Quaker Pagan Reflections
Peter’s back at work, and the end of the summer not only is here, it _feels_ like it’s here. My own teaching schedule starts after Labor day, and I’ve had three typical end-of-summer nightmares in the last week. (My favorite: almost all the students are off on a field trip, leaving only a handful, who really don’t want to be there, including my least favorite student of all time–and if you’re one of my students, reading this blog, it isn’t you–really! My assignment: teach these students math for 74 minutes. As an English teacher with no lesson plan, you’d think that even in my sleep, I’d recognize that the job is impossible, but, as is the nature of dreams, I keep trying till the alarm goes off to wake me…)
The upshot of all this anxiety is that I’m realizing that the things I’ve taken for granted all summer long, like time to exercise, see friends, and blog, may not be around for me much longer. I’ve resolved that this year, Year Three, WILL BE DIFFERENT. Somehow (miraculously) I’ll get my grading and lesson planning done, be home by 6 every night, and have weekends off to have a personal life. (Stay tuned to see how _that_ works out…)
But just in case, I wanted to take advantage of one of my last mornings free to post a series of odds and ends that really merit more attention.
First, I’d like to draw attention to an excellent Pagan podcast I’ve recently discovered: Deo’s Shadow. Deo’s shadow is a kind of weekly Pagan variety radio show, with intelligent guests, some decent music, and a host who has a kind of freshness and a solid and grounded feeling that I really, really enjoy.
The quality _is_ uneven. Some of the regularly featured hosts, on subjects like herbs, crystals, and chakras, are a bit Wicca 101 for my liking (well, maybe 202) and some of the humor is in poor taste. Some of the interviews are maybe a bit _too_ scholarly for the average Pagan. But still… there’s something there. It feels to me like the early days of a project that may become an important community resource–maybe not on the scale of a Witches’ Voice or a Cherry Hill Seminary, but important to our evolving culture nonetheless. The show is currently on episode 23; back episodes are also available to download or subscribe to.
On the Quaker side, I’d like to draw attention to NEYM Friend Will Taber’s blog, Growing Together in the Light. Though I’d never met Will before Yearly Meeting, I learned quickly to listen closely whenever he rose to speak. Will impressed me as someone who has labored hard and well to hone his faithfulness to the leadings he receives, and I am eagerly looking forward to reading his blog on a regular basis. His comments on NEYM, and on the morning Bible half hour sessions (which I did not attend, unsurprisingly) ring very true to me. I know that Meeting for Business was consistently among the deepest worship I’ve ever experienced, in any setting, and, judging by the one morning that I arrived early, part of the reason for that was the deep worship that the Bible study sessions had established each morning. Just walking through the door into the Meeting for Business, the presence that had been invoked was there, waiting to enfold us as we came in each day. I’m grateful to Will and the other Friends who opened that door and held (meaning, held in the light, as opposed to moderated) the business meeting each day.
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