12-17-2017
11:15 am - 12:15 pm
R.E. Building – Rooms 6, 7 & 8

Making Visible the Invisible

Grade school children begin to ask the big questions that adults do, such as, “What makes me human? Why am I alive? What happens when I die?” Also like adults, they ask, “Where do I fit in?” Children get their answers the same way adults do—by looking around, comparing themselves to others and noticing how others see them.

This session introduces a working definition of class as one’s relative status according to wealth, power and position. We guide children to examine themselves in these terms and to discuss what it means to compare people in these ways. We focus participants’ attention on people and classes they might be unaware of—the unseen workers who grow and prepare their food, make their clothing, and build and maintain our societal infrastructure. We come full circle to understanding how our first Unitarian Universalist Principle transcends class and guides us to challenge society’s systems of comparative human worth.

Take Home

Discuss how notions of socio-economic class affect your family. How do you perceive yourselves? How does embracing a class identity (e.g., rich, middle class, working class or poor) help your family? How does it hurt you?

Visit a downtown area, a museum, a library, a grocery store, a park or a shopping mall together. Bring notebooks and pens and take some time to identify and acknowledge the invisible hands that make it possible for you to enjoy your excursion. Identify the behind-the-scenes workers such as plumbers, farmers, bakers, masons, etc.

Check it out: Session 12