CYM 2013 – Saturday

In a tree-dotted field in Kemptville, Ontario, tents are popping up in the dappled shade.  Cars and vans and buses are disgorging passengers.  Folks who haven’t seen each other in ages are embracing like old friends.  Slowly but surely, Canadian Yearly Meeting is coming together again.

Though the scheduled programming hasn’t started in earnest, Friends are busy settling in, preparing for the week ahead, and refreshing the innumerable connections that don’t happen anywhere else.  Though we might worship silently, the sound of laughter, play, and conversation can get cacophonous.  The schedule claims we’re “Retreat”-ing perhaps it ought to say “Rejoicing”.

Programme Committee has been working tirelessly to make sure everything is running smoothly.  Their work speaks for itself, and though the strain shows, the show keeps on rolling.  At some point this afternoon a threshold was crossed and CYM went from being “about to happen” to “happening”.  Our schedule this week is ambitious, but today’s energy and enthusiasm can’t help but inspire optimism.