Dream away: Matt Rosen with Oxford Young Friends

‘We reconvened with sultana cake and a sense of profound community.’

Oxford Young Friends spent the last weekend of September on retreat in Faringdon, worshipping and reflecting in a community of ‘love and peace and tenderness’.

First, we descended on Faringdon Meeting House, constructed nearly two decades before Quaker worship became legal. Faringdon Friends were extraordinarily welcoming. We had brunch in their walled garden – once a burial ground for Friends who couldn’t be buried in consecrated ground – and began the weekend in a groove that stayed with us: with laughter and lovingly-made baked goods. After brunch we walked to Folly Tower and delighted in the open fields, wide vistas, and in each other’s company.

Returning to the Meeting House, we had our weekend’s first Meeting for Worship. Our worship was gathered in community. We experienced openings and felt the breathings of the Spirit. We reflected on imagery of a divine seed in each of us, God-given occurrences, and what we as young Friends are called to do together. After worship, we had a curry extravaganza for dinner. We had an epilogue, where we heard readings from Isaac Penington and a past generation of young Friends.

We woke on Sunday to a warming breakfast and joined Faringdon Friends for Meeting for Worship. It was a joy to be with them. We reflected on the presence of God in our lives and how we can attend to this. We also reflected on how much we had enjoyed, and felt challenged by, the waiting worship.

In the afternoon, we went to Great Coxwell Barn. We explored the structure and had searching conversations. We returned for a late lunch before settling in for Experiment with Light. Many of us felt refreshed and moved by that exercise. We talked about what it had uncovered for us, late into the evening. We discussed the countercultural importance of spiritual togetherness and found inspiration in the lives of early Friends.

When we went to prepare dinner, we discovered that the cooker wasn’t going to cooperate – the weekend’s first mishap. We reconvened for a late dinner in Oxford with sultana cake and a sense of profound community. We felt a bit less like friends and a bit more like family.

The weekend left us feeling rejuvenated, excited, and held in deep unity, even in our diversity. We got to know each other in things both eternal and temporal, mixed in holy and ordinary communion. It all felt sacramental, which is to say, pervaded by love for each other. We hope to keep this sense alive.

---

Comments

Please login to add a comment