian Bible. Even today different Christian Bibles aren’t all the same.

Inside the Bible's smaller “books” are so many stories! You will find stories of brave and foolish people, of wars and long journeys in the desert, kings and queens, beggars and thieves. There is trickery and family arguments, but there is also poetry and rules to live by. There are stories of miracles happening (when something happens that is amazing or hard to explain). Stories of something bigger, a mystery some call Yahweh or God. People have been telling these stories for a VERY LONG TIME. Whether you think the stories are possible in the real world or not, you might be surprised by the “truth” in them. People always have questions, fears, hopes and dreams no matter where or when they have lived. People always have had trouble getting along 100 percent of the time. Many people today like to read and discuss these stories and remember them to each other.

Over the year we will be exploring the characters and ideas in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles AND as Unitarian Universalists we will ask questions, compare them to our lives and other stories, traditions, myths. 

(from:  Our Roots and Perennial Questions: Important Names, Stories and Ideas from the Hebrew and Christian Bibles by Mary B. Collins, Director of Religious Education, UU Congregation of Danbury, CT)

Creating Space Part Two

Our Lighthouse renovations are nearly complete!  We now have beautiful new flooring in the hallway.

Our front desk area has been removed . . .

. . . . and will soon be replaced with a welcoming seating area, a place to visit and find information.

Here's what the floors looked like when the carpet was up and before the new flooring was put down.

Our youth group did touch up painting in the hallways

They added a new mural to their classroom

. . .  and beautified this bookshelf space.

The Dutch door on the nursery has also been repaired and improved.

Watch for more improvements over the next few weeks, and join us for the "housewarming" party on September 20 after the service to celebrate all the physical improvements that have been done this year.

(For earlier photos also see:  http://familyministryatsaltwater.blogspot.com/2015/07/creating-space.html  )

Celebrating Ourselves as Super Heroes

Today's class was a celebration of all the superheroes we have learned about this summer.  We also celebrated our own superpowers:

Being kind to friends

Noticing things

Finding things that are missing

Learning new things

Running really fast

Creating new things and having interesting ideas

Talk with your child about the "superpowers" each of you have.  How do you use your superpowers to make the world a better place?

We also made super hero capes!  If you'd like to make your own no-sew cape from an old t-shirt, you can find instructions here:  http://www.clumsycrafter.com/2012/05/t-shirt-super-hero-capes-no-sew/

We learned about superhero Christopher Reeve who played superman in the movies.  We talked about the accident that changed his life, and how he was a superhero because he never gave up.  If your child is interested in learning more about Christopher Reeve, you might like to watch this video of Christopher Reeve on Sesame Street talking about using a wheelchair:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzHvVoUGTOM

It's been a great super hero summer!  I'm excited for a super fall together as well.