Object: I did not use one; a picture of a dog, cat, or some other animal which might be a pet would work.

Lesson: Friendship; communion.

"Raise your hand if you have a pet!" Immediately almost every child present shoots an arm into the air.

"What kind of pet do you have?" I ask a boy in the front row.

"A cat!" he answers with an air of authority, almost as if he'd add, "What else is there?" if he were a few years older. This tries the patience of the other children. Immediately the sanctuary is filled with their eager young voices:

"I have a cat too!"

"We have a dog!"

"I have a cat AND a dog!"

"I have a turtle!"

Above this melodious cacophony I hear the plaintive wail of a little girl seated on the middle of the top chancel step: "I don't have a pet."

"If you had a pet," I inquir…