LREDA-affirmation

Honoring the Present (a ritual of personal affirmation)

Susan Freudenthal (DRE)

Prep: acquire a bowl of colored glass “jewels” purchased from a craft supply store.

Directions: (Whether we are DRE’s, ministers, youth advisors, congregational leaders or committee members we are all in the ministry of religious education.)

Please reach in basket and choose a jewel for yourself. (pause while participants their “jewels”)

“otice its color, its edges, and its strength. Hold on to it tightly and as you make your as comfortable as you can, listen to my voice.

We are all beautiful, each color, each shape, each one of us.

We are as strong as we need to be, as tough as we need to be, as resilient as we need to be

We are as the seasons, sometimes soft and warm, other times cold and stormy

We bring wealth and wisdom; we give all of our selves to the task

We affirm the most fragile and vulnerable among us and celebrate each life that comes into ours.

We change the world one week at a time, we earn the future

We are religious educators, a tribe of travelers. The journey continues.

Please open your eyes, reach out the religious educator next to you and give them your jewel, pass the energy of thoughts and beauty just as you do each week, and receive as much in return.