The Good Life

An assembly from the Culham St Gabriel archive

Suitable for Whole School (Sec)

Aims

To explore the way in which our attitudes affect our well-being.

Preparation and materials

• You will need a leader and four readers. The readers will be looking gloomy and pessimistic during the first half of the assembly, and then calm and peaceful in the second half.

• You will also need a chair placed in the centre of the performing area, on which the leader can be seated.

Assembly

Leader (walks up to the chair, and then walks around it, fidgeting): All right then, what will today be like? Who’s going to make my day? Let’s see what these people have to say . . .

The Leader turns to the group of readers. 

Readers (muttering together or saying angrily in turn): Another boring day . . .
I can’t face it . . .
All those people just waiting to get the better of me . . .
All those pointless tasks . . .
What am I going to do?
Where is there to go?
Who’s going to spoil my day?

Reader 1: There are so many things to demotivate us.

Reader 2: Just listen to some of these quotes . . .

Reader 3: ‘To increase your success, you should lower your expectations.’

Reader 4: ‘It’s always darkest just before it goes pitch-black.’

Reader 1: ‘Procrastinate - hard work might pay off in time, but laziness has immediate results!’

Reader 2: ‘Sometimes, the best solution to a problem is to get rid of people.’

Leader: What a way to live! Well, as someone called David Brent once said, ‘If at first you don’t succeed, give up and destroy all the evidence that you ever tried anything.’

The Leader sits on the chair, looking glum.

Talk about depressing . . . this is so defeatist! So pointless! Boring!

The Leader lies back in the chair.

What I could really do with is a day at a spa, or a sunny beach. Just imagine . . . all that peace and tranquillity . . .

Readers walk round the chair as they say their lines.

Reader 3: Let peace flow into me and through me . . .

Reader 4: Let harsh thoughts and hatred flow away from me . . .

Reader 1: Let everything that is hurtful or hateful fade away . . .

Reader 2: Let all my fears and angers disappear in forgiveness . . .

Reader 3: Let me feel at peace with all around me and show it in my life . . .

Reader 4: Seeing the good in my neighbour . . .

Reader 1: Feeling loved and cherished . . .

Reader 2: Loving and cherishing other people . . .

Reader 3: Let me see beyond the present moment into God’s eternity . . .

Reader 4: Fill me with joy and praise and generosity . . .

The Leader stands up.

Leader: Wow! That feels better. Have a good day . . .

The Leader exits.

Time for reflection

Leader: We all need times of peace and quiet, times when we can put aside all the stresses and problems that we face every day and times to clear our minds and seek tranquillity and peace.

Ask the students to think for a moment about the following questions.

- Do we ever make the time to stop and be quiet and at peace?
- How can we build times of peace into our own lives?