Timeless Themes
This year's children's Religious Exploration topic is Timeless Themes, an exploration of the stories of the Bible. Director of Religious Exploration Heather Curry shares the following:
…[T]heBible is… about the beauty and goodness of creation itself; about the ancient human struggle for freedom and liberation; about frustration with violence and injustice throughout the generations; and about experiences of exultation, expectation, and inspiration that can sustain the human quest for wisdom, justice, and peace.~John A. Buehrens, Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals
Written by a UU minister and former president of the UUA, this isa wonderful book which I have decided to read alongside the childrenas they learn about the Bible in their Religious Exploration classesthis year. It challenges religious liberals to take back a text whichso many have rejected, because if we don’t, we are letting it fallin the hands of those who will use it to oppress others and“legitimize such clear sins as economic and environmentalexploitation…” In this way, I consider it important for ourchildren to start learning its stories and identifying them as a partof their religious tradition.
Buehrens suggests two ways in which to get a “…Bible story toreveal its truths to you more fully”. And, wonderfully enough,these approaches are integrated into our curriculum and well executedeach week in our RE class. First, he suggests that the reader needsto“enter into it personally, as a character in the drama…”
I love watching the children act out the stories, usingimagination and emotion attained from their personal experiences.They have imagined what it would be like to be the only humans onearth, made masks of Cain and Abel and acted out the parts and builttowers while speaking their own unique “languages” to see if theycould still work together and get it done. They love to get into thestories themselves and experience their own and others’ responsesto thedifferent situations.
The second way to understand Biblical stories is to learn the“story of the story”. Where did these stories come from? Why didthey come about? We’ll be exploring the story of Sodom and Gomorrahand contemplating how people explained natural disasters andgeological features.
Additionally, during our monthly intergenerational services, wewill be connecting Biblical stories with other myths which may helpthe children make cultural connections and understandthe underlyinghuman quest to find answers to the mysteries of life.
Our UU children canprovide us with fresh perspectives on the “stuff”we’vestruggled with for so long. They don’t carry the baggage that manyof us do about Christianity and the Bible. They are excited to meetthe characters in the stories permeating our Western culture.As ourchildren grow into adult UU’s, I am sure we will see a cultureshift which will change the way we worship and honor ourJudeo-Christian heritage. And hopefully it will have a greaterimpacton the rest of society and its use of this holy text
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