PYCLs— 1) FILL ALL SPACE! 2) MAKE A FEATHER OUT OF PLAYDOUGH. 3) HOW CAN WE “RUN AND NOT BE WEARY”? 4) WE KNOW SPIRIT DIDN’T MAKE MATTER, BUT CAN MATTER HINT AT SPIRIT? 5) WE ARE “IN” CHURCH WHEN WE RECOGNIZE THE CHRIST.
CedarS PYCLs, Possible Younger Class Lessons, for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson:
“God the Only Cause and Creator”
for June 5, 2022
by Kerry Jenkins, CS, House Springs, MO
kerry.helen.jenkins@gmail.com (314) 406-0041
PYCL #1: FILL ALL SPACE!
Bring in a jar. Talk about how we might fill it, with water, with sand, with marbles, candy, etc. Or you may bring several jars that are filled or that they can fill themselves. This is just to give the little guys something to see that illustrates the idea of filling something all the way up.
Now Talk about the idea in citation S1/331:18 where it speaks of how God “fills all space”. Can they imagine anything “big” enough to fill all space? Have them go outside and look up, look out, look all around them. Think about how space around us, goes way past what we see in the sky, and how there is everything below the ground, and under the ocean’s surface. But this is just our material “space!”
Is there anything that we know of, made of matter, that can fill all space?
Now “get out” the synonyms. Is there any space where Love cannot fit, or where Love isn’t big enough to fill? How about Truth? You get the idea. Play around with this idea if it engages the little ones.
If God/Love/Life etc. fills all space, then are you part of that Love/Life etc.?
PYCL #2: MAKE A FEATHER OUT OF PLAYDOUGH.
Okay, this could be an opportunity to make anything out of Playdough, but I wanted to emphasize that you are asking them to actually create a real feather, not a playdough feather. The materials just aren’t the same. A feather is light, it helps a bird fly. There is nothing you could make out of playdough that would fly unless you throw it, (which I don’t recommend that you mention).
In citation S5/335:7 Mary Baker Eddy tells us: “There is nothing in Spirit out of which matter could be made…”. If God is Love, what material would Love use to make something material? We can express Love by making some cookies for a friend, or building something useful. But Love itself doesn’t, and cannot create matter, because Love is Spirit and there is no matter in Spirit. Just like the playdough is not made of the same material as feathers and cannot create a feather, so Love cannot create matter.
PYCL #3: HOW CAN WE “RUN AND NOT BE WEARY”?
Check out Bible citation B11/Isa 40:31. This is a great one to memorize if you have slightly older students. It is so helpful whenever we are faced with an endeavor that might seem strenuous in some way.
What do they mean that we can “mount up with wings as eagles”?
This may seem obvious to us, but make sure they understand the idea. If the true man is created by and of Spirit, then we must express the tireless nature of Spirit.
While it certainly seems that we get tired and out of breath when we are active, we can actually put this passage to work and see evidence of our spiritual nature in action when we understand that our true source of energy, endurance, strength, is from Life/God. Talk together about how we might be able to turn away from our bodies when we are working to achieve some goal, and tune in to the strength that is ours from God.
You might enjoy sharing a testimony from the periodicals that illustrates this, or even better, share a circumstance of your own where divine energy replaced a limited sense of things for you.
PYCL #4: WE KNOW SPIRIT DIDN’T MAKE MATTER, BUT CAN MATTER HINT AT SPIRIT?
Take a look around the room. Is there beauty? Is there love, kindness, humor, intelligence? Hopefully the answer is YES! If you have little ones and it is possible, maybe take a little walk. Listen for birds, look for beauty of whatever kind whether natural, architectural, or whatever catches attention. Can these things reflect spiritual creation? Yes they can. They can hint to us of God’s infinitely varied, colorful, unique, beautiful creation. What we see around us can give us the opportunity to feel deeply grateful and connected to God as Love or Soul or Life, or really any of the synonyms.
We can just take a moment each time we see something that expresses Godlikeness, and say “thank you God”, for________ (fill in the blank). When we acknowledge something loving or beautiful or intelligent as an expression of God/Love etc. we are bringing God’s presence into our conscious awareness. Everything in life is better, more vibrant, healthy, joyous when we do this. Turn it into a habit!
Revisit this idea regularly in Sunday School so that the children remember it as a practice. It makes the times when we are feeling down, separate from God, much easier to turn around because we are practiced at noticing the presence of God in our lives.
PYCL #5: WE ARE “IN” CHURCH WHEN WE RECOGNIZE THE CHRIST.
In Section 5 we have Jesus asking the disciples to tell him who they think he is. Peter calls it correctly and declares that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Jesus then renames him Peter, which you can explain to the children, means “rock”.
Why would Jesus call Simon a rock?
Talk about foundations, what should they be made of if we want them stable and sturdy?
Why is recognizing that Jesus is the Christ foundational to Church, and what should that church do if it’s founded on Christ?
Does it need a building? Does it need rules?
Does it need members? If so, what do the members need to do?
What kind of services does the church need to have? What kind of church would the children create if they made such a church?
Can they think of what they would do in a service?
What would be the purpose of a church that was founded on Christ, on Peter’s recognition of Christ?
Have fun in Sunday School this week!
