Dwight Dunston: Finding a Quaker Spiritual Home

In this intimate mini-episode of The Seed: Conversations for Radical Hope, the roles are briefly shifted as host Dwight Dunston shares his own Quaker journey with guest John Calvi. From an antsy teenager in a Quaker high school to finding his "spiritual home" as an adult, Dwight reflects on the power of silence, memory, and the "upper room" of communal worship.

Dwight recalls the bittersweet grief of his final high school meeting for worship, a moment where he realized the profound value of "settling in" with others. "We were bodies in space, but we were also... in a different room," Dwight reflects. After years of traveling and studying poetry abroad, it was a return to Philadelphia during a time of personal loss that led him back to a meeting house, where he finally felt he had found his place.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The transition from "antsy teenager" to a seeker of silent worship.
• The lasting impact of Quaker education on alumni and their spiritual lives.
• Dwight’s journey through grief and his eventual "spiritual homecoming" at Merion Meeting.
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• How the practices of poetry and faith intertwine in Dwight's work as an artist and facilitator.

Related Resources:

• Dwight Dunston’s Official Website
• John Calvi’s Official Website
• Merion Friends Meeting
• Kingian Nonviolence Training Information
• WWUH Radio: Gay Spirit Archive

Guest & Host Bios: Dwight Dunston (aka Sterling Duns) is a West Philly-based facilitator, hip-hop artist, and activist. A Level 2 Certified Kingian Nonviolence Trainer, Dwight brings creativity and care to his work in schools, festivals, and community centers to support healing and wholeness in individuals and ecosystems.

John Calvi is a Quaker healer and singer-songwriter. For over thirty years, he has offered massage and healing touch to survivors of trauma and those living with AIDS. He is the author of The Dance Between Hope and Fear.

NEW Video Version available at Pendle Hill's YouTube page.

The transcript for this episode is available on https://pendlehillseed.buzzsprout.com/
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The Seed is a project of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center open to all for Spirit-led learning, retreat, and community. We’re located in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape people.

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Online Quaker Worship with Dwight: Dwight will attend the Pendle Hill online Quaker worship on the last Friday of the month from 8:30 to 9:10 AM (Eastern Time). Visit Pendle Hill Online Worship for details.

This project is made possible by the generous support of the Thomas H. & Mary Williams Shoemaker Fund.

Transcript

0:08

And it makes me emotional now. was something I knew that was special about coming together and settling in. Hey, You're listening to a mini episode of The Seed, Conversations for Radical Hope, a Pendle Hill podcast. I'm your host, Dwight Dunstan. In this mini episode, I'm sharing a personal reflection of my own journey into Quakerism, taken from my conversation with healer John Calvi. In this clip, you'll hear John and me discuss that upper room feeling of worship and the moment I sat down at Maryam meeting and realized the rest was history. I started sitting in Quaker meeting when I was 14, because I went to a Quaker high school and I was antsy, John. I was antsy. I was an antsy teenager in those moments. Four years later, when I was graduating, I didn't have all the words, but I can remember my very last Quaker meeting feeling, uh I guess nothing else to call it but grief. that I wouldn't have this time structured into my week in the same way. I could certainly go out and it makes me emotional now. There was something I knew that was special about coming together and settling in. What you just articulated makes me, I wanna sit with it more, but there was something about for those 40 minutes, We were body space, but we were also in that. Above we were, we were in a different room. Yes. Upper room. When I went back to that school to work, when I tell you the alum that came back, when we asked them, what's the one thing you missed the most? What did they say? John. Meeting for worship. Meeting for worship. Yeah. Like clockwork. So how did you bring that back into your life then? I had moved back to Philadelphia after living in England. where I studied poetry, I did my masters in creative writing. I went back up to my old school because I was in the area and needed some work. In that time period, that was 2011, my father ended up getting sick and passing away. And so I was imagining I would be only in the area for a couple months and then moving to the West Coast. And I would only be doing some little bit of work at my old school, but I ended up staying there for nine years. Wow. In my second year, we had a opening reception for faculty and staff at Marion Meeting right outside of Philadelphia. That was maybe one of my first times in a meeting room that wasn't in the school, you know, and even at the school was a meeting room slash auditorium. It could have, it might've been my first time at a meeting house. And I sat down for worship with all of my colleagues and something just spoke to me. It just really. felt like I found my spiritual home. Yes. And the rest is history. Yes. Yes. That was an excerpt of my conversation with John Calvi, reflecting on the power of meaningful worship and finding a spiritual home. To hear the full episode this excerpt was taken from, visit the link in our show notes over at Pendlehill.org slash podcast. This episode was produced by Peterson Toscano, co-host of the Quakers Today podcast. Our theme music is the I Rise Project by Reverend Retta Morgan and Bennett Kuhn. produced by Astronautical Records. Other music comes from epidemicsound.com. If you find these conversations meaningful, consider supporting our work financially at pendlehill.org slash donate. These seeds could not be planted without you. Let us pursue love, power, and belonging together.