AMAZING GRACE
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 12: HUMAN AND DIVINE
BY RICHARD KIMBALL
© Copyright 2008 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/7/2014 7:28:33 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
To err is human, to forgive divine.
— Alexander Pope
To understand everything is to forgive everything.
— Hindu Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism
Session 12 focuses on forgiveness. It explores such religious ideas as redemption and salvation: concepts that are meaningful for many UUs and helpful for youth to understand more fully other faith communities. This is the final session in a series of four based on the theme of spiritual development.
The session begins with the above quotation from Alexander Pope, and then uses stories of Prometheus and Jesus to present two attitudes toward forgiveness. Participants visit a quiet part of the building and then reflect on how place can influence their own spiritual thoughts and understanding. Activity 4, Matching in Motion helps youth remember and understand some religious terms. A series of wall-to-wall questions invites youth to respond to work they have done in Session 9-12 on spiritual development. In Faith in Action, youth consider offering forgiveness to somebody in their own lives.
Language about forgiveness and salvation is thick and may not come easily to sixth graders; do not force it. Give what they can accept and move on. If youth are attentive and interested, take whatever time you need to be sure they understand the theological concepts you present — especially in Activity 1, which introduces original sin, redemption and communion, and talks about salvation in the course of discussing the two stories. Remember to plan tight, but present loose. If discussion is rich, consider using more time for it.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
ACTIVITY | MINUTES |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Stories and Discussion – Zeus Punishes and Jesus Forgives | 20 |
Activity 2: Spiritual Moment in Space | 15 |
Activity 3: Matching in Motion | 7 |
Activity 4: Wall-to-Wall Questions | 10 |
Faith in Action: I Forgive | 20 |
Closing | 3 |
Alternate Activity 1: Ethics Play | 15 |
Alternate Activity 2: Theme Song Revisited | 7 |
Alternate Activity 3: Divinity Quote | 5 |
Alternate Activity 4: Responding to Ideas about Forgiveness | 10 |
Alternate Activity 5: Story and Discussion – Casting the First Stone | 5 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
In the days before you present this session, explore your own ideas of forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. Remember and revisit physical spaces that you find spiritual. See Activity 2 to remind yourself how the term "spirituality" is used in the context of this curriculum. If "spirituality" is not a word that resonates for you, you might think in terms of "connection." As always in Unitarian Universalist religious education, it is important for leaders to allow children and youth their own responses to and understanding of concepts that may not speak to all adults.
In the moments before you present this session, with all preparations made, make a peaceful moment for yourself and for your connections with all. Breathe deeply. Know that your efforts to assist youth are themselves virtuous. Breathe deeply. Connect with what is good and true. Breathe deeply. Relax. Feel the energy of sharing fill you. Connect again with your leadership team, and be ready to greet your youth.
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
As participants enter, greet them. If you have newcomers, greet them warmly and be sure they know others in the room. Give them nametags if others have them. Ask newcomers and old timers alike to look at the Conundrum Corner, but do not say anything more about it. In answer to any questions about it, say you will be talking about it later.
If playing "Amazing Grace," stop the music or reduce the volume to a very low background level.
Lead the group in the day's opening rituals—a chalice lighting, a moment of focusing silence, and a moment of sharing.
Light the chalice, or let a youth do so, and speak these words (asking the group to join you if you have posted them):
May this light help us find the way to forgive others and ourselves for doing wrong.
Ask the group to be silent for a moment as they reflect on the opening words and settle in for the session. End the silence by saying, "blessed be," or other appropriate words.
If your group recently did Session 11, Rules, Rules, Rules, ask whether any of them have acted on the idea suggested by Faith in Action: that they work to change rules in their lives. Then say that in this session they will talk about forgiveness. Ask whether any of them have ever said that they forgave somebody when they really did not want to forgive. Do not press for details, but accept any brief explanations the youth offer.
Extinguish the chalice without ceremony and move the chalice table aside as necessary to allow movement in the room.
ACTIVITY 1: STORIES AND DISCUSSION – ZEUS PUNISHES AND JESUS FORGIVES (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants hear two stories about forgiveness and discuss forgiveness in a religious context.
Share the Alexander Pope quote, "To err is human, to forgive divine." Yet, not all the gods are forgiving, according to stories told by people who have believed in those gods.
Mention that the God of Hebrew scriptures often punished people instead of forgiving them. That is the basis of the Noah story. When people sinned, God grew angry and sent a great flood to drown them. The Greek myths mention many angry, unforgiving gods and goddesses. The story of Prometheus tells what happened when Zeus grew angry with him. (Remind the group that Zeus was the ruler of all the gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus and that he had asked Prometheus to create humans; see also the story of Pandora's Box in Session 2, Activity 2.)
Tell or read the story of Prometheus. Alternately, you might ask for one or more volunteers to read it. Mention that hundreds of years after condemning Prometheus, Zeus bargained with other gods and finally agreed to free Prometheus. Other gods are more forgiving than that, and the God of the Christian Bible is an example.
Draw attention to the Conundrum Corner and ask your youth what they think the Trinity Church sign means. Explain, if the group does not, that the sign ("1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given") reminds people of the Christian story of Jesus on the cross. The sign was photographed in 2007 outside a small Christian church in Gray, Maine. Ask the group to tell you the story of Jesus' crucifixion as best they can.
Tell or read a brief version of the story if you think it will be helpful. See Story 2, "Jesus Forgives."
Explain that many Christians today still believe that Jesus "died for our sins"; he died to save human sinners. By his death, he opened the door to human salvation and eternal life. People who confess their sins and repent — that is, people who say they are sorry and feel remorse for what they have done, and ask for God's forgiveness can gain eternal salvation. God will forgive them, and they will go to heaven.
Mention that the idea of salvation is extremely important to Christians and to some people who practice other religions as well. (Two websites listed under Find Out More describe attitudes toward salvation in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.) Connect your discussion as appropriate to ideas you may have shared in the course of Session 7, The Second U, especially during Activity 2, Speaking of Universal Salvation.
Explain also that many Christians believe in "original sin." This refers back to Adam and Eve's sin of disobedience in the Garden of Eden and the belief that all humankind now carries that sin. By being baptized, people wash this and other sins away and become Christians. From that time on, they must continue to repent and ask for forgiveness whenever they sin in order to remain in God's good graces and be saved for eternal life. Another religious word for this belief is "redemption," the idea that people can be saved through Jesus' sacrifice. Most Unitarian Universalists do not believe in original sin. UUs do not believe people are born perfect, either. We believe that humans are born with a capacity for good and a capacity for evil. The choices we make in life will bring us closer to one state or the other. Whether or not you believe in original sin, it is important for youth to understand Christian ideas that may be meaningful to some of the people they know outside their own congregations.
Mention that "original sin," "salvation," "redemption," and "sin" are all religious terms. We use the word "forgive" outside of a religious context, but it also is part of a famous Christian prayer known as the "Lord's Prayer." One version includes these lines: "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us."
You might also tell the group about the Christian practice of communion. Communion is a religious rite or ceremony in which Christians eat a small piece of bread that represents the body of Jesus Christ and drink a small amount of wine or grape juice that represents the blood of Jesus Christ. Through communion, people remember the sacrifice and death of Jesus and celebrate the idea that their own redemption (or salvation) is possible because of it.
ACTIVITY 2: SPIRITUAL MOMENT IN SPACE (15 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity gives youth a chance to move around as they experience a space-based approach to spiritual feeling.
Lead in to the activity by asking whether participants think that listening to religious stories is spiritual. You might remind them that spirituality is the sense of connection to our deepest selves as well as beyond our selves, to others, to the world, and to the great mystery. Some people think of spirituality as a sense of connection to God and some do feel spiritual when they hear religious stories.
Other people may feel spiritual when they see great art, hear great music, or meditate (as youth may have experienced in Sessions 9 through 11). Still others feel spiritual when they are in certain spaces. These might be spaces in nature or they might be museums, concert halls, houses of worship, or any number of other kinds of spaces. In fact, most churches and temples are designed to be spiritual places. Ask the youth if they think this is true of their own congregational home. If so, where in the building do they feel most spiritual? If not, what could someone do to make the building more spiritual?
Lead the youth on a walk to a part of the building that some people feel is spiritual: your sanctuary, perhaps, or a chapel or a quiet place on the church grounds. Ask participants to sit or stand quietly, in a meditative way. If you expect others to be using the space when you visit, be sure to ask the youth in advance to behave in a way that is not disruptive. Say they should behave well enough so that nobody will have to forgive them later. Stay in the space for at least several minutes.
Return to your meeting room and with a brief discussion tie your visit to the themes of the session. You might ask:
Including All Participants
Choose a spiritual space accessible to all your participants.
ACTIVITY 3: MATCHING IN MOTION (7 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity uses a matching game to reinforce youth understanding of twelve terms related to ideas such as forgiveness and salvation.
Each youth should wear at least one of the name tags you prepared from the terms and definitions. If you use them all, you will have enough for twenty-four participants. If your group is smaller than that, cut back on the number of terms and definitions, let youth wear more than one, or consider doing the activity twice (either now or on another day) in order to use more of them. If your group has more than twenty-four youth, consider dividing it into two parts and giving each smaller group a set of labels to use. If you have an uneven number of participants, have a leader join the activity by displaying a label and passively waiting for the appropriate youth to join him/her.
Before handing out the cards, explain that this is a matching activity. Each person will wear either a term or a definition. When you say to begin, they will move around and match themselves up so that the terms and definitions are standing or sitting in pairs.
Allow the matching to proceed. When all have paired off, take a quick look to see if all combinations are correct. If not, say that there is a mismatch and ask the youth to reconsider the pairs. Offer guidance if necessary.
Conclude by asking each pair to state its term and definition aloud. Add any information you think will be useful as they do so. Ask if there are any questions concerning the terms and definitions.
Including All Participants
Use an approach that will allow all youth to participate. Do not assume, however, that youth using crutches or wheelchairs will not wish to move around the room during this activity.
ACTIVITY 4: WALL-TO-WALL QUESTIONS (10 MINUTES)
Description of Activity
This activity asks youth to move around to show their answers to some belief questions based on Sessions 9 through 12 of Amazing Grace: Exploring Right and Wrong.
Ask the youth to help move aside any chairs or other furniture that might prevent easy motion. Explain that you are going to play wall-to-wall questions. You will ask a series of questions and you want the youth to show their answers by choosing and moving to one of two opposite walls. Say that there are only two choices for each question; standing in the middle is not an option.
Show the youth the two walls where they are to go in response to the questions. Then ask the questions from the following list, stating after each question which wall represents which answer. Give youth a chance to talk about each question and their responses before moving on to the next one.
I believe...
Including All Participants
If some of your participants have limited mobility, devise a different way for the group to make their choices known. They might use a thumbs-up for yes and a thumbs-down for no. Alternatively, you could provide everyone with two differently colored index cards: blue for yes and yellow for no, for example. Do not assume, though, that a youth using a wheelchair or crutches would not enjoy the movement of this activity as much as any other youth.
CLOSING (3 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Briefly summarize what you have done in this session. Hand out any Taking It Home activity suggestions you have prepared.
If earlier you moved your chalice from its central position, retrieve it and re-light it without fanfare. Ask the group to sit and speak these closing words with you:
As we extinguish this chalice, may its light shine within so we may see the difference between right and wrong.
FAITH IN ACTION: I FORGIVE (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity leads participants to practice forgiving themselves and others.
Introduce the activity by asking whether and why it is useful for people to forgive each other. Say that the answer might seem easy if you believe that there is a God who will let you into heaven if you are a kind and forgiving person. What if you are a humanist? (A humanist is a person whose religious ideas center on humans, instead of on God.) Why would a humanist think forgiveness is good? (A simple answer is that the world would be a less violent and more peaceful place if people practiced forgiveness more.)
Lead a brief discussion about the process of forgiveness. Imagine that one person breaks something that belongs to another person.
Try these questions as well:
Remind youth that we are all in the same boat: everyone in the group has done mean and hurtful things to other people and everyone has had mean and hurtful things done to them, both intentionally and unintentionally. Everyone has also done hurtful things to themselves. Therefore, we need both to forgive and to be forgiven. All humans exist in this state. It is something we all share. Being in this state does not make us evil or corrupt, it just makes us human. However, we do not have to wallow in guilt about being imperfect. There are things we can we do about it.
Distribute two pieces of paper and a pencil to each participant. Say that you will ask them to write some private information on the pages, but that nobody else will see the papers. In fact, the youth can use code, initials, or any other device they want so nobody else could possibly understand what they write.
Ask the youth to sit quietly, prepared to write. Say that on the first side of the paper they should write something that they did wrong, something they might feel guilty about having done. Again, they can use code or anything else so nobody can understand what they write. Next, ask the youth to sit quietly for a moment and think about how they can forgive themselves. Ask these questions into the silence: Do they feel sorry? Have they actually apologized? Can they keep from repeating the wrong? Have they done their best to make things right?
After the silence, tell them to write some actions they can take to forgive themselves and then to turn their papers over.
When all are ready, ask the youth to think of some way they were hurt by somebody else doing something wrong. Again, they can use code or anything else so nobody can understand what they write. Next, ask the youth to sit quietly for a moment and think about how they can forgive that other person. Ask these questions into the silence: Would they want the other person to forgive them if they did the same thing? Do they understand that nobody is perfect and that we all do wrong things? Do they understand that most people try their best to do good things? Does it matter to them whether the other person apologized and tried to fix the damage that was done? Can they forgive people who do not do that? If you cannot and do not forgive somebody, does it hurt that person? Does it hurt you?
After the silence, tell them to write some actions they can take to start forgiving the other person, and then to fold their papers.
Say that if they found they could not forgive themselves or other people for something, they should decide what else to do. Maybe they could do something more to make up for the thing they did wrong. Maybe they should talk to the other person about how they were hurt.
Allow another moment for thought. Then ask the youth to crumple up their papers and throw them in a bag that you promise to destroy without opening. If you have a paper shredder, have them feed in their papers to be destroyed one at a time.
Now ask the youth to prepare to write on the second piece of paper. This time they should draw a big heart on one side of the paper and write the word "self" inside it. On the other side, they should draw another heart and write the word "other" in it. They should fold up this paper and take it home with them.
Say you hope the youth will practice forgiving themselves and others, because it is not always easy to do that. Add the caution that sometimes, if we slip and do something really bad, or somebody does something really bad to us, then it might not be possible just to say "I forgive" and forget about whatever it was. Continue with words such as these:
Sometimes you need help understanding why you did something wrong and in making sure it will not happen again. Sometimes when another person does something wrong that hurts you, you need to get help and talk to somebody, usually an adult you trust, to figure out what to do about it. It is also okay if you need to talk to a professional to help process your feelings. It's important to seek help from a school counselor or a professional therapist if you think you might need it. Forgiving may have to wait until the other person corrects the wrong.
Remind the youth of the question in the Opening: Have any of them ever said they were forgiving somebody when they really did not want to? If so, was that a time when the other person did not correct the wrong that was done? Ask if the youth agree that actions speak louder than words when it comes to forgiveness. Does it help to say you forgive somebody and then continue to be angry with them for whatever they did? Although it can be hard to tell someone that you cannot yet forgive him or her, if you are not honest about how you feel, your resentment can grow and fester. That is not good for you or the other person. Admitting to hurt feelings is a necessary step toward reconciliation.
If participants are inclined to discuss this topic further, including real-life situations they have encountered, let them do so if the leaders feel comfortable with it. Keep the focus on the usefulness and the actions of forgiveness. If someone should disclose an incident involving possible abuse, make sure you take action. See the Introduction for information on mandated reporting and safe congregations.
Including All Participants
Ensure that comfortable writing surfaces are available and easy to use by all participants.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Meet with your co-leaders after the session to reflect on how it went. How was your mix of discussion and action? Have you successfully found ways to involve all youth fully in your sessions despite any limitations they might have? Do youth have a basic understanding of some of the difficult ideas connected with spirituality? Do they also understand that spirituality is as simple as sitting and looking up at the stars with wonder? If not, how can you help them to such understanding?
Look ahead at Session 13. Decide who will lead which activities, and who will be responsible for which supplies.
TAKING IT HOME
To err is human, to forgive divine.
— Alexander Pope
To understand everything is to forgive everything
— Hindu Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism
IN TODAY’S SESSION… We talked about forgiveness, beginning with a quotation that says it is human to err and divine to forgive. Then we heard two stories, one about an angry god, the other about Jesus asking God to forgive the people who crucified him. We spent some time in a spiritual space and we did some wall-to-wall questions. During Faith in Action, we made decisions about forgiving ourselves and other people.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about…
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try…
MYSTERY AND ME
Are you having trouble forgiving yourself for something you did that was wrong? Do you understand why it happened? Does solving that mystery make it easier to forgive yourself? If you are keeping a journal, write some of your thoughts about forgiving yourself. If you have nothing to forgive yourself for, write a big “good going” in your journal.
A FAMILY RITUAL
Talk each day about the right and wrong you have experienced. Did you each do something good you want to share? Is there somebody in the family you want to thank for a virtuous act? Is there something you wish you had not done that you need to talk about? How can you make tomorrow a better day?
A FAMILY GAME
The next time you and another family member get angry at each other, see how fast you can turn the anger into laughter. Who can say something funny first?
FAMILY DISCOVERY
Find a space that everybody in your family finds spiritual. Enjoy it together as often as possible.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: ETHICS PLAY (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants play a game replicating real-life situations involving ethical decisions.
Ask at the end of the game whether anybody made decisions that might result in somebody having to forgive them.
Including All Participants
If some participants have limited mobility, you might wish to have the group remain seated, or at least give individuals a choice between standing and sitting when they speak.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: THEME SONG REVISITED (7 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Help your group connect this session's ideas to the curriculum's theme song, "Amazing Grace."
Play a minute or two of the song and ask participants to say what they think the words mean. Remind the group as appropriate of any discussion you had during Activity 2: Meeting the Theme Song, in Session 4: Telling Right from Wrong.
Distribute copies of Singing the Living Tradition and ask participants to turn to Hymn 205. Remind the group, as appropriate, of what you discussed during Session 4. Then ask them to think about verses 2 through 4. Use the following questions to derive meaning from those verses:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: DIVINITY QUOTE (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Point out the Alexander Pope quotation you have written on newsprint. "To err is human, to forgive divine." Ask your youth what they think of it. Have they heard it before? Do they agree with it? What does "err" mean? Could you replace it with something else, such as "make mistakes," or the religious word "sin"? What does "divine" mean? (It is related to "deity," which means a god. One definition of "divine" is "godlike"; another is "heavenly.")
Ask participants to apply the quote to their own lives. When somebody forgives them, is that somebody acting like a god? Do they themselves feel godlike when they forgive somebody else? Or is forgiving just a good, human thing to do? Can the youth think of a way to rewrite the Golden Rule using the word "forgive"? (See Session 4, Activity 4. One possible revision is: "Forgive other people the way you would want them to forgive you in the same situation.")
Ask participants if they ever have had to forgive themselves for doing something wrong. If forgiving other people is divine, what about forgiving yourself; is that divine, too?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 4: RESPONDING TO IDEAS ABOUT FORGIVENESS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Share a few brief quotations about forgiveness.
Ask for simple but active responses with instructions like these:
If you agree with this quotation, stand up; if you disagree with this quotation, stand on your chair.
Read each of the following quotations in turn. Let youth respond actively to each, and then give reasons for their responses. Ask at the end of each discussion whether anybody's ideas and reactions have changed.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
— Mother Teresa
To understand everything is to forgive everything.
— Commonly attributed to Hindu Prince Gautama Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, but also sometimes attributed to other sources.
To understand is not only to pardon, but in the end to love.
— Walter Lippman
If I do not forgive everyone, I shall be untrue to myself.
— Albert Schweitzer
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.
— Unknown
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
— Mohandas Gandhi
We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
— John F. Kennedy
The supreme sin is not to be able to forgive yourself.
— Waldo Frank
End the discussion by asking one or more volunteers to read Reading 477 in Singing the Living Tradition. You might try it as a responsive reading, with leaders reading "Forgive us" and "Forbid that we" while participants finish each verse. Everyone should then read the last verse together.
Including All Participants
Give instructions for active responses that all participants can comfortably follow. Do not ask youth to stand if even one in the group cannot.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 5: STORY AND DISCUSSION – CAST THE FIRST STONE (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Share the Christian scripture story of Jesus inviting people without sin to "cast the first stone."
As an introduction, or in discussion following the story, make the point that it is often easier for people to forgive others if they first admit that they, too, have done wrong things; that they, too, have made mistakes. Consider also reminding the group of the opening quotation: "To err is human, to forgive divine." In the story, Jesus assumes that nobody is perfect, that everybody in the group is a sinner. He, too, believed that "to err is human."
Tell or read the story. Alternately, you might ask for one or more volunteers to read it. After hearing the story, ask the group the following questions:
AMAZING GRACE: SESSION 12:
STORY: CAST THE FIRST STONE
Adapted from Christian scripture, John 8: 2-11, New Revised Standard Version.
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
At dawn, he appeared in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.
The scribes and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in sin [adultery]. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of sin [committing adultery]. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
"Neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go your way, and from now on do not sin again."
AMAZING GRACE: SESSION 12:
STORY: JESUS FORGIVES
Adapted from Christian scripture, Luke 23, New Revised Standard Version.
An angry crowd demanded that Jesus be put to death. Pilate decided to grant their demand, and he surrendered Jesus to the will of the crowd.
The crowd grabbed Simon and made him carry the cross behind Jesus. Two women wept for Jesus, who turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children."
Two other men, both criminals, were led out with Jesus to be executed. A crowd moved the three men to the place of execution, nailed them to crosses, and raised them to die by crucifixion. People sneered at Jesus and shouted that he should save himself if he was the son of God, but Jesus cried out to his God.
Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
And there he died.
AMAZING GRACE: SESSION 12:
STORY: ZEUS PUNISHES
Zeus was not big on forgiving. He was the chief god on Mount Olympus, and what he said went. When the other gods and goddesses obeyed, fine. When they disobeyed, he threw thunderbolts around and thought up some very nasty punishments.
You might guess that the other gods and goddesses, knowing this, would stay out of trouble. Often they did, but not always. One example is the case of Prometheus.
Prometheus was a minor god who had a big job that Zeus had given him—creating humans to live on the earth while his brother, Epimetheus, created other forms of life. Prometheus did fine work, making humans in the image of the gods, but he took too long. By the time he finished, Epimetheus had already passed out most of the gifts that Zeus had given them both to share with all living beings. So animals had more physical skills, like jumping, running, and smelling, than people did. Some also had wonderful fur coats to keep them warm during the winter when people were shivering in their thin skins.
This bothered Prometheus. He felt sorry for the people and wanted them at least to have the gift of fire to help them through the long, cold nights. He asked Zeus for coals from the sacred hearth on Mount Olympus. "No," said Zeus. Fire was for gods and goddesses only; people should never have it.
Prometheus took it anyway. He snuck up to the top of Olympus, stole coals from the fire, and carried them down to earth and its people. Human life changed for the better. People were more comfortable and less afraid at night. Animals respected the fire and did not attack people who were near it.
Zeus was not pleased, but he held his temper because he saw that people were using some of their fire to prepare offerings of fresh meat for the gods. Then Prometheus went too far.
He noticed that people were working hard for their food, but they were burning the best of it for the gods. He showed them how to trick Zeus by offering him a choice of two gifts. One looked terrible but had the good meat in it. The other looked great but had only bones, gristle, and fat in it. Zeus chose the second, and when he realized what had happened, he was furious. Zeus sent thunderbolts flying around the sky, and he had Prometheus dragged to the top of the Caucasus Mountains and tied up in heavy, unbreakable chains.
As a god, Prometheus was immortal. He could not die, but he could suffer great pain, and he did. Every day an eagle flew down from the sky, tore out Prometheus's liver, and ate it. Every night the liver grew back, ready for the eagle's return in the morning for another meal. This continued for hundreds of years.
Zeus punished the people on earth another way. He gave them Pandora, along with a very special box—but that is another story.
AMAZING GRACE: SESSION 12:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: CHURCH SIGN
Photograph of a sign outside the Trinity Church in Gray, Maine.
AMAZING GRACE: SESSION 12:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: DEFINITIONS
Terms are on the left and their definitions are on the right. Write each term on a separate hanging name tag. Do the same for each definition. During the matching game described in Activity 3: Matching in Motion, participants should align themselves to match terms and definitions as given here.
Baptism | Religious ceremony that washes sins away |
Confession | Admitting guilt |
Eternity | Forever and ever |
Ethics | Study of right and wrong |
Faith | Spiritual and religious belief |
Forgiveness | Excusing somebody for doing something wrong |
Grace | Undeserved gift from God or the divine |
Salvation | Delivered from sin and hell to goodness and heaven |
Spirituality | Sense of deep, important connection |
Sin | A wrong act |
Temptation | Urge to do something wrong |
Virtue | Being good |
FIND OUT MORE
Valea, Ernest. "Salvation and eternal life in world religions (at www.comparativereligion.com/salvation.html)"; an examination of religious approaches to salvation on a comparative religion website.
D'Aulaire, Ingri, and Edgar Parin. Book of Greek Myths. (New York: Delacorte Press, 1962). An illustrated book of Greek myths, including "Prometheus."