A single egg takes 4 to 8 hours to complete, long enough for the noises of the world to recede, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak.  It is at such moments that the sacred center is revealed, opening the way for a non-judgmental, supportive listening ear.  Tomila was blessed with such an ear for the 21 seasons she served as a leader at this special week at Mechuwana.

Campers returned year after year, some for the entire 6 years allowable and some continue to return as staff themselves, becoming nearly as accomplished as their teacher.

The essence of the Creative Arts “gospel” has been “you are lovable and capable” (borrowed from a 1960’s unit of curriculum).  Mutual encouragement and affirmation were given, as hands, old and young, explored new things, discovering new dimensions of the gifts God has given each of us.  Tomila’s unerring confidence, endless patience and firm expectation that everyone could grow for a lifetime (a distinctly Wesleyan emphasis) kept us coming back for more.

A lesson painfully learned, year after year, was that eggs sometimes break.  After hours of designing and dyeing comes the critical moment at which the raw center of each egg must be removed through a tiny pinhole.  Silence would descend over all the work areas in the Lodge at the critical moment that each shell was punctured.  Occasionally (Tomila was a pro, so it was only occasionally) the labored-over egg would crack, eliciting gasps and groans and commiserations for the artist.  Blackened wax would then be melted off the fragments with exclamations of what might have been.  Tomila would sympathize for a moment, then sit the artist down to begin another egg.  Hope rises out of loss.  No one knew, or taught that better than Tomila Joanna Christina Louise.

The egg has broken.  And we are sad.  But we know what our teacher would have us do.  It is our privilege, now, to do it, in the company of the Christ she served.

Reflectively, gratefully

Linda Campbell-Marshall