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| The shepherd boy David plays the harp for troubled King Saul (Wikimedia) |
Note: No one in the history of Israel made a bigger splash than King David. Here is the story of his unlikely rise to power.
Get Ready: Do you think a country needs a monarch (king or queen), president, etc.? Or is a military leader good enough?
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| At his fall, "Satan first knew pain..." (Wikimedia) |
Note: Can Satan in any way ever be considered a hero? The answer of some literary scholars is YES!
Get Ready: What characteristics make a hero a hero, and a villain a villain?
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| Abelard and Heloise surprised by Master Fulbert (Wikipedia) |
Note: This may be the weirdest love story you've ever heard--and it really happened!
Get Ready: What do you think is a fitting punishment for a man who marries a woman against her parents' or guardians' wishes?
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| Saint Francis and a Wolf (Wikimedia) |
Note: No Christian saint has captured the world's heart like Francis of Assisi. Here are two early legends of the saint's connection to "God's creation."
Get Ready: In most Christian stories, how important is the natural world to the "spiritual interests" of the believer? Why do you think Francis was different?
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| Burdened Christian flees from home (Wikipedia) |
Note: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was a favorite for many, many years, read alongside the Bible as a means of bringing up proper Christians. It no longer shares widespread popularity.
Get Ready: What do you think of didactic or "preachy" literature in the guise of a novel or other literary form?
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| The giant and the child (Wikipedia) |
Note: The story of "The Selfish Giant" is a modern fairy tale written by the Irish author Oscar Wilde.
Get Ready: If you had a large yard and garden, would you allow the neighborhood children to play in it?
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| King Josaphat (Wikipedia) |
Note: The story of the Christian saint named Josaphat was actually just an echo of the life of the Buddha--yet for many years he was venerated by the Church!
Get Ready: Do you think it strange that two very different religions could share the same stories? Or does this seem natural to you?
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| Crusoe from an illustration in the first edition (Wikipedia) |
Note: Meet literature's most famous castaway as he sets up house and learns to live the good life on the "Island of Despair."
Get Ready: What skills do you have that would enable you to live on a desert island? What skills would you need that you don't have?
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| Poster from the film version (Wikipedia) |
Note: The seven-book series The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis, was designed as a Christian allegory, but it can be enjoyed without resorting to the underlying mythology.
Get Ready: Have you read or seen any of the Narnia series of books and movies? How do you feel about stories that include magic or fantasy?
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| Valentine receives a rosary from the Virgin Mary (Wikipedia) |
Note: Every lover loves Valentine's Day. But did you know it is more properly called "The Feast of Saint Valentine"?
Get Ready: Do you celebrate Valentines Day, or some version of it? What do you do on that day?
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| "...his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot" (Wikipedia) |
Note: December is the month of St. Nicholas, from his feast day on December 6 to Christmas on the 25th (or its eve). The connection between the two dates was cemented by Clement Clarke Moore's poem, "A Visit from Saint Nicholas," first published (anonymously) in 1823.
"Santa Claus," as you may know, comes from the Dutch name for Saint Nicholas, Sinter Klaas. New York, where the poet Moore lived, had been settled by the Dutch--in fact, the southern tip of Manhattan Island was called "New Amsterdam" from 1609 to 1664--and so he had probably heard lots of Dutch lore about the saint.
See the full text of the poem. along with a FULL LESSON, in The Library.
BONUS! Hear a reading of this classic poem by me, Professor Jim Bucket!
Get Ready: Do you believe in Santa Claus? What does he look like?
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| Image of the Virgin of Guadalupe as seen in Juan Diego's cloak (Wikipedia) |
Note: Faith in the Virgin of Guadalupe, the loyalty of the 47 Ronin, and the renewal promised by New Years Eve: December is a time of beginnings as well as endings.
Get Ready: The story of the Virgin of Guadalupe teaches faith; that of the Forty-seven Ronin teaches loyalty. Which of these two virtues is more important?
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| St. Nicholas with the three babies he reassembled (Wikipedia) |
Note: When we think of Christmas, we think of Santa Claus. But it wasn't always so! Meet Saint Nicholas and learn his story.
Get Ready: Do you think the idea of Santa Claus makes an important contribution to our culture? That is, is he a more positive influence or a more negative one?
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| A flaming chalice is the symbol of Unitarian Universalism. (Wikipedia) |
Note: In December (or January) Unitarian Universalists celebrate their important principles and sources of wisdom.
Get Ready: Read the list of "Principles" below. Which do you find most useful? Which is least?
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| A typical Thanksgiving dinner (Wikipedia) |
Note: They used to tell us that our Thanksgiving dinners went back to "the Pilgrims" in an unbroken chain. Not so!
Get Ready: Do you have an autumn celebration of the "fruits of the earth"? If you do, what is it like?
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| U.S. President Obama with teachers on Teachers' Day (in May!) (Wikipedia) |
Note: In October we celebrate Guardian Angels, teachers (another kind of angel!), the Canadian recognition of women as persons, and Basque Country.
Get Ready: Do you believe in angels? Do you think you have a personal one?
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| Halloween decorations (Wikipedia) |
Note: Halloween has its roots in one of the dates on the Great Wheel of the Year, between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice--the beginning of the Season of the Dead.
Get Ready: Do you celebrate Halloween? If so, what do you do?
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| The Transfiguration of Jesus (Wikipedia) |
Note: There's not much happening in August--maybe due to the heat! Still, a major pagan holiday and a major Christian one will do.
Get Ready: Are you badly affected by hot weather, or can you tolerate it easily?
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| The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Wikipedia) |
Note: From an Irish pub crawl to the luring of rats to their deaths--and with a group of mystical sleepers thrown in--June is just weird!
Get Ready: Can you tell the story of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"?
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| Christ's Ascension (Wikipedia) |
Note: Forty days after Easter comes the Feast of the Ascension, commemorating Jesus's ascent into heaven; ten days after that is Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit founded the church.
Get Ready: Can you think of any expressions or events that depend on the significance of the number 40?
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