Cathy Draine
In being part of the resident student community at Pendle Hill, I experienced every type of life situation, from the ordinary to the extraordinary. In and out of class, we delved into the study of social action and social change; the formative and directing messages of family, society, self, and spirit; faith and religion; privilege and oppression; strength, truth, and power that transcends pain and loss; and spiritual freedom. I learned that only by listening deeply in my soul, to my own story, to other people, and to God can I hear the true needs of this world and the ways I am called to answer them.
I came to Pendle Hill directly from working with children in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. After years of social activism, I needed healing and reenergizing. I was also seeking an opportunity to grow as an artist, to grow as a writer, and to have an audience – my first real audience – for my plays. Putting on a show for the Pendle Hill community was like being a big kid with your family watching the result of all the work you've done. They love you through it: they love you through every presentation, and every offering of spirit that you have to give – and they challenge you to go deeper.
I left knowing how to make choices and engage in work in a way that is true to my own history, present reality, and purpose, and true to what I believe is God's plan for this time of my life. To grow in whatever our calling is, we need to be able to recognize a teacher when one is standing before us. At Pendle Hill, we became teachers to one another, sharing our stories as we accompanied each other through our struggles and triumphs. I think young activists can benefit, as I did, from the humbling and empowering experience of realizing yours is not the only voice in the wind, that there are others, too, who are working to live intentionally with one another in the world.
