Humans are made in the image of God as creatures capable of interpersonal love and called into personal relationship with the living God. They are called to work with and care for God’s creation as God does.

All of God’s creation is Good!

The functions of a cultures origin myths

Examples from and about the Creation stories in Genesis Chapters 1 and 2

Contemporary Catholic Church interpretation

Cosmogenic: Speak about or describe foundations or

origins of the universe and important elements in their

culture.

Modern Cosmologists describe the first second of existence of the observable universe at 13.7 billion years ago. All living species have evolved from the first microbial forms of life. It is all God's created work.

Sacred: Intimately connected with the faith system of the

cultureIncluded in the sacred oral storytelling tradition. Included in the modern Bible.

Reflective of social values: Story represents or reflects

important social values within the culture.

Subdue and have dominion over the earth.

Act as co-creators with God to care for the earth.

Organiser of thoughts: Provides a framework by which

to organise through, often using dualities or opposites.

For example: day/night, light/dark, good/evil.

Reflects the relationship between a culture and its god or gods/goddesses: Shoes how humans related to their god/s.

Buddhism

Meaning of life & Wheel of Life

The great tragedy of existence, from a Buddhist point of view, is that it is both endless and subject to impermanence, suffering and uncertainty. These three are called the tilakhana or three signs of existence. Existence is endless because individuals are reincarnated over and over again, experiencing suffering throughout many lives. It is impermanent because no state, good or bad, lasts forever. Our mistaken belief that things can last is a chief cause of suffering. It is uncertain because when we examine our experience, no knower can be defined and no enduring essence of experience can be located. Only achieving liberation, or nirvana, can free a being from the cycle of life, death and rebirth.

The Wheel of Life

The Bhavachakra, the Wheel of Life or Wheel of Becoming, is a mandala - a complex picture representing the Buddhist view of the universe. To Buddhists, existence is a cycle of life, death, rebirth and suffering that they seek to escape altogether.

The Wheel is divided into five or six realms, or states, into which a soul can be reborn. It is held by a demon. Around the rim are depicted the twelve stages of dependent origination. This gallery will explain the parts of the diagram.

Yama The frightening figure holding the wheel is Yama, the Lord of Death or Monster of Impermanence. He has three eyes and wears a crown of skulls.

Yama symbolises the impermanence of everything. The beings he holds are trapped in eternal suffering by their ignorance of the nature of the universe. Buddhism teaches that death is not the end and is not to be feared.

The Three Fires In the middle of the Wheel are the three causes of all suffering. These are known as the Three Fires: they are greed, ignorance and hatred, represented by a rooster, a pig and a snake. They are shown linked together, biting each other's tails, reinforcing each other.

The realm of humans Buddhists consider being born as a human to be the most fortunate state. Because they are not suffering as heavily as those in the other realms, yet are not in lengthy bliss like the gods, humans have the best chance of enlightenment.

The realm of gods (and Titans) The gods, or devas, live in a state of bliss in the realm of heaven. Later sources subdivide this into 26 levels of increasing happiness. The gods live for a long time, but they too will die. Only enlightenment is a complete release.

At the bottom are the angry gods, called Titans or asuras, who hate the devas. Later sources often show these in a realm of their own.

The realm of hungry ghosts Lingering around the edges of the mortal realm, trapped by their overattachment to the world, the hungry ghosts, or pretas, are in the grip of their unfulfilled desires. This is symbolised by their huge bellies and tiny mouths that can never satisfy their appetites.

The realm of animals Animals are used by humans and lack the necessary awareness to become enlightened. Buddhists do not believe it is a good thing to be reborn as an animal, although they believe in treating every living thing with loving kindness.

Hell At the bottom is the hell realm. People here are horribly tortured in many creative ways, but not for ever - only until their bad karma is worked off.

Dependent origination This teaching of the Buddha's is explained in detail here.

The twelve stages of dependent origination are shown around the rim. They are: 1. Ignorance: a blind man; 2. Willed action: a potter; 3. Conditioned consciousness: a restless monkey; 4. Form and existence: a boat; 5. Senses: windows of a house; 6. Sense-impressions: two lovers; 7. Sensation: an arrow in the eye; 8. Craving: a man drinking; 9. Attachment: clinging to a fruit tree; 10. Becoming: a pregnant woman; 11. Birth; 12. Old age, death

Buddha In the top right corner, Buddha is showing the way. He is outside the wheel to show that he has escaped the cycle of life and death. Buddha is pointing to Yama and the wheel to teach his followers the true nature of existence.

Activity: Answer the following questions in ten words or less (ten word strategy)

Record your thoughts about the Buddhist Wheel of life and meaning of life.

1.What does it suggest to you about a Buddhist perspective of the purpose of existence?

2.Does it suggest some kind of plan for human existence?

JudaismMeaning of life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRaQSbuTiBg

 The Book of good life by the Maccabeats

Activity: Create a list of actions that the song illustrates to the viewer about a good life for an observant Jew.

Living a selfish life:-Woke up and realized yesterday Think it's a bummer end of the summerKinda nervous that we're almost there At the days of awe

Prayers in a language that I don't know Standing for hours and hours more I wish that someone would please tell me-e-e-e What it is we're praying forWhen you're sitting there in shul Wishing it was over You gotta take a beat

And let it all sink in

• Ignoring your loved ones• Littering• Eating poorly• Not taking care of yourself• Blocking yourself off from

others- not communicating.• Being impolite (pushing in,

not waiting your turn)• Ignoring elders.• Not paying attention in class.

Living a Good Life:-Time for reflection on the past year.Time to figure out what we're doing here.Replace the guilt with inspiration,And everything is clear.

Life in the present, the here and now; Easier than regret and planning out.Living in the moment, lasts for a moment,Got my future to think about.

Hopefully,This year, Sensitivity to others will increaseHopefully,We'll open our eyes and think more consciously,Cuz Hopefully,

We'll go from where we are to where we want to be.

• Eat well• Be polite (give up your seat, let others

go before you…)• Give to the poor and needy• Exercise body (he goes to the gym),

mind (the 7 habits of highly effective people) and spirit (gathering together at synagogue)

• Pay attention to elders• Participate in class• Care for the environment• Help others.

Jewish faith and meaningJewish faith and GodThe relationship with GodJews believe that there is a single God who not only created the universe, but with whom every Jew can have an individual and personal relationship.They believe that God continues to work in the world, affecting everything that people do.The Jewish relationship with God is a covenant relationship. In exchange for the many good deeds that God has done and continues to do for the Jewish People...The Jews keep God's lawsThe Jews seek to bring holiness into every aspect of their lives.

Judaism is the faith of a Community

Jews believe that God appointed the Jews to be his chosen people in order to set an example of holiness and ethical behaviour to the world. Jewish life is very much the life of a community and there are many activities that Jews must do as a community. For example, the Jewish prayer book uses WE and OUR in prayers where some other faiths would use I and MINE.Jews also feel part of a global community with a close bond Jewish people all over the world. A lot of Jewish religious life is based around the home and family activities.

Judaism is a family faith

Judaism is very much a family faith and the ceremonies start early, when a Jewish boy baby is circumcised at eight days old, following the instructions that God gave to Abraham around 4,000 years ago.Many Jewish religious customs revolve around the home. One example is the Sabbath meal, when families join together to welcome in the special day.

Who is a Jew?

Jews believe that a Jew is someone who is the child of a Jewish mother; although some groups also accept children of Jewish fathers as Jewish. A Jew traditionally can't lose the technical 'status' of being a Jew by adopting another faith, but they do lose the religious element of their Jewish identity.Someone who isn't born a Jew can convert to Judaism, but it is not easy to do so.

Judaism and faithJudaism means living the faithAlmost everything a Jewish person does can become an act of worship.Because Jews have made a bargain with God to keep his laws, keeping that bargain and doing things in the way that pleases God is an act of worship.And Jews don't only seek to obey the letter of the law - the particular details of each of the Jewish laws - but the spirit of it, too. A religious Jew tries to bring holiness into everything they do, by doing it as an act that praises God, and honours everything God has done. For such a person the whole of their life becomes an act of worship.Being part of a community that follows particular customs and rules helps keep a group of people together, and it's noticeable that the Jewish groups that have been most successful at avoiding assimilation are those that obey the rules most strictly - sometimes called ultra-orthodox Jews.

It’s what you do that counts!

Judaism is a faith of action and Jews believe people should be judged not so much by the intellectual content of their beliefs, but by the way they live their faith - by how much they contribute to the overall holiness of the world.

A summary of what Jews believe about God• God exists• There is only one God• There are no other gods• God can't be subdivided

into different persons (unlike the Christian view of God)

• Jews should worship only the one God

• God is Transcendent: • God is above and

beyond all earthly things.

• God doesn't have a body • Which means that

God is neither female nor male.

• God created the universe without help

• God is omnipresent: • God is everywhere,

all the time.• God is omnipotent: • God can do anything

at all.• God is beyond time: • God has always

existed• God will always

exist.• God is just, but God is

also merciful

• God punishes the bad

• God rewards the good

• God is forgiving towards those who mess things up.

• God is personal and accessible. • God is interested in

each individual• God listens to each

individual• God sometimes

speaks to individuals, but in unexpected ways.

The Jews brought new ideas about God

The Jewish idea of God is particularly important to the world because it was the Jews who developed two new ideas about God:There is only one GodGod chooses to behave in a way that is both just and fair.Before Judaism, people believed in lots of gods, and those gods behaved no better than human beings with supernatural powers.The Jews found themselves with a God who was ethical and good.

Activity:• Go to this website http://

www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/beliefs/beliefs_1.shtml

and copy all of the text up to “The view of the Jewish God” and paste it into a a taxgedo.

Record what words are highlighted (bigger than the others) in your books.

Christianmeaning of life.

Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHsbwY4EPyA

• How is God portrayed in the clip?

Quest for purpose…

• The film declares the quest for the Grail to be Arthur’s purpose, Does this suggest that before that point Arthur was living a life without purpose? 

Watch this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p98KAEif3bI

• What do you think is the message of the film?• How did a sense of purpose change the lives of the circus

performers?• What was it that had to change in order for Wil to begin to

reach his full potential?• Are there negative things that you believe about yourself

that might be stopping you from reaching your full potential?

• What is the significance of the butterfly in the film? 

Activity:•Research the life of Nick Vujicic (the man who plays the role of Wil in the Butterfly Circus).•Share one of his messages about potential, faith or purpose in the form of a poem.

Personal reflection:

• Are you making decisions at the moment about school, relationships, work, sport, drinking alcohol etc?• Are you just letting things happen?• What is one thing you could change today

that could energise your life and might help you live your life with more purpose?

Destiny and the Arts

Artists have contributed to the human search for meaning and purpose. We will examine

works of art that depict human understandings about origins, purpose and destiny.

It is meant to be viewed from left to right. 1. What do you see? 2. How has the artist represented the three questions?3. What evidence of religious ideas is present in the painting? 4. Is there evidence of philosophical perspectives?

Paul Gaugin’s painting Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?

Research the context of the artist and the painting. How does this new knowledge help you to interpret the work? 

 Scream by Edvard MunchI was walking along a path with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood

red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and

the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.

Compare the experience of viewing the painting to the experience of reading a description of it.

What was similar and what was different?Which do you prefer? 

View and critique the strengths and weaknesses of the short filmhttps://www.brainpickings.org/2012/05/01/a-story-for-tomorrow/

Activity: The introduction to this film claims it is a meditation on the secrets of happiness and what it means to be human. Suggest some themes on this topic about the purpose and destiny of humans that you think might be missing from the film. For next lesson please bring your favourite motivational song that says something about meaning, purpose and destiny.

Is my existence part of a bigger

plan?Where are we going?

Share your favourite song/s that speak to you about life, its meaning, purpose or destiny. 

• How has the musician presented ideas about life meaning, purpose and destiny?

• What about the song speaks to you?• Why does it resonate with you?• Explain the way music assists people to make sense of

experiences or feelings.