Wednesday, December 2, 2015

On Point #33

Hello good gentles,

I want to relate a story, of sorts. About five years ago when my wife, my friends, and I joined the SCA, we had one of those memorable experiences which helps newcomers to remain in our Society. It was our second event, or so, and a Kingdom Coronation; of course, I knew very little about anything related to that, had no idea how the entire process worked, and so forth. All I knew is that we’d come to the event, and had planned to, as a group, help serve feast.

At the end, when they called the feast staff out, the King, now Jarl Ari, held me and my friends back and told us how good it was to see new people come right in and find a place to begin serving. One of the things that he said which stuck out in my mind was that everyone, in some capacity, serves during their time at an event or in the club. He further said that it was a good sign that we’d found something to dive into with service right away and that, he himself, had begun by serving feast in a kitchen.

They were powerful words, and stay with me almost five years later. Because we’d found a place to pitch in, we had found a place to fit in. For the next few events, The Thing that my friends and I would go do was serving feast. It got so that I met people in the kitchen or as hall stewards, some of whom have become some of my closet friends.

So when you’re talking to a newcomer, or meet one at an event, consider offering to go serve with
them. Even something as simple as coming along with a couple people to help prepare a meal, serve the feast, or clean the hall can build many lasting memories and help that newcomer meet people during the course of their day. Because really, in the end? Many people come for the fighting, or the arts, and so on… but they stay because of the friends they make and the people they meet.

Yours in service,

James

Honorable Lord James Highgate is cadet to Don William of Aschem and protégé to Baroness Ilene
Johnnestoune. He is, further, the Kingdom Hospitaller and can be reached for comments at Jacob.a.tessler@gmail.com

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