Be aware
Expand your vision of the world!
Reflect on your inner life and outer actions, your friends and relationships, the feelings and needs of others and your place and impact on the world.
Resource Ideas for Chapel and Classroom
Bible
Galatians 6:1–5 (CEV)
My friends, you are spiritual. So if someone is trapped in sin, you should gently lead that person back to the right path. But watch out, and don’t be tempted yourself. 2 You obey the law of Christ when you offer each other a helping hand.
3 If you think you are better than others, when you really aren’t, you are wrong. 4 Do your own work well, and then you will have something to be proud of. But don’t compare yourself with others. 5 We each must carry our own load.
Matthew 7:1–5 (CEV)
Don’t condemn others, and God won’t condemn you. 2 God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them. 3 You can see the speck in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the log in your own eye. 4 How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don’t see the log in your own eye? 5 You’re nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye. Then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend’s eye.
The Prodigal Son – Luke 15.11 – 32
The Widow’s Offering – Luke 21.1 – 4
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
Quotes
It is more useful to be aware of a single weakness in oneself
than to be aware of a thousand weaknesses in someone else.
~ Dalai Lama
Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.
~ James Thurber
Movie
Horton Hears a Who
Song
Phil Collins – Another Day in Paradise
Explore ifitweremyhome.com
The lottery of birth is responsible for much of who we are. If you were not born in the country you were, what would your life be like? Would you be the same person?
IfItWereMyHome.com is your gateway to understanding life outside your home. Use our country comparison tool to compare living conditions in your own country to those of another.
Activity
If it were my home
Questions
What is the best way to find out about other peoples live?
How can you become more aware of what is around you?
Memory
Find twenty random objects and place them under a cloth. Lift the cloth and give everyone one minute (or less or more) to memorise the objects. Cover the objects up and get everyone to list what they remember. Did anyone remember them all?
Mark One Minute
Everyone closes their eyes and must guess how long a minute is, by opening their eyes when they think a minute is up. Alternatively have participants move from one end of the classroom to the other in one minute trying to get as close to the other end as possible by time up. They must keep moving forward the whole time and they aren’t allowed to see a clock. Try playing this game using a piece of music. Did players guess a longer or shorter time for a minute?
Game
Story
There was once a stone cutter who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.
One day he passed a wealthy merchant’s house. Through the open gateway, he saw many fine possessions and important visitors. “How powerful that merchant must be!” thought the stone cutter. He became very envious and wished that he could be like the merchant.
To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever imagined, but envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. Soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendants and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. “How powerful that official is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be a high official!”
Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people all around. It was a hot summer day, so the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. “How powerful the sun is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be the sun!”
Then he became the sun, shining fiercely down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. “How powerful that storm cloud is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be a cloud!”
Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. “How powerful it is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be the wind!”
Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of houses, uprooting trees, feared and hated by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it – a huge, towering rock. “How powerful that rock is!” he thought. “I wish that I could be a rock!”
Then he became the rock, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the hard surface, and felt himself being changed. “What could be more powerful than I, the rock?” he thought.
He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stone cutter.
Children’s Story Book
Horton Hears a Who
