February 7, 2015 – Quincy, MA.
We had a great Saturday.
Those who volunteered to help us move the furnishings from an apartment in Quincy, MA., to give to others who could use the items, gathered together for a bit of food, conversation, getting to know each other, learning what the day would be like, and prayer.
The morning started with breakfast made by the Rev. Dr. Robert Bennett so we were off to a good start.
Before going out the door on our way, we joined hands in a circle of prayer and it set the tone for the rest of our time together.
The volunteers were eight Seminarians from Harvard Divinity School – gathered together by Jonathan Bett Fields, also an HDS Seminarian. Next time we will include a photographer – the possibilities for great pictures to share with you were endless.
Cheryl Nicholas, who was the inspiration behind all of this, brought the UHaul truck and oversaw the move to get everything into the UHaul so her job of off-loading the items as she went about delivering the furnishings would be easier. Cheryl didn’t get away without an injury, but we put a bit of medicine on her cut to stop the bleeding and she and the rest of us continued. Next time, we will bring a first aid kit, we did need one. A few cuts and bruises, but no one noticed, everyone just kept moving to get the job done.
Ramesh Iyer, who made the donation to Bettina Network Foundation, inc. was a joy. His ‘gentle reminders’ will become a part of Bettina lore and will be stored in the Bettina archives. We picked up his spirit and instead of calling or emailing to say what needs to be done – NOW, we have established the practice of sending ‘gentle reminders’.
Kaitlyn Justus was a wonder. Everytime we looked around she was out the door with yet another piece of furniture or a very large box.
Farris Blount worked with Cheryl outside making sure the items were in the UHaul properly.
Chavis T. Jones became a whirlwind of activity when he saw a watch in a box that might be added to his collection, under the right circumstances
Ryan Cogswell felt good about the “manual labor” he was doing. He must have been totally exhausted at the end of the day.
Everyone pitched in to move the first pieces out the door, which were unbelievably heavy, bulky, hard to move and maneuver and turned out to be a godsend to those who received them – beautiful leather couches, in like-new condition. One piece, that took everybody together to move, was a pull-out bed whose mattress was still wrapped in the plastic in which it was delivered when first purchased. We took turns deciding how to get the pieces out the door – it was finally all these ideas together that succeeded.
We learned many lessons on Saturday. Mostly, we learned how beautiful is the human spirit when we are all engaged in God’s work.
Marceline Donaldson made lunch which ended this part of our day together.
We were a very diverse group. God for each one of us would be described in different terms, but bottom line what prevailed was that which is within us, that makes us know we are all one and responsible for one another – no matter our different physical appearances or religions or other seeming differences, or how we describe the God we worship.
May it ever be so in all that we do.
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