Season 2, episode 6. In this episode of Quakers Today we ask, How do you process memories, experiences and feelings?

For the best listening experience we encourage you to listen to this episode with headphones or earbuds. 

Rashid Darden’s Personal Reflections

The episode features Rashid Darden and his reflection of identity and faith. As a Black person in a predominantly white faith community, Rashid’s experience is unique and enlightening. He shares, “The surprising thing about my journey in the Quaker faith is that I’m still able to show up as my entire self and not be penalized for it… and in fact, to be celebrated for it.” 

Rashid Darden is an award-winning, best-selling novelist of urban LGBT experiences, a seasoned leader of Black fraternal movements and nonprofit organizations, and a professional educator in alternative schools. He lives in Conway, North Carolina. Rashid serves as the Associate Secretary for Communications and Outreach for Friends General Conference. 

Hear more of Rashid’s reflections in the QuakerSpeak video, Growing the Community of Friends, Embracing Diversity, and Quakerism. It is also available at the QuakerSpeak YouTube Channel. Many thanks to Christopher Cuthrell for providing this audio. 

Influences on Virginia Woolf

Peterson Toscano draws a parallel between the Quaker faith and the literary world, focusing on Virginia Woolf, a renowned early 20th-century author. Some scholars suggest that Woolf’s feminist stance and innovative writing techniques were significantly influenced by her Quaker aunt, Caroline Stephen. She is the author of the classic religious text, Quaker Strongholds. This connection highlights how Quaker practices of self-reflection and inner exploration may have impacted Woolf’s iconic stream of consciousness writing style, particularly evident in characters like Mrs. Dalloway.

Dig Deeper into Caroline Stephen and Virginia Woolf:

• “A Quaker Influence on Moder English Literature: Virginia Woolf and her Quaker Aunt Caroline Stephen“ by Alison M Lewis
• The Search for God: Virginia Woolf and Caroline Emelia Stephen by Kathleen A. Heininge, George Fox University
• “Virginia Woolf’s Vision of Utopia“ by Diane Reynolds

Quakers and Fiction: Vicki Winslow’s “Sabbatical”

The episode also brings us the story “Sabbatical” by Vicki Winslow. After experiencing the loss of her father, Silena Yancey travels from North Carolina to the American Southwest to find inspiration, which she hopes leads to equilibrium. Vicki shares, “My story ‘Sabbatical’ is largely a collage… In many ways, we’re all on a sort of pilgrimage.” This narrative invites listeners into the internal pilgrimage of its protagonist, providing a window into the process of self-discovery and reflection.

Vicki Winslow is a writer who currently serves as clerk of the Friends Meeting in Liberty, North Carolina. Her publications include Follow the Leader for middle readers, a novella called The Conversion of Jefferson Scotten, and short stories in both literary and online journals including the story “The Last Bear“ in Deep South Magazine.

Read the full story in the November 2023 issue of Friends Journal or on FriendsJournal.org. In our podcast feed, you will also find a bonus recording to Vicki’s story. 

Satire in Quaker Context

Adding a different flavor to the episode, Peterson discusses Donn Weinholtz’s book, Jesus Christ, M.B.A.: A Gospel for Our Times. The story is illustrated by David Weinholtz. Carl Blumenthal reviewed the short book for Friends Journal. He writes,

Conventional wisdom says that if Jesus returned today, he would be branded a heretic, a lunatic, or a criminal. Yet Donn Weinholtz’s satire on the Second Coming imagines him as a rabble-rouser, who, instead of rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, plunges into the political fray as an independent candidate for the U.S. presidency.

Closing Thoughts and Invitation

As Peterson Toscano and the team begin preparing for the next season of Quakers Today, he invites listeners to share their experiences of the show and share feedback. Leave a voice message or send an email. You will find contact details below.

Question for next month

How do you process memories, experiences, and feelings?

Leave a voice memo with your name and the town where you live. The number to call is 317-QUAKERS, that’s 317-782-5377. +1 if calling from outside the U.S. Or email podcast@friendsjournal.org 

 

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Transcript for Quakers, Fiction, and Virginia Woolf

Peterson Toscano 

In this episode of Quakers Today, we ask, “How do you process memories, experiences and feelings?” I highlight two stories for you. “Sabbatical” is a short story written by Vicki Winslow, a Quaker in Liberty, North Carolina. Jesus Christ MBA is a satire about the Second Coming. We also hear a personal testimony from Rashid Darden. He lives in Conway North Carolina. Rasheed reflects on his experiences of being Black in a predominantly white faith community. I am Peterson Toscano. This is season two, episode six of Quakers Today, a Friends Publishing Corporation podcast. This episode of Quakers Today is sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee.

Rashid Darden  

My name is Rashid Darden. The surprising thing about my journey in the Quaker faith is that despite it being a predominantly white faith community, that I’m still able to show up as my entire self and not be penalized for it or punished for it, and in fact, to be celebrated for it. And I noticed that about the Quaker faith and people that identify as Friends. We are all unapologetic in our way, about our ways of being and ways of showing up in the world. And I can’t help but think that that is divine intervention, that is nothing but God. That is not “we all read the same book and came to the same conclusions.” It’s that we looked within and listened. And we’re led to the same place. 

There’s data out there that discusses people who are making the decision to be spiritual, but not religious. What a lot of people are doing is leaving Christianity altogether. As someone who almost wasn’t a Christian myself, the Quaker faith was the last stop before I decided to not be religious at all. The Quaker faith is not a country club. It’s not a legacy society. The most important Quaker is the Friend who is yet to be convinced. My personal ministry is one that is so convinced that Quakerism is one of the best possible paths to take that it would be wrong for me to keep quiet about it that it will be wrong for me not to share my story.

Peterson Toscano  

That was Rasheed Darden, in an excerpt from the QuakerSpeak video entitled “Growing the Community of Friends, Embracing diversity, and Quakerism.” You will find the full version of this QuakerSpeak video on YouTube, or visit Quakerspeak.com for a full transcript and discussion questions. 

Many people know the writings and views of Virginia Woolf, the early 20th century English author. But did you know that Woolf’s feminist stance and her innovative literary techniques were influenced by a famous Quaker? Caroline Stephen. Caroline, the sister of Virginia’s father ,was the original outlier in the family. Not only did Virginia Woolf’s Aunt Caroline leave the family’s evangelical Christian faith to become a Quaker; she also passionately supported women’s rights. Caroine Stephen remained unmarried, was an active member of the Quaker Meeting in Cambridge, England, and wrote the classic book Quaker Strongholds. As a child and teen before she married Leonard Wolof, Virginia Stephen went on extended visits to her Aunt Caroline’s home. Virginia joined Caroline for the mostly silent worship services at the Quaker Meeting House. This time in quiet contemplation exposed young Virginia to a practice of self reflection, and the exploration of the inner life.  

Some literary scholars suggest that these experiences contributed to Woolf’s stream of consciousness writing style. In a Virginia Woolf novel much of the action and drama happen inside characters like Mrs. Dalloway. Outwardly, she goes about everyday mundane tasks, but inwardly we witness a world of memories, desires and conflicts. 

The story “Sabbatical” by Vicki Winslow got me thinking about Virginia Woolf’s stream of consciousness style. Silena, the main character in sabbatical goes on a trip from North Carolina to the American Southwest. On the surface not much happens during the trip. Winslow presents a series of scenes where Silena interacts with strangers and mostly fails in her quest. Through the scenes though, we are witnesses to Silena’s essential, epic inner journey, Vicki Winslow chatted with me about the story and agreed to read an excerpt for us.

Vicki Winslow  

I write, but I often begin by telling people that I write letters because I write a huge number of letters. It’s nice because it gives me a huge pool of memories and experiences. Since they live on my computer, I can do keyword searches and, and bring those back. 

I like people to know that I’m involved with our little Quaker meeting here in Liberty. I’m a daughter and a sister. Those identities are key to me and especially right now. I’m at my mother’s house because my dad passed away about a month ago. And we are, my sisters and I, are taking turns staying with her and making sure things are good here at the house. 

My story “Sabbatical” is largely a collage. And honestly, Peterson I haven’t described it to anyone yet. A lot of my writing happens in solitude. And I don’t have a large or even a small number of people that I share my writing with. “Sabbatical” is four chunks or fragments of experiences and thoughts that were rather scattered across, again, across my computer, in letters and in journal entries. 

In many ways, we’re all on a sort of pilgrimage or if we’re lucky on a sabbatical that gives us time to think and listen and understand better where we are, where we stand in the world. I don’t think Silena, the main character in “Sabbatical” knows what is happening even inside her. She knows bits and pieces of it, but she’s trying to pull it together. Since she is a Quaker minister, she should have resources to help her get through things like the death of her father. She doesn’t know where she’s going or what she needs. She just knows she doesn’t have it. She’s seeking as Quakers are often known to do. To me it’s more of a snapshot into a person’s life.

Vicki Winslow  (reading story)

“Sabbatical”

Selina Yancey gazed through her office window. Across the snowy parking lot, two white poplars on the edge of the woods behind the meetinghouse had caught her eye. The smaller tree, bent during a recent ice storm, leaned against the larger tree at a point some eight feet above the ground, forming a rough arch. Selina pulled on her parka. The echoing emptiness indoors couldn’t compete with such a clear invitation.

The poplar archway led into a dimmer twilight. The silence was like the quiet of open worship—a soaring quiet with an understory of low murmuring sounds: breath, shuffling, the creak of a pew, and occasionally the voice of a Friend sharing a thought. Among the hollies, briars, and tangled brush of the woods, the quiet held the murmuring and shuffling of squirrels, soft bird calls, and wind-stirred snow dropping from branches.

Selina drew a deep breath in the cold, silvered-mirror stillness, filling her lungs with ice-blue air, air so cold she thought it might turn to snow inside her. She exhaled through her mouth. Holy Spirit, breathe on me. A burst of vapor hung in the air in front of her, as if she stood before an invisible glass made visible by her breath, then gone. Why must it always go?

After Sunday’s service, Selina met with the trustees to request a leave of absence for two weeks in March. “A sabbatical,” she explained, “a chance to recharge and prepare for the Easter season.”

“We understand.” Mrs. Logan, eldest of the three elders, patted Selina’s right arm. “We want you to take care of yourself.” She tried to look into Selina’s face, but Selina was studying her shoes. Only her round, vulnerable chin was visible beyond a curtain of pale, wavy hair.

A second trustee patted her left arm, and told her to take all the time she needed. “Do you have something special planned?”

Selina pulled herself together and raised her head. “I plan to fly down to Texas.”

The trustees would imagine she had friends or family in Texas. She didn’t. Texas was home to Agustín, a mixed-media artist. Selina had discovered him through a coffee-table book titled Open Sky in the waiting room of her father’s oncologist. Agustín created grand representations of an apparently limitless, dreamy southwestern sky. Selina had lost herself in the photographs of his works while waiting for the next round of bad news from the doctor. A major exhibit of Agustín’s work was currently on display in Dallas, and smaller pieces hung in the capitol in Austin. Seeing them in person would surely inspire and inspirit her, restore her equilibrium.

Peterson Toscano That was Vicki Winslow reading an excerpt from her short story, Sabbatical. It appears in the November 2023 issue of Friends Journal. It is also available to read online at FriendsJournal.org. If you want to hear Vicki read the entire story, I posted it separately in the podcast feed. I also put a link to it for you in the show notes along with links to articles about Virginia Woolf and her Aunt, Caroline Stephen. Visit QuakersToday.org. 

Book Review

Before we end, let’s talk about satire. From my experience with Quakers, Fundamentalist Christians, and Fundamental Quaker Christians, satire does not always go down well. Some get so caught up in the words that they miss the point. But satire is a powerful genre for exposing injustice and hypocrisy. It also can be entertaining. That describes Donn Weinholtz’s new book, Jesus Christ, M.B.A.: A Gospel for Our Times. The story is illustrated by David Weinholtz. 

Carl Blumenthal reviewed the short book for Friends Journal. He writes: 

Conventional wisdom says that if Jesus returned today, he would be branded a heretic, a lunatic, or a criminal. Yet Donn Weinholtz’s satire on the Second Coming imagines him as a rabble-rouser, who, instead of rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, plunges into the political fray as an independent candidate for the U.S. presidency.

Donn Weinholtz’s inventive narrative and wordplay are matched by David Weinholtz’s acerbic drawings of Jesus and his antagonists, which, with their captioned sound bites, magnify JC’s stature just as his sayings and parables do in the original gospels.

The book is Jesus Christ, M.B.A.: A Gospel for Our Times. It is written by Donn Weinsholtz and  illustrated by David Weinholtz. It is available at the FGC’s Quakers Books page at Bookshop.org. Read Carl Blumenthal’s full review in the November 2023 issue of Friends Journal or at FriendsJournal.org.

Closing

Thank you for joining me for this episode of Quakers Today. This is officially the end of Season Two, but next month we will give you a special bonus episode. I am pleased to announce that Season Three will premiere in early 2023. As we begin to plan and produce the new season, I need to hear from you. What is your experience of the Quakers Today podcast? What do you like about it that you want me to keep in the show? What would you like changed or added. Share with me your thoughts. You can reach me by email, podcast@friendsjournal.org that podcast@friendsjournal.org.

Quakers Today is written and produced by me, Peterson Toscano. Music on today’s show comes from Epidemic Sound. 

Season Two of Quakers Today has been sponsored by American Friends Service Committee

Do you want to challenge unjust systems and promote lasting peace? The American Friends Service Committee, or AFSC works with communities worldwide to drive social change. Their website features meaningful steps you can take to make a difference. Through their Friends Liaison Program, you can connect your meeting or church with AFSC and their justice campaigns. Find out how you can become part of AFSC’s global community of changemakers. Visit AFSC dot ORG. That’s AFSC dot ORG.

Visit QuakersToday.org to see our show notes and a full transcript of this episode. 

And if you stick around after the closing, you will find details about our monthly question. 

Thank you Friend. I look forward to spending more time with you soon.  

This  Month’s Question 

Hey there, every month I share a question and then I invite listeners to call in and leave a voicemail. I don’t know if people are shy or maybe it is how you listen to podcasts. You may think to yourself, Oh, I want to answer that question, but you are running or cooking or traveling, and it is not convenient to call at that moment. Then life crowds in and you forget to call. I would love to hear from you, and I am grateful for all the messages people leave. So if you have been thinking of leaving a message, this might be the perfect question.  Here it is: How do you process memories, experiences, and feelings? In this episode we heard how Vicki Winslow takes what she writes in letters and journal entries and reworks these into a short story. This process helps you to process her memories, experiences, and emotions. For some people going for a walk alone in the woods helps or chatting with a friend or some other way. What about you? How do you process memories, experiences, and feelings?

Leave a voice memo with your name and the town where you live. The number to call is 317-QUAKERS, that’s 317-782-5377. 317 Quakers. +1 if calling from outside the USA. You can also send an email. I have these contact details in our show notes over at QuakersToday.org.