Events at Agape admin on 17 Oct 2006
Agape’s Annual St. Francis Day…its 24th year, was happy and fulfilling.
Unlike some years, youth had a major presence, stunning in fact. 4 college students and Theresa each told us something about their summer there. I was instantly drawn to them all but esp the vivacious Cat with the slight lisp and the piercing eyes. All the way to the 2 girls that offered us rocks they’d collected from the ground. They filtered thru the legs of we elders as we stood stolidly for yet another ceremony. We planted a tree for the sons of 2 families, the Lucy’s whose son Jeff had killed himself after returning from Iraq, and Carlos and wife whose son Alex died in Iraq. Following this, I led a brief mediation on trees, inviting folks to root themselves into the ground as a tree might and then soar to a crown to survey the quabbin watershed, to see if they could locate the quabbin, the sacred waters of this region.
And much more, including a stellar presentation about peak oil by Kai Wu, wise words from the venerable Juanita nelson, an opening mediation and prayer from the glowing rabbi Sheila Weinberg, the subsistence family of Brennan and Staub who’d biked with their 2 small girls from their home in Springfield, along with the Raging Grannies, and grease cars and straw bale house and composting toilet. A wild combination of people and things, rendering agape truly unique and visionary. I question, why don’t more people recognize their truth and flock there?
- By Skip Schiel, photo journalist and member of Agape’s Mission Council
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Puppy Love Chorus from Bethany Hill School, Framingham at St. Francis Day, Oct. 7th, 2006
