Lesson Objectives: lead the adolescents/children to recognize that a family isn’t formed by chance but by commitments, needs and affinities of its members. Broaden the concept of the family, understanding it not only as the consanguineous group, but also as a gathering of people who intend to live together, harmonizing and developing emotional ties.

         Get them to recognize that a family is not only formed by blood ties, but by spiritual ties. Family members who have left the corporeal life are still part of the family. Get them to understand that it is in the home with our family group that we find the help we need for our spiritual growth.

         Greetings and Opening Prayer

         First: question:

          Do we all ask to be born?

          Did we ask to be reincarnated in our family?

          What else did we ask for? We asked for our physical body; our friends. We chose our family; this is the ideal family for our progress.

          Did we only choose good things? No, we choose what’s necessary for our evolution. We also chose situations that will help us to evolve, which can be good or bad (our physical body, finances, illness).

          Remember that not all people were able to make choices; the spiritual friends are often the ones who choose the best conditions for our reincarnation, those that’ll create opportunities for our spiritual evolution.

          Do we always have a good relationship with our family members? Not always. Someone who fought with a person in the past can ask to meet this Spirit again in another life, in order to make peace. If a Spirit hurt someone, betrayed the trust of someone in business and/or marriage, this Spirit realizes once in the Spirit World it was wrong and asks for a new opportunity to reconcile.

          We don’t remember what happened in the past, as God is really kind to us. The Creator gives us a new opportunity to be close to the same spirits (in other physical bodies). If we have trouble with someone, we might have had difficulties with this person in another existence.

          How would you like your family to be? Justify your answer.

         Second: exposure through dialogue.

         Talk about the importance of family; remember that many children are in orphanages because they have no family. We should value our family, respecting our parents, grandparents, brothers, the people who care for us and the other people who are part of it.

         Our family may not always consist of father, mother, grandparents; there may also be those who have already disincarnated but are also part of our family.

         We must remember that family is made of those people who interact with us. We can live only with our father or mother or our grandparents; or with another person such as an aunt, but we're still in a family.

         We thank Master Jesus for the family we have and ask for strength to act with love and respect with our relatives, to contribute to the happiness of our home.

         * Seize the opportunity and talk about the time when a family adopts a child: they have no corporeal ties (blood ties); however, nothing happens by chance. They may have spiritual ties and this may be an opportunity to tighten the bonds of affection that already unite them or to develop good feelings (learn to love and respect each other).

         * Remember that we inherited the physical resemblance from our parents; eyes, nose, how we talk, but not virtues, qualities. E.g. calm, humility, good humour, etc.

         E.g. charitable parents may have children of evil nature and vice versa. Patient and humorous children can have unhappy and impatient parents.

         * We choose the family we wish to reincarnate to live close to certain people, to learn certain things. We reincarnate to evolve. Living close to one another can create bonds of affection. One day we will be part of a big spiritual family.

         Point out that our biggest challenge is to love our enemies and those we don’t sympathize with. This requires effort and perseverance. We can begin to develop love by respecting the other person; by desiring only good things to those we don’t like.

         Explain that, despite fights and quarrels in the family ambient, "those who incarnate in a family, especially as close relatives, are in most cases, sympathetic spirits, bound to us by previous relationships of friendship and affection."

         Third: tell the story Porcupine.

         Fourth: ask the adolescents to examine the conclusion of the story:

         "The best relationship isn’t the one that unites perfect people, but one where everyone learns to live with the faults of others and can admire their qualities."

         Fifth: divide the text Family Ties in small pieces and number them. Then give them to the children/adolescents. Everyone should read their part in numerical sequence and explain it to the other colleagues. The spiritist teacher will assist in the explanations, if necessary.

         Sixth: ask what are the attitudes that must be practiced in all types of families to have a more harmonious, healthy and happy family? Examples: patience, friendship, peace, kindness, good humour, forgiveness, understanding, unity, respect, love, tolerance, joy, solidarity and collaboration.

         Seventh: divide the class into two groups: the group of ‘incarnate spirits’ and the group of ‘disincarnate spirits’. Each group should answer the questions listed below. The spiritist teacher will make corrections - if necessary - and answer doubts that arise.

         SITUATION: After plane crash, part of the crew disincarnated; and part survives. They manage to reach on a small island. The means of exit from the island is uncertain; they can be found or never leave the island. This is a completely new situation for both incarnate and disincarnate groups of Spirits; it requires decisions.

         Click here for suggestions of questions to be made to the "group of disincarnate spirits."

         Click here suggestions of questions to be asked to the "group of incarnate spirits."

         Eighth: ask each group to expose their answers. Everyone should talk together about the answers, which must be justified. It’s very important for the spiritist teacher to participate because the questions may have more than one answer.

         Ninth: activity The Pot.

         The spiritist teacher shall then give to the adolescents another glass jar and ask them to repeat the experience; only this time in reverse order of the elements. Wait for them to complete it.

         Note: the spiritist teacher should do a test this activity prior to this class to know the exact amount of each material that is required.

         Tenth: ask why they couldn’t fit everything inside the glass? (Wait for responses).

         Later, explain the lesson: this jar is our life. The availability of our time is what fits into our pot. Large stones are the really important things in life: our relationship with God, with family and friends, our spiritual and personal growth.

         If we prioritise this, other things will adjust by itself: our profession, property and material rights, leisure and all the other little things that add to life. However, if we fill our time with little things, we’ll never have room for what’s really important in our lives. In this experiment we saw that time is about prioritising; about knowing what’s more important.

         Many times we lose our health to have more money; we then lose the money to have more health. We are always in a hurry. Due to this rush, we get to do things automatically. We swallow the facts of life just as we swallow food at lunch time; without tasting it.

         We must learn to savour life. To live is to learn to transform small moments in big moments. Be the owner of your pot and turn it into a pot of happiness.