The group technique starts with a poster that has an edifying message or picture. The spiritist teacher will cut the poster in a number of shares that’s equivalent to the number of young people who attend the youth group, even though some of them are not present on this day. It is suggested that the spiritist teacher cut them into squares rather than in more complex ways to make it easier to assembled, since the goal here is not to make this task complicated.
Suggested Class suitable for: Youth I (13 to 14 years old).
Place the pieces of the poster that were cut under the chairs or in other places where the young people can look for previous to the beginning of this class. The spiritist teacher will ask each adolescent to find and bring only one piece of the poster to the larger group; they shouldn’t take more than a piece each.
When they return from their search, the spiritist teacher will prompt the adolescents to try to assemble the poster on the floor or on a table. They could also do it over a larger paper if they wish (this should be at the spiritist teacher’s discretion).
Once each adolescent is on possession of their piece, the young people will try to assemble the puzzle. They will only be able to mount it perfectly if all adolescents who participate in the group are present on this day. Otherwise, pieces will be missing, but they should still try to assemble it.
Observe the end result and reflect on unity and cooperation from the following aspects:
* If all adolescents came to the class (the group was able to mount the poster with all the pieces), reflect on the importance of each of them to have contributed to assembling the work together. Each piece represents each individual; the experiences of each individual, the work and the ideas that each one of them bring to the group.
* If some adolescents didn’t come to the class (therefore, they failed to assemble the poster with all the pieces), say it would be important that all of them were present to perform the task. The spiritist teacher needs to make sure the work what was done by them is valued, even if pieces are missing. Highlight that each member is important for the Youth Group. They will have doubts, experiences, things to share and someone will always have lived or is living a similar situation, bringing to the larger group information that may assist everybody. Point out the importance of their active participation on all discussions.
* Highlight the importance of all their efforts to assist mounting the poster; not only their part of the puzzle, which enabled them to come up with a good final result.
Suggested lesson received from Carina Streda & Antonio Escobar.
Translation: Carolina von Scharten, London, linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.
