Willamette Quarterly Meeting

As many of you know from reading my blog, I was invited to be one of the speakers on a panel at Willamette Quarterly Meeting, a part of North Pacific Yearly Meeting, October 3rd-5th. It’s strange to have a dream for much of my life not knowing how I would reach it but holding to it stubbornly nonetheless then watching it come to fruition before me eyes. Though I have now spoken to many different gatherings, this has to be one of my favorites.

The event took place over a weekend out at the Kiwanas camp near Government Camp in the Mt. Hood wildnerness area. It rained the WHOLE time. But instead of seeing this as a negative, I loved it for each night, right outside the window by my bunk, was a tin roof and I fell asleep to the sound of raindrops echoing in my ears.

From the moment I got there to the moment I left, the people I met were warm and welcoming. And they were FUN!!! We played cards, stuck stickers on our name tags, had to get in birthday order without talking, and close our eyes and find our partner only shouting our pre-chosen words. Oh yes, and my favorite. We had to stand in a circle confessing our undying love to each other in an effort to get the other person to smile. “Honey, I LOVE you, but I just can’t smile.” As you may guess, I didn’t do very well at keeping a straight face. That’s okay though, I took advantage of the fact my fellow panelist, Kathy Hyzy, couldn’t either.

Later in the morning after breakfast, we gathered in the main hall for the panel. I don’t know about the others, but I had little preparation, I don’t think they did either. This didn’t worry me. Jane, our moderated for the four person panel, dressed in a rather comical copy of Sarah Palin, a likeness the audience was quick to realize, sat in the center asking questions. (No matter that woman’s politcs, Sarah has a beautiful name.) Down the row she talked to each of us, asking us questions about our particular fields of expertise. Two of the panel conducted mission type work and the third, Kathy Hyzy, is the editor of Western Friend. (Also a friend of mine.) Then there was me. I got to cover the Editorial Board for the Quaker Youth Book Project, writing and publishing, blogging (both Kathy and I), Freedom Friends Church, and young adults in general. Feeling very comfortable with a microphone in my hands, I enjoyed the panel, both getting to hear the other panelists, speaking myself, and answering Jane’s questions. I sure have come a long ways from wanting to crawl into a dark hole after speaking to now, when I thrive in doing it.

My favorite part though was after lunch. On the wall were four sign-up sheets for interest groups, one for each panelist. The idea was to pick the panelist you wanted to talk to and hear more from and then sit with them for an hour and a half. Having a larger group, we were assigned to the living area of Cy Hall, where I was rooming with other young women upstairs. People soon settled themselves in the chairs and couches around the room with me sitting on the hearth of the large stone fireplace. I started by having them go around the room introducing themselves and telling me what they wanted to hear more about. Among the wide array of answers were some general themes. They wanted to hear more about me, my experiences of writing and publishing, my views as a young adult, the book project, blogging, Freedom Friends Church including the music, and my opinion of the political effigy at George Fox University. Realizing a visual would come in very handy, I invited them to have a minute of open/silent worship while they looked at the Call for Submissions I’d handed out, while I dashed upstairs to get the four copies of my second book I had brought. While those were passed through the group, I started by telling a bit of my story and how I had started publishing in my early twenties. I then opened the floor to questions and as I answered them, I kept a mental list in my head to make sure we covered all the topics they wanted to hear about. The one that surprised me the most were the questions about what young adults were like, what is important to them, what is their culture like? Though those questions annoy a fellow young adult who was there, I don’t mind them at all, I am glad older adults are interested in hearing from the younger Friends. I think the Quaker world is hungry for it, a realization that makes me realize how much this book the editorial bord is overseeing can impact the Quaker world. In one volume, people will be able to hear a whole range of views and experiences, not just my own, but the views of those from around the world. One of the things that pleased me most was getting to speak on what I’m passionate about and having them want to listen. Throughout that hour and a half, we had a fantastc dialogue between us and around us. At the end, they asked me if I would read a few selections from my book. It was one of the moments when I just knew, this is what I was born to do. Thank you to everyone who was there, at the panel and the group who listened, asked questions and enthusiastically walked in dialogue with me. It was an experience I will never forget and always treasure.

The afternoon was also fun as I had one-on-one conversations with people and heard amazing personal stories in small groups and at dinner. You never know what a person has experienced in their lives by talking to them. The more I live, the more I learn EVERYONE has a story and some stories will keep you on the edge of your seat.

It seems talent shows are “a thing” in North Pacific Yearly Meeting. I was roped, though I was gladly and enthusiastically said yes, into taking part in a skit about “A Thousand Cranes”. The actress and actor I played with were amazing and hillariously funny and they also got me into my tap shoes to perform the piece our troupe has been rehearsing. After the show, a lot of people gathered around the great fireplace to sing. There, my stereotype of the meeting was blown to bits after they sang many songs with Jesus in it. Apparently, there isn’t as much division as I thought between the two yearly meetings. Both groups have a wide variety of theolgical viewpoints and many in the unprogrammed churches like to sing once in a while and many in the programmed ones, like to experiene greater lengths of silence. I am glad of this. There are less division lines when that happens and when people can keep talking to each other, enjoying our differences instead of letting them seperate us.

Another highlight for me was getting to hear Leaf read my poetry. Originally, a woman who bought one of the books wanted to hear some of my favorites. Gradually, we were joined by others who were interested in hearing more of my work and it tuned into such a gift for me. Leaf, a young man from Portland, wanted to try reading one and when he did, I couldn’t help but grin as I’d never heard my poetry read like that before. I wrote the poems, I knew what was in them, but I was a spellbound listener along with the rest. He is an extrememly good reader and enjoying hearing it from him so much, we started handing the book back and forth between us reading different selections. I told him I was going to have to start bringing him around to different readings and book signings. I think I would sell more books.

At business meeting Sunday morning, the clerk read aloud my traveling minute from my home meeting of Freedom Friends Church and left it on a table for people to sign. One woman who has visited the church, gave an impassioned speech to the whole meeting urging them to go and see it for themselves. One man in particular commented on how he’d had an idea of what the church was like and now has come away with quite a different view after hearing me talk. Freedom Friends Church came up a lot. The church is a small and eclectic but growing gathering of introverted folk, most of them new to Quakerism. I believe I am the only extrovert in the church and one of a minority with a background in Quakerism before joining the meeting. Because of this, because I am very comfortable, perhaps even more so, with the larger Quaker world and am one of very few who regularly venture into it, I’m quickly becoming the public ambassador, other than Peggy and Alivia of course, representing our meeting to other Quakers. I honestly don’t quite know what God was doing to them to place such an extrovert smack dab in the middle of their silence. Sometimes, I feel a little sorry for them having to work with it.

But even our church can be bubbly compared to how much silence there can be in the Quaker world. When I read of this in seminary, I was being mentored by those in the “other yearly meeting” and long periods of open worship to me was as foriegn as hearing a language I didn’t really understand. I had to read about it, but I had never experienced it. Though, I’ll tell you, when we had to have an experiential piece to our presentation for History of Spirituality, our Quaker group, (I wasn’t Quaker yet), thought we got off easy as all we had to do was tell the class to sit quietly and listen. How easy is that? HAH! You have obviously never been an extrovert with lots of get up and go having to sit still and be quiet. That’s tough.

So, after lunch, the clerk came by the table I was sitting at to return my traveling minute. The sheet of paper I saw first had four signatures and I was honestly, a little dissapointed. She had laid the paper out late that morning and had requested people sign it several times. I was surprised so few had. But then, I turned the paper around in my hands and was stunned to see the other side COVERED in people’s notes of encouragment. That was a humbling moment for me. For someone still at the beginning of her ministry who has not always been so encouraged, this meant the world to me. Some of the notes included:

-“Sarah is a delightful and energetic young woman who brings joy and enthusiasm to her ministry. We have been grateful for her presence this weekend.”

-“It has been a boon and a boast to have Sarah with us. Her panel presentaiton was inspiring.”

-“A wonderful ambassador and example of what Friends can be when we let our light shine!”

Can you see what I mean by humbling? (See “Self-Confidence Through Transformation: My Story”, a previous post for more.) Life is truly like planting a seed. You can plant one little seed and get back a harvest of a hundred fold. I was honored to be with you all and I enjoyed you all SO MUCH. Playing, getting to hear your stories, talking with you, just being together was a gift. Thank you.

Before I left, an older gentleman gave me a compliment and told me what a nice job I had done. Then he looked at me and said, “But don’t go getting a big head about it.” I smiled and told him not to worry, I would be returning to my local meeting soon and that would take care of that.

All in all, this was a fantastic time for me. I got to hone my skills as a speaker and writer, as a spokesperson for the book project, and I got to continue building friendships with the people of North Pacific Yearly Meeting. The woman who gave me a second perspective on my ministry told me I was unapologetically authentic. I hope to always be so.

(By the way, all those posters behind the panel? They all say at what age people were at when they started their public ministry, it spanned from about age 16 to 35. To say this was encouraging to me would be a vast understatement.)