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Amazing Grace: Exploring Right and Wrong

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AMAZING GRACE: EXPLORING RIGHT AND WRONG A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children 6th Grade BY RICHARD KIMBALL © Copyright 2008 Unitarian Universalist Association. This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at www.uua.org/tapestryoffaith. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHORS ...................................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................................................... 3 THE PROGRAM .................................................................................................................................................... 5 SESSION 1: INTRODUCING AMAZING GRACE: EXPLORING RIGHT AND WRONG ........................... 17 SESSION 2: CURIOUS FAITH ........................................................................................................................... 37 SESSION 3: BEING GOOD, BEING BAD ......................................................................................................... 51 SESSION 4: TELLING RIGHT FROM WRONG ............................................................................................... 63 SESSION 5: UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM .................................................................................................... 75 SESSION 6: THE FIRST U .................................................................................................................................. 90 SESSION 7: THE SECOND U........................................................................................................................... 100 SESSION 8: UUS IN ACTION .......................................................................................................................... 116 SESSION 9: SPIRITUALITY AND ME ........................................................................................................... 128 SESSION 10: RIGHT AND WRONG TOGETHER ......................................................................................... 145 SESSION 11: RULES, RULES, RULES ........................................................................................................... 158 SESSION 12: HUMAN AND DIVINE .............................................................................................................. 168 SESSION 13: BAD GUYS, GOOD GUYS ....................................................................................................... 185 SESSION 14: DOING YOUR GOOD SIDE...................................................................................................... 196 SESSION 15: SAVING THE WORLD .............................................................................................................. 206 SESSION 16: LOOK AT ME, WORLD ............................................................................................................ 217 Note: If you add or delete text in this program, you may change the accuracy of the Table of Contents. The Table of Contents is an auto-generated list; if you change content and want an accurate representation of the page numbers listed in the TOC, click the table and click “Update field.” Then, click “Update page numbers only.” Click OK. 2 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Richard S. Kimball Richard Rick S. Kimball has been writing and editing in the fields of faith-based and secular curriculum development since 1973. His Unitarian Universalist credits include Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education for Adults (Unitarian Universalist Association) and The New You The Creator (Green Timber Publications, operated by Rick and his wife, Tirrell Kimball), the Sheltering Spirit series (co-written with Tirrell for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock and Green Timber), and words to the hymn "Winds Be Still" in Singing the Living Tradition (UUA hymnal). This is Rick’s second contribution to the Tapestry of Faith series. His first was Gather the Spirit, an intergenerational program co-authored with Christine Rafal. Rick has been an active member of the Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church of Portland, Maine, for more than three decades. He has served on many committees, as president and moderator. He frequently contributes to lay worship services and sings in the choir. He has led many religious education courses including Our Whole Lives and mentored several youth in Coming of Age programs. Outside the church, Rick has worked as a newspaper reporter and editor, the editor-in-chief of an educational publishing house, and a freelance writer and photographer. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Polly Peterson wrote additional stories for the program. Jessica York was the developmental editor. Judith Frediani guided the development throughout the process, and Vicki Rowland copyedited the manuscript. We extend our thanks to the following sources for permission to use material: "Hide and Seek" is from Doorways to the Soul, by Elisa Davy Pearmain (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 1998). Used by Permission for this one time use. No reprints or other use permitted. All Rights Reserved. "Two Wolves—A Cherokee Tale" used by permission of AAA Native Arts, which carries the story on its website. "The Honorable Joha, Mulla Nasruddin Hodja and the Famous Donkey Story," "Know Yourself," and "The Brothers" are taken from Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs: A Treasury of Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents (Boston: Skinner House, 2010). "How Much Does a Snowflake Weigh?" is from One Hundred Wisdom Stories from Around the World by Margaret Silf. (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2003). Used by Permission for this one time use. No reprints or other use permitted. All Rights Reserved. Tapestry of Faith Core Team The following UUA staff brought Tapestry to fruition: Judith A. Frediani, Curriculum Director, Tapestry Project Director Adrianne Ross, Project Manager Susan Dana Lawrence, Managing Editor Jessica York, Youth Programs Director Gail Forsyth-Vail, Adult Programs Director Pat Kahn, Children and Family Programs Director Alicia LeBlanc, Administrative and Editorial Assistant We are grateful to these former UUA staff members who contributed to the conceptualization and launch of Tapestry of Faith: Tracy L. Hurd Sarah Gibb Millspaugh Aisha Hauser 3 Pat Hoertdoerfer Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley 4 THE PROGRAM exercises. It invites them toward an adolescence enriched by self-knowledge and a deepening ethical It is by no means necessary that I should live, sense. It is meant to be fun and engaging for youth and but it is by all means necessary that I should act leaders alike. However, its enjoyment is always rightly. purposeful, and its messages are always meaningful. — Ralph Waldo Emerson Our children and youth wish to do right. In an article by The song "Amazing Grace" on the one hand, and sixth Craig A. Lambert ("The Horror and the Beauty," from graders on the other. The first: a traditional hymn, its Harvard magazine [November/December 2007]), language rich with the verbiage of sin and salvation, its Harvard Professor Maria Tatar, when asked to explain melody echoed over many lands in a poignant mix of the popularity of the Harry Potter books, said, "The brass, voice, and bagpipe, its message sometimes sorcery of the books involves more than wizardry and haunting, sometimes hopeful. The second: youth—pre- magic, for the child has the chance to right wrongs." This teens and young teens at the brink of new maturity, new curriculum will give our sixth graders more such powers, new insight, new opportunity to experience all chances. the joys and all the sorrows of an increasingly independent life. A potent combination. We hope that throughout this program, youth will... The program, Amazing Grace, and sixth graders: the Feel affirmed and supported in their decisions to one, a package of sixteen hour-long sessions packed act upon what they believe is the right thing to with action, information, and challenge; the other, a do group of young minds and hearts seeking, learning, Understand what the popular culture, Unitarian feeling, growing, and yearning—a promising Universalism, other religions, and other sources combination. say about right and wrong Amazing Grace intends to help sixth graders understand Recognize the virtues they and their families right and wrong and act on their new understanding. Its and their faith community have cultured, and purpose is to equip them for moving safely and why productively through the middle- and high school years, when they will be continually tugged toward both ends of Grapple with the use of their moral compass to the ethics continuum. Through their involvement in decide between right and wrong through Amazing Grace, youth will come to recognize and discussions of actual and hypothetical depend on their Unitarian Universalist identity and situations. resources as essential to their movement toward This program is a significant tool for helping young understanding, independence, and fulfillment of people along the path toward becoming empathic and personal promise. responsible adults. This curriculum is part of and in the spirit of the multi- The written program, however, is just part of the faceted Tapestry of Faith program being created by the process. Closing the final gap is up to you, the leader. If Ministries and Faith Development Staff Group of the we achieve the goal together, then together we give Unitarian Universalist Association. Amazing Grace much to the lives of
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