I Corinthians 13: 5 -- Sharing and Caring

Scripture reference: "Love... does not seek its own.”

Objectives:

             1. Even the youngest student should be able to recite the verse and say in his own words what it means.

         2.     The students should be able to tell the Stone Soup story and how it pertains to the   lesson.

        3.     Each student should be able to list one thing he will share with someone (brother, sister, friend) this week.

Possible Lesson Plan:

1.  Open with prayer.

2.  Introduce the Scripture verse and have the children repeat until all know it.  If you have time, read the whole chapter; it's beautiful and will at least sound familiar in the future even if the students are too young as yet to understand it all.

3.  Ask if they understand what it means.  Allow for discussion if students are old enough.

4.  Tell the story of the Stone Soup.  Have a big pot in the center of the class circle or table and give each student an item mentioned in the story for the soup.  As that item is added to the pot, have the student holding the item actually put it in the pot and give the pot a stir.  Ideally, use real vegetables, but the paper vegetables are also fine. If you are a budding chef, you could make a pot of soup from the "recipe" the night before and a pot containing only stones and let the students taste each!

5. Review the story from last year about St. Nicholas – how he shared with the family with the three daughters.

6.  Have each student decide on a specific course of action for the following week -- a toy he will share with someone, a chore he will "share" with his mother or father, etc.

7.  Do the sharing and caring mobile -- the teacher can write in the children's ideas.  Have the pieces cut out in advance for younger children -- larger size from colored tagboard or con­struction paper and smaller in plain white. If this is too hard, have each student color one flower petal and put them all together to make a beautiful flower – made by sharing!

Too much craft for such little hands?  Try this one, after telling the story of the Stone Soup. Just print the soup pot and the vegetables on cardstock and cut them out. Children can color the pot and then staple or tape the pot to a piece of construction paper, leaving it open at the top. Children can "make" their own stone soup with their own paper vegetables. 

8.  Close with a prayer -- be sure to ask Jesus to help the stu­dents carry out their planned "sharing" during the week.

Stone Soup: A Lesson in Sharing

Many years ago three hungry soldiers were returning home from the wars. One day, as they came out of the forest, they saw a small village. Along the village lane they saw three shops: there was a bakery, a carpenter's shop and a tailor's shop.

The eldest of the three soldiers, the sergeant, told the soldiers to be cheerful. He was sure the kind people of the village would share their dinner with them. The soldiers knew their sergeant was a wise man. They were not worried. They knew he was right and they would soon have something to eat.

     The sergeant knocked on the first door. It was the tailor's shop. The door was opened and a woman stood before them. "Can I help you?" she asked.

     The soldiers replied, "Can you spare us some food? We have not eaten for some time and we are still far from home."

     The woman told them that the harvest had been bad and that she had no food to spare.

The soldiers turned to the next door. They hoped that they would have better luck there. But instead, the baker's wife told them she was sorry to see them hungry but that everyone had to look out for himself in days like these.

     Even in the third shop, they were turned away by the carpenter. And he told them that he did not believe in sharing.

     "What selfish people these are!" said the sergeant. "They do not know how to share. We must teach these people a lesson."

     "Shall we steal from them?" asked the soldiers.

     "No, no. We shall only teach these people how to make "stone soup."

     Soon they built a fire in the middle of the lane. They hung their kettle over the fire and filled it with water. They gathered some stones, washed them and put them in the water. Then the sergeant stirred the water, so that the stones rattled in the pot. He took a taste of the new soup and said, "This is good but some potatoes would surely bring out the flavor of the stones."

     Just then the baker said that there were a few potatoes in his shop. He would run and get them.

     "Oh, thank you. And bring a bowl so that you may join in our dinner," called the sergeant.

     Once the potatoes had been added to the soup, the soup was tasted again. This time one of the soldiers thought a carrot and some onions might make the soup more colorful. The tailor ran at once to get them and when he returned he had even found some salt to add to the pot. He was delighted as he added his offerings to the soup. He too was asked to join them for dinner.

     "Now," said the soldiers, "we shall have the final taste. Mmm-it is good, but perhaps a piece of meat would make it extra good."

     The carpenter scratched his beard and thought. Then he remembered a piece of meat he had been saving for a special dinner. He went back to his shop and returned with the meat.

     When the "stone soup" was ready, it was so good, that the carpenter asked for the recipe.

     The sergeant answered by saying, "You have fine stones to cook with in this village. But the real secret of good stone soup is the sharing that everyone does to make it good."

As they sat together and enjoyed their meal they knew that the soldiers and their wise sergeant had taught them a lesson about sharing. It was a lesson they would never forget.

Have you made any stone soup lately?