Volume 2, Issue XXIV | February 2, 2019
February 2020
Your monthly Religious Education
news & updates
Upcoming youth activities and events as well as information for members
who want to know what is going on in the youth program.

(If you do not want to receive these monthly updates you may unsubscribe
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Forums at 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Service and Youth Religious Education at 10:30 a.m.
Nursery Care available from 9:15 to 11:30
Finding Resilience Through Our Humor
Sunday, February 2, 2020 @ 10:30am
By Steve Cooper, Director of Religious Education
When you’ve been blindsided by a crisis or find yourself facing unwelcome change, having someone tell you to lighten up or look for the humor in your situation may be the last thing you want to hear, but it may be just what you need to hear. Humor, laughter and delight will be our message for the day. The Children’s Choir will sing during this service for all ages.
(Consider this as a Super Bowl pre-game service.)
 All are welcome!
Youth Religious Education
Sunday Topics
Everyone starts in the sanctuary for the worship service. On days with religious education classes the children will leave after the Time to Gather with their teachers and go to their classrooms.
 
Our theme for February is RESILIENCE. The weekly topics will be:
Feb 2 - Finding Resilience through Our Humor (service for all ages, no RE classes)
Feb 9 - Finding resilience through Each Other
Feb 16 - Finding resilience through Our Grit
Feb 23 - Finding resilience through The Earth

Each week we will provide parent and family resources relating to the theme and/or topic. (see further below for more resources on Integrity)
Second Sunday Forum - February 9
Conflict Resolution: The Heart at Peace
General comments about conflicts and disagreements – They are normal. They aren’t fatal. We all experience them in our relationships, communities, world …. They have the ability to help us to grow, to be better than we were … But, we seem to be living in a world that has become increasingly polarized – “Us and Them” and while we may try to take the high road in how we choose to behave, what happens when the way we see one another still holds elements of judgement, annoyance, anger?
   
What if looking at our BEHAVIOR is only part of the solution to resolving our differences? What if how we SEE one another is the often overlooked solution to lasting peace? Are we systematically perpetuating the very problems we are trying to solve?
  
Introduction to the Arbinger Institute and their books “The Anatomy of Peace” and “Leadership and Self-Deception”. Objectives of the forum are to share their model of understanding conflict and conflict resolution, exploring solutions to creating peace, and ending with discussion about how this model touches each of us, encourages curiosity and questions. 
The book will be available in the DuPage UU Church Library for borrowing.
Blessing of Resilience
Oh, resilient families! How many times have we gone down under the weight of the world, from personal indignities to traumas and oppression? And though we rise again, we sometimes ask, how much more can I take? Is it worth it? The burden is heavy. The obstacles are real. The horizon is far. In these moments of doubt and disappointment, may your faith and your people be sources of healing and strength. In your care of self and others, may the warmth of your own shining face turning again toward the sun remind you that your connection to what is right and good in this universe can never be broken. In your effort to persevere, may you remember that you are made in the image of divine, powerful and worthy of all love. Blessings of resilience to you, dear ones; we persevere together.

Resources for RESILIENCE
These resources support parents as they live out and engage our themes with their children. Playing off our monthly theme question of “What does it mean to be a people of Resilience?”, we invite parents to ask “What does it mean to be a parent of Resilience” or “What does it mean to be a family of Resilience?”

Each month we will provide a list of table topics which are questions based on the monthly theme that will open up discussion during meal times, family time or just time of contemplation. The first half of the questions are at a higher age level and life maturity. The second half of the list of questions (in blue text) are kid friendly. You can find the February RESILIENCE Table Topics here . Print them out and have them available or cut the questions into strips and place them in a table topic jar.


Story To Read Together
Richard Right and the Library Card
Book here.
“As a young black man in the segregated South of the 1920s, Wright was hungry to explore new worlds through books, but was forbidden from borrowing them from the library. This touching account tells of his love of reading, and how his unwavering perseverance, along with the help of a co-worker, came together to make Richard's dream a reality ” - Amazon
Theme Connection: Richard Wright was a real person. A resilient African American man who had to have grit to get access to books in the library. From the hard times of racism, he rose to become one the most brilliant writers in the U.S.

Family Discovery
Laugh with Me Video (19 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVkG3L79sL4
Engaging directions for different laughter exercises: Driving Laughter, Puppet Laughter, Blossom Laughter, Surfing Laughter, Laughter Cream, A Gentle Laughter Meditation.
 
Family Movie Night Ideas
Odd Squad
Theme Connection: Each episode sees kids confronted with a problem that must be solved with grit and determination.

For You
(Support for Adults as Faith Formation Guides)

Grit: the Power of Passion and Perseverance
Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn't the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of "grit" as a predictor of success.

How I Learned to Let My Kid Fail
By Diane Tavenner September 26, 2019

You can contact Steve Cooper C.R.E., Director of Religious Education at dre@dupageuuchurch.org or the Youth Religious Education Committee at yre@duuc.org