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Lesson twelve -
pages 24/25
The
hands of Jesus
Aim for the book
To give children the opportunity to explore
what Christians believe about the nature of both God and humans,
by studying hands.
Learning objectives
- To know that pictures of Jesus often have significant
hand gestures in them and that the Church often refers to itself as
'The Body of Christ'.
- To understand that the gestures in the pictures are an
important part of an artist's intention.
- To understand that our hands are sometimes insufficient
in themselves and need help of some kind.
Bible references
1 Corinthians 13.4-7
John 3.16
Background
This image draws together the themes explored in this book. The
arms of Jesus are spread wide in cruciform shape yet the hands are
open and embracing; there is vulnerability here as well as power.
This style of representing Jesus, with arms outstretched, has traditionally
been used in cultures around the world to represent God's love for
the world as demonstrated in the life, death and resurrection of
Jesus; for God, the Creator, there is life in death.
Key words
- Tool
- Work
- Help
- Eyes
- Ears
- Glasses
- Body
- Perfect
- Church
- Community
Activity one - tools for the job
A selection of different 'tools' from a variety
of jobs and areas of life.
Art materials
Think about things that help our hands - tools
of various kinds, see how many different things the children can
come up with. Encourage the children to think as broadly as possible,
through music, craft, eating, agriculture and so on.
Sort the selection of tools and, if possible,
finds further examples of each. For instance, tools for eating. How many different
types of fork can you come up with?
Musical tools: violin bows, plectrums, trumpet
mutes...
Sporting tools: tennis rackets, bats
...
'Work' tools: screwdrivers, scissors
... and so on.
Display the various tools in their groups,
together with illustrations done by the children of how these
things are used. This display could form the basis of an act of
worship.
Activity two - perfect people
A collection of images, from as many different
walks of life as possible, of parts of the body.
Collage materials.
Think about other parts of the body than hands,
and discuss the power and effectiveness of other body parts. Why do
we talk about bright eyes and strong voices?
- Develop
Collect images of the work of other body
parts such as feet, mouth, eyes. Choose these from as many different
walks of life as possible.
Discuss what a 'perfect person' might
be like
Make up a composite of a 'perfect
person' from bits of magazine images you have collected.
How do we decide what are perfect
eyes, hands, feet etc?
Assemble the various body parts into
a collage of the 'perfect person'.
- End
How do we make ourselves into 'perfect people'?
Think of physical issues such as wearing
glasses or hearing aids.
Extend the subject by asking if being
perfect is only about what we look like? Do we need more
than good looks or fast legs or long sight?
Take care to list the attributes of
a perfect person that the children come up with.
This can be extended for older children
by considering what happens when we fail to be perfect; how
do we make it better?
Activity three - communities as bodies
The series of Encounter Christianity
books
Talk about how we repair bodies with medicines,
plasters and so on. Then suggest that our communities are rather
like bodies, with lots of different parts working together. What
are the important parts of a community? How do these parts function?
How do we repair them when they go wrong?
What are the 'parts' of a school community?
Try to identify the parts of the school community in some detail:
the governing body, ancillary staff, parents, volunteers, secretary,
head, deputy and so on. Are all the parts people or do such
things as the buildings, the pond or the guinea pigs have a
role to play too? Think about what the roles of these parts
are. To what extent do the children regard themselves as being
part of the body?
The Bible describes the church as the 'Body
of Christ'. This is a difficult idea, but if the children already
have some idea of communities as bodies, it becomes an easier
concept to discuss. Use the many pictures of Jesus in the series
of books to draw out the different things that Jesus does with
hands, such as healing, blessing, and calming the storm. Which
of the functions represented by the various images of hands
do the children think that they could fulfil best? Could their
hands be the healing hands of Jesus? The calming hands of Jesus?
The sharing hands of Jesus?
How does the church in its work carry out
all of these functions? (Charity work, missionary activity,
local care schemes, prayer groups, study groups and so on.)
If you can take your children to a church,
these things are usually best indicated on the notice-board
- an object often missed out when we visit a church in the scurry
round to find pulpits, altars and such like. (Don't forget the
parish magazine either.)
Don't miss out on the opportunity to visit
a church. (Try and visit more than one denomination.)
There are lots of opportunity here to discuss
issues of disability. You might consider inviting blind or deaf
people into school to discuss their own lifestyles with the children.
Activity checklist
Activity one - tools for the job
A selection of different 'tools' from a variety
of jobs and areas of life.
Art materials.
Activity two - perfect people
A collection of images, from as many different
walks of life as possible, of parts of the body.
Collage materials.
Activity three - communities as bodies
The series of Encounter Christianity books
Web site links
For further information, look at the links
section of this site.
http://www.imagesofthecross.com/
http://www.allre.org.uk/shells/strath_cafacts.html
http://re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk/community/index.html
http://www.culham.ac.uk/Ascension/
http://www.pbs.org/
http://www.cptryon.org/
http://www.culham.ac.uk/Easter/index.html
http://www.clark.net/pub/webbge/jesus.htm
© Robin
Sharples
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