b'PRINT COPIES FOR CLASS: SMP.ORG/ASPIREVOL1Leader: Each of you will receive a small piece of paper God knows each of us as a precious,on which to draw a leaf. Make sure your leaf unique, individual child who isrefl ects the same diversity found in nature. loved, honored, and cherished. As you create your leaf, try to refl ect your own There are billions of people in the world,uniqueness in the design. And remember that,and God knows each of us by name. while no leaf is perfect, every leaf is beautiful. The world includes many diff erent people. There areAft er you have fi nished your leaf, cut it outAfricans, Asians, Europeans, South Americans, andand wait for additional instructions.Native Americans. There are married people, single(Distribute the paper and supplies. Play people, and divorced people. There are stepsisters,refl ective music while students create half-brothers, godmothers, and grandfathers.and then cut out their leaves.)There are heterosexuals and homosexuals. There I pray this semester, we become not just a class, are infants, schoolchildren, teenagers, twenty- but a community. Each of us brings a giftthat somethings, thirty-forty-fi ft y-sixty-seventy-eighty- will make our community strong, supportive, ninety-somethings. How does God keep track? and unique. On your leaves, I would like you to Each of us is a precious, unique, individual childwrite one giftyou bring to this community.of God who is loved, honored, and cherished. (Invite each student to share the giftthey bring Imagine now, a leaf. Each leaf is a uniqueto this community. When they have fi nished creation. The color, shape, pattern, andsharing, ask them to tape their leaf to the size are all one-of-a-kind. The veins, stem,outline of a tree drawn on poster board.)and ragged edges all add to its beauty.Reader: A legend in the Sioux tradition explains why leaves turn color in the autumn.Many, many moons ago, when the world was young, the grass and fl ower folk were enjoying the beautiful summer weather. But as the days went by, the weather became colder and colder. The grass and fl owers grew sad, for they had nothing to protect them from the sharp cold. Just when it seemed that there was no hope for living, the Holy One who created all things came to their aid. The leaves of the trees were told to fall to the ground and spread a soft , warm blanket over the tender roots that were about to freeze. To repay the leaves for their kindness, the Creator gave them one last bright array of beauty.That is why the trees take on their pretty farewell colors of red, gold, and brown each year duringIndian summer. Then the leaves turn to their task of covering the earth with a thick rug of warmth.Most people want to be useful. Like the leaves in this old Sioux legend, they want to be of service. May God bless our group as we follow the example of the leaves, looking for ways to be useful and to serve those created by the Holy One. Amen.CLASSROOM IDEA 45'