February 2009
KidTalk: Connecting
Kids to Unitarian Universalism and Each Other |
Celebrate!
At the CLF we try not to be too focused on things just in the US, since we have members around the world. But since so many people are excited about the recent inauguration, and since Presidents’ Day falls in February, this month KidTalk has a presidential theme. But there’s plenty more to celebrate: click on the links below to find fun facts and activities for a variety of February holidays around the world.
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We Honor… |
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John Adams |
John Quincy Adams |
Millard Fillmore |
William Howard Taft |
Thomas Jefferson
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The four—or maybe five—Unitarians who have served as President of the United States: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore and William Howard Taft. The “maybe five” one is Thomas Jefferson, who didn’t go to any church, and didn’t like to talk about his religion in public, but who once described himself as a Unitarian in a private letter. You can read interesting facts about all of these presidents in a sermon by Rev. Roger Fritts (PDF, 5 pages). |
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Act!
Serving as president of the United States is a huge, overwhelming job. The range of problems he needs to deal with is huge, from how to get people health insurance to trying to help bring peace between the countries of Israel and Palestine. But maybe you have idea that you think would help—a suggestion of something the president could do that would improve matters in the US or in the world. You can share your ideas with President Obama (or at least some of the people who work with him) by sending an email to the Whitehouse.
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Nurturing Your Spirit
One way that people experience a spiritual feeling of love for their country, and connection to the people who make up their nation, is through patriotic songs. You can listen to the San Francisco Boys and Girls Chorus sing America the Beautiful and two other songs at the inauguration of President Obama. But, better still, you can sing a patriotic song yourself. Do you know your national anthem? (The Star Spangled Banner, the US national anthem, is pretty hard to sing!) You can hear the US Navy band play the tune for the national anthem of pretty much any country you can think of here or get information, lyrics and sheet music for all those national anthems here. Or, in honor of President Obama’s election as the first African-American president, you might want to sing (or hear or learn about) “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is know as the Black national anthem.
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Principles in Practice
Our fifth UU principle is “The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.” In other words, we believe that people should act out of their own sense of what is right and good, and that people should have the chance to vote about matters that affect them. But democracy depends on people learning about the matters that affect them so that they can use their voice and their vote in the best possible way. Here’s a REsources for Living column from the Nov. 08 Quest on just that subject.
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