An Attitude of Gratitude 1st 5 th 11/18/12

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1 An Attitude of Gratitude 1st 5 th 11/18/12 This Week s Theme: Understanding that being thankful for all of our life experiences opens the door to more joy, more soul-satisfaction in our lives. Teacher Insights: As we begin this Thanksgiving week our children will have an opportunity this Sunday to explore the concept of gratitude and what it means to truly be thankful for all of the good in our lives! There are four concepts we will be exploring and demonstrating for the children this Sunday. They are: 1. God has made everything we need to live a joyous life available to us. 2. Giving thanks for what we have increases our blessings. 3. There is always something we can be grateful for. 4. Even the cells in our bodies respond positively to an attitude of thanksgiving. Unity Writings: There is something about the mental act of thanksgiving that seems to carry the human mind far beyond the region of doubt into the clear atmosphere of faith and trust, where all things are possible. - Lessons in Truth, H. Emilie Cady Thanksgiving--Rendering our grateful thoughts to God for His manifold blessings. "Surely goodness and loving-kindness shall follow me all the days of my life" (Psalms 23:6). We give thanks that this is Truth. - The Revealing Word, Charles Fillmore Scripture: You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you for ever. - Psalm 30:11-12 (NRSV) Unity Principles: (today s principle is highlighted) 1: God is all Good and active in everything, everywhere. 2: I am naturally good because God s Divinity is in me and in everyone. 3: I create my experiences by what I choose to think and what I feel and believe. 4: Through affirmative prayer and meditation, I connect with God and bring out the good in my life. 5: Practice, Practice, Practice. I do and give my best by living the Truth I know! I make a difference!

2 Pre-session: What am I Grateful For? Make sure you create a sacred space at the tables in your rooms. You can do this by lighting the Christ candle and then placing sacred objects around it. Greet Parents and Children. As much as possible try to greet parents at the sign-in table. o At the Sign-in table ask: Please print names Does your child have a yellow registration form filled out? Any special needs that we should know about? Pre-session Activity: I am Grateful Complete the Phrase Sheet The worksheets will be in your tubs. As the children arrive have them complete the sentences on the sheet. The phrases for them to complete are things like: I am grateful that God gave me eyes to see so that I can and I am grateful that God gave me a mind to imagine so that I can Before you begin your sacred circle time, go around the room and have each child say one of the things they are grateful for! Sacred Circle: I Am Grateful! 3 Ohms: In order to synchronize our energies, have the children sit in a circle and begin sacred circle with 3 ohms. Who is Jesus for us in Unity? Our way-shower, the great master of love. Affirmation: I have an attitude of gratitude! Introductions/Affirmations: In turn, have each student stand say their name and a characteristic they bring to the classroom. For example, I am Brandon and I bring peace to the circle today. All the children warm up their hands and put their hands in the prayer position, bow, and say, Namaste, you are! Namaste means: "The light in me sees the light in you." Heart Agreements: Heart Agreements establish the boundaries of how everyone in the group agrees to show up in Sunday school. They are not being TOLD how they must show up; they are telling YOU how they have agreed to show up. During the course of the lesson, you may refer back to the Heart Agreements. For example, if a group of kids is perpetually talking while you are speaking, then you may say to the class as a whole, What was our heart agreement about listening to speakers? And let the kids tell you! Our basic heart agreements are: Gentle Hands Open Hearts

3 Walking Feet Listening ears Kind Words Love Offering: Divine Love, Blesses and multiples, all that I have, all that I give and all that I receive. And I am joy-filled and grateful. FYI: students may place lots of things besides money in the love offering basket: joy, friendship, peace, love, etc. Meditation: As we prepare ourselves for mediation, let s close our eyes to focus better, blow out all the air from our lungs, then take a few slow deep breaths in and out. Each breath can sink us down deeper into the heart of our being, where God is always present and waiting. (Pause) Feel the joy that s singing in your heart. If you feel at all uncomfortable, rest quietly and know that it is all okay. Let s just breathe in the presence of God. We know all is well. In this moment, we feel gratitude radiating forth from the Truth of our Being. We know in this moment that there are more blessings than we could ever imagine. Take a moment and imagine your family in your mind. Picture a container, maybe a vessel, maybe a cup, full of gratitude and love for each person present in your mind. As you gaze at each member you feel the container overflowing with the deepest joy as you know that you have an abundance of blessings. Each of these people will infinitely bless you in ways seen and unseen. There warmth and love will always be with you. Whenever it s hard to remember this, you call breathe deep and remember this vessel of gratitude. Thank you, God, for all that we have, all that we are, and all that we will be. Thank you, God!!! *After meditation is complete allow a few minutes for the children to respond to or process anything that occurred to them during meditation.* Story: The Lilies of the Field You will find the story typed out for you below. We will use the scripture as it appears in the New Century Version of the Bible for this Sunday. The scripture is used in The Bible to illustrate the truth principle that God always provides for our needs. As we realize this we learn that it is important to stop worrying about what we have to eat, drink, or wear because God will provide what we need as we need it. The important thing to remember is to be thankful for all that we have and that gratitude allows more good to flow into our lives.

4 The Lilies of the Field "So I tell you, don't worry about the food or drink you need to live, or about the clothes you need for your body. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. Look at the birds in the air. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds. You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it. "And why do you worry about clothes? Look at how the lilies in the field grow. They don't work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that even Solomon with his riches was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today but tomorrow is thrown into the fire. So you can be even more sure that God will clothe you. Don't have so little faith! Don't worry and say, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear? The people who don't know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them. Seek first God's kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well. So don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Matthew 6:25-34 (New Century Version) Discussion Questions What is the storyteller saying about birds and lilies? What does God do? What is this story telling us? What are our responsibilities? Share of a time when you where acting worried about something? How did you overcome it? What are some things you are grateful for? How do you show your gratitude? Creative Expression: Thanks and Praise You will find a flip chart in your room this morning. Let the class know that we will be playing a game sort of like Pictionary. 1. Have one child go up to the board and draw something that they are either grateful for or they may draw something that they see as a way that God blesses the world. For example, what they are grateful for may be their family or their friends and the way they see God blessing the world may be something like the beauty in nature or an answer to a prayer. 2. As one person draws, the rest of the class will try to guess what they are drawing.

5 3. As soon as the drawing is guessed, switch drawers so that everyone will have a chance to draw. Discussion: What are some of the things we are thankful for? What did you learn about how God blesses the world? Why is it important to take time to give thanks for our blessings? What are some things we can do to keep our minds and hearts focused on the good in our world? Closing Prayer: Let us pause for a moment in silence. We send thoughts of love to everyone in the world. Pause. Father Mother God, thank you for this time together to learn about the power of thanksgiving and the wonderful moments when we can connect with you. In this moment we choose to create a wonderful world for all. We allow our Christ light to shine out for the world to see and speak words of love and peace into our world. We are grateful. Thank you God! Amen. Teacher Reminders: Please HELP o Return the teacher tub and all supplies to the Resource Room o Sign out by writing the number of children you had on the Teacher Sign-In Sheet. o At 11 put the sign-in sheets in your supply tubs. o Put the love offering in the envelope in your tubs. o Feel out the Hums and Areas for Improvement sheet found behind your curriculum in your tub. Leave the completed sheet in the tub for Brandon to collect after Sunday!