[PYCL: Wake up! Cast your spiritual consciousness into reality to find abundant answers! -5 ]
Possible Younger Class Lessons for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on
"Sacrament"
For July 9, 2017
by Kerry Jenkins, CS, House Springs, MO
kerry.helen.jenkins@gmail.com (314) 406-0041
Pycl #1: If the children in your class are not super young, it is helpful to understand the place that Sacrament has in all Christian churches. How are we alike? How are we different? Why? Mrs. Eddy certainly saw this subject as important as it is included in her twice yearly Bible lesson topics, so what makes it important? In order to understand how we look at the sacrament of bread and wine, I think we have to look at all the Bible stories in this week's lesson. Read them together, or retell for the youngest, or read to them in a more contemporary translation if you wish. Choose a few of Mrs. Eddy's citations to show how it is that we celebrate this sacrament today. Perhaps citations S7, S10, S15 or S17, to name a few.
Pycl #2: Why do the kids think that love is the most strongly emphasized quality in a lesson about sacrament? Can you all gather thoughts about sacrament and put them in a cup to represent the wine, a basket for the bread? How do these qualities inspire us to Christly action? Why do the children think that Mrs. Eddy did not include the ceremony of wine and bread in her church, but instead asked for kneeling, silent, communion near the end of the church service? How is silent communion different than prayer? What does kneeling represent? Have them kneel and ask this question. There are some very human and literal things that kneeling does, such as making us more vulnerable since we aren't in a position to run or jump out of the way—thus it might represent the mental willingness to lay ourselves "bare" before God and willingly receive direction with obedience. It certainly represents meekness. It might be something of a moment where we are at "the end of our rope" humanly, and willing to set aside all material solutions to reach God. You could even talk with them about that expression with the rope! Being at the end of our human understanding and human problem-solving may mean we are willing to drop that "rope" that makes us try so hard to solve problems humanly, and are ready to grab onto all that Mind is giving us to heal and save.
Pycl #3: This might be kind of challenging for the younger children, but look at citation S7 where Eddy speaks of the cup as the "cross"—the one Jesus told us to drink all of…. Here she tells us that it's filled with "…the inspiration of Love…" Difficult experiences will feel like that cross, but always we are filled-up with that inspiration of Love and this is what we are left with, rather than difficult memories of the challenge—if we willingly take up that cup! Think of some great healings that you have had that were deeply challenging where you found that as you were willing to buckle down and "drink of that cup", take up that "cross", you were ultimately blessed and healed by your awareness of the "inspiration of Love" that was ever-present under those circumstances.
Pycl #4: The real goal we all have is to follow Christ Jesus' example of service and healing love. We are not here to be successful, to achieve, to entertain ourselves, or anything else. We do get distracted by matter, either by its possibilities to entertain in some way, or by the challenges it presents to us. Citation B6 gives us a lovely example of service to others. Explain the fact that feet in a desert climate in those days would have been clad in sandals and would have been very dirty. His willingness to wash his disciples' feet represented a deep humility and love (maybe ask them what qualities this act represented). You can even do some foot-washing in your class, either pretend or real. Just make sure that they are thinking about this process and what it means spiritually. What can you all come up with to "wash others' feet"—figuratively—during the upcoming week? Have someone keep a list, post it, revisit it next week. How did it feel? Do they feel that they were successful in sharing their humble love with someone?
Pycl #5: Well, you have to talk about the time after Jesus' resurrection that he told the disciples to cast the net on the right side of the ship. There is so much symbolism here! See if they can explain any of it. Why were the disciples still fishing out there instead of doing what Jesus taught them to do? Do we sometimes go "back to fishing" when we've had a healing, but just fall back into an old routine? (What about when we come home from camp where we feel so spiritually "full"?) Have the younger children re-enact this spiritual breakfast, complete with throwing the net on the right side. How was the right side of the boat full of fish and not the other side? How long had the disciples been "toiling"? What does this say about following Jesus in Love? Should we give up when things look bleak? Isn't this how mortal mind "speaks" to us when we think we aren't healed yet: "It's hopeless, I'll just go back to the material sense of things and keep toiling away…"? But we can wake up and cast our spiritual net, our spiritual consciousness into reality, the "right side" and find abundant, healing answers.
Pycl #6: With the little children you can work with the loaves and fishes story by bringing in some goldfish crackers and bread. This would be just kind of a sweet way to have some props as you talk about the spiritual realities in this incident. Then you can share the "abundance" by passing out these props. You could even act it out as a play and have the children pass them out to each other—take home the "left-overs". I also love the point that there were exactly "12 baskets" left over at the end of the sharing—enough abundance to send each disciple home with that reminder of Love's provision. Each student in your class could go home with a "basket" of left-overs. Maybe you can find a creative way to do this.
Have a great Sunday!
