Flat Jesus

Props

One Flat Jesus printable for each child, copied on card stock, if possible.   Simply Google "Flat Jesus Printable," and several choices will come up.
Copy of the book, Flat Stanley (optional)

Story

Have you ever read the book, Flat Stanley?  It was written in 1964 by Jeff Brown.  Even though that was a long time ago, Flat Stanley is still a very popular book.

The story goes like this:  One night, while Stanley Lambchop is sleeping, a giant bulletin board falls off the wall above his bed and lands right on him.  He is unharmed, except that he is flat--like a pancake.  After the shock wears off, Stanley realized that being flat allows him to do many things he could not do before--like slip under doorways and fly high in the sky like a kite.  One time, his parents slid him into an envelope and mailed him to his friend in California for a little vacation.

In 1995, a school teacher named Dale Hubert started the Flat Stanley Project.  He made copies of Flat Stanley for his students.  He invited the kids to color in their Flat Stanleys, cut them out and send them on adventures.  The students wrote stories about their Flat Stanleys, and then mailed them with their stories to people they knew, asking that person to write a story about Stanley's adventure, to take a picture of Flat Stanley wherever he was, and return the photo and story to the original sender.

The first year, students in 13 classrooms across Ontario, Canada, participated in the Flat Stanley Project.  In 2006, 6,000 classrooms in 47 countries took part, and by 2011, students in an average of 88 countries participated annually in the Flat Stanley Project.  Maybe you have sent or received a Flat Stanley!

Flat Stanley has gone on amazing adventures, and has met some pretty impressive people.  He appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he's been to the Oscar Award Ceremony, had his picture taken with 3 U.S. presidents, traveled on the Space Shuttle Discovery, ridden with Nascar drivers Joe Nemencheck and Richard Petty, been photographed with world champion boxer Muhammed Ali, and NFL quarterback Peyton Manning--the list goes on and on.

I have brought with me today (mailed/emailed you) an outlined drawing of Jesus.  We could call him Flat Jesus.  I invite you to color him any way you'd like, and to cut him out.  You may carry him with you as you go about your day, as a reminder that Jesus is always with us wherever we go.  You may take pictures of you and you Flat Jesus in various places as you go about your day and send them to me to put on our church Facebook page.  You may want to mail Flat Jesus to a friend or family member with a letter telling why Jesus is important to you.  The important thing is to know that Jesus loves you and is always with you.

AMEN.

Bernie's Mittens

 JOY

Jenn Ellis is a 2^nd grade teacher in Essex Junction, Vermont.  She is also a huge fan of Vermont senator, Bernie Sanders.  Teaching, Bernie Sanders, and there’s one other passion in Ellis’ life.  Can you guess what it is?  She makes mittens.

When Bernie Sanders lost the bid to be the Democratic nominee for president in 2016, Jenn Ellis was crushed.  She wanted to do something to let him know she was thinking about him, so she sent him a pair of cozy, brown and white mittens she had made.  Miss Jenn told a reporter for the Washington Post, “I totally remember the night I did it. I was thinking to myself, ‘Is this crazy? I don’t even know this guy.’ But I wanted to make them for him, so I did.”

Well, Bernie loves those mittens.  He has worn them ever since, including at the inauguration of President Biden, where he was surrounded by people in fancy, expensive clothes—designer dresses and suits costing thousands of dollars—while he sat in his folding chair in his khaki parka and a pair of fuzzy, handmade mittens.

Since then, Bernie’s mittens have become famous.  They have been shown and talked about more than any other piece of clothing worn on the Capital balcony that day, even more than Lady Gaga’s splashy red dress.  People have cut out the picture of Bernie and his mittens, and photoshopped him into all sorts of funny places—among cows in a grassy field, into famous paintings, sitting next to Spiderman and on the lanai with The Golden Girls. 

It seems that mitten madness is just beginning. Jenn Ellis has now partnered with Vermont Teddy Bear to sell "Bernie mittens,” and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to benefit Make-A-Wish Vermont.  In the two weeks since they became a meme, Ellis' mittens have already raised funds for local organizations.  A pair of mittens she gave Outright Vermont, sold for $20,000 at a charity auction.  Sanders’ team has been selling sweatshirts with his iconic inauguration day look, mittens front and center, and have raised almost $2 million for Meals on Wheels Vermont.  Ellis says excitement over her mittens have reminded her why she created them in the first place.  “When you give of yourself -- if you give of your kindness or your time -- that comes back to you as joy," she said.

Let’s all get out there, share our gifts and not only spread, but also reap some joy.

AMEN.