I didn’t blog last night because after our potluck in Portland I drove over to small group to catch the last bit of time with my friends there. Sitting on the couch, I knew driving home on the verge of crashing might not be the best idea so I stayed with Carole in Vancouver for the night. I am actually really glad I did that- not just for my safety but in that I also got to spend some time talking with her before going to bed and I have really missed spending time with Carole lately having been so busy with projects. I’m thinking of auditing her mystics class next fall. I’ve already taken it for credit a few years ago but I think I could really use some time being surrounded by my spiritual ammas and abbas again. I might throw in Greek while I’m at it. We’ll see.
The second day with Emma, Harriet, Angelina, and John was fun and educational. We spent the day at George Fox University in Newberg and toured the Hoover-Milton House and Newberg Friends Church. The Hoover-Milton House was the highlight for me. I love learning history and seeing different ways to live. As the care taker told us the story, I found myself holding back tears several times I was so touched by the love Herbert Hoover showed to the people around him. After getting back in town, we found a sunny patch of grass behind Multnomah Monthly Meeting and laid out in the sun while looking at John’s pictures from Kenya. We really needed that time to not be going anywhere, just time to rest, relax, and be.
People started arriving after a while with food so we helped set up tables and chairs. It was so much to fun to see many women I knew from Multwood there and they really enjoyed getting to know some of the other board members. After we ate, we brought the tables together so Angelina could present the book project and we all answered questions. One of the things we talked about were some of the conversations the board had about the topics covered by the submissions. Those discussions brought out our cultural and theological differences like nothing else did and we told them how it got rather intense at times. One of the women with concern on her face asked, “So what happened to the rest of the board?” This brought out peals of laughter from everyone. I shared with them how I had a phrase in my head throughout our meeting, “Put love first.” We figure if we can do it with all of our differences, all Quakers can have such conversations and truly be friends.
365-09 #115