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Photo Courtesy of Rev. Melissa Cooper
Wild Goose People
Interacting with people about music, art and spirituality is what creates experiences at the Wild Goose Festival
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Photo Courtesy of Rev. Melissa Cooper
Berry Poem Poster
Rev. Melissa Cooper painted this poster of a poem by Wendell Berry for the Wild Goose Festival.
This was the first year I participated in the Wild Goose Festival as a volunteer. My husband, our two friends and I arrived Monday afternoon, three days before the festival would begin, to be a part of the setup crew, and to help create the space in which so many would experience the thing that is the Goose. Most of all, though, we wanted to go for cheap, and volunteers pay almost nothing. (Plus I can’t resist a free t-shirt.)
I had heard from friends that volunteering is one of the best ways to experience the festival. We even were pre-festival volunteers, so we worked for 3 days before the festival and were able to fully enjoy the festival as participants, and an extra couple of nights sleeping inches away from the French Broad River wasn’t too shabby.
It was incredible to get to know more of the folks who put their blood, sweat and tears into this event. Our volunteer coordinator and setup crew chief were amazing, and as we met others on the crew, we discovered that one of them was a Florida Methodist. That was just the beginning of my encountering numerous other incredible folks, including more UMC mainliners than you can shake a stick at!
Two years ago at the first Goose I stuck out like a sore thumb attached to the hand of the institutional church. I hesitated to share my denominational affiliation, much less my status as clergy, for fear of coming under immediate suspicion as “one of them.” (I don’t think that ever happened, but I felt it.)
This year, however, there were mainliners all over the place, and one of our UM seminaries was there as an exhibitor. I met a District Superintendent visiting for the day. Two of our UMC news organizations were covering the event, even. My, how far the Goose has come.
One of the most incredible experiences with people, though, was experiencing the Goose through the eyes of our first-timer friends. I got to watch their faces as they heard for the first time Phyllis Tickle’s academic snarkiness. I got to see them awed at hearing such an incredible person as Vincent Harding speak about our culture and our country. And I got to hear them share with such joy after hearing from people I had never even heard of, and neither had they, but people who now are important parts of their faith stories.
The people make the Goose what it is, both organizers and participants alike. The same can be said for nearly any experience, but this is a place in which the collaboration between those who plan and those who participate is allowed to its fullest. Speakers are seen wandering among those of us commoners; organizers attend sessions not to check up on presenters but to learn from them; volunteers or not, everyone is there to lend a helping hand as needed. It’s a collaborative experience.
The people I’ve met at the Goose have always meant a lot to me, and this year was no different. Some of the random conversations and chance meetings enriched my experience and filled my spirit. Over and over again, I encountered people who have so much to share with the world — some of them on platforms with microphones, and some of them in camping chairs holding koozied bottles of beer. I hope I will continue to be one of those people who helps make the Goose what it is.
This year, as a volunteer task, I was given the opportunity to paint one of two poems to contribute to the already naturally beautiful space. I seldom will speak of myself as an artist, though I readily admit I’m artistic. (My mother is a decorative artist — she has painted my whole life. She is easily one of the most talented artists I’ve ever encountered. Needless to say, her talent most likely contributed to my lack of exploration of art.)
However, I do enjoy lettering and some basic painting, and I jumped at the chance to paint this poem to share with the festival. It was exactly the project I needed after a long summer of leading camps.
The poem itself seeped into my heart as I lined and painted each letter individually of “The Wild Geese” by Wendell Berry. Though the Wild Goose metaphor is intended to evoke images of the nature of the Holy Spirit, I find a bit of the Spirit in all the incredible souls I’ve encountered at the festival over the last three summers. We have found, again and again, that what we need is, in fact, here at the Goose. Here’s to all the wild geese I’ve been blessed to know.
The Rev. Melissa Cooper, a United Methodist ordained deacon, works at a retreat center in central Florida. She blogs at Learning to Sail.