Social justice work and children: CROP walk SUNDAY

In April I visited the Chicago area with my family. We spent 1/2 a day in the city visiting a few of the sites. There were a lot of homeless people asking for money and I gave away all the spare cash I had. I didn't really talk about it with my family.

What I didn't realize was how my eight -year- old was paying attention. The Sunday after we returned from Chicago, FUSS member Nancy Peterson came to Children's Chapel to talk with the kids about the upcoming CROP walk. My daughter made a connection at that moment. Seeing all the homeless people disturbed her and the CROP walk was a way she could do something about it. She asked me about participating in the walk, and so, we picked up the forms and I helped her make an online contribution site for out- of- town family to donate.

I have to say honestly that if I had tried to get my daughter to participate, she probably would have been less interested. I am not even sure I could have had a conversation about what we experienced in Chicago at the time either. But, allowing her the experience to walk a city street and confront a troubling reality in our society and then having a church community that offers concrete ways to make a difference, opened up the possibility of her making a connection. Things are not always fair and she can make a difference in that. I think this is one of the best parts of what we do together that I, certainly, can not do alone.

We'll be walking in the Schenectady CROP walk this Sunday. Maybe we'll see you there.

Hot off the Press!!! U.U. Spirituality and Parenting

Many parents ask me about books on Unitarian Universalism and parenting. There's a new book out on Unitarian Universalist parenting by professional religious educator Michelle Richards. It's called Tending the Flame: The Art of Unitarian Universalist Parenting. There is also a blog that Michelle writes that you can find here. Her latest post is on spiritual practices with children. It touches on some of the practices children are introduced to in our religious education classes.