You, Too, Can Be a Star!

An assembly from the Culham St Gabriel archive

Suitable for Whole School (Sec)

Aims

To consider the vastness of the world.

Preparation and materials

• Have available a glass of water.
  
  
• You will also need a star chart or some images of the universe and the means to display these during the assembly. Examples could include:
  
  - the sun, planets and stars, available at: https://tinyurl.com/y9rlcmz2
  - stars in the night sky, available at: https://tinyurl.com/y87o3q47
  - the sun, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yagl6g37

Assembly

1. Show the star chart or some images of the universe, and also the glass of water.
   
   Ask the students, ‘What connects you, this glass of water and the sun, or indeed, all the billions of stars in the universe?’
   
   
2. The answer is hydrogen, the earliest, simplest and commonest of the elements. It’s the fuel of our sun, and of all suns. It’s also a component of most things: water (H₂0), for example, contains lots of hydrogen. Our body contains lots of hydrogen, too, in combination with various other elements.
   
   
3. Many scientists believe that the hydrogen in our bodies has been around for billions of years. All of the bits of hydrogen in our body may, at some distant point, have been at the heart of a star. Some scientists also believe that one day, our sun will die, gravity will combine the particles of our planet back together and a star will be reborn. Thinking along those lines, it’s possible that we come from a star and will end up a star.
   
   Obviously, the process is much more complex than we can cover during an assembly. However, maybe some of you will go away and research it to find out more.
   
   
4. I wonder how this idea makes you feel. One current school of thought, called Creation Spirituality, makes a lot of it. The truth is that so much of nature is a continuous process. Just look at the seasons: they continue to happen, year after year after year. It is the cycle of life. There is often a beginning, a middle and an end . . . but then it all starts again!
   
   
5. One of the writers of the Psalms expresses his wonder at the universe and also how small he feels in comparison.
   
   Read Psalm 8.1, 3-4 and 9.
   
   Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
   You have set your glory in the heavens.
   When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
   what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
   human beings that you care for them?
   Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Time for reflection

In a moment of quiet, let’s reflect upon the psalm.

- How do we feel when we think of the vastness of the universe?
- Where did it all begin?
- Who created the first hydrogen?
- How did something come from nothing?

These are all huge questions, and they are all worth thinking about.

Prayer
Dear God,
You are the creator. You made all things.
Help us to take time to consider the amazing universe that surrounds us.
Help us to appreciate the wonder of the world.
Help us to treasure those we know and who are precious to us in this enormous world.
Amen.