Fire at the Center

A New Look at Quaker Religious Education

Barry Morley

Baltimore Yearly Meeting

of the Religious Society of Friends

Excerpts:

"Much of my spiritual awakening came during the twenty-three summers I directed Catoctin Quaker Camp. Counselors, campers, and necessity opened me to the discovery of that inward source which changes everything. As I changed, the camp changed. These changes ultimately impacted the campers whose parents began to sense that something special was happening to their children. 'Each year, when my child comes home from camp,' said one parent, 'I don't recognize her. But I like what I see, and it sticks. What's going on at the camp?'"

"Campfires are at the heart of it. As a child going to summer camp I loved campfires. ... no one else saw any particular campfire as I did since only I saw it from my place in the circle. Anyone sitting anywhere else had a different perspective, a different sense of reality, and thus saw a different fire. This taught me to be willing to look at anything from different vantage points, different angles, other perspectives. And since the most important part of a campfire is the space between billets where air flows, I learned to look at spaces. I learned, and continue to learn, how to look with new eyes into the spaces. I invite you to ... Look through new eyes. Look at spaces. You might be, as I continue to be, surprised and amazed."

"Those of us who have ever been teachers, and this includes parents and camp directors, know that there are things that can be learned that can't be taught. We know that these are often the truly important things."

"But we have a choice. We can establish conditions which stimulate discovery."