Monday, April 28, 2014

to open the gift that is one's self



FriendsFest ’14

at its best
every day is as our birthday party
during which we open the gift of ourselves to the world,
and the world smiles and laughs
in appreciation of what it is given,

at its best a school can host the party
and each student can discover his/her gifts
and delight in opening them to share,

today in Saxapahaw, N.C., at FriendsFest,
musicians and singers in our community dazzled us
with the presentation of their joy, their skills,
the way in which each can take instrument and voice,
and spark connection after connection,
there’s electricity as individuals become ensembles,
the whole even greater than the sum of its parts,
as audiences wake up, notice, and are moved
by the brilliance that shines before us,
as the gifts inherent within each self release as performance,



we smile and laugh and joy
in how amazing each gift reveals itself to be
as all the performers open themselves to the world,
and we who helped them along the way
can joy that each found his and her way through the gauntlets,
and did not yield so that each could find the way forward
and open the gifts revealed here before us today.


by Henry H. Walker
Carolina Friends School Staff
April 26, ’14

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