Journey / Significance

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Note: this assembly doesn’t directly mention God directly, as this needed to be a ‘spiritually questioning’ assembly without talking about God directly. However, there is a Bible verse used at the end without using the reference. The reference is Matthew 7.14 and it’s taken from the New Living Translation.

Key words: This is about ‘journeying’ but also about ‘significance’ and ‘life’.

Random Video

This is a random video I found and it may leave you singing the ‘rocks and trees’ part all day… It’s about the significance of scenery and Canada! Sorry in advance, although Canada does have incredible scenery!

The Significance of Scenery

Significant Things

The random video was talking about the significance of scenery. But what is significant to you?

1. Bring in some significant items that are personal to you: for example, wedding ring / photos / picture of your car or house / musical instrument / Bible etc.

2. Ask students to talk about what is significant to them, or prime some people before to come up. Alternatively, prime some students to write something down about what’s significant to them – and say you won’t read out their name.

The Journey – say this:

Life is a journey. Like any journey, it can be planned or it can be unplanned. It can have ups and downs, starts and endings, good and bad times, people come and go, there are varied colours and moments in life. 

One time, we decided to drive from Toronto in Canada down to South Carolina in the US. This was quite a crazy journey where we travelled through every weather you can think of. It started off with snow in Toronto, moved to ice and snow in New York state, incredibly slippy ice and sleet in Pennsylvania state, rain through North Carolina and finally bright sunshine in South Carolina (though it was cold at night!). 

OR – mention a journey you have undertaken, maybe in car, canoe, on foot, or in life.

Video – relate to the story of your journey

Superman Roller Coaster, Texas

Compare the rollercoaster ride to life – eg the rollercoaster goes up and down, round corners, but always a journey from start to finish. How much will you enjoy the ride?

Say

It has been said that the greatest satisfaction, significance or achievement can only come when you have really come up against hard stuff and overcome it. In the movie, Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins has to go through all kinds of tough events and journey a long way, fighting himself and others all the way. Only then does he so something really significant as he throws the ring into the fire and destroys it once and for all.

People who achieve much, often have to go through much to get there. How many people want to be famous? Are you prepared to make the journey and pay the price? Think about musicians like Michael Jackson or even Prince and the terrible cost it had on their lives. Do you want to be a great sports person? Think of David Beckham, always the first one to practice and last one to leave. Or Paula Radcliffe, the marathon runner who suffered to achieve her dreams – breaking down live on TV more than once in a race..

The end result may be worth the journey, but the journey can be long and needs someone who will keep on keeping on..

Say

We’ll watch a video in a moment. It asks the question: does the person make the journey, or does the journey make the person? Think about it as you watch the video and reflect on what matters to you, where you get your significance from and what is significant in your journey.

Video

The video is Louis Vuitton’s first TV advert. This is an amazing bit of video about life and it being a journey.

Louis Vuitton AD

Say

Someone has written that, ‘the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.’

I believe that the journey I am on is worth it and will have a destination worth reaching. I believe I have found significance in my life through what I believe and how it has changed my life. 

Consider the journey you are on. Consider the significance of your life. Is your life where it is going now, as significant as it could be? If not, you may want to explore further and discover what really brings true meaning to life.