Western Gathering:
FGConnections Fall 2006
A People of Life
By Marvin Barnes
 Marvin Barnes |
During my travels to our 2006 Gathering, my thoughts flowed along the lines of a Lionel Trilling quote: “In the American metaphysic, reality is always material reality, hard, resistant, unformed, impenetrable, and unpleasant.” The quote enveloped me for my journey to Gathering, which was actually the first step in taking leave of that “American metaphysic” and of moving into a state in which the reverse of what Trilling said is true. The softness of Mount Rainer as we approached Seattle reinforced the expectations and desires for the upcoming week as a time in which my spirit would have a chance to play, dance, learn and enjoy life with a group of like minded people.
In a very short period of time, Friends take the enormous foundation laid for us by staff and volunteers and bring about a community which has a pulse and spirit of its own. It is a religious community along the line of what Fox and a twentieth century contemporary Albert Einstein envisioned, in which “True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.”
As with any community, we have our faults and problems, but this is balanced by our quest for enrichment and fulfillment. The 2006 Gathering had a number of firsts, first time on the West Coast etc., but there was one first which struck me deeply: the participation, in larger numbers than I have seen in the past, of Friends, in particular Friends of Color, who are physically disabled. Throughout the week, these Friends helped inspire in me that feeling of a Gathered Meeting. As these Friends settled down into their routines of living for a week and joined us in worship and enrichment, I found that our community could live what it preaches. These Friends are us and we are them.
In building our community, we occasionally have to go into some foreboding recess of our individual realities and share our experiences with fellow Friends. During a Meeting for Worship for Racial Healing, a Friend from California shared her experience with having to deal with a very life altering physical trial and some of the ramifications of being a Friend of Color trying to avail herself of the services of the medical industry in this country. Throughout the roller coaster ride of this experience she was able to keep her spirit alive and thriving. Her family saw this spirit and redoubled their effort to support this Friend and try to make life a continuing enriching experience. This spoke volumes as she contributed her ministry to our community.
As spoken by Trilling and other individuals over the ages, the hard wall of reality can be awesome, but creative sparks have a way of softening this harshness and lighting segments of our journeys. Throughout the Gathering our children provided creative sparks which help move me and others in many directions. We found their embracement of the Peace Tree heartening. We found their contributions to our workshops enlightening. We also found that our children are learning from our lessons and our hard efforts to bring racial equality from that ideal plateau to the ground upon which we walk. Throughout the week there were examples of children helping both each other and adults bridge some of the gaps of racial division that still exist today. We had children who had never been within close quarters, such as a college campus, without more representation of their ethnic culture. The children, with guidance from peers and adults, found ways of coping with this and other situations, and were able to find those safe places for the heart and mind that allowed them to add their sparks to the community.
We Quakers are a people of life. Our Gathering at Puget Sound allowed us to come together from the far corners of the world and share our contributions in an atmosphere of love and respect.
Marvin is a member of Birmingham Monthly Meeting, Lake Erie Yearly Meeting. He served on the board of Friends School in Detroit for eight years, and has served as clerk of both Birmingham Meeting and Green Pastures Quarterly Meeting. He has lead several Quaker 101 sessions at both Birmingham Meeting and Friends School in Detroit.
Western Gathering
- Expanding Circles by Aimee Bucholz
- Listen and Obey the Spirit by Rubye Howard Braye
- Touching others … others touching us by John Helding
- Water Has Memory by Raelyn Joyce
- Living Water Cards
- Sailing to Gathering by Linda Hill and John Scull
- More Reflections from the Western Gathering
