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Lesson seven - Welcome
home! (pages 14-15)
Text from the book
How does it feel to come home?
Learning objectives
Pupils will be able:
- to reflect on their feelings on returning home from a period
away;
- to be aware of the varied ways of exploring the parable of the
Lost Son.
Background
The Israelites made a number of promises to God, promises that
they failed to keep. Each time, God welcomed them back with open
arms. Some of the themes of the Bible are transgression, apology,
reconciliation, discipline and self-discipline. One of the best-known
stories in the New Testament is the Parable of the Lost Son. His
father welcomed him back with open arms – but did his older brother?
God, in Christian belief, always has open arms, welcoming home the
traveller.
Ways of using the picture
- Coming home – who or what do the pupils look forward to seeing?
- We come home to: a house, grandparents, parents, people who
care, a place, a town – the familiar. What are the pupils’ experiences
of coming home?
- Read the Parable of the Lost (or Prodigal) Son. What do the
pupils think would be the feeling of the son, the father and the
elder son? What do they think would happen next?
Bible reference
Luke 15.11-32
Key words
- Joy
- Exhilaration
- Anticipation
- Waiting
- Security
- Relief
- Happiness
- Reconciliation
- Transgression
- Apology
- Discipline
Activity
You will need
Paper
Pens
Paint (if necessary)
Discuss with pupils a period of time they have spent away from
home, such as on holiday. What did they miss most (e.g. pets, relations,
friends, their bedroom)?
Construct a postcard ‘in reverse’ (picture on one side, writing
on the other) to a person they met when they were away (e.g. a new
friend). The writing would describe their feelings on returning
home; of security and familiarity about their own special space
at home and also the excitement of being away from it. How would
you sum up ’home’ in a small picture?
Assessment opportunities
Pupils will:
- demonstrate skills of empathy, of reflection and of understanding;
- know the Parable of the Lost Son (see teacher’s notes) and
have reflected on the roles of each of the main characters.
Learning outcomes
Pupils will:
- have the opportunity to reflect on home coming as an important
aspect of being away from home;
- be able to recall the feelings experienced by a ‘home coming’;
- have appreciated an aspect of their home as a place of security
and comfort.
Extension work
Pupils could dramatically re-enact a meeting, (at an airport or
train station), of a close friend or relative they have not seen
for a time. What would they say? What gestures would they use? What
feelings would this encounter evoke?
Or they could make a telephone call to a friend or relative telling
them of their feeling on coming home.
Web site links
This is a dramatic and moving painting of the return of the prodigal
son, painted by Frank Wesley (India, 20th Century).
Ain Vares's 'Return of the Prodigal Son' gives a much lighter interpretation
at http://www.realmagazine.com/new/artwork/vares/vares.html
Further web sites that feature this painting are http://www.mystudios.com/art/bar/rembrandt/rembrandt-prodigal-son.html
and http://www.fishthe.net/home.htm
© Alan Brown and Alison Seaman, 2002
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