Hope Braveheart, Youth Secretary of Baltimore Yearly Meeting
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A brief biography and photo would be appreciated here
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Interchange, Dec 2004
Staff Report
Hope Braveheart
Before I came to BYM I worked as a public school secretary. One
day I was asked to be the "token" woman during a discipline
conference. None of the three women counselors usually
present were available that day. A scared and wide eyed student
sat at the head of a very big table. Folders were opened and closed,
papers shuffled, but no eye contact was made. Quietly, I held
her in the Light. A helpful question occurred to me. I wrote it
down and discreetly passed it to my boss. Conference after conference
my boss asked me to accompany him. Every question I passed to
him he asked. Often he was complimented on his insight and compassion.
Although quiet and hidden my contribution was valuable. Many discipline
conferences later, my boss passed my question back to me and motioned
for me to ask it. My heart shook, my knees knocked, but my voice
was clear.
Discipline conferences are structured to exit students not to
retain or discipline them. Even though grades, behavior, ethics
and attitude were not in this students favor it seemed important
to ask the detoured question. "Do you want to be here?"
He looked directly at me and with equal amounts of courage and
desperation in his mouth he said "yes." After the litany
of "I don't knows" we heard from him, that courageous
yes got every ones attention. I continued to speak to his courage
holding space for it in the moment and the room.
The encouragement I received and the success of my work with
students led me to work regularly with "at risk" and
later mainstream students as a mentor and service work project
leader. My goal was simple: to bring Light to some dark and unnoticed
moments in the loud clamor of a busy high school. Each interaction
left me with a debt of gratitude, a feeling of usefulness and
a desire to give back some of what I received. It continues to
amaze me that the Light in which we hold others comes back to
us tenfold. Every time I try to pay that debt, more than I am
able to offer comes back me.
Working in a spiritually and religiously encouraging environment
is a gift. Hiding spirituality and religion may have been appropriate
as a secretary in a public school. But, it was difficult to feel
whole while hiding.
Feeling lost, empty, discouraged and hidden is constant for many
youth. I believe that pain is about having a contribution, feeling
the passion that accompanies it, but not knowing what that contribution
is or what to do with it. Through Baltimore Yearly Meeting I want
to bridge the chasm between a youth discovering their contribution
and the application of that leading.
I once read that our best work is done when our heart is breaking
or overflowing. I prefer overflowing. As Youth Secretary for Baltimore
Yearly Meeting I am continually encouraged to shine in my work.
My heart overflows. May that same encouragement and opportunity
extend to Young Friends through Baltimore Yearly Meeting and me.
And may we, as a community, experience what it means to let our
lives speak.
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