Twenty folks gathered at beautiful Third Haven Monthly Meeting in Easton, MD to explore ideas of gifts and giving together on Dec. 4th. The fact that we did manage to “gather” 20 was a feat in-of-itself, seeing that Easton MD is almost three hours south of Philadelphia! Bravo to all who joined carpools and came from distant places to be with our community for this program, and SUPER-thanks to Colin and Tristan who drove our carpools. We were so far away from PYM, that we had some BYM Friends join us (go Sawyer and Jeanette!). The mixture was wonderful!

Due to the distance, we started late on Friday, at 9 pm, with some icebreakers and get-to-know-you games and then had a discussion as a community about what our values and norms for our time together would be. In many ways, we re-created the Guidelines that are the tradition of a MSF gathering, but in our own words, with a deeper sense of ownership and investment.

Saturday was a wonderful mix of stillness and storm (literally as snow and metaphorically as MSF energy released!), claiming gifts and exploring what it means to give, discussion and contemplation. Our activities ranged from group discussions and walking meditations about what our spiritual gifts were and how they matched up with the spiritual needs of a community, to team-building exercises (thanks for the idea Jeanette!), to goofy games in big and small groups, and workshops on the gift of positive touch and massage, and the gift of perspective and vision in painting. Our small groups were rich and thought-provoking and had some great participation. To end the evening we had an amazing show of the group’s creative talents, first through paper bag skits and then from individuals who came forth and shared their own gifts!

Sunday started with our typical clean-up, and was then followed by a great Meeting for Worship with a concern for business, Clerked beautifully by our “clerk-in-training” Hannah Blossom! We ended with a time of communion and first-day school with the larger Third Haven community and then it was time to carpool back to Philly!

Thanks to everyone who helped to manage the logistics of such a far-away gathering, and a special thanks to the Susans, Leigh Annes, and caretakers of Third Haven who welcomed us so warmly into their historic space.

Next gathering: “Community, Communication, and Communion” @ Burlington Conference Center: Jan. 22nd – 24th, 2010

Click here to see all gathering reports.

Project Partner: Pegasus Riding Academy
Two Saturdays a month, Greater Philadelphia Cares volunteers assist with the riding lessons, spotting the clients and guiding the horses. Each horse used during a session is also groomed and tacked by the volunteers.