Celebrate!
This year, unlike most years, Easter comes in March.
But it’s not the only holiday you might want to
celebrate this month. March also brings two really wild
and crazy holidays from two very different traditions
(Judaism and Hinduism), as well as the Pagan celebration
of the time of year when light and dark are exactly
in balance.
Click on the links below not only for information about
these holidays and how you might celebrate them, but
also for links to games, videos and more.
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We Honor…
a Unitarian who brought her love of nature to children
(and grown-ups) around the world. |
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| This month, as we celebrate Easter, it seems only
right to honor Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the English
Unitarian who brought us Peter Rabbit. Growing up
in a wealthy British family, where she learned from
a governess rather than going to school, Beatrix spent
a lot of time by herself. So she learned to find friends
in nature, paying close attention to the plants and
animals around her. She wanted to be a naturalist, a
scientist who studies the world around us, and she even
made the important discovery that lichens, the tiny
light green or gold or black “plants” that
grow on rocks and trees, are actually fungus and algae
combined into one organism. But because she was a girl,
no one from the scientific community would take her
seriously.
So Beatrix took her love of nature, and her considerable
talent as an artist who could make nature come alive
on paper, and created her first children’s book,
Peter Rabbit. No one would publish it, so she took on
publishing it herself, and sold it as cheaply as possible
so more children could enjoy it. It quickly became a
great success, and she wrote and illustrated many more
books for children.
Beatrix spent much of her life as a sheep farmer, working
outdoors in the English countryside she loved. She continued
to buy land, and when she died she gave her 4000 acres
to the British National Land Trust, so that everyone
would be free to enjoy the natural world that meant
so much to her.
Find
out more about Beatrix Potter, and her writings and
drawings - make sure that you check out the Fun!
section for games, activities and audio and video versions
of her books.
Throughout her life, Beatrix Potter kept journals in
her own secret code, which nobody managed to crack until
15 years after she died. If you’d like, you can
try your own hand at cracking a secret code, or
see
a bunch more links to sites dealing in secret codes. |
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Act!
For many people, the best part about Easter is getting
an Easter basket filled with goodies. But you might
feel even better about creating Easter baskets to give
away to others. How about creating a basket full of
toiletries like shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush,
lotion, and more to give to someone at a homeless shelter?
Or maybe you could grab a grownup and go around your
neighborhood collecting canned goods to make a giant
Easter basket for a food pantry near you. Or fill a
laundry basket with old blankets and towels and some
dog biscuits, and give it to an animal shelter near
you. Use your imagination and your compassion, and you
can be the Easter bunny yourself. |
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Nurturing Your Spirit
People of all kinds of different religious traditions
light candles for prayer or meditation or to show their
thankfulness. Being grateful for the good things in
our lives is one of the best ways to grow our spirits
and remember the ways we are connected to all of the
rest of life. You can light a candle of gratitude any
time you want – without getting in trouble for
playing with matches – by going to www.gratefulness.org.
When you are done, your virtual candle will burn not
only on their website, but also on your computer screen,
reminding you of whatever it was you chose to hold in
your heart. |
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Ask CLiF
Ask CLiF any questions you have about religion or living
a good life
Dear CLiF,
Why do Buddhists use the lotus flower as their symbol?
–Mitch
Dear Mitch,
Good question. The lotus flower is a kind of water
lily. For the Buddhists, it is a symbol of purity,
because it has its roots down in the mud and the muck
– reminding us that we are all surrounded by
all the unpleasant stuff of life. But the lotus has
a beautiful pure white flower that blooms above the
water, showing it’s lovely face to the sun.
So people, if they practice detachment from suffering
and wanting, can live beautiful, pure lives.
I hope you had a chance to make the origami lotus
flowers described in the December
KidTalk – if not, it’s not too late
to go back and give it a try!
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