This series titled, “In Light Together, Apart” shares artwork of the attenders from the recent YAF retreat. The idea behind the retreat was to collaboratively create something that speaks to where young adult friends are at this time. The themes that emerged were: time, place, people, loss, change, searching, and reflection. This week, we hear “Angel from Montgomery” from Mary Tierney, and we see art by Liz Anderson of Downers Grove Monthly Meeting, Illinois Yearly Meeting, and Kaise Coyle of Norristown Meeting.
Young Adult Worship continues to meet on Thursdays at 7 pm. This week, Young Adult Friends are exploring the relationship between Spirit and place, using memory, imagination, and guided meditation. Friends will gather as a worship group and break out into pairs for reflection and listening. Come with a journal, and if your able to, be in a cozy spot, beds are welcome on this zoom call!: https://www.pym.org/event/yaf-community-worship-with-meg/
Angel from Montgomery
Mary Tierney
“I am an old woman
Named after my mother
My old man is another
Child who’s grown old
If dreams were thunder
And lightning was desire
This old house would’ve burned down
A long time ago”
Appalachian ballads are
The stories of the mountains
Tales unearthed by bards
Of quiet presence and attentive ears
This music of my childhood
The songwriters of the hillside
Brought life and now nostalgia
Through chords as familiar
As weathered lines in my hands
Their words take on new meanings
Each day my heart breaks open
Each sleepless night of prolonged uncertainty
Tenderly holding displaced grief
“Make me an angel
That flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster
Of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing
That I can hold onto
To believe in this livin’
Is just a hard way to go”
John Prine, 10/10/1946 – 04/07/2020
Last week’s iteration of the series can be found here: https://www.pym.org/yaf-at-home-spring-retreat-2020-in-light-together-apart/
