Author: Breeze Richardson

Welcome to a new series, a monthly contribution to “How Do You See Peace?” which aims to extend a First Day School lesson at 57th Street Meeting of Friends into the virtual space as a way to extend the experience. What thoughts do you have to share with the children?  What ideas does this story give you?  Please add your Comments below.

Teaching the Meeting children by example, we are building community, as we meet adult Friends one at a time & hear something about their childhood that still influences them today or they think the kids might enjoy.  Learning more about each other we are in a better position to say hi after Meeting, share a treat, and support one another in our lives (plus it helps to remember people’s names).

Chip Rorem is an amazing Friend.  His presence is always joyful & his attention towards the youngest members of & visitors to our Meeting is intentional and loving.  When I asked him about his willingness to join me in First Day School so that the children could get to know him better, he was delighted and immediately had a story to tell.  A wonderful story, which shared a special time from his childhood that led to an adult outcome which saved resources, taught a powerful lesson and allowed for the execution of Quaker witness in a meaningful and contemporary way.

[slideshow]

One summer when Chip was a boy, his backyard was turned into a lumber yard when the scrap wood from the kitchen equipment crates that his dad brought home from work became the prized possession of the neighborhood kids.  They dutifully organized what they were given to assess the collection, borrowed tools from parents, asked one dad for some nails & bought others with their allowance.  Then construction began: a treehouse was underway!

As Chip told his story, he illustrated on a large tree exactly how he and his friends troubleshooted each step. Adding rungs up the tree to get taller, building a platform, then a railing, then a roof.  Once the treehouse and the story were complete, he handed out pictures of the tree to each of the kids to draw their own treehouses.  They followed his lead exactly: rungs up the tree, a platform, railing and roof.  They added rain (because why would you need a roof unless it was raining?) and stickers of friends & supplies (like fruit and footballs).  Chip told them of resourcefulness – reusing the crate lumber to make such a wonderful play space – as well as team work & learning. (One of my favorite parts of the story was when Chip told of he and his friends scouting for construction sites then spending the afternoon sitting on large piles of dirt, taking copious mental notes as they watched the men build actual houses so that they might learn how to accomplish something with their own build that had been previously unsuccessful.)

But perhaps the coolest part of Chip’s story was the end, after the children had finished drawing their beautiful treehouses, we gathered back around to share before heading up to Meeting.  He passed around pictures of the Cabins at McNabb and told of how their creation was in the same spirit as the treehouses.  As most adults in the Yearly Meeting know, the cabins are reclaimed from the dorm that once stood at the property.  Instead of being destroyed, that building was deconstructed so that the building materials could be reused.  Even the floor, which was cut into the exact sizes needed for the Cabin floors, was reused.  It was a beautiful end to a wonderful story, with a powerful lesson of creative thinking and re-use.  Child’s play can inspire great achievement.  Thanks again to Chip!

“Meeting 57th Street Friends” is a special project at 57th Street Meeting (Chicago) that took place Oct 2010 – March 2011 where non-parent adult Friends visit with the Meeting children each month to share their reflections on Quaker life & identity today by exploring something they hold dear. A childhood memory, a story, a life lesson or a life passion – by sharing our experiences across the generations we are living in community.  Learning from each other about our lives is a way to move towards better understanding and our testimony to peace.