I will tell you what I think. Most of us are not at all afraid of things we know and understand. It is the things we don't understand, the things that are strange, that ffighten us. Maybe it's a new job, a new neighborhood, a vegetable you never ate before, or an idea you have been staying away from any of these things can be like dragons in our lives. But if you can get close enough to something strange, especially something strange that makes you nervous, then probably you'll begin to understand that strange thing a little bit. You'll find out that just because it is different doesn't mean it is dangerous.

In China, the dragon comes at the beginning of the new year, which is as good a time as any to think about trying new things. The youngest children, who have not seen very many new years or very many dragons, are usually afraid. Sometimes they cry. Sometimes they don't want to go near the dragon. And that's O.K. But sooner or later, when they get bigger, they can do it -- they go up to the dragon for the very first time, and shake hands with it. Then they can say: "I was brave! I shook hands with the dragon! It was breathing fire and stamping its feet but it didn't hurt me."

When you can do that, you are learning to feel good about yourself. You feel confident. And if you find yourself in another strange or uncomfortable situation, you can say to yourself, "I'll be O.K. I'm brave. I shook hands with the dragon." The next year, when the dragon comes again, you won't be so afraid of it. When you shake hands with the dragon, you'll feel joy instead of fear. With such courage comes the blessing of self-confidence, along with a step towards wisdom. That's why the dragon begins by frightening us.

Can you remember a time when you had the courage to face something new and different, something that maybe you felt nervous about, but you did it anyway, and you did O.K.? Or maybe you can think of something you used to be afraid of that now you're not. As you think about these things you can say, "Those were the times I shook hands with the dragon."

The next step, the next lesson of the dragon, is compassion -- a word that means being able to imagine how somebody else feels, share that feeling, and be kind to that person, because you do understand how they feel. Some people, when they shake hands with the dragon, notice that the dragon is really a kind of costume, and inside are other people. After you figure out that those inside-the-dragon people are just ordinary people like you, you may start thinking, "Oh, these people who get to be inside the dragon, how lucky they are! I want to get to do that someday."

You begin to notice how the dragon-walkers move; you admire their skill. You begin to be able to imagine that you are -- or could become -- part of the dragon that used to frighten you. And if you can imagine that, you're taking a step towards compassion.

Most of us, when we see somebody who seems very different from ourselves, will turn away from those people. We won't look to see what is inside their minds and hearts. But when we have compassion, we can accept the differences in others. And then, we can come to enjoy the differences, and be enriched by them. I once knew two boys who were neighbors -- and very different. One of them, John, was very big for his age, and he was a quiet, shy sort of person.. The other, Andy, was very small. He had two older brothers, though and was very used to having lots ofpeople around, and he was very friendly. John and Andy started walking to school together, without thinking much about it, because they were neighbors and ftiends. After a while the really began to appreciate their differences, and those differences made their friendship stronger. When you think of the people in your life whom you most enjoy: are there some things about them which are very different from you? Are some of those differences things that you are really glad about?

Here's another way that courage can lead to compassion. If you have shaken hands with enough dragons, you'll find yourself getting better at seeing how all of us wear different kinds of masks -- maybe not a dragon mask, but a kind of attitude that covers up who we really are inside, so it won't show. People who have a lot of compassion can usually tell if somebody is acting proud is really feeling ashamed; they can understand that someone who seems angry may really be afraid, or that someone who is laughing is really sad inside. When we have compassion, we understand people better; we can recognize their hidden feelings because we know that inside, we sometimes have those kinds of feelings too.

All of us who have been brave enough to face dragons are ready to begin to practice compassion, Can you remember a time when you hid a tender or gentle feeling behind tough or even mean behavior? If you can, then you can understand how some of the people who are mean to you, or who seem fierce or frightening or unkind, are hiding behind something like a dragon mask.

Can you remember a time when you avoided someone because they seemed too strange -- so strange and different it made you nervous? Look again -- really, those people are not as strange, or as scary, as they seem. Probably you seem just as strange to them as they to you. But if you look closely, you'll see behind those dragons, behind strange appearances and behaviors of other people, they are, after all, just ordinary people, like you.

Can you remember a time when you made friends with someone who seemed like a sort of ordinary person -- and then,were surprised to find out that this person had something really special about them -- something powerful and wonderful inside, that just didn't show ftom the outside. Maybe it was a new person who seemed shy and wanted a friend, on the day when you were feeling friendly. Maybe it was someone who came to you in a helpful way just when you needed it, or maybe it was just someone you had sort of known all your life, without really knowing very well. Sometimes we think we know each other but we don't pay much attention to each other, until one day we have the good luck to discover in someone else the hidden treasure which makes them more important to us than we ever though they could be. Or maybe -- just maybe -- it is that person you never paid much attention to who will discover the hidden treasure shining inside your spirit, and it might even be something wonderful inside you that you never knew you had!

Compassion: the power to understand and share someone else's feelings, is perhaps, one of the very best things about being human. Compassion is a gift that all really wise, and truly happy people possess, and you can claim it for yourself, and strengthen it, by shaking hands with the dragon.

All really wise and truly happy people who reach out in ftiendship to the wildest fiercest dragons, knowing that inside we are more alike than we are different, the people who are not aftaid to go through life with their real self showing, are ready, in a mysterious way, to become part of the dragon. But that's not so very easy, even for the truly wise. When you are part of the dragon, you must practice cooperation. Cooperation means that you can'tjust go off any old way You have to remember all those other people who are part of the dragon with you. You have to land of stay together the lads who are bringing you the dragon today can tell you, if you haven't figured it out for yourself, cooperation with others is not the easiest thing in the world. But the dragon couldn't exist without it.

Now, cooperation doesn't work without compassion. And to learn compassion you must first have courage. So shake hands with the dragon, at the new year or at any other time or place where you're lucky enough to meet one. If it makes you nervous, gather your courage. If you think it's a waste of time, if you are too proud or too busy, consider the dragon with compassion and extend your hand. If you think you are ready for true wisdom and happiness, practice cooperation -- for this is the way you yourself may become a dragon, full of creative power!

OFFERTORY: The morning offering is a form of cooperation which empowers us to be a creative religious community. Singing is another empowering and creative form of cooperation so join in on the chorus of the special music which follows.

CLOSING WORDS: The universe gives fire to us and calls us to hold and shape this fire. Nothing is more important than tending this fire. And in so doing we contribute to the awesome work of fashioning the universe. Blessed be.

Sunday Lesson Plan: Chinese New Year
Overview: In your classrooms the children will play games that require courage and kindness and gentle strength, hear a story or two appropriate to the holiday, and learn some teachings from Chinese religion. A handout will be provided, with activity space and holiday information which they may take home to share with their families. Each class will have a picture of the Kitchen God to burn, and new pictures for each child to color and take home. If you would also color one that we can use to post on a classroom wall for starting the next year, that would be great!

Background information
The year 4695 is about to begin, by the Chinese calendar. The Chinese New Year is a time of renewal and is celebrated with a festival which lasts a week or more. There are several elements involved: As in other cultures, the New Year is celebrated with new clothes and lots of housecleaning. People also give gifts of money or sweets, wrapped in red paper envelopes. Instead of celebrating individual birthdays, the new year is the time when everyone adds a year to their age. It is a time when ancestors (who are thought to be divine) are honored, and children celebrated with rituals to ensure their healthy growth. New years come in a cycle of twelve, each year being represented in the cycle by a different animal. People say that one's personality often resembles the animal of their birth year.

Old Chang is an ancestor-god whose picture traditionally hangs in each kitchen where he can watch the goings on. It is said that in his family, no one ever quarreled. His secret was Kindness, practiced without end. At the start of the New Year, families bum his picture, so that he can travel in the smoke up to the ancestors in heaven, and report to them on how the family is doing. Many people put honey on his lips to ensure that he speak well of them. At the end of the celebrations, a new picture is hung in the kitchen, where Chang can keep his eye on everyone in the family.

The dragon is a sky god and a symbol of unified diversity, since its many different parts represent many different kinds of animals. The latter part of the festival features dragon dances and parades in the street. It is considered good luck to shake hands with the dragon. Little children may be frightened at first, but in time they discover that under the dragon's mask there are people, maybe friends and relatives. So courage may lead to compassion. It is an important privilege to be among those who make up a dragon, and those who are involved have to dedicate quite a lot of time to practice the steps and routines. It also takes patience and cooperation.

Materials needed

• A picture of the yin and yang (in folders) and quotations of Chinese wisdom.
• A picture of Old Chang, the kitchen god will be in your folder, and a small amount of honey -- about a spoonful. It will be available in the kitchen along with some small paper cups, and bowls for water, for safety in the burning.
• Handouts with blank pictures of Chang, the symbol for kindness, space for copying a proverb, and a family information page, available at the teachers’ station, one for each participant.
• One or two sets of pick-up sticks: see if members of your team or class can bring these in.
• A chart of the New Year animals and personality predictions will be in your folder.
• The story of Old Chang is attached; other books with stories about China and Vietnam are available at the teachers’ station, and may be read in class or used as an alternate activity for children who prefer reading to drawing and coloring.

Session plan

1. Gathering: If you have an opening ritual, use that. Introduce the holiday and provide younger children with an opportunity to locate China on the map. Let the children know that traditionally China has two main religions: one that follows the teachings of a wise man named Confucius, who explained how people ought to behave, and one which follows the teachings of Lao-Tse, who explained his ideas about Tao -- a word which means "the way" or "the power of the universe" -- and how people can fit harmoniously and happily with it. Both men taught the virtue of courage rooted in kindness.

2. Invite the group to play a game that calls for courage and kindness. Two versions are described; choose the one which fits your group best. Trust falls: Participants show courage and kindness as one partner of each pair closes his or her eyes and falls backwards, trusting the other partner not to let them fall. Two leaders should demonstrate first; it helps if the faller crosses their arms over their chest, and if the catcher is not significantly larger and stronger, she may want to stand close enough to catch early in the fall. With younger children, you might have all of the adults do the catching. Willow in the wind: The whole group stands in a tight circle, shoulder to shoulder with elbows bent and braced against hips and palms out. The Courageous One stands in the center, arms crossed over the chest, and falls stiffly backward or forward. Participants break the fall with the palms of their hands, and push the "willow" away so that s/he falls against someone else. After a few rounds of play, process with a few questions -- How did it feel to be the faller, the catcher? Where was courage needed, and what makes courage possible? (Would the fallers have been so willing to fall if they thought the kindness and care of the person catching couldn't be trusted?)

3. Presentation on Taoism: We often don't think of courage and kindness as belonging together; in fact sometimes we expect people who are considered courageous to also be kind of tough and maybe even mean. But in Chinese religion of Taoism teaches that the way the universe works is two forces that seem different working together. Show the yin-yang, and ask participants what they notice about it; provide the following commentary: the roundness mean wholeness, that the universe is really all one thing, with different parts fitting together. The two halves are divided by a wavy line instead of a straight line. That's to show that everything is always changing, even if it seems to be staying the same. There are two colors, with a little bit of white in the dark part and a little bit of dark in the white part. That's because Taoists believe that whenever there are two different opposite things, you can always find a little of one thing mixed with its opposite. Even if two people are fighting, each of them is in some small way like the other. All things in the universe need to be connected to their opposites for the universe to work. Taoism also teaches that gentleness has more power than force. It's not surprising that the game of pick-up sticks was invented in China: think how gentle and careful you have to be in order to succeed at this game. Let the kids know that they will have some time. Read one or more of the quotations; invite participants to nod or put their thumbs up when they hear one they like, to show a thumbs down if they don't like or don't understand one. If the group needs to move before the second story/discussion, invite everyone to practice balance and harmony by seeing if they can sit back-to-back, link arms, and get to a standing position. Or give everyone a few pick-up sticks and have them practice dropping and picking them up -- something to keep hands busy while ears listen.

4. Presentation on Confucius, Kitchen-God Story: Confucius was another of China's great religious teachers. He taught people how to treat their friends and family and ancestors with proper respect. Confucian religious tradition teaches that we become gods when we die, and it is traditional for people to have shrines to their ancestors in their homes. One famous grandfather, Old Chang, was so wise that all of China honored him in his lifetime, and after his death all the families honored his memory by putting his picture on the kitchen wall, so he could keep an eye on everyone. (Show picture of Old Chang.) Part of the New Year celebration is to burn Chang's picture so that his spirit can go up in the smoke and report to the ancestors the family’s behavior. Then a new picture of Chang goes up, at the end of the holiday season. During the story time, invite participants to color a picture of Change to take home and ask a volunteer to color one for the class. Or give the option of doing coloring or pickup sticks.

5. Exploration: Share other information about the Chinese New Year (also celebrated in Vietnam) as given in the background. Find out which animals are totems for the participants, and see if they agree with their personality prediction. (Optional discussion or conversation -- is your personality something you are born with or something that you pick up from your family? Are most. of them like their parents or different? Is your personality something that stays the same all your life or can you change it?) Invite participants to choose between the following activities: Coloring or painting their Kitchen-God pictures Practicing gentle strength with pick-up sticks. Writing a quotation of Chinese wisdom that they like, and decorating the page. Some might volunteer to read their quotes at the closing. Reading/listening to another story from the selection of books and magazines.

6. Closing: Have a metal or ceramic bowl of water on hand. Gather around the picture of Old Chang, ask that they think about what he would say to their ancestors about them. What would he say to our Unitarian Universalist ancestors about them as a class? Who thinks they personally have done a good/ok/ not very good job of being kind to the others? Who thinks that the class on the whole has been good at, ok with/not so good at being kind? Put honey on Old Chang's lips and then make a twist of the paper and set it on fire. Drop the last bit into the water before it bums your fingers. Read, or have the children read, one of the wisdom sayings or one of the readings in the hymnal #600,606.

7. Before you leave: If you'd like to note in the margins of the lesson plan what, if anything, worked well with your group and what, if anything didn't, it will be helpful to us in the future.