Carriers of Hope

A message moved me last week in meeting. A Friend spoke of how important it was to her to have people in her life that could carry hope for her when she herself could not. I've been musing off and on all week about those who carry hope for me.

A few years ago, a Friend addressed the Plenary session at Pacific Yearly Meeting. She spoke of how we cared for one another in a monthly meeting, that we "carried water for each other." Sometimes this water carrying is practical: we make food for the sick and bereaved, take a friend to a doctor's appointment, help someone move. But sometimes, the water carried is less tangible in nature, but no less real. At our best, we carry love, compassion, faithfulness and hope for those of us who can't, until we can again.

I don't think this is limited to a Quaker meeting. I find my "sure support against despair" among friends and colleagues, in nature, in the many communities I am fortunate to belong to. May I also carry hope for those around me when they struggle to find the Light.

QuakerQuaker Celebration

Chris M. is hosting a blog carnival at his site to celebrate the work of Martin Kelley. It was through QuakerQuaker that I initially found most of the Quaker blogs that I read on a regular basis. When I first started going to meeting, I was nonplussed by the disconnect I felt between the often profound experience I had of worship and the rather shallow talk over refreshments after meeting. Over time I’ve found ways to have deeper conversations with folks in my meeting. But the Quaker blogosphere provides the opportunity to have more such conversations, and to feel connected to other Quakers in a variety of meetings.

Golden Gate 07

I’m home now from the third annual Golden Gate Singing, tired but in a good way. It was my first time being secretary, meaning I kept a list of all the songs and leaders. It’s not that hard and I did like doing it, but it meant constant responsibility. It helped when I finally figured out that, as I was not sitting on the front bench, I did not need to sing the shapes for every song or beat time through each song. And the man next to me kindly shared his book so I didn’t have to juggle my own book, the registration cards, and my clipboard back and forth. It occurs to me that in order to completely relax and enjoy a singing, I’m going to have to travel.
My heart is full of the small sweet details that make each singing just a bit different than the others:

• this cake (Okay, Natalia, I concede that the cake pictured above may be Sacred Harp dorkiness, but it is aesthetically pleasing sacred harp dorkiness.)


• meeting the lovely woman from Eugene who was knitting a Fair Isle sweater from wool she had dyed and spun herself


• listening to Greg and friends playing and singing folk songs between the singing and the social


• getting to spend time with my friend Catherine L., who brought her delicious fudge for the potluck


• Susan’s ingenious “food tags”: as food maven, she had us fill out little forms to tape to our dishes with our names and if it was vegan, vegetarian, or “flexitarian”


• Carolyn’s red velvet cake and Natalia’s corn pudding


• seeing everyone in their Sunday best


• baby Oliver


• not spilling anything on my white shirt


• conversations in the car with Will and Inder, as well as having their navigational assistance


• knowing enough songs that my nose wasn’t buried in the book


• getting to sit next to Betty for the first time in a while, as she rarely sings tenor these days

One aspect of the singing deserves much more than a bullet point, and that was the post-singing social that Philip hosted. I think his home is the most beautiful I’ve ever visited. I nestled into one of the couches and soaked in the art, the view of the garden, the candlelight. I had a series of conversations that went beyond the ordinary party chatter, and I credit the gracious and inviting atmosphere.

Over lunch, someone asked me what I thought the draw was to Sacred Harp singing, and I punted the answer, saying something inane about how I loved the sound. A truer answer would have been, “it’s one place I hear God.” It’s an interesting parallel to Quaker meeting, where we gather in silence in expectant waiting for God to be present with us and to speak through us. In a singing, we gather to produce a virtual wall of sound, and eventually, our tongues break out in unknown strains and sing surprising grace.

More pics at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fasola4mi/

The Pleasures of Spring Break...

...seem distant already. Before they fade away entirely, here's what I did:

Friday night
dinner with folks from work
conversation with a friend
knitting and a movie (I think. Little hazy on the movie part.)


Saturday
farmers market: a gorgeous bunch of orange and pink ranuncula; dandelion greens, rapini, green garlic, carrots, pink lady apples, and red, gold, and pink beets
Oakland Museum-- 100 Families: Art and Social Change
Museum of Children’s Art (MOChA): Art in Open Court
NAP (because I walked to the museums)

Sunday
greeter for meeting for worship
business meeting
hours at the Article Pract sale, resulting in not a single purchase

Monday
essays for continuing ed. class
cooking all the beautiful farmers market produce: carrot top soup, braise of fava beans, green garlic, beets, fennel, radishes, carrots, and sugar snap peas
singing

Tuesday
Lakeshore Café breakfast
Rockridge library
Tango Gelato
Piedmont library-- because happiness is two libraries in one day
movies

Wednesday
eye doctor
dentist
NAP

Thursday
no Gilroy gardens-- too cold
Flipper's for brunch
Montclair yarn store-- again buying nothing
shopping: trader joes, lenscrafters, shoe pavilion; Michaels for yarn-- third time's the charm, and I succumb to yarn for an afghan, needles, and two knitting books

Friday
breakfast with friend at Lynn and Lu's
ill-fated Stanford trip (45 minutes searching for parking that didn't require change that I didn't have)

Saturday
copy store
library (yes, again)
farmers market
knitting with Natalia, who has both a very cool cable scarf and blue stockings in the works

Sunday
knitting
MFW

Books read: Year of Wonders: a Novel of the Plague; the way we talk now (started), Geoffrey Nunberg; The Fallen, T. Jefferson Parker; Portuguese Irregular Verbs, Alexander McCall Smith; The Summer Snow, Rebecca Pawel

Movies watched: A Good Year; Angel Rodriguez (I think I fell asleep); Friends with Money (again, I remember the beginning, but not the end-- I suspect dozing); The Brothers McMullen: Art School Confidential

Knitting:
cast off charity blanket; began rowan tapestry scarf
Knitting books read/browsed:
2 issues of Creative knitting magazine; Mason-Dixon knitting; Exquisite Little Knits; Speed Knitting; mindful knitting

Chores completed:
many piles of dishes
4 loads of laundry
bills paid
cooking: pasta, vegetable braise; greens; beets;
living room cleaned
dining room table cleaned

Chores avoided:
clean bathroom, mop floor, clean office, clean closet, clean entry way; put away laundry