Do You Believe It?

Children's Chapel
November 15, 2009
Renee Pierre & Aisha Pierre

Opening Words:
Open your hearts to the wonder of worship.Open your minds to the search for meaning and truth.Open your eyes to the miracle of creation. Open your arms to the embrace of loved ones. Open your souls, and let the divine sweep in. Rev David Usher-adapted


Hymn #389 (with hand gestures)
Gathered Here in the Mystery of the hour
Gathered here in one strong body
Gathered here in the struggle and the power
Spirit draw near

Chalice Lighting #452 Life is a gift for which we are grateful. We gather in community to celebrate the glories and the mysteries of this great gift.

Rainbow Candles/Principles

Children's Affirmation: We are Unitarian Universalists. We are people with open minds, helping hands, and loving hearts. (with hand gestures)

Offertory - Today's offering will be shared with our church and an organization that we would like to support.

Story~

R: Hey Aisha, do you remember I was going to tell you about something that I found on my trip this week?

A: I remember you were going to tell me SOMETHING, but I don't remember what it was.

R: Well, I went to this conference and it was in a beautiful town in Massachusetts and it was at a beautiful guest house... kind of like a small hotel. And on the grounds of the beautiful guest house, there was a walking path.

A: Is THAT what you were going to tell me?

R: No.... So one morning, I got up early and I went for a walk along the path. The whole path was covered in leaves because there were so many trees. I had a hard time sometimes following the path because there were so many leaves.

A: Is that what you were going to tell me?

R: No, but I'm getting there. So I went for a walk and I was looking down at the ground and seeing all kinds of brown leaves everywhere I walked. Until finally I came to the end and I noticed that all the leaves were now yellow. So I looked more closely and this is what I found.

(Show her the pile of fan-shaped leaves from the Ginkgo tree.)

(Aisha picks one or two up and studies them. She looks like she doesn't believe they are leaves.)

A: I think these are fake.

R: What?!

A: I think they're fake.

R: Why?

A: Because I've never seen a tree with this kind of leaves before. (She asks Soleil to draw on the white board what a leaf looks like.) I've seen these leaves (draws a leaf) and these leaves (draws another leaf) and these leaves, but never that kind.

R: So how can I make you believe these are real leaves from a real tree?

A: You can't. I guess I will just have to believe you.

DISCUSSION/REFLECTION:
What does it mean to believe?
What if I told you that I believed in fairies? Would you believe me? (Note: Smart, smart kids...they said THEY believe that I believe...not that they believed in fairies necessarily!)
Close your eyes and picture a fairie. What does a fairie look like? (Note: Everyone had a different answer.)
Last week we talked about God hiding in the heart of every human. Does everyone use the same word for God? What word do you like for talking about God? (Note: Their top four answers were: God/Gods, Divine, Creator, and Spirit. We will use these words interchangably in chapel in the upcoming weeks in chapel.)
Now, close your eyes and picture your idea of God/Gods, Divine, Creator, and Spirit. What does it look like? (Note: Answers here included ghost, me, an animal of some kind, a kind old man, and don't know.)

Meditation #481 (adapted)

It is our quiet time.
We do not speak, because the voices are within us.
It is our quiet time.
We do not walk, because the heart is all within us.
It is our quiet time.
We do not dance because the music has lifted us to a place where the spirit is.
It is our quiet time.

Moment of Silence

Hymn #123 Spirit of Life

Joys and Concerns (We place stones in a basket rather than lighting candles. They can share silently or speak their joys and concerns.)

Benediction
May our faith sustain us, our hope inspire us, and our love surround us as we go our separate ways, knowing that we will gather again in this beloved community. Amen.

Carry the Flame (We sing this "fast")