Worship Around the Outdoor Fireplace at Yardley Friends Meeting
Life is often a series of habits. We do the same thing everyday, every week and different times of year. Many habits we take for granted. Looking forward to others makes the whole week special. Meeting for worship is one thing many of us look forward to.
This year many of our usual habits have been torn apart. We couldn’t do things we’ve always done. I take this time as a challenge. It’s time to try something different. Do new things. Some might be something that will become part of our lives when life goes back to normal. They add to our life. Worship outside by the fireplace, the dam and in the trees is one example.
Yardley Meeting is lucky to have beautiful grounds to walk for quiet time. Many times over the years as I walked I would pass an aged stone fireplace. We never used it and I wondered if it was in working order. Tom Cadwallader filled in the story of the origin of the fireplace. The fireplace was a gift of Bob Cliver. Tom doesn’t think Bob was a member of the meeting. Bob might have been one of the workers who did the stonework on the outside walls of the meetinghouse in 1955. Possibly he used stones left over from the walls to build the fireplace. This was a gift in appreciation of Sidney Cadwallader’s friendship and kindnesses over the years. Bob died not too long after the fireplace was finished. I don’t think any of us who are members today remember the fireplace in use. That changed last fall. We started having worship around the fire.
I must admit I am really enjoying worship outside in nature. I get lost in the embers and flames. Then look straight up into the dancing trees. Their bare limbs are beautiful. Some reach towards the sky, straight and narrow. Others curl in their own unique patterns. Like life, trees flow in so many different directions. As time goes on we will see buds and later leaves fill the tree. While waiting to get back into the meetinghouse we will be able to watch the seasons change. I’ve watched a hawk fly by. Geese and deer graze the lawn. I hope we find occasions to gather around the outside fire when we are back in the Meetinghouse.
During the heart of the winter Zoom became our only method of worship. Now that spring is here, we can gather back outside. Zoom worship continues while those who wish gather outside. Care to join us? Yardley Meeting for Worship at 10 am on Sundays, weather permitting.Come around back. Wear your mask and social distance. You are welcome! https://yardleyfriendsmeeting.org/.