In the 3rd-6th grade classroom, we started with a values exercise. I read 10 statements aloud, like [...]]]> This week was full of wonder. The K-2^nd and 3^rd-6^th graders wondered about Joseph, his ability to predict dreams, and his relationship with his brothers. The preschoolers wondered about stars. And, the infants and toddlers wondered where all the girls were! It was pure boy bonding this week.

In the 3^rd-6^th grade classroom, we started with a values exercise. I read 10 statements aloud, like “Is it ok to become jealous when your sibling gets a special present and you don’t?” and “Everybody deserves a second chance.” The kids had to choose whether they agreed or disagreed with the statements. Some of the kids had a hard time picking a side and others knew their answers right away. Then, Maeve shared what she knew about Joseph from the musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. After learning about his life and his relationship with his family, we returned to the 10 statements from the exercise. Our discussion led to more questions: Which actions deserve forgiveness and which ones are beyond forgiving? Do we always forgive family? To help us explore these questions, we sold Indigo to the K-2^nd grade class. She did forgive us, fortunately! The kids are getting really good at grappling with difficult questions. This is a great time in their lives for them to be thinking about what they believe and what they value. I feel honored to be a part of the process.

This week in the K-2^nd grade class, they also learned about Joseph. Molly and the kids talked about dreams, jealousy, and forgiveness. They listened to a couple of numbers from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and played with some decorations for their own dreamcoat. When the older kids sold Indigo to their class as a slave, Lauren and Leah were not OK with it, but Molly said “great!” and tried to put her to work.

In the Pre-K room, the preschoolers wondered about stars. Then Sandy traced their bodies onto big paper and they colored and glued stars onto them. They’re now their own constellation bodies!

In the nursery, Katherine was out of town and Courtney came down with a stomach bug, but we were lucky to have her husband, Nathan, fill in. He led the boys, Rylee, Arthur, and Logan, on fun barnyard adventures through the book, Barnyard Dance. The boys stomped their feet and clapped their hands. Then they played with toys and did fun boy-stuff!

If you would like to extend these lessons at home, here are some suggestions: for 3^rd-6^th graders, talk with them about forgiveness of friends and family. How do we forgive and trust again, especially those people we love the most? For K-2^nd graders, talk about sibling rivalry and jealousy. Have they ever been jealous of their siblings? If so, how did they resolve those feelings? For preschoolers, decorate stars to put around their room so they can wonder about stars even when they’re inside. For infants and toddlers, sing and dance! Let those little ones explore their bodies, movement, and rhythm while having fun.

In the 3rd-6th grade classroom, we discussed the story of Abraham and Isaac. I began the lesson by asking the students to write about love. What does it feel like? How do you know when someone loves you? Then we shared [...]]]> This week the older children continued their Bible lessons while the younger children learned about Valentine’s Day.  Love was contemplated and/or celebrated by all.

In the 3^rd-6^th grade classroom, we discussed the story of Abraham and Isaac. I began the lesson by asking the students to write about love. What does it feel like? How do you know when someone loves you? Then we shared our lists and noted the similarities: genuine concern, respect, displays of affection, trust, and sacrifice. This last concept launched us into the Bible story. I read it aloud and then we discussed it. It’s hard to wrap your head around a father being willing to sacrifice his son for his faith. So, we did a trust exercise to understand the story a bit better. We stood in a circle with one person in the middle. That person locked their knees and allowed herself to be pushed around the circle. The goal was to see how long that person trusted us before catching herself. We did really well. Afterwards we came to realize that Abraham had trust in God, which allowed him to contemplate sacrifice and, ultimately, Isaac was saved.

This week the K-2^nd graders discussed the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. After reading it aloud, the class was left wondering why Lot’s wife turned to salt. Hmmm…They talked through it the best they could. Then they made costumes and props to reenact the story. Unfortunately their artistry did not leave much time for reenactment so they’ll have to use the costumes and props for a different story. Molly promises the next story will be more peppy. As Nick announced when he got home, the Bible is really sad…

In the Pre-K classroom, the preschoolers talked about different ways they show they love and care for someone. Then they read a story about the unconditional love of a parent. As the story elucidated, because of the unconditional love of our parents, sometimes we are smelly, messy, clumsy, and naughty. J After the story, they made valentines. The lesson ended with lighting the chalice and eating valentine cookies as their snack.

In the nursery, the infants and toddlers had fun celebrating Valentine’s Day. Some of the kids chose to make valentines for their parents, while others liked reading the valentine stories. One was about a baby finding a Valentine hidden in her house and the other was an Elmo Valentine book! The infants and toddlers also had fun playing Ring-Around-the-Rosy and London Bridge is Falling Down.

If you would like to extend these lessons at home, here are some suggestions: for 3^rd-6^th graders, discuss how you conceptualize faith, trust, and sacrifice as a Unitarian Universalist. For K-2^nd graders, discuss good versus evil. Are people all good or all bad? For preschoolers, discuss the concept of “unconditional love” and give them some personal examples. For infants and toddlers, continue the Valentine spirit by decorating hearts to hang in their bedroom or a family room.

Chronology of Woman’s Suffrage

Text of Katie Kingery-Page’s Personal Reflection

]]> Unitarians played a vital role in helping women in their struggle to gain the right to vote. Enell Foerster and Rev. Michael Nelson investigate how this fundamental shift in power occurred and examine how the need for further empowerment continues. Contact Michael at 537-2349 or minister@uufm.net.

Chronology of Woman’s Suffrage

Text of Katie Kingery-Page’s Personal Reflection

]]> http://uufm.net/2012/02/audio-archive-feb-12-2012-a-woman%e2%80%99s-right-to/feed/ 0 Unitarians played a vital role in helping women in their struggle to gain the right to vote. Enell Foerster and Rev. Michael Nelson investigate how this fundamental shift in power occurred and examine how the need for further empowerment continues. Unitarians played a vital role in helping women in their struggle to gain the right to vote. Enell Foerster and Rev. Michael Nelson investigate how this fundamental shift in power occurred and examine how the need for further empowerment continues. Contact Michael at 537-2349 or minister@uufm.net. Chronology of Woman's Suffrage Text of Katie Kingery-Page's Personal Reflection Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Manhattan clean 1:06:53 http://uufm.net/2012/02/a-womans-right/ http://uufm.net/2012/02/a-womans-right/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:50:00 +0000 Rev Michael http://uufm.net/?p=2524 This Sunday’s service, February 12th, encourages us to contemplate the relationship between the wisdom of how true love cannot exist without equality and the continued struggle for women to have rights equal to those that men enjoy. Unitarian Universalism has worked to support equal rights in Kansas for women from the 19th century forward. Enell Foerster, Katie Kingery-Page and Rev. Michael Nelson invite you to [...]]]> This Sunday’s service, February 12th, encourages us to contemplate the relationship between the wisdom of how true love cannot exist without equality and the continued struggle for women to have rights equal to those that men enjoy. Unitarian Universalism has worked to support equal rights in Kansas for women from the 19^th century forward. Enell Foerster, Katie Kingery-Page and Rev. Michael Nelson invite you to join them in their exploration of women’s rights and how it impacts our personal and public lives. Please join us for special music from Gershwin to Liszt to guide us into the wonder and power of love and to welcome new members to our progressive Fellowship!

The K-2nd and 3rd-6th graders spent the day thinking of [...]]]> This week was Social Action Sunday for the older kids. The K-2^nd and 3^rd-6^th graders counted cans, make a kindness chain, and decorated cookies for our Meadowlark Hills Valentine’s Party. Meanwhile, the preschoolers learned more about babies and dedication ceremonies, and the infants and toddlers made noise while reading Mr. Cow Can Moo! Can You?

The K-2^nd and 3^rd-6^th graders spent the day thinking of others. The lesson started with making a chain link of random acts of kindness. The kids received strips of paper on which they wrote random acts of kindness that they have done or have been done to them. Then we combined the strips for a long chain. After reflecting on acts of kindness, we participated in two acts. First, the kids counted the cans collected by the Fellowship for Souper Bowl Sunday. We exceeded our goal of 100 cans by 71. Yay for 171 cans!! Second, we decorated sugar cookies to bring to our Valentine’s Party at Meadowlark Hills next Saturday. They’re going to be beautiful in addition to being yummy! This was a great day to think about others and making their lives a little brighter.

In the pre-K room, the preschoolers continued to learn about babies. Baby Sloane visited the classroom and the preschoolers visited the nursery to see Baby Arthur and Baby Lila. They learned how babies are different from toddlers and older kids. Then they drew pictures of babies. They also talked about the dedication ceremony for babies and Sandy showed them how it is done. Finally, they had snack and talked about what it’s like to have a baby in the house.

In the nursery, the infants and toddlers hosted the preschoolers. Then they had their own activity. They read Dr. Seuss’ Mr. Cow Can Moo! Can You? and made as many noises as they could. This was a good day for making noise, as the infants in the nursery needed a distraction! They ended their lesson by playing with toys.

If you would like to extend these lessons at home, here are some suggestions: for K-6^th graders, make your own “random acts of kindness” chain and hang it up in the house. You could also do a neighborhood collection of cans or boxed goods and visit the Flint Hill Breadbasket. For preschoolers, show your children pictures of them when they were babies. They will really enjoy seeing their pictures and hearing stories about when they were younger. For infants and toddlers, allow some noise-making time every day. Pull out pots, pans, musical instruments, etc and have a ball making noise. Then put them all away and take some aspirin!

Love calls us into the core of our creativity—into its depth and illumination. Like the stars in the vast distance, love brings its light into the interior of our lives. It challenges our imagination to sense the cosmic dimension in a speck of its reflected luminosity and share it with all the beauty and brio we can bring forth.

“Curbing crime does not depend on reversing social pathologies or alleviating social grievances; it depends on erecting small, annoying barriers to entry.” Adam Gopnik

Crime is not curtailed by punishment nor by being nice. Wow! The percentage of people put in jail has tripled [...]]]> “Crime  is a routine behavior; it’s a thing people do when they get used to doing it…” Zimring, 1/30/12 New Yorker

“Curbing crime does not depend on reversing social pathologies or alleviating social grievances; it depends on erecting small, annoying barriers to entry.” Adam Gopnik

Crime is not curtailed by punishment nor by being nice. Wow! The percentage of people put in jail has tripled in 20 years. No other country in the world gets close to locking up as many of its citizens as we do in America.

“The scale and brutality of our prisons are the moral scandal of American life.” Adam Gopnik

70,000 prisoners are raped every year. African-Americans are imprisoned 7 times more than white Americans. Has slavery ended? NO!

What is the responsibility of a progressive faith community with such troubling cultural and ethical issues?

Let me know what you think. Is there a way we can help solve this anguished puzzle? How do we stand on the side of love in this hell realm? Really respect the inherent worth and dignity of every person?