Sunday’s service for April 7th introduces us to the theme of Wholeness. What does it mean to be a people of Wholeness?
Here are some ways your family can continue talking about the theme all month.
With Your Kids (Ideas to engage Wholeness as a Family)
Family Adventure Ideas
Making Pizza
Passover Matzo Pizza
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/15924/kids-favorite-passover-pizza/?clickId=right%20rail0&internalSource=rr_feed_recipe_sb&referringId=231522%20referringContentType%3Drecipe
In honor of the traditional unleavened bread served during the Jewish holiday of Passover this month, make these matzo pizzas and reflect on the slices of life which you celebrate, and which are ignored or minimized. The pizza represents the whole person with intellectual, spiritual, emotional, vocational, financial, physical and social slices.
Stories to Read Together
Meet Jesus by Lynn Tuttle Gunney Illustrated By: Jane Conteh-Morgan
https://www.uuabookstore.org/Meet-Jesus-P17599.aspx
“Meet Jesus introduces children to Jesus’ life and message of love, kindness, peace and tolerance with simple text and lively, full-color illustrations. This book is a resource for a wide range of liberal religious parents and teachers, appropriate for Unitarian Universalists, progressive Christians, humanists, non-Christians and families blending more than one religious tradition; ideal for church groups and home.” – UUA Bookstore
Theme Message: Jesus’ message of love, kindness, peace and tolerance is a path to wholeness in a broken world.
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña (Author), Christian Robinson (Illustrator)
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Stop-Market-Street-Matt/dp/0399257748/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1547564360&sr=8-1&keywords=Last+Stop+on+Market+Street
“A little boy and his Nana take the bus after church to a shelter. There they help serve food to people living there. The inclusiveness comes in how Nana speaks to CJ her grandson about all the different people they encounter on their journey.” https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2018/03/picture-books-promote-diversity-inclusion.html
Theme Message: The grandmother models how to be part of a diverse community that not only accepts but celebrates everyone. This is the widening of the circle for wholeness.
Family Journeys
Can Hunt
We are made whole by helping others. Instead of an Egg Hunt, offer a Can Hunt. Hide the cans the same way that Easter Eggs are hidden, on a lawn. You will need sturdy baskets, or the children bring one or two at a time. Make the journey to donate the cans to a Food Bank.
An additional angle is for Earth Day. Avoid cheap plastic crap on a day when we want to take care of the earth.
Family Movie Night Ideas
The Wizard of Oz (G)
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-wizard-of-oz
Theme Connection: Becoming whole…” If I only had a brain, a heart, some courage, a home.”
Jesus Christ Superstar (G)
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/jesus-christ-superstar-1973
Rock movie telling the story of Jesus’ last week of life.
Theme Connection: Jesus realizes that it is only in death that his message will become whole.
Hidden Figures (PG)
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/hidden-figures
“HIDDEN FIGURES is the true story of three African-American women who worked for NASA in the 1950s and ’60s. They served as “human computers,” doing complex mathematics and engineering tasks to help launch the manned spaceflight program — particularly, sending astronaut John Glenn (Glen Powell) into orbit.” – Common Sense Media
Theme connection: Shows the need for the Civil Rights Movement and Women’s Movement in order for the talents of women and African Americans to become recognized and our society to become whole. We won’t be whole as a society until we tell the whole story of our history.
For You (Support for Parents as Faith Formation Guides)
What Does Mindful Parenting Mean (hint: Self-Love) blog by Chris Scheller, First Parish of Sudbury UU https://fpsudbury.org/2016/01/27/what-does-mindful-parenting-mean-hint-self-love/
Brokenness (check out the great quote!)
Ministers Message by Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael
http://uusterling.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/UUCSNewsletterMarch2015.pdf
The Good Enough Mother
Sermon by Rev. Karen Gustafson, Michael Servetus Unitarian Society
https://msuu.org/files/sermons/sermon-pdfs/The%20Good%20Enough%20Mother.pdf
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