Day 3 - Philippi, WV

by Selene Kaye

Yesterday we were welcomed by a community into their church to be with them as they worshipped. Members of the People’s Chapel in Chestnut Ridge, WV made room in their small church for our group of 45 to join them and made time for each of us to introduce ourselves to them. I cannot imagine a greater gesture of warmth and hospitality than including us in such an intimate part of their lives and of their community. Especially because I didn’t grow up going to church, it was amazing to me to be welcomed with such open arms into something so unfamiliar to me. People I’d never met treated me like a good friend, smiled and shook my hand with no trace of suspicion about who I am or why I was there. And although I do not believe the same things as they do, I found so much in the service to relate to: thinking about what our role in life is, taking responsibility for our own paths, dealing with anxiety, and focusing on the journey rather than on achieving success. I seek answers to these questions in different ways, but I felt a connection simply in the fact that we are all asking them, and I felt admiration for the openness with which they seek answers.

We don’t all agree on the answers, or the process by which they should be determined, and there is inevitably discomfort in being confronted by traditions and beliefs different from our own. We are feeling many things three days into our journey: excitement, curiosity, confusion, overwhelm, connection, inspiration, exhaustion. But it is in the discomfort that we will be challenged to question our own beliefs and assumptions, and to grow and do the learning that we are here to do.