I teach a wonderful 6th grade class at our UU church. It's the "Growing Up Year," where we visit different houses of worship and learn about many religions, including our own. I think it is a way not only to build tolerance of others by finding common ground and dispelling mysteries, it is also a way to pin down and put into words what it is that we believe. Quite an accomplishment for 11-12 year old kids.
Today we did a follow up class to several different field trips, and we had the kids write down what beliefs they remembered from their visits. We put signs up on the wall -- Totally, firmly agree; agree; unsure corner; hm... disagree; and totally, firmly disagree. Then we read the beliefs out loud, and we all had to move around the room to stand under the sign that matches our feeling about a belief.
Sometimes the wording of these beliefs can change where I stand. There's "I believe that prayer works," versus "Meditation gives me peace of mind." Is there a difference between prayer and meditation? One seems to be TO a deity, while the other is turned inward. However, if you believe that god, or a holy spirit, or the great life force is within all of us, then meditation can be considered prayer TO the deity within. These are some of the tricky questions the 6th graders wrestle with -- as do I.
I tend to ask the universe for a lot. It's kind of like throwing spaghetti up on the wall -- at some point something will stick. I don't know what's out there in the universe, but perhaps something holy is listening. (Not last week, though. We didn't get that snow day). And yet, when I'm talking to the "universe," I feel like I'm actually sinking deep inside of myself. That's more like a description of meditation.
There's also that whole "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" way of prayer/meditation. If you want something in your life, imagine it is already there. So I spend lots of time imagining (in a background sort of way, while I'm getting on with daily life) that diabetes has been cured. That scientists have found the key to autoimmune diseases. That life got a little easier. It calms me down. Is it "working?" I don't know. Maybe it will, but I won't know in my lifetime. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to see this part of my imagination come to life. Then I'll *really* have a great lesson to bring to class! How I'd love to stand under that "Firmly, Totally Agree" sign when it comes to the power of prayer!
These kids I teach -- they are wonderful. So expressive, full of wonder, and so very intelligent. They made me think about all this STUFF (as they say) today, as they do each week. So today, in addition to asking the universe for so many things, I'd like to thank it for sending me this particular group of wonderful kids. Thanks for my co-teacher, who makes me laugh. Thanks for this wonderful UU community, which feels like home.
Showing posts with label UU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UU. Show all posts
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, March 28, 2008
Spring Break
Spring Break.
Termites: The termites have been blasted. The carpenter tore apart the wall. He then showed up at odd, unplanned times, and put it back together again. I won't complain (anymore). The wall is done.
Yet: I will complain about the cost: OUCH! OUCH OUCH OUCH! I hate unexpected expenses.
Blood: The other morning I had to take Daniel & Dominic to the lab before breakfast for cholesterol blood check. Dominic was also getting his test for celiac. The day before I made deviled eggs with the last of the Easter eggs and Daniel ate 4 of them. that's 8 halves. How's that going to look on his cholesterol test? As for the celiac... well... I'm just doing some deep breathing.
UU Trip: 4:30 a.m. Wake up Matt & Daniel. Tell them to get dressed & make a final check of the bags. Send them to the airport. Daniel has gone off to Boston on a UU 9th grade trip, visiting all kinds of wonderful Unitarian sites in the city. Matt is with him, chaperoning. He's already called me 3 times today to let me know that Daniel is doing okay. I'm waiting for the last call of the day. (Later edit -- they just called. Daniel's numbers have been good today, just slightly higher than range, about 170. But I'll take that over lows, especially when he's traveling. He had lunch at a bakery of all things -- not a gluten free one, either -- but they had a chef's salad with no croutons so he ate out the meat & cheese. For dinner the gang went to Quincy Market and he found a Greek place & got lamb kebab with rice. He actually went off with the kids, and Matt stayed at the B&B to have dinner with the grown ups. Cell phones were on. Daniel had his Calorie King book in his kit. He had a buddy. Everyone was fine. Daniel even quizzed the guy at the Greek food stall to make sure that the rice "pilaf" was gluten free, because pilaf will sometimes have orzo noodles in it. So all is well, and my shoulders are a little less tense.
Cherry blossoms: they are blooming. I think we will brave the crowds tomorrow and head downtown to take in some prime cherry blossom viewing.
Kites: The kite festival is also tomorrow. How are they gonna get those things in the air without wind?
Mud Hut: Today we went to the Mud Hut to paint some pottery. 3 pieces = more than $70. I am in the wrong business.
Etsy: My sister in law, Kathryn, introduced me to Etsy. It is dangerous. Tonight she showed me pouncing. Go to www.etsy.com and look at the menu that goes down the left side of the page. Click on pounce. Then just pounce and pounce again. I'd spend all night pouncing, but then I'd never write anything here! You try it. See how long you pounce.
Walking: We have walked a lot over the past few days. The weather has been inviting. I took the kids to Great Falls (see my flickr pictures) and we climbed rocks, spotted lizards, admired wildflowers, and picnicked. Today I took Nora & Dominic on a trail that followed the northwest branch of the Potomac river. We saw a dog take a swim, a dead deer with most of the meat gone (but not all!) and its ribs turned, U-shaped, up to the sky. It smelled awful and Dominic almost threw up but he held it together and we got upwind. After the deer carcass, the views were rather lovely: a lazy river meandering through a forest full of newly budded spring trees. (Can you say allergies?) The kids bounded down a hillside, pointing and shouting, and then crossed a fallen tree trunk over a steep drop (that scares the shit out of me, but the kids were halfway across as I'm yelling, "Don't go across that tree!!!" so I had to follow them and it pissed me off how they make it look so easy but walking across fallen tree trunks over a steep drop makes me freakin' dizzy). We could have continued on for miles. The woods were lovely, dark and deep, as Robert Frost said. But we had promises to keep (I told my friend I'd let her come over and use my computer printer because hers died) and miles to go before we could go to sleep (miles and miles, especially if you've gotten up at 4:15 a.m.).
Pizza: The pizza place near us had this deal where if you save the coupons off of 10 of their pizza boxes, you could bring them in and then get a free cheese pizza. I had 10 coupons. Dinner for the three of us cost $2.65 (three drinks) plus $2.50 (video and toy machines for .50 or .25 for the kids).
Eyes: they feel like they are about to fall out of my head. I've done the miles, so now I can sleep. Good night, everybody.
Termites: The termites have been blasted. The carpenter tore apart the wall. He then showed up at odd, unplanned times, and put it back together again. I won't complain (anymore). The wall is done.
Yet: I will complain about the cost: OUCH! OUCH OUCH OUCH! I hate unexpected expenses.
Blood: The other morning I had to take Daniel & Dominic to the lab before breakfast for cholesterol blood check. Dominic was also getting his test for celiac. The day before I made deviled eggs with the last of the Easter eggs and Daniel ate 4 of them. that's 8 halves. How's that going to look on his cholesterol test? As for the celiac... well... I'm just doing some deep breathing.
UU Trip: 4:30 a.m. Wake up Matt & Daniel. Tell them to get dressed & make a final check of the bags. Send them to the airport. Daniel has gone off to Boston on a UU 9th grade trip, visiting all kinds of wonderful Unitarian sites in the city. Matt is with him, chaperoning. He's already called me 3 times today to let me know that Daniel is doing okay. I'm waiting for the last call of the day. (Later edit -- they just called. Daniel's numbers have been good today, just slightly higher than range, about 170. But I'll take that over lows, especially when he's traveling. He had lunch at a bakery of all things -- not a gluten free one, either -- but they had a chef's salad with no croutons so he ate out the meat & cheese. For dinner the gang went to Quincy Market and he found a Greek place & got lamb kebab with rice. He actually went off with the kids, and Matt stayed at the B&B to have dinner with the grown ups. Cell phones were on. Daniel had his Calorie King book in his kit. He had a buddy. Everyone was fine. Daniel even quizzed the guy at the Greek food stall to make sure that the rice "pilaf" was gluten free, because pilaf will sometimes have orzo noodles in it. So all is well, and my shoulders are a little less tense.
Cherry blossoms: they are blooming. I think we will brave the crowds tomorrow and head downtown to take in some prime cherry blossom viewing.
Kites: The kite festival is also tomorrow. How are they gonna get those things in the air without wind?
Mud Hut: Today we went to the Mud Hut to paint some pottery. 3 pieces = more than $70. I am in the wrong business.
Etsy: My sister in law, Kathryn, introduced me to Etsy. It is dangerous. Tonight she showed me pouncing. Go to www.etsy.com and look at the menu that goes down the left side of the page. Click on pounce. Then just pounce and pounce again. I'd spend all night pouncing, but then I'd never write anything here! You try it. See how long you pounce.
Walking: We have walked a lot over the past few days. The weather has been inviting. I took the kids to Great Falls (see my flickr pictures) and we climbed rocks, spotted lizards, admired wildflowers, and picnicked. Today I took Nora & Dominic on a trail that followed the northwest branch of the Potomac river. We saw a dog take a swim, a dead deer with most of the meat gone (but not all!) and its ribs turned, U-shaped, up to the sky. It smelled awful and Dominic almost threw up but he held it together and we got upwind. After the deer carcass, the views were rather lovely: a lazy river meandering through a forest full of newly budded spring trees. (Can you say allergies?) The kids bounded down a hillside, pointing and shouting, and then crossed a fallen tree trunk over a steep drop (that scares the shit out of me, but the kids were halfway across as I'm yelling, "Don't go across that tree!!!" so I had to follow them and it pissed me off how they make it look so easy but walking across fallen tree trunks over a steep drop makes me freakin' dizzy). We could have continued on for miles. The woods were lovely, dark and deep, as Robert Frost said. But we had promises to keep (I told my friend I'd let her come over and use my computer printer because hers died) and miles to go before we could go to sleep (miles and miles, especially if you've gotten up at 4:15 a.m.).
Pizza: The pizza place near us had this deal where if you save the coupons off of 10 of their pizza boxes, you could bring them in and then get a free cheese pizza. I had 10 coupons. Dinner for the three of us cost $2.65 (three drinks) plus $2.50 (video and toy machines for .50 or .25 for the kids).
Eyes: they feel like they are about to fall out of my head. I've done the miles, so now I can sleep. Good night, everybody.
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