LOVE & UNITY
“Where there is LOVE. There is LIFE.”
Mahatma Gandhi
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This week's lesson is about LOVE & UNITY
What is St. Valentine’s Day?
Valentine’s Day is a day created to remember and celebrate a variety of saints named Valentine. The most famous being St. Valentine of Rome who was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry. The legend says St. Valentine demonstrated great love and compassion for all people, even to those who imprisoned him. This great love led to a miracle of healing that affected the hearts of many people who witnessed the miracle. Later, it was added to the legend that St. Valentine wrote the first “Valentine” card to the daughter of his jailer, the receiver of his miracle, signing the letter, “Your Valentine.”
So every year on February 14th we celebrate a day of Love. We send greetings and gifts of Love to our family, friends, teachers and peers. This year, let’s send our Love even further. Let’s take some time this week to practice feeling and sending out Love to the whole world. While we do this, we can imagine how we are all connected through our Hearts and we are all the same at the core of who we are.. We can also imagine all the different people and animals. We can imagine nature and all the different types of flowers, trees, bugs and bees. When we learn to see and appreciate what makes us unique and different, while recognizing the things we have in common with the world, helps us build Unity, or connectedness, and a deeper sense of love for all.
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In this meditation, we are going to DRAW OUR BREATH. As we inhale our breath, our pencil (marker, crayon, etc) moves upward on the paper. As we exhale, our pencil moves downward then back up on the next inhale and then back down again. Keep following this pattern for as long as you are comfortable doing so.
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PREPARATION:Gather some paper, any kind will do, and drawing materials: pencils, colored pencils, crayons, markers, pens. Find a comfortable spot to sit in where it will be comfortable to draw.
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GET CREATIVE!!
Meditation can be active and creative. As you are doing the drawing meditation above and your lines reach the end of the page, choose a new color, rotate the page and begin the breathing meditation again. Keep doing this and when you are finished you will have a beautiful piece of artwork.
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This six-minute guided meditation will help you feel more connected to all of the world, including those who are different than you. Practicing a meditation for Unity helps us work toward peace and positive change.
PREPARATION: Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down for this meditation. You can close your eyes but the video also has beautiful images to watch.
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“Our ability to reach Unity in Diversity will be the
Beauty and the test of our civilization.”
Mahatma Gandhi
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DISCOVERING LOVE INSIDE OUR HEARTS |
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Download and print the PDF which includes the poem called, "Inside My Heart" and a Heart coloring page. Each stanza of the poem brings our attention to the different people in our lives, the things we love to do, animals and nature, as well as the things we are meant to be and do.
GET CREATIVE!!
As you listen to, or read, the poem, think of the people, places and things in your life that you Love. Write down inside the heart the names of all of these things. When you are done, color in your Heart and the rest of the page. Keep your picture somewhere you can see it and take a moment everyday to send love to all.
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CAREGIVERS: For children not yet writing, invite them to choose a color to represent each of the people or things they Love instead of using words. It is also very beneficial for very young children to watch adults using writing and drawing utensils to write words.
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Head & Shoulders, Knees and Toes
This musical activity brings our attention to the things about us, as human beings, that are all the same. Extend the idea and talk about our hearts, brains and bones too.
Then observe the video, or use the people around you, to see all the wonderful things that make us unique. And this uniqueness is what makes life so beautiful.
We can demonstrate this idea even more if we look at flowers for example. We can see that all flowers have roots, a stem, leaves and petals, yet they all show up in the world differently. We can even say what makes a table is four legs and a top but look at how many ways we can design a table!!
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ONE LOVE by Bob Marley
"One Love, one Heart
Let's join together and a-feel all right."
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I AM SENDING MY LOVE TO THE WORLD
Practice using this affirmation as you send out Love to all of the world.
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Send in your artwork, ideas and thoughts about this week’s lesson and it will be added to next week’s newsletter!! I’m looking forward to seeing what you send to share with your Youth Community and families!
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MONTHLY YOUTH FELLOWSHIP
Sunday, February 28th, 9:00am
This is our monthly online Zoom Program on the Fourth Sunday of the Month. We look forward to this opportunity to build on the month’s lesson and to share projects & activities. ALL are invited!! Children will participate in new lessons and activities as well as sharing our weekly activities.
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Meeting ID: 850 8501 9460 Passcode: 261116 |
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