Think back to when you were children, with all the hopes and aspirations of life before you.
To start to relax within the group
To find out more about the life story of others within the group
To start considering our story as a building block in our personhood
Scrabble
If there is time then play a game of Scrabble – set the amount of time that you will play e.g. 15 or 30 minutes depending on how long you plan this first session to be – use a timer if possible. (The remainder of the session
should take about an hour.)
Our history plays a large part in who we are and how we are seen. The events that we have seen, activities that we have taken part in and perhaps most of all, the people we have interacted with have shaped us to be the people we are today.
As this first session is primarily about getting to know one another we will all have opportunity to tell something of our life. Use the letter tiles to spell out two or three key things about your life and each take ten minutes to tell something of your story. This is just about getting to know one another better and in some ways starting to write a new chapter in which we are all characters.
Take some of the Scrabble tiles from earlier and let each person tell their story – the letter tiles are simply there to provide some focus and perhaps give some ideas for consideration. It might be helpful to have a timer!
While these parts of our story influence who we are and have shaped us through our lifetimes, it is important to recognise that they do not define us, nor are they the ‘be all and end all’ of who we are. In a very real way our hi-‘story’ is still being written. While society tends to have an opinion of us based upon our career, our wealth, our education or significant achievements, we should reflect on the fact that God looks upon us and sees beyond our achievements, education and monetary wealth. God looks upon us and calls us: children, family, friends, the new humanity, saints, the promise, living stones, chosen and as a kingdom of priests. These titles of the kingdom refer to us all. The story of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels is important in our understanding of who God is, how he interacts with his creation and what his essential plan for us is – to experience ‘life in His name’.
‘Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name.’
John 2:30-31
Throughout these sessions we will look at the way in which his story and our story are interwoven as a complex counterpoint and how we can more clearly discern the main theme that he wants to introduce in our lives during this moment.
Bring something which reflects your previous occupation