Dear UUI Families,

Last weekend, we had a treasure hunt for our RE families in the Butler Tarkington Neighborhood. We called it the Bunny Trail as a nod to Easter because UUI traditionally has an egg hunt on Easter Sunday, but the actual theme was the Five Jagged Rocks of Unitarian Universalism . Jamie and I took the Jagged Rocks and translated them into kid-friendly language and renamed them (for kids) The Five Stars of UU.   

I LOVE the jagged rocks/bright stars and I was excited to be able to work with Jamie on this to make it more kid-friendly! Why do I love the jagged rocks? Because Unitarian Universalism can be a challenging religion! Contrary to popular belief, Unitarian Universalists can't believe anything they want. I mean, there are lots of things we can and should decide for ourselves, and search for what our truth is on many matters such as the nature of the universe, whether we each believe in one God, no god, or many gods, what happens after we die. But there are other inherent truths in our tradition that we can't agree to disagree on. The inherent worth and dignity of all people is one. That's a big one. And if you think about it. that can be hard to live out on a daily basis!

So what the jagged rocks do for us is basically nutshell the inherent truths of our faith tradition for us. They hold up the foundational truths. And, according to the 4th one, ours is a living tradition and these can and will change throughout time. As we learn more, as we expand in compassion and love, as we draw the circle ever bigger, we will hone our rocks into sharper instruments to help lead us ever further into the future. 

The 5 Bright Stars of Unitarian Universalism are: 

1--We are all part of the same web of existence
 
2--All people matter, no matter what
 
3--Courageous love transforms the world
 
4--We should always be learning together and open to new truths and ideas
 
5--We should create a beautiful world together here on Earth 

So each of the five stops on the bunny trail had treasure that represented these five bright stars, such as a social justice project in an egg, and information on UU Trading Cards so kids can learn about how other, particularly awesome, UU's have lived out their faith. There were sea shells and goldfish crackers for the web of existence, heart stickers for courageous love, a journal with affirming messages on the cover for shining star number 2, and seed paper flowers to represent making the world more beautiful. And we included some fun stuff and organic candy, too! :) 

If your family wasn't able to participate, we still have treasure left and there's an opportunity to search for it at UUI this Sunday. Please see below for details. 

Many, many thanks to the RE Council and our Bunny Stop families, and Jamie for making this possible! 

Peace and Love,

Susanne
Director of Lifespan Religious Exploration (DLRE)
(she/her)
Black Lives Matter