Thirty Minute History
How do you share your History with a group of strangers in a half an hour?
That’s what I was asked to do at the Kroc Community Center Women’s Ministry on March 10, 2022.
A good experience for someone who hasn’t done much of that. How to narrow down a lifetime to an unknown audience of men and women whose only shared history is “place” – sitting together for a particular moment in time.
I shared what I’m most proud of during my 35 years in Camden: my non-profit organization “Art Aware.”
I brought in large murals of Camden City elementary school student artwork and four prayers, written large – so the 25 attendees could recite them together if they chose to do so. The Kroc Center is run by The Salvation Army so prayers were in order.
Actually my talk was based around a children’s story “Tar Beach” – a quilt and a book by African American artist, Faith Ringgold. It and my Art Aware program are all about being creative. “Anyone can fly, all you need is somewhere to go that you can’t get to any other way…” – except through “creativity!”
I pointed out the stark contrast of Cassie Louise Lightfoot teaching her baby brother how to fly and the prayer (I still say today) that my father taught me as a child.
A combination of dependence on self and dependence on God.
Next on the oversized newsprint pad on the easel were the words to a hymn “Spirit of Life” which connected creativity, faith and gratitude for life – ending with the words “roots hold me close, wings set me free.”
My audience didn’t know, it because I had only 30 minutes, but I had described three quarters of my life: 1) flying in unchartered territory 2) following other people’s directives 3) trying to determine who I was myself – with soooo many successful roll models.
The fourth prayer was a meditation – a check on ego: “Caught in a self-centered dream…”. The last line: “Each moment, life as it is, compassion’s way.”
I brought in many books for kids and more examples of kids’ artwork, which embodied much of my own history.
I sit in gratitude now, two weeks later, for having to prepare for this thirty minute talk…for making me realize how my hyphenated life wasn’t so scattered after all…that the connecting tissue of it all was “children”…and to appreciate their creativity and the adult need to both foster “compassion” for all ages and for the whole world!
Here were the meditations:
1) “Anyone can fly. All you need is somewhere to go that you can’t get to any other way and the next thing you know, you’re flying among the stars.” By Faith Ringgold
2) “Oh Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore thee. Enlighten me, guide and strengthen me, tell me what I must do. Give me your orders. I promise to submit to all that you ask of me and to accept whatever you desire to happen to me. Only please let me know they holy will.” By my father, Ed Pfeiffer
3) “Spirit of Life, come unto me. Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion. Blow in the wind. Rise in the sea. Move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice. Roots hold me close. Wings set me free. Spirit of life, come to me, come to me.” By Carolyn McDade
4) “Caught in a self-centered dream, only suffering. Holding to self-centered thought, exactly the dream. Life as it is – the only teacher. Being just this moment, compassion’s way. By Joko Beck
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