Billy and the Secret Hat (sunday, service)

Davidium · #1 10-08-2005, 11:59 PM

Here is the children's moment I wrote to use during the UU Sunday morning services tomorrow... as the sermon has to do with the future (I am facilitating the service, not presenting the sermon), I thought you all might be interested.

It is targeted at children between 4 and 12, but the whole congregation will be there to hear me read it to them. I usually have them come up and sit in the floor at the front around me.

For those of you that dont know, many UU congregations take a special time in the service just for children, to do an activity or tell a story. Often, this section of the service is done early, and then the children are dismissed to their Religious Education classes.
Here it is, I hope you all enjoy... (and no, its not true... just fiction)...

Billy and the Secret Hat
By David Pyle
Oct 8th, 2005

I once had a friend. His name was Billy. Now Billy and I were great friends, and we played and ran, climbed trees and talked. We talked a lot… and he never lied to me.

Billy once told me a great secret. Now that I am older, and perhaps Billy is too I can share the secret. At the very least, I am probably now bigger than Billy, and so he cant beat me up if I tell.

Billy and I hadn’t always been friends. In fact, I had only known him for a year. Before that, he lived with his Uncle in some weird place called Idaho. I had heard there were a lot of potatoes there.

But Billy’s uncle was not a potato farmer. No, he was a Scientist. In fact, he was a really good scientist. He once gave Billy a special hat he had made, a hat that let you see into the future while you slept.

Now, I didn’t believe Billy at first… Because it is just silly, isn’t it? See into the future. But Billy kept talking about it, and talking about it. So finally, I asked him if the still had the hat that lets you see into the future. To my surprise, he said he did.

So, we went to his house, and up to his room. And hanging on a hook next to his bed was a hat. It was like a baseball cap, only without the bill. It was big and blue, and when Billy put it on it almost came down over his eyeballs, so he couldn’t see.

Frankly, he looked really silly in it, and I told him so!

I told him I still didn’t believe him, and he started telling me about all the things he had seen. About flying cars, and self-opening jars. About clothes that change color and buildings that grow taller. About schools with no books, and kitchens with no cooks. About a movie with no screen, and bedrooms that stay clean. About grass with no dirt, and about shots that don’t hurt.

All of this and more Billy told me about. His eyes grew bright, and it seemed he was right.

So, a few weeks later, after he had forgotten what he told me, I went over to his house to spend the night. When we went to bed, we talked quietly until Billy went to sleep… but I stayed awake. When he started snoring, I got out of my sleeping bag and got the silly looking see the future hat and I looked at it.

It seemed like a normal looking hat, no wires, no batteries. It was made of blue cloth, and had an elastic band. And it just looked silly.

But, no one was looking… so I put it on. I couldn’t see, so I laid down carefully, and soon I was asleep.

And do you know what happened? In my dreams I saw all that Billy had seen and more! I saw the future. I saw phones with no cords, and houses with no boards. I saw glass that doesn’t break, and buildings on a lake! I saw cups that never spill, and an entire meal in a little pill. I saw people float through the air, just having fun without a care….

All of this I saw, and much, much more!

When I woke the next morning, I was so excited. But, so Billy wouldn’t know, I took off the hat and put it back in its place.

I never, never told him I had used the hat…

The next night, alone in my own bed, I got a big surprise. When I fell asleep, I dreamed again of the future, even without the hat. I saw people living underwater, and a light like the sun, only hotter! I saw kids use computers to learn, and a flame that was bright but would not burn. I saw cars that could also be boats, and shirts that could also be coats. I met a guy who could talk to his horse, and all the other animals too, of course!

All of this I saw that night, and many other nights when I went to sleep. Sometimes, I still see the future in my dreams, even though I am now big and old.

But now that I’m older, I have learned the secret. There was nothing special about that silly hat. Nothing at all, it was just a hat. But Billy’s Uncle did know a secret.

The secret was that there is something special, and it was inside of me. It was inside of Billy. It is inside of you. The secret is that your mind, your imagination…. can show you the future. All you have to do is dream.