RIDDLE AND MYSTERY
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 7: STUFF HAPPENS
BY RICHARD S. KIMBALL
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 8:07:50 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
I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense. — Harold Kushner
Big Question: Why do bad things happen?
The flat statement that "stuff happens" seems to ask that we shrug, accept whatever fate befalls us and shuffle on, head down, through life. Sixth graders want more. They want to know why bad things happen, and especially why bad things happen to good people.
This session explores some possibilities, presenting a variety of religions' answers. Youth respond to a story from Hebrew scripture where God allows Satan to test Job by sending bad things his way. The group considers Unitarian Universalist ideas, especially the importance of putting faith into action by working to redress bad things, no matter why they have happened.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Story — Job | 10 |
Activity 2: Exploring Answers | 10 |
Activity 3: WCUU — A UU Panel | 20 |
Activity 4: WIT Time — Making Our Marks | 12 |
Faith in Action: Reacting to the News | |
Closing | 3 |
Alternate Activity 1: Notable Thoughts | 5 |
Alternate Activity 2: Song — We'll Build a Land | 5 |
Alternate Activity 3: Challenge Question | 5 |
Alternate Activity 4: The Perfect Day | 12 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Carve out a meditative moment for yourself. Relax. Take several deep breaths. Examine your own current understanding of why bad things happen. Have you learned to accept at least most such events with equanimity? How do your religious beliefs support or comfort you in answering today's Big Question?
When do you remember first asking why bad things happen? What has shaped your answers since that time?
Smile in the knowledge that simply joining youth in their search of life's mysteries is good and rewarding.
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Greet youth as they enter. If new youth join this session, add their names on card stock to the Kid for the Day bag or box.
Sound the bell or tingsha chimes to call for silence.
Reach into the Kid for the Day bag or box and select a name without looking. Announce the name and place the card back in the bag or box. (If a Kid for the Day seems reluctant, allow them to pass and draw another name.) Indicate the posted chalice lighting words. Invite the Kid for the Day to light the chalice while you lead the group in reciting "May this chalice light show the way as we search for answers to our biggest questions and seek to understand life's deepest mysteries."
Invite the group to share a moment of silence. End the silence by sounding the bell or tingshas. If new participants have joined the group, invite all to introduce themselves. You can do more of a check-in, but keep it focused.
You may wish to ask if anyone did any Taking It Home activities from the previous session and would like to briefly share what they did.
If you have posted the group's covenant, ask if anybody wants to suggest changes. Process suggestions quickly, and amend the covenant as needed.
Announce that it is time to hear the Big Question of the day. Hand the Kid for the Day a copy of Handout 1. Write the question—Why do bad things happen?—on the newsprint under the "Today's Big Question" sign.
Ask the Kid for the Day to extinguish the chalice.
Including All Participants
If the group includes youth who may have difficulty reading, be sure you routinely allow the Kid for the Day to pass.
ACTIVITY 1: STORY — JOB (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Read or tell the story. Invite responses. Ask if anyone has ever had a day when all bad and no good things happened to them. Allow a few brief stories. Point out that the Job story is remarkable not for what happens to Job, but how he reacts.
Ask:
How does the story of Job answer today's Big Question, "Why do bad things happen?"
Why did bad things happen to Job? (God and Satan made the bad things happen as a sort of a game or test, not even as a punishment.)
What does the story say about why good things happen?
Point out that God is powerful in this story. Although God sometimes acts at the suggestion of Satan, God ultimately controls what happens to Job. Ask, do you think God controls what Job thinks and does?
Point out that Job has free will in the story. He can think and do what he wants. He keeps praising God, although he could have chosen to curse God or stop believing in God at all. Ask the youth if they think they have free will; ask for some examples. Can free will stop bad things from happening?
Ask if the idea of free will reminds them of a philosophy the youth have heard about in Riddle and Mystery. Point out, if they do not, that Humanists think free will is very important. Humanists believe people have the ability to act and speak as they want to and cause good or bad things to happen. The story of Job is not a Humanist story; it has God and Satan in it. However, the story does rest on the idea that humans have free will.
ACTIVITY 2: EXPLORING ANSWERS (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity has two parts. First, invite participants to react to eight Answers to today's Big Question. Next, challenge them to create their own answers.
Part 1. Distribute two red and two green cards to each participant (other contrasting colors will also work). Explain that the youth are to hold the cards up to respond to the Answers you will suggest for today's Big Question. Holding up one green card means, "I think this Answer is helpful." Holding up two green cards means "I think this Answer is really, really helpful." One red card means, "I do not find this Answer helpful." Two red cards mean, "I really, really do not find this Answer helpful."
Read aloud the Answers from Leader Resource 1. After each, ask participants to respond with their cards and then invite comments.
Point out, as appropriate, that each Answer is based on real beliefs that people have held at some point in time. Whether or not we share a belief, we should respect each one as a serious attempt to understand why bad things happen.
Part 2. When you have offered all eight Answers, collect the cards and distribute paper and pencils. Invite participants to propose their own ideas of why bad things happen. You might give the youth a minute or two to write their Answers, and then invite volunteers to share. Or, invite volunteers to propose Answers in the group without the writing segment.
Variation
If you have time, form small groups to propose new theories of why bad things happen and then invite them to share their answers with the entire group.
ACTIVITY 3: WCUU — A UU PANEL (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants present a WCUU broadcast involving six On-Air People—an Anchor, a NUUs Analyst and four UU Panelists—and as many UU Choristers as you want to perform a hymn.
The Studio Crew might include a director, a floor director, a camera operator, a sound engineer, a lighting director, a script supervisor and multiple production assistants.
This broadcast has three segments. The first has the Anchor and four UU Panelists chatting on camera, the second features the UU Choristers and the third has the Anchor and the NUUs Analyst. Assign roles, using volunteers for On-Air People and Studio Crew. You might invite the Kid for the Day to be the Anchor. The Choristers can include everyone except the Studio Crew needed to record the show. The Anchor and the four UU Panelists can easily join the Choristers.
Prepare the UU Choristers to present the song "When I Am Frightened," Hymn 1012 in Singing the Journey, in the second segment.
Give participants who need to follow the script a moment to look it over. Review it with them if you have participants with limited reading skills.
Tell the group when the show should end to keep the session on schedule; assign a Studio Crew member (director or floor director) to watch the time.
Begin the broadcast.
At the end of the broadcast, ask participants how it went. Ask them to summarize how typical Unitarian Universalists respond to today's Big Question: "Why do bad things happen?" Do they think non-UUs would understand Unitarian Universalism better after seeing this WCUU show?
Lead a discussion about the words of the hymn, using these questions:
Relate the hymn to the story of Job: Though we cannot control everything that happens to us, we can control our responses when bad things happen to us and to others.
ACTIVITY 4: WIT TIME — MAKING OUR MARKS (12 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity asks youth to rank six bad events by severity and decide which ones UUs should try to do something about.
Say, in your own words:
Even when we know what caused a bad event to occur, we do not always know the answer to our Big Question: Why did it happen? One thing we can do is to put it in perspective. That means trying to decide how important it really is. Sometimes what seems horrible is not really so bad. Little kids do not understand this yet. For example, a small child can burst into tears if their balloon flies away. Kids your age are more able to put things in perspective.
A second thing you can do is to try to make things better. If life gives you a lemon, some people say, turn it into lemonade. Even when something really terrible happens, you can probably help make things a bit better.
Point out the sheets of newsprint you have placed around the room. Ask participants to take a marker and move around the room adding marks to all of the papers. Indicate the sheet of newsprint where you have posted the instructions of how to rank the events, and explain:
When they have finished, have the group observe their work. Have they largely agreed about which events are most serious? Invite discussion.
Acknowledge that even the events marked as least serious can be very problematic. Help them identify what UUs might do about each of the events. We cannot stop a hurricane, but we can insist that good preparations are made for the next one, volunteer to build new housing or raise funds, and work to make sure everyone affected is treated fairly.
CLOSING (3 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Briefly summarize the day's session with words like these:
Today's Big Question is "Why do bad things happen?" We began by reacting to some answers offered through history by various groups of people. We also heard the Hebrew scripture story about Job. Then, in our WCUU broadcast, we talked about UU responses to the question. We said Unitarian Universalists rely on a variety of sources to see why bad things happen. UUs accept that life is not perfect, that bad things happen to everybody. UUs try very hard to make things better, to turn lemons into lemonade. Sometimes we do that with Faith in Action projects. Next, we talked about a few, different bad events and decided which ones UUs could try to do something about. In WIT Time, we shared a choral reading that talks about celebrating life despite the bad things that happen.
Relight the chalice. Ask the group to speak these closing words with you: "May this light shine on in each of us as we search for the answers to our own biggest questions."
Extinguish the chalice (or ask the Kid for the Day to do it). Sound the bell or tingshas to end the session.
FAITH IN ACTION: REACTING TO THE NEWS
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Remind the group that one way Unitarian Universalists respond to bad things is to try to make the situation better, for the present and the future. Faith in Action is an opportunity to do just that.
If the group has begun an ongoing Faith in Action project, continue work on it.
Or, consider this short-term Faith in Action project:
Reacting to the News. Ask youth to review local newspapers, identify bad news stories about economic injustice or other problems, and choose one that offers a way to help local people and causes.
Distribute copies of a local newspaper for the group to review. Give them a few minutes to look for stories that suggest Faith in Action projects. Perhaps there has been a fire whose victims could use help replacing what they have lost. Maybe an animal shelter needs volunteers or supplies.
Invite suggestions for group action and record the ideas on newsprint. When you have a good list, stop the brainstorming, and lead a discussion.
Help the group make a realistic plan to offer assistance to mitigate a bad event. Will the youth need to ask their families for help? What about others in the congregation? Just what will they ask for and when will they do it? Can they bring answers to the group's next meeting? Does the group need more information? Who will try to get that in the days ahead?
Record the names of participants and leaders who will follow through with specific actions. To conclude, ask the group if their plan is a good response to questions about why bad things happen. Note that one of the benefits of a community, like a congregation, is that many hands can share the work and get more done.
Including All Participants
Guide the group to choose projects in which all members can participate.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Meet with your co-leaders after the session to reflect on it. Does the group have any new behavioral issues you need to address? Do the youth have a realistic understanding that bad things are part of life?
Note that the Big Question for Session 8 asks, "Is life fair?" Plan to reflect on your own answers to that if you will lead Session 8 next.
TAKING IT HOME
I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense. — Harold Kushner
Talk about the quote. Do you think life makes sense? Or are you still trying to figure it out?
WHAT WE DID TODAY
Today's Big Question is "Why do bad things happen?" We responded to some answers offered by various belief systems and heard the story of Job. In our WCUU broadcast, we said UUs think it is important to accept the fact that life is a mix of bad and good, and to do something to help when bad things happen. We ranked some bad events that could happen, and said which ones UUs might do something about. We finished in WIT Time by celebrating life the way it is, good and bad.
ANSWERING TODAY'S BIG QUESTION
What do family members have to say about why bad things happen? Why to they think good things happen?
TRYING SOME SUPERSTITIONS
Try out some good-luck superstitions to see if they work. If you say a hopeful thought aloud, knock on a piece of wood with your knuckles so speaking your hopes aloud will not doom your chances; then say "Knock on wood." Cross your fingers when you hope for something (some people think this gesture is a way to make the sign of the Christian cross to keep the Devil away). Pick a four-leaf clover for good luck, if you can find one. Bring a frog into your house for good luck! What other superstitions have you heard? (Search on the Internet for more, if you wish.) After a few days, talk about whether your luck has improved.
Talk about what superstitions are, what they mean to you. Did you ever believe in the power of superstitions? What do you think makes superstitions survive?
REFLECT ON YOUR BELIEFS
People say, "Misery loves company." Is that true? Get together with some other people and talk about bad things that have happened to you. Does it feel good to do that? Do you still feel better a few hours later? Together talk about good things that have happened or are happening to you. Does that feel different? Better?
SHARED SEARCH
Does your family have stories about very good things or very bad things that have happened to individuals? Which stories are told most often? Have you appreciated the good things and overcome the bad ones? If not, what more can you do? Was there a time when somebody had what seemed like bad luck but it turned into good luck?
PHOTO CHALLENGE
Photograph the results of somebody's good action. Share the photograph with others and ask why they think the good thing happened.
FAMILY FAITH IN ACTION
Find out about cooperative games to play at your next family gathering. Cooperative games are non-competitive. Nobody wins, so nobody loses. The Learning For Life (at www.learning-for-life.org/exploring/resources/99-720/x08.pdf) website describes some cooperative games. Other sites include Creative Kids at Home (at www.creativekidsathome.com/games/cooperative_games/) and Peace First (at www.peacefirst.org/site/).
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: NOTABLE THOUGHTS (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Notable Thoughts is the first Alternate Activity in each session of Riddle and Mystery. Remind participants that this is a time for them to record their own ideas about today's Big Question. Distribute participants' notebooks and pencils or pens. Provide any new participants with notebooks. Say that the notebooks are private; you will keep them between sessions but not read them.
Tell the youth they will have about five minutes. Remind them of today's Big Question: "Why do bad things happen?" Say they can write about anything they want. Their ideas can be as different as they wish from what you have talked about so far. If youth have nothing to record, they are free to doodle or relax.
Give them a few minutes to work quietly in their notebooks. When time is up, offer that they may seal their notebooks with masking tape before handing them in. Collect the notebooks.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: SONG — WE'LL BUILD A LAND (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Mention that Unitarian Universalists often express our ideas in hymns. Introduce "We'll Build a Land," Hymn 121 in Singing the Living Tradition. Ask if participants think the hymn gives a Unitarian Universalist response to today's Big Question, "Why do bad things happen?" Affirm contributions. Point out, in your own words:
The hymn does not answer the question directly, but says what people will do—what UUs plan to do—to correct some of the bad things caused by people. It says we will build a land, which is free and good, "where justice shall roll down like waters, and peace like an ever flowing stream."
Ask:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: CHALLENGE QUESTION (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Challenge questions guide a deeper inquiry for especially thoughtful individuals and groups. For this session, ask:
Would you want to be the only person on Earth to have a life in which nothing bad ever happened?
Spark discussion with these additional questions:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 4: THE PERFECT DAY (12 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity asks youth to assume roles and report on what a perfect and a rotten day would be like for their character. It will soon become clear that a perfect day for one can be a rotten day for another; a bad thing that happens to one person can be a good thing that happens to somebody else.
Give each youth a numbered paragraph from the leader resource. There are 17 roles. Most are in pairs; there is one set of three (1.a.-c.). Be sure to distribute both paragraphs from each pair you choose. If there are an odd number of participants, use the set of three. (You can use just two from this set, also.) If the group is larger than 17, ask up to that many volunteers to take a role.
Ask participants to read the paragraphs, but keep their new identities to themselves for the moment. Explain that you will want each of them to tell the group what a perfect and a rotten day would be for them. Say they can be as dramatic as they wish in their presentations and embellish the stories they have been given, as long as they keep the basic facts.
You can have each pair go together if you want. But it may be more interesting to let the youth present in random order, so it only gradually becomes apparent that a perfect day for any one of them will be a rotten day for somebody else.
When all have made their presentations, ask the group if they noticed anything about the activity. Allow comments. Then ask if, in real life, a bad thing which happens to one person might be a good thing for somebody else. In a world with 7,000,000,000,000 people, can everybody ever have a perfect day at the same time—even if nobody gets sick or has a terrible accident? When a bad thing happens to one person, does somebody else always benefit?
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 7:
STORY: JOB
Based on Hebrew scripture.
Have you heard about Job? He had quite a story. You can find it in Hebrew scripture—the Book of Job.
Job lived in the land of Uz, and at the beginning, he was a happy man—as he should have been. He had ten great kids and a wonderful wife. He was wealthy, and he was a pious man. That meant he believed in God, prayed every day and gave thanks often for everything that he received. God seemed very pleased with him. "He's a great example," said God.
Then Satan came along and spoke to God. Satan said that Job loved God only because God was so good to Job. "I'll bet," said Satan, "that if Job's life turns bad, then Job will turn against you, God. Job will curse and complain."
"You are on," said God. He gave Satan permission to test Job any way he liked—as long as Job stayed alive.
That was enough for Satan. Soon messengers started bringing bad news to Job. Thieves had taken his donkeys and oxen. Fire had killed some sheep and servants.
Job did not understand. "Woe unto me if I am wicked," he said. But he felt innocent.
Job kept worshipping God. When he heard that a wind had destroyed a house and killed all ten of his children inside it, he fell to the ground and praised God. "Naked I came from my mother's womb," he said, "and naked shall I return there; God gave, and God has taken away; blessed be the name of God."
"Look at that," God said to Satan, but Satan was not done. Now it was time to destroy Job's health, and Satan did. Job got sores all over his body, bad dreams, peeling skin, and more.
Job's wife said he should curse God and die. But Job refused. He kept praising God.
Then three friends turned against him. It seemed they may have envied Job when everything was going well. Now they blamed him for his own suffering. "God is punishing you," they said. "Because you were not good."
Job might have wondered that himself. How was Job to know that God was testing him, not punishing him? In fact, God was really very impressed with Job. So when Job asked for answers, God finally spoke, in a voice that came out of a storm. Even though questioning God was possibly the first bad thing Job had ever done.
God asked Job a whole slew of big questions—about creation, about life, about much, much more. Job began to see how great God really was. God was much too great for Job to understand. "Sorry, God," he said. "I can never understand you." Or that's what he would have said, if he had spoken American English.
The Bible quotes Job like this. Job said to God (in Aramaic, maybe) "I know that you can do all things. No plan of yours can be thwarted... Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know... My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
"That's okay," said God. "No problem." Or so God might have said in American English. But however God said it, God forgave Job for questioning him—only because Job had been so good, all along, and had passed Satan's test. God paused for a moment to scold Job's friends, and demanded a sacrifice from them for not being as good as Job. Then God turned back to Job and gave him great reward.
Job's new life was even better than before. He had more animals, and seven new sons and three new daughters. He lived happily for 140 more years, and he kept praising God through them all.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 7:
HANDOUT 1: TODAY'S BIG QUESTION
To the Kid for the Day:
You have two jobs. The first is getting your group excited about hearing today's Big Question. The second is announcing the question.
1. Say to the group, "Give me a drum roll!" Then wait for a minute while the drum roll builds. (Here is how to do a drum roll: Everybody slaps their thighs, one leg first, then the other, back and forth, beginning gently and getting louder and louder.)
2. When the drum roll is good and loud, hold up your hands to signal "Stop!" Then read today's Big Question. Here it is:
Why do bad things happen?
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 7:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: SOME ANSWERS
Includes material from Why Do Bad Things Happen? by Charlene Brotman, Barbara Marsh, and Ann Field (Brotman Marsh-Field Curriculums, 1975). Used by permission.
Answer 1: In the land of the ancient Hebrews, the first two people ever, Adam and Eve, ate some fruit which God, who made them, had told them not to eat. This disobedience was the first sin ever. God made Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden to punish them. Now bad things will happen to all people—the descendants of Adam and Eve—forever and ever.
Answer 2: In the land of the ancient Greeks, Pandora opened a box and let evil into the world. Now bad things will happen to people. Pandora knew she should not open the box but curiosity got the better of her. She has said she is sorry, but that did not change the situation—evil is in the world forever.
Answer 3: In the land of Iroquois Indians, an Evil Spirit named False Face has brought pain and suffering into the world. Now the world needs medicine men to speak with good spirits and work against the evil.
Answer 4: In the land of the Hindus, bad things happen to people who have lessons to learn from a previous life. If they do their duty and learn their lessons this time, they will have better lives next time. If they are perfect, they will unite with God forever and, once they die this time, will never have to come back to human form on Earth.
Answer 5: In the land of Buddhists, people say the answers are inside us. People can stop our own suffering by letting go of wanting anything, because all suffering is caused by desire for something. If we choose right thoughts and words and actions, we will find the path to peace inside our own minds.
Answer 6: In the land of Science, the entire universe is constantly in motion and events can have random causes. A tiny little change can happen to a tiny little particle smaller than an atom. That changes something else and the something else can change another something else. Bad things—or good things—can happen to people as a result.
Answer 7: In the land of Humanists, bad and good things happen to people, sometimes because of other people's actions, sometimes due to a natural cause, and sometimes for a combination of reasons. The important thing is, even though bad things do happen, people have the power to think and care and act to make the world a better place and ease others' suffering.
Answer 8: In the land of UU, you have learned that bad things do happen, but you have discovered that you can make a difference all by yourself! If you act angry or mean, you can actually be the cause of bad things happening to someone else. That is bad. If you act with compassion and fairness and help other people, you can help prevent bad things from happening to people or make things better when they do.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 7:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: WCUU SCRIPT — A UU PANEL
To the Anchor:
Today's WCUU broadcast explores UU answers to today's Big Question: "Why do bad things happen?" The script has three parts. In the first, a panel of four UUs share UU responses to the question. In the second, the famous UU Choristers perform a UU song that talks about how people can help each other deal with and avoid bad things. In the third, NUUs Analyst sums up UU ideas about today's Big Question. Your job is to follow the script, read your part, and otherwise keep things going. When the broadcast begins, you and four UU Panelists are sitting on camera, in front of the microphone(s).
[Director: Cue the station break.]
[Director: Cue the Anchor.]
Anchor: This is WCUU, Wisdom of the Community of Unitarian Universalists, on the air.
[Director: Cue the theme music.]
Anchor: Good morning. I am [give your real or stage name], and today we will explore why bad things happen. Here to assist me with UU ideas about that are four expert UU panelists. They are First UU Panelist [give name as First UU Panelist waves or nods to the camera], Second UU Panelist [give name as Second UU Panelist waves or nods to the camera], Third UU Panelist [give name as Third UU Panelist waves or nods to the camera] and Fourth UU Panelist [give name as Fourth UU Panelist waves or nods to the camera]. So good morning to you all, and thanks for being here.
Panelists [together]: Hi.
First UU Panelist: Well, UUs don't just answer a Big Question without thinking. We consider answers they find in different UU Sources. We think about those answers, and consider them some more. Then we each decide what we believe.
Second UU Panelist: I will tell you one thing most UUs do not believe. We do not accept the idea that God causes good things to happen and Satan causes bad things to happen.
Third UU Panelist: Humans are involved with everything that happens, good or bad. You probably know that UUs have a lot of humanist ideas. People have free will, so we must take responsibility for a lot of bad things. Like pollution. People, not God, cause pollution, and people, not God, have to clean it up. The same thing with war. People can create a bad war... or a good peace.
Fourth UU Panelist: If I can jump in here, let me explain, this is called "human agency." Humans are the agents that make things happen, both bad and good.
Anchor: Do you all agree that human agency is important?
Second UU Panelist: I do. Of course, some bad things happen outside human agency. Like natural disasters and really, really bad weather. In those cases, UUs say what is really important is our reactions. Because UUs know everybody in the world is connected, they want to help whenever, wherever bad things happen. UUs try always to help and never to harm.
Third UU Panelist: Of course, some UUs feel the entire world is our community, since we are all connected. But I would like to point out that, like the members of other religious groups, UUs pay attention to the good and bad things that happen to the people in their communities where they live. That is one reason so many congregations have candles of joys and concerns in their worship. Anyone can go to the front of the congregation and name good or bad things that have happened to them or to others. After the service, others can celebrate with them about the good and help them know what they can do about the bad.
First UU Panelist: We don't worry so much about why it happened. We look for what we can do to make it better. What we do about the bad stuff shows our faith in action.
Fourth UU Panelist: Right on, First Panelist. Being a Unitarian Universalist means helping each other deal with the bad things that happen—the huge bad things like hurricanes, and the smaller bad things like anger and thoughtlessness and fear.
Anchor: Funny thing you should mention that, Fourth Panelist. Because we have a special treat for our UU audience today. It's a performance by our world famous UU Choristers of a hymn called "When I Am Frightened." It talks about how we can help each other handle some everyday bad things. Thank you UU Panelists, you have been very helpful. Now bring on the UU Choristers!
[Director: Cue Camera Operator to focus on the UU Choristers. Cue the Anchor and Panelists to join. Cue the UU Choristers to perform "When I Am Frightened." At the end, cue the Anchor to return to their seat. Cue the NUUs Analyst to join the Anchor. Cue the Camera Operator to focus on the Anchor and the NUUs Analyst.]
Anchor: Thank you so much, UU Choristers. Your performance was just plain great! Now we have just enough time for a quick summary from our favorite NUUs Analyst. So what can you tell us today, NUUs Analyst?
NUUs Analyst: Just this: What your UU Panelists said is exactly right. Unitarian Universalists think a lot about human agency and scientific explanations when it comes to why bad things happen. They say that how you react to bad things is just as important as knowing how they happened. That is it, in a nutshell.
Anchor: Wow, NUUs Analyst, that was shorter than usual. Thank you.
NUUs Analyst: That's because I wanted to save time to tell you about all the bad things that have happened to me. Just this morning, my toothpaste fell off my toothbrush and got all over me. Then at breakfast I hiccoughed so loud that...
Anchor: Stop, NUUs Analyst! We don't need to know about your hiccups. What we need to do is get off the air. Let's have some music, please!
[Director: Cue the theme music.]
[Director: Cue the station break.]
[Director: Cue the Anchor.]
Anchor: This is [your real or stage name] signing off for WCUU.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 7:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: BAD THINGS THAT HAPPEN
You break your arm—the one you write with.
A hurricane destroys the homes of 5,000 families in another part of the country.
You had let go of your dog's leash for one minute and now you can't find your dog.
A parent found all your hidden candy and threw it away.
Fighting soldiers in a nation far away have burned entire towns and killed many people.
A bully chases you and yells mean things at you.
A murder happens in your neighborhood.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 7:
LEADER RESOURCE 4: HOPEFUL PEOPLE
1.a. Your name is Jay. You are one of three finalists for the single scholarship that Super Summer Camp offers every year. You hear the camp is a great place and you really want to go. But you will not be able to unless you win the scholarship. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
1.b. Your name is Jackie. You are one of three finalists for the single scholarship that Super Summer Camp offers every year. You hear the camp is a great place and you really want to go. But you will not be able to unless you win the scholarship. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
1.c. Your name is Jude. You are one of three finalists for the single scholarship that Super Summer Camp offers every year. You hear the camp is a great place and you really want to go. But you will not be able to unless you win the scholarship. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
2.a. Your name is Farmer Moore. Your crops are drying up. They will die unless there is a heavy rain tomorrow. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
2.b. Your name is Farmer Less. Your crops are doing wonderfully well because it is so dry. But a heavy rain in the next few days will kill them. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
3.a. Your name is Izzy Fast Ball. Tomorrow you will pitch for the Rangers against the Tigers in a national championship baseball game. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
3.b. Your name is Izzy Curve Ball. Tomorrow you will pitch for the Tigers against the Rangers in a national championship baseball game. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
4.a. Your name is Sal Sometimes. Tomorrow Sammy Sunshine will tell you whether he is coming to a Halloween party at your house Friday night. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
4.b. Your name is Sal Othertimes. Tomorrow Sammy Sunshine will tell you whether he is coming to a Halloween party at your house Friday night. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
5.a. Your name is Kim Republican. Your whole family has been working hard to help your Uncle Jake get elected as mayor of Your Town. The election is tomorrow. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
5.b. Your name is Kim Democrat. Your whole family has been working hard to help your Aunt Carol get elected as mayor of Your Town. The election is tomorrow. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
6.a. Your name is Dana Warmup. You can win your cross-country ski meet tomorrow if the weather warms up and melts the snow a little, because that is how you ski best. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
6.b. Your name is Dana Cooloff. You can win your cross-country ski meet tomorrow if the weather cools down and hardens the snow a little, because that is how you ski best. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you?
7.a. Your name is Bernie Builder. Tomorrow you will hear if the planning board will let you build a new gas station at 45 Grant Street. The gas station can make a lot of money for you. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
7.b. Your name is Hap Homeowner. Tomorrow you will hear if the planning board is going to allow a gas station to be built at 45 Grant Street, right across from your house. You think a new business will ruin your neighborhood. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
8.a. Your name is Sam Southern. Tomorrow, in school, you are going to have a test about either South Carolina or North Carolina. You were supposed to study both of them, but you only had time for one, and you chose South Carolina. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
8.b. Your name is Nicky Northern. Tomorrow, in school, you are going to have a test about either South Carolina or North Carolina. You were supposed to study both of them, but you only had time for one, and you chose North Carolina. What will make tomorrow a perfect day for you? What will make it a rotten day?
FIND OUT MORE
Reconciling Faith and Evil
Rabbi Harold Kushner's classic book When Bad Things Happen to Good People attempts to reconcile a belief in God with evidence of evil in the world, based on some of the author's own experiences.
That's Good! That's Bad! by Margery Cuyler (Henry Holt, 1993) is a fun picture book for younger children that humorously presents a series of alternating good and bad events. Riddle and Mystery youth might like to read it with younger children in the religious education program, or with a younger sibling.
The archetypal, deist "Why do bad things happen?" story is the biblical story of Job, which appears both in Hebrew scripture (Book of Job) and the Koran and forms the basis for Archibald MacLeish's 1959 play J.B. The protagonist responds to a series of afflictions with an ever-stronger belief in God and faith in God's omniscience and power.