The Quaking Post   "Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness"

Volume 10, Issue 3 Winter 2001

Fire at the Center

From Barry Morley's "Fire at the Center", having been asked to summarize what happens at camp that transforms the children:

Campfires are at the heart of it. As a child going to summer camp I loved campfires. During my years at Catoctin I stared at hundreds of them. I watched flames intertwine, logs shift, sparks rise. Looking back I see, without understanding what happened or why, that campfires fed me. I began to sense that no one else saw any particular campfire as I did since only I saw it from my place in the circle. Anyone sitting anywhere else had a different perspective, a different sense of reality, and thus saw a different fire. This taught me to be willing to look at anything from different vantage points, different angles, other perspectives. And since the most important part of a campfire is the space between billets where air flows, I learned to look at spaces. I learned, and continue to learn, how to look with new eyes into the spaces. I invite you to look at Quaker religious education from a different place in the fire circle, a different vantage point, a different perspective. Look through new eyes. Look at spaces. You might be, as I continue to be, surprised and amazed.

Reflections of the Fire

In the spaces of my own fire, I have found opportunities to reflect upon the RE retreat at Camp Catoctin, Fire at the Center. First, I must say my entire family enjoyed the weekend despite the below seasonal temperatures for the first weekend of October. Our children especially had fun, hardly noticing the cold at all. In fact, I think those conditions rather added to the experience for them. Was I especially enthralled by the cold? No. Would I like to do the weekend again? YES. What is it then that happened that would take me back? I think the answer lies in the fact that I only have just begun to see the tip of the iceberg. (How paradoxical that I am drawn to words of cold when the weekend was about the fire.) I think the key is in the experiencing.

The Ministry of Wood Chopping

It is through our experiences that we begin to weave the tapestry of our lives. This tapestry is ever changing just like the flames of the fire. As we gain experiences they become part of us. They are housed inside of us. And in the spaces of our busy lives, if we are so fortunate, we are able to reflect upon that which is now inside. Somehow we begin to make connections. These connections create the picture of life for us, our tapestry to hold, to view, to change, and to watch grow. This is what happens with the bonfire. First, we experientially behold its magnificence, and as we view it, sometimes we are caught up in it. We are hypnotized for a time, then suddenly as it burns down a bit, it changes, and we are awakened again. Our experience moves onward. Of course I am not sure, but I think reflection can happen spontaneously, months or even years after experience. The fire has been spent, but its embers rest waiting to be stirred.

I don't know what part of my children's tapestry the weekend will hold, but I do believe that it's an experience that is now housed in them, lying in wait to some day be reflected upon; perhaps soon, perhaps later, or perhaps at their next fire circle.

Written by Debbie Fetzcr (Nottingham)

To Tell the Truth

I recently heard the same idea fiom two different Monthly Meetings for a way to make learning fun for all ages. How many of you remember the old game show called "To Tell the Truth"? This is a game along the same lines. Three Friends (adults or high school age) are asked to portray a biblical character, historical Quaker or a member of your Meeting. When the contestants (upper elementary age) ask questions of the three, only one gives truth ful answers, the others will tell falsehoods. See how many questions are needed to figure out who is the "real" Jesus, George Fox, clerk of Meeting.

You can write the questions and the answers out for the players or test their knowledge completely. Younger and older Friends can be members of the audience.

FIRST DAY FUN!

Joseph's Coat of Many Colors

If you're looking for a way to keep your class interested in the story of Joseph, try this hands on craft idea that was used at Annapolis Monthly Meeting.

First purchase some inexpensive cotton muslin and some light weight rope or twine, approximately one yard for each child in the class. Cut the muslin into yard lengths and fold in half. Next cut a neck opening in each length of muslin. This can be a circle or a "V" shape. Provide fabric crayons, magic markers etc. to decorate their "Coats of Many Colors". Older children can use more elaborate decorations if desired. Now cut a length of rope for each child to use as a belt. Have the children wear their coats when they rejoin the adults at rise of Meeting. During class you can read the story of Joseph and ask some questions to get the kids thinking about the story. How would you like to have 12 brothers?, Was Joseph boasting?, Can you remember a dream you had once? What do you think it meant? Was it fair for Jacob to have a favorite son? Invite the kids to ask their own questions or retell the story in their own words.

Last Revised 1/31/2005