Weekly progress

Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Five | Week Six | Week Seven
Young Friends weekend | Tapestry workshop

Week Four


From rear left clockwise: Brett Trenery, Liz Field, Susan Addison, Joon Garfit, Helen Bayes, Mark MacLeod, Drew Thomas, Valerie Joy, Jean Hart, John Symond, Pamela Leach, Jane Sloane, Catherine Dabron, Jean Talbot, Bob Westwood

Renga (Linked verses)
 (A communal composition from the Creative Writing course)

1
Ripples of song flow
from the flowering apple tree.
It’s the blue wrens!

Water rises in the lake.
Blue songs sweep across the sky.

The wind pushes through.
Trees struggle, birds flap, flounder.
Roars and squawks rise up.

Buffeted about by life
I too feel my protest rise.

Out there the wind blows.
In here it is still and warm.
Niceness once again.

2
How unnatural
these humans are. We birds
need to speak all day.

Some of them seem pleased to be
Silent. Others chafe and fret.

Who will gather in
thoughts scattered in day’s silence?
Jigsaw in abstract.

I throw mine into the air
and let them fall where they will.

Cutlery clatters,
pappadums crunch, Quakers
eat in silence.

Work of a whole afternoon
gone so fast as the cook sighs.

Movement in the grass:
red beetles, not ladybirds,
and honey bees dance.

Minute of Record - Meeting for Discursive Reflection (held on Thursday)

The Venue:
Participants were delighted by the location, and surroundings. Distance from public transport was seen as a problem by some, but as an advantage by others. The main building itself, with its rooms flowing from each other was appreciated.

Practicalities:
 It was good to have a quiet room, and to have moved the quiet dining table into another room. One person suggested that it was not necessary to exclude computers from the quiet room, as modern key boards are very quiet. He also thought that AQC could provide access to the internet, with a separate room. A private space/room is needed for one-on-one discussions, both with course leaders and with elders. We need to pay attention to Occupational Health and Safety issues, including obstacles in the yard (Bob has attended to some of this already), shoe scrapers, lighting. Also, the cook has to carry quite heavy pots from stove to serving area. The cold at night was an issue for some and as summer approaches, heat might also be a problem, particularly during the day.

Meals:
 Everyone has enjoyed the food, and appreciated Catherine’s cooking. However, a number of people felt that at times, more protein was needed, especially at breakfast. Occasionally there was not quite sufficient for some. A few things like bread, cheese etc available outside meal times would please many people.

Courses:
 Two courses were run this week, one ran for a session each morning, the other for one session each afternoon. This had not been clear to all participants, including facilitators, resulting in fewer sessions in each course than expected. Views about proportion of time devoted to coursework/personal reflection varied.

Short courses:
Cost has deterred many. We suggest opportunities to work off (or serve off) some costs might let more people attend.

Silent Day:
 In general, this was not well received by this group. Reasons given included:
many participants live alone and had all the silence they liked there;
• if people wanted a retreat, they would go on a retreat;
• not all were fully aware that the day without classes would be silent. The website needs to be much • clearer and it was disruptive to the flow.
• a full day was lost for classes, meaning only four sessions for each one;
most importantly there was no participatory decision made, we were just told it was to happen. This was also the case with the silent lunch, for which there was no prior notice and no explanation.
However, the silence allowed many of us to indulge in exploring, writing, and reflecting without distraction. Acknowledging the need for silence, the suggestion was made that perhaps half a day is sufficient when most of us are only here for four or five days.

Eldering:
It is excellent to have a designated Elder available to participants to talk with, or even to be gently eldered by. It is a big role, especially if the Elder also is a spiritual companion for a retreatant. Other listeners could also have been designated from the group.

Other matters:
 We were delighted with the opportunity to build community with everyone here, getting to know other Friends at a deeper level. The desire for a more participatory style was expressed, for example in shaping the extras such as epilogue, inviting interest groups or discussion groups, but also at shaping the week. We appreciated the work being done by the staff; and we wondered if they were overstretched. There was strong hope that the vision of a Quaker Centre could be carried on, either at a permanent location, such as this; or in a more portable form, such as renting a centre for three months or whatever time was practicable. Other thoughts included that the AQC could either complement or merge with the Meeting for Learning; that the Centre could also be a House of Healing.

NB: Individual comments, without names are available on another document called simply Week 4.