Contributed by Jocelyn Breeland, Fairfax, VA

Warm-up Question

Have you ever had a lucky break, a time when you “beat the odds?”

Sole Survivor

The sole survivor of the recent Afriqiyah Airways plane crash in Libya was a 10-year-old Dutch boy.  Last year, the sole survivor of a Yemenia Airways plane that crashed into the Indian Ocean was a 12-year-old Parisian schoolgirl. In 2003, the sole survivor of a Sudan Airways crash was a three-year-old boy.

 In the last forty years there have been 16 crashes with a sole survivor, and half of those survivors were minors. Is there something about children that helps them survive air disasters?  You might be forgiven for thinking so.

 The reality is that the survival rate for accidental airplane crashes is over 95%, and based on the statistics, survival has nothing to do with a passenger’s age.  What’s more, although fear of flying is among our most common phobias, the National Safety Council reports the odds of dying in a plane crash (1 in 5,862 over your lifetime) are much smaller than the odds of meeting your end doing something less fearful like being a pedestrian (1 in 623) or riding in a motor vehicle (1 in 85).

Perhaps each of these survivors simply experienced a very lucky day.

Discussion Questions

• Are you afraid of flying?  Does luck play a role in surviving a plane crash? 
• Can faith help you survive a plane crash?
• Imagine what it must be like to be the sole survivor of a disaster such as a plane crash.  Would that be easier or more difficult for a child?
• Do you believe that these survivors were saved “for a reason?”
• Would surviving a plane crash change your faith in any way?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 30, 2010 (Holy Trinty/First Sunday after Pentecost)

 Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Romans 5:1-5

John 16:12-15

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Contemporary Christians tend to accept the concept of the triune God long before they understand what it truly means.  It’s in the hymns we sing and the creeds we recite.  So, it can be difficult for us to comprehend the attitude of the disciples as they hear the words in today’s Gospel.  Christ was explaining to them things that would take place after his crucifixion and resurrection; things they couldn’t really understand until those events had come to pass.The disciples were about to experience Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, events that would change their lives and their understanding of his mission on Earth.  These events were so far out of their realm of expectation that they couldn’t even contemplate them until they occurred.  And once they did happen, Jesus knew the disciples would feel lost without him to help them understand and move forward.Few of us are able to predict the paths our lives will take.  Like the disciples, we will probably experience a number of unforeseen circumstances—good and bad—that will change how we view ourselves, the world, and God’s plan for our lives. It’s likely that, even if a prophet could warn of those events ahead of time, our understanding of them would be incomplete until we experienced them for ourselves.  And it is likely that we will experience fear and uncertainty from time to time.But, like the disciples, we have the assurance that God provides for our needs now and in the future.  We know as they did, that as God’s plan is revealed to us, we will have the Holy Spirit to guide us and comfort us.  In times of trouble we, like the disciples, can recall Christ’s words and know that God has provided exactly what we need to cope with whatever trials each new day may bring.

Discussion Questions

• What is it that Jesus has to tell the disciples that they cannot now bear?
• Based on this scripture, what is the relationship of the Spirit to the Father and Son?
• The disciples faced many trials after the Pentecost.  How might today’s Gospel have been helpful during those times?
• If there were a prophet available, would you want to know in advance of cataclysmic events to come in your life?
• Can your faith help you prepare for bad times?

Activity Suggestions

A mnemonic (ni-MON-ik) device is something that aids memory.  For example, “Roy G. Biv” helps us remember the colors of the spectrum.Design a mnemonic device to help you in times of trouble to remember and call on the Holy Spirit to show you the truth, reassure you of God’s love, and lead you when you’ve lost your way.  Perhaps it’s a phrase you can remember, an image, a piece of jewelry, anything that might help you focus when you need it most.  Use your imagination. Practice using your device. 

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, we know that our futures, unknown to us, are known to you and are all part of your plan. You are in control.  We are grateful that, because of the sacrifice of your son Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we always have a guide and a comforter to show us your will and your way.  We thank and praise you for these and the many other blessings you have bestowed on us.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

Contributed by Daniel Wiessner, Tacoma, WA

Warm-up Question

To whom do you turn when you’re not sure what to do?

An (Increasingly) Open Book

Turns out everyone’s Facebook privacy is getting a lot less private all the time and, unsurprisingly, a few feathers are getting ruffled.

Ryan Singel at Wired noted the private interests which are unavoidably public via Facebook. He wrote, “I’d like to make my friend list private. Cannot. I’d like to have my profile visible only to my friends, not my boss. Cannot. I’d like to support an anti-abortion group without my mother or the world knowing. Cannot.”

The recent addition of Facebook’s new “instant personalization” is getting particular attention due to its sharing of your personal information with Pandora, Microsoft Docs, and Yelp, in order to help those sites tailor their advertisements to fit your interests. Users can opt out, but the process is apparently complicated and confusing. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), among other organizations, is rallying against Facebook with claims that “Instant personalization violates user expectations and reveals user information without the user’s consent.”

Mark Zuckerberg, the guy who started this crazy Facebook thing, stated earlier this year that  Facebook is constantly being updated “to reflect what the current social norms are.  A lot of companies would be trapped by the conventions and their legacies of what they’ve built… doing a privacy change for 350 million users is not the kind of thing that a lot of companies would do. … But we viewed that as a really important thing, to always keep a beginner’s mind and what would we do if we were starting the company now and we decided that these would be the social norms now and we just went for it.”

Main article from: http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/raw/?p=2351
Wired quote from: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/05/facebook-rogue/#ixzz0nbOC4ojY
Zuckerberg quote from: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebooks_zuckerberg_says_the_age_of_privacy_is_ov.php

Discussion Questions

• Are you on Facebook? (Show of hands, for curiosity’s sake.)
• How do you feel about these privacy changes? Does it really matter to you?
• Some people argue that Facebook is causing these shifts in social norms that Zuckerberg spoke about. Do you agree with Zuckerberg (that Facebook is just following the trend) or do you think that it is a driving force in the change? Why?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, May 23, 2010 (Day of Pentecost)

 Acts 2:1-21

Romans 8:14-17

John 14:8-17 [25-27]

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

I’m afraid I can’t “tsk” Philip too harshly for his opening line in this week’s gospel lesson because, really, he and I have something in common here: We don’t always pay attention so well. Fortunately for the both of us, we have been blessed to hold the company of some very kind and very patient people who are willing to explain things to us again and again.

If you remember, Jesus is going to be leaving his disciples, Philip included.  Reading the rest of John 14 reveals pretty clearly that the disciples are uncomfortable with the idea. The disciples general response is “But-but-but.. Wait! Where are you going? We feel kind of low on definite instructions. Is there any way we could maybe text you if we have questions?”

Jesus calmly and patiently reassures his disciples that things are going to work out just fine. In fact, he even leaves them a number to call, so to speak, in case they get confused. Jesus promises another advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will “teach [them] everything, and remind [them] of all that [Jesus has] said to [them].”

In the same way, by reminding us of Jesus’s teachings and instructions, The Holy Spirit acts as our own divine guide. This is a great gift when our easily confused moral compass might mistake North for East.

With this promise of the “Spirit of truth,” Jesus closes this week’s lesson with some of the most wonderful, calming words we could ever hear from our Lord and Savior. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Amen, Lord Jesus.

Discussion Questions

• Go back and explore the rest of John 14. Think about how the disciples felt before and after this week’s Gospel lesson. What do you think your reaction would have been?
• Looking back at the news for today, do you think that Zuckerberg’s moral compass is confused? Or is the Facebook privacy issue a moral issue at all? Explain.

 

Activity Suggestions

Texting Treasure Hunt:

In this exercise, there is one leader and a group of hunters. (For youth groups, I recommend there be an adult leader acting as the “leader” as well as another adult leader in the group of “hunters.”) The leader of this exercise must know the surrounding area well. To assist in delivering accurate directions, it may be helpful for the hunters to have  a GPS-enabled phone  while the leader tracks them via Google Latitude or a similar service.

The leader tells the group of hunters that he or she will be waiting for them somewhere nearby before suddenly leaving them. The hunters then petition text messages from the leader in order to help find their way. The leader may be as cryptic or simple as he or she desires.

After the hunters find the leader, they should explore how they felt during the exercise. Was it unnerving to be unaware of where they were headed? Was it reassuring to know that they could ask and receive directions whenever they needed it?

Closing Prayer

Dearest Jesus, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us along your pathways. Thank you for the reassurance you give us every day, through the remembrance of your great sacrifice, that we need never let our hearts be troubled. Amen.

Contributed by Bob Chell, Lutheran Campus Ministry at South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota

Warm-up Question

As children, we sometimes misconstrue reality because we misinterpret what we see:  “Dad took me to watch firefighters train on an abandoned house. For years I thought firefighters drove around looking for run-down houses to burn and was scared they would burn down our house.”  

Sometimes we are mislead:  “When I was little, my Dad told me that the tune played by the ice cream van was the ice cream man letting everyone know that he’d run out of ice cream.”

What have you believed which turned out to be untrue?

Life Out of Doubt

A young woman lay dead; nearby, an abandoned truck was stuck in the mud.  The investigation was quick.  Within hours, police had suspects and by evening Greg Taylor and Johnny Beck were in jail, charged with murder.  Both were crack addicts who admitted they were only looking for their next high.  Johnny Beck was released before trial for reasons which are unclear. Greg Taylor was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.  That was sixteen years ago.  A month ago Greg Taylor was released from prison upon the recommendation of a special innocence panel which found “clear and convincing evidence” that Gregory F. Taylor was innocent and had been convicted based on flawed evidence and unreliable testimony.

Source:  (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/us/18innocent.html)

Discussion Questions

• Had this been you or someone you love, would you be grateful or bitter upon release after sixteen years?  How would you reconcile the two feelings?
• Have you ever had first-hand knowledge of a news story that didn’t match what you heard in the media?
• Have you passed on a story you later learned was untrue? What were the consequences for the person in the untrue story you passed on?  For you?
• Did you take any action upon learning the story was untrue?  What was the result? 

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 11, 20110 (Second Sunday of Easter)

Acts 5:27-32

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20:19-31

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Thomas stands in a long line of doubters stretching back to the beginning of the faith.  Abraham was skeptical that God could deliver on the promise of a son while Sarah, his wife, laughed in God’s face.  Moses doubted he could accomplish what God called him to do.  Gideon demanded proof.  Elijah ran away.  Jeremiah and Job—even Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane before his arrest and crucifixion—struggled with doubt.  One theologian notes that the only people in scripture who are certain of God’s will stone the prophets and crucify Jesus.

Doubt is not an enemy, but a friend.  Doubt keeps us from being a sucker for every get-rich, get-beautiful, get-saved scheme that comes along.  The danger is that, surrounded by pop-up ads and bogus invitations to wealth and intimacy, we will become cynical and cease to believe anything.

Yet, it is doubt that pushes us forward in life and faith.  Doubt is a way of life for high school and college students:  Doubting your major, doubting your current romance, doubting there will ever be a romance, doubting your career plans, doubting your faith.

Doubt is useful when it pushes us beyond the superficial to the substantive, when it pushes us to ask hard questions and look at life, and ourselves, with clear and open eyes.

Doubt is at the heart of education.  It drives the scientific method.  How does this work…what would happen if…can I prove…?

In our personal life doubt keeps us awake at night and commands our attention. It is unpleasant but useful, drawing us to attend to those things most important in our lives.  Doubt pushes us to change and grow.  It forces us to ask hard questions about faith, family, and vocation, the things which define who we are.

Doubt is not the end but the beginning.  Most of us, when plagued by doubt, try harder to figure it out, to think it through, to discern the truth—and we should.  Whom we choose as a life partner, the career we choose, the faith we embrace will shape and change the rest of our lives.

Easter isn’t about happy endings, Jesus springing up three days later so we can have Easter eggs, a new outfit and time off from school or work.  Easter is about a God who stands with us, suffers with us, even dies with us.

The poet Gerhard Frost once wrote: “Doubt gnaws at faith but faith gnaws back, and faith has better teeth.”  God’s promise is that Jesus can and will break through the locked and shut doors of our lives, the prison of doubt we live in.  Jesus comes through the wall, breaks in, and speaks “Peace be with you.”  God’s peace isn’t a promise that there will be no doubt, pain, struggle, indecision, or any of the other things which are part of being human, part of being in relationships. God’s peace is a promise to walk with us, to strengthen us, to sustain us, to forgive us, to challenge us.

The time for hunting Easter eggs is over, but if we are hunting for God working in our lives, we need only look where we doubt.  There we will find God’s Spirit moving us to growth and faith.

Discussion Questions

• Recall a time when you thought you would never be happy again.  Was God at work in you and others?
• How do we discern when doubt is useful and when it is useless?
• If doubt is a good thing, can we be certain about anything?

Activity Suggestions

• Ask several persons you love and trust if there was ever a time when they wanted to run away and leave their life behind because they were embarrassed, ashamed or in deep pain.  Ask what enabled them to survive that time and, looking back, how they see that God was at work in their lives during that time.
•  Reflect on a time when you were so unhappy you wanted to quit, give up, move, and get away from doubt and pain.  What enabled you to survive?  Is there a learning there for your faith?  for your future?

Closing Prayer

God of grace and mercy, we want to believe and trust your promises.  Give us courage and perseverance to confront the doubt and pain and brokenness in our lives.  Give us, also, the wisdom to know when to let go of broken dreams and move on.  Move our hearts to forgive others and ourselves, so we may live with Easter joy.  Amen.

Contributed by Pastor Seth Moland-Kovash, All Saints Lutheran Church, Palatine, IL

Warm-Up Question

Who are the historical figures you look up to the most?

Signs of the Times

We all have historical figures to whom we look up. We admire what they accomplished. We are thankful for what they did for the rest of us. We use them as examples of what we could accomplish or how we should behave. Heroes of the past are an important part of any culture. 

In our culture, as in many others, some of our most-admired heroes are sports figures. Halls of Fame are places where heroes of the past are especially remembered. In the summer of 2010 Andre Dawson was chosen to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In a career that spanned 1976 through 1996, Dawson played for four major league teams and amassed a career batting average of .279 with 438 home runs. 

One important factor in remembering our heroes is how they are remembered. Do we remember them as baseball players or as humanitarians? If as baseball players, for which team do we remember them playing?  For Dawson, as for many others, there has been some controversy over which team’s cap his Hall of Fame bust will wear. The final decision, which was up to the Hall of Fame committee, is that Dawson will wear the cap of the Montreal Expos instead of a Chicago Cubs’ cap, which was his choice. 

Discussion Questions

1. When you picture your favorite historical figure, how do you know that it’s him/her?
2. How much control should public figures have over how they are remembered? Should Dawson be able to choose which team’s cap his statue wears in the Hall?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, February 7, 2010 (Fifth Sunday after Epiphany)

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Exodus 34:29-35

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Luke 9:28-36 [37-43a]

Gospel Reflection

When Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him up the mountain, they met the greats of the past.  It was as if Mt. Rushmore or the Baseball Hall of Fame had come to life for them on the mountaintop. They saw Moses, the author of the law  they had been studying since they were little boys. They saw Elijah, the prophet above all prophets, promised to come again before the Messiah. And they saw their friend Jesus in all his glory. 

I’ve often wondered (and I know I’m not alone) how Peter, James, and John knew that it was Moses and Elijah they were talking with. They didn’t have pictures of them. How could they have known? What was it about the experience that helped them understand it? 

Remember that the version we’re reading was written down a long time later. Perhaps it took them a long time to figure out what had happened to them. Perhaps it was only after Jesus’ death and resurrection that they looked back and realized completely what they had experienced. Maybe only after talking it over with others (and with Jesus) as they came down the mountain, did they start to figure it out. 

Discussion Questions

1. In religious history, who is the figure (let’s say other than Jesus) with whom you’d want to sit down and have a chat? What would you talk about?
2. How do you recognize someone as a great person?  What are the qualities of greatness that you look for?

 

Activity Suggestion

Sit down with the historical greats of your congregation.  Find several persons who have been a part of your congregation the longest and ask them about what they remember of the congregation’s past.

Closing Prayer

Good and gracious God, we thank you for all the saints and great ones whom you have given to us as examples and teachers. Help us to learn from their example as we try to follow you. Amen.

Contributed by Claudia Bergmann, Eisleben, Germany

 

Warm-up Question

What does being in an earthquake feel like?

 
Awaiting the Big One

“Did you feel it?” That is the question everyone asks whenever the news in California reports a small earthquake. Most California quakes do not do any visible damage, and only a small percentage are actually felt or heard by the people living in the region. But seismologists predict that there is a 63 percent chance of a strong and destructive earthquake within the next 30 years in the area of San Francisco. Taking all of California together, the chances for what’s called “the Big One” are 99.7 percent.

 

California will probably experience a strong earthquake in the future because of movement in the earth’s crust. The Pacific and the North American Plates meet there and grind against each other for hundreds of miles. This is even visible to the naked eye and is called the San Andreas Fault. The movement of the earth’s crust slowly builds up pressure and energy, which is, at some point, released in an earthquake. On April 18, 1906, such a pressure release killed 3000 people in San Francisco and destroyed large areas of the city.  Seismologists from the University of California in Berkley have found that the earth, although solid on the surface, reacts to the movements of sun and moon, just as water does. These mini-tides can be recorded as tremors which make areas like the San Andreas Fault move. Scientists write in the current issue of the magazine Nature (December 2009) that such small tremors do not cause big earthquakes but increase the strength of the movements happening in the San Andreas fault.

 

Did you feel it? Californians hope that this question will always be answered with “no”. But chances are that one day soon an earthquake and its aftermath cannot be missed. Learning more about how earthquakes originate and what makes them stronger might help us take better precautions. Unlike other animals, which sometimes sense impending earthquakes better than humans, we have to rely on scientific data to have an idea when one might be imminent.

 

Discussion Questions

1. Do you live in an area where earthquakes are likely? If so, do you ever talk or think about measures which you and your family can take to protect yourself from the effects of an earthquake? If not, would you worry if your parents wanted to move the family to an area where earthquakes are likely?

2. Have you ever experienced an earthquake or another natural catastrophe? Could you sense it coming? What did it feel like?

3. Some people experience pain when the weather changes or say that they can “smell” coming rain. Are you able to predict such changes? If not, do you think that some people are actually able to do it?

 

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, January 10, 2010 (Baptism of our Lord)

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

 

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Isaiah 43:1-7

Acts 8:14-17

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

 

Bible Reflection

The story we hear today from the Gospel of Luke is one that describes an early part of Jesus’ life. Luke has portrayed the pregnancy of Mary and the birth of Jesus and has continued with the events in the temple when Jesus was just 12 years old. We now meet a new character. John the Baptist, whose mother visited Jesus’ mother when they were both pregnant, begins to baptize people in the wilderness. People flock to John and some even wonder whether he is the long-expected Messiah. But John shatters these hopes and points to the Messiah coming after him. John was not much liked by the government. He was put in prison and later killed. But, before his life came to an end, one of the people he baptizes is Jesus of Nazareth.

 

Something amazing happens at that particular baptism. Imagine what it must have been like for Jesus. As an adult, he decides to receive the baptism by John, which is supposed to free from sins. He steps down to the river or creek, feeling rocks and sand beneath his worn shoes. He feels both John’s strong hands as the Baptist dunks him into the water and a sense of trust that John will lift him back out. He feels the water—cold and refreshing—cleansing his body and also, in a way, his mind. Then, he sees the heaven open. He sees a dove, the Holy Spirit, coming down towards him.  Maybe he feels and hears the flapping of her wings. Jesus  hears God speaking, telling him that he is the  beloved son with whom God is well pleased. Feeling the water, touching it, being touched by John’s hands, seeing the heavens, hearing God’s voice – Jesus’ baptism addresses most of his senses and, because of it, envelopes him entirely. Unfortunately, Luke does not tell us what it is like for Jesus to hear God and to see the Holy Spirit at his baptism. But he records the effect that this sense-filling event has on Jesus:  right after the baptism, Jesus begins his work.

 

When the early church began to baptize people into a Christian life, they modeled their practices after the story of Jesus being baptized by John. Of course, there were proclamations of what baptism means, that it is an act of repentance and causes the forgiveness of sins. But more than is often the case in modern churches, baptisms in the early church also addressed the senses of the baptismal candidates. Days of fasting prepared them for their baptism. Several times before and during the baptismal ceremony, the baptismal candidates were anointed with oil. In what was called the “ephphata ceremony”, a mixture of dirt and spittle was put upon their ears and nose to symbolize the opening of ears in Mark 7:33-34. And when the actual baptism happened, a lot of water was used so that the baptismal candidates could be fully immersed. Baptism back then could be truly felt, truly seen, truly heard. It could be experienced with most of the  senses.

 

In Luther’s day the church had already moved away from some of these more sensual experiences of baptism. The church performed many remaining actions in almost magical ways, as if baptism was not valid unless all of these rituals were performed. While Luther tried to rid the church of some of the more magical looking rituals, he strongly felt that the sensual aspects of baptism should remain. In his early writings about baptism, he even demanded that baptism should be by immersion to symbolize that our old sinful self is drowned and our new baptized self is resurrected. Luther asserted that baptism should be experienced with all our senses, just as God wants to be in our minds, spirits, and body – in all of what makes us human. 

 

Discussion Questions

1. Are there experiences in life where the senses of smelling, tasting, and feeling might enhance your perception or help you remember? Do you have an early childhood memory which is connected to one of these senses?

2. What senses (hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling) do we use in worship and at what parts in the liturgy?

3. Which do you prefer, a worship service where the pastor speaks and the people listen or a worship service where all or most of our human senses are addressed? Why?

4. What are, in your opinion, the pros and cons of worship that addresses our senses?

5. Have you experienced worship in a congregation other than your own? If so, did that service address the human senses more or less than is done in your church?

 

Activity Suggestions

1. Jesus and the human senses.

Split your group in four small groups and assign each of them one Gospel. Ask your groups to find stories where Jesus not only speaks to the people but addresses their other senses. Share these stories in the large group and talk about what Jesus accomplishes when he helps people to understand his message by letting them smell, taste, feel, or see.

 

2. Making people understand.

Read the healing story in Mark 7:32-37. Talk about the way Jesus addresses the human senses there and what effect that has on the bystanders watching.

 

3. Heightening the senses in worship.

If using our senses helps us experience things on a deeper level and helps us remember, why don’t we use our senses more in worship? Think about the way that worship in your congregation could be more sense-oriented. Ask your pastor how he/she plans worship services with the use of our senses in mind.

 

4. Using our senses.

Here are some suggestions for activities where your youth can try their senses. If you have a small group, let everyone try a few samples. If you have a larger group, split them up so that everybody has a chance to experience this exercise. If you make it a competition, you might have a prize for the winner(s).

 

a) Smelling: Prepare samples of distinctive smelling things such as communion wine, herbs, flowers, incense and other in containers that are all the same size and are closed with a lid. Then, see who can identify of an object by using only the sense of smell (you need to cover participants’ eyes and have someone else present them with the opened container).

 

b) Tasting: You can also have a taste test using foods which people try with their eyes covered. In that case, make sure to choose foods which everybody likes and tolerates.

 

c) Feeling: Have people feel small objects – again, with their eyes covered – and name what they should represent. Cookie cutters or wooden toy animals work well.

 

d) Hearing: Play the beginnings of famous pop songs (or even hymns) until the first person can name the title. Ask your group to listen to half of them with their eyes open and to the other half with their eyes closed. Ask whether it was easier to guess when they only used their sense of hearing rather than their senses of hearing and seeing.

 

Closing Prayer

Almighty God, you want to be close to us and be with us in our minds, spirits and bodies. Help us to open our ears so that we can hear your word. Help us to open our eyes so that we can see your marvelous deeds. Help us to open our open our mouths and noses so that we can taste and smell your wonderful gifts of creation with renewed wonder. Help us to open our hands so that we can feel the hands of our brothers and sisters in ours. Amen.