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February 2005 QuakerShaker
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dablan-@aol.com
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Mar 31, 2005 06:53 PST
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1.February Calendar
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Sundays 8:30 a.m. Meeting for Worship, Rockford
10:00 a.m. Friendly Living Discussion & First Day
School for Children, both at Rockford
11:00 a.m. Meeting for Worship, Rockford
(Childcare is available)
Wednesdays 7:00 a.m. Meeting for Worship, Rockford
Saturdays 12-1:00 p.m. Peace Vigil, corner of Limestone & Xenia
Ave.
Sunday, Feb. 6, 1:00 p.m. Meeting for Business, Rockford, following a
potluck lunch
Sat & Sun., Feb. 12-13 Library Work Bees, Rockford (see below)
Sunday, Feb. 20 Quarterly Meeting, Mills Lawn School in
Yellow Springs (pg 4)
Saturday, Feb. 26, 3-6:00 p.m. Abwoon Study Circle & Dances of
Universal Peace, Rockford (pg 6)
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2. Library Work Bees
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Friends will have two opportunities to browse the Yellow Springs Friends
Meeting Library collection, and help organize and straighten the
shelves, on Saturday Feb. 12 from 11:00-2:00, and Sunday Feb. 13,
following the rise of Meeting for Worship. For more information, call
Claire Winold at 767-7142. Claire says the library has acquired some
wonderful new books recently. Stop in and see them!
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3. Annual Appeal—Peggy Champney, Assistant Treasurer
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Here is an update on progress in the Meeting’s Annual Appeal for the
General Fund: Receipts for the Meeting's general fund, through Jan. 16,
2005: $18,746 from 43 households. Our goal (as budget) is $25,026.
Funds for Young Friends
Our Meeting has a fund that will pay half the cost for a child or young
person who attends a Friends camp or summer program. For more
information, contact Ken or Peggy Champney (treasurers) at 767-1311.
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4, Americans and Torture—Ann Cooper
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Nearly 30 years ago, Friends World Committee for Consultation offered
this statement about a concern that remains disturbingly relevant:
torture.
It is a matter of grave anxiety that torture and secret imprisonment are
being used by many governments, anti-government groups, and others to
extract information, to suppress criticism, and to intimidate
opposition, so that throughout the world countless numbers of men and
women and children are suffering inhuman treatment. We believe in the
worth of every individual as a child of God, and that no circumstances
whatsoever can justify practices intended to break bodies, minds and
spirits.
Both tortured and torturer are victims of the evil from which no human
being is immune. Friends, however, believe that the life and power of
God are greater than evil. And in that life and power declare their
opposition to all torture. The Society calls on all its members, as well
as those of all religious and other organizations, to create a force of
public opinion which will oblige those responsible to dismantle
everywhere the administrative apparatus which permits or encourages
torture, and to observe effectively those international agreements under
which its use is strictly forbidden.
Recently, Human Rights Watch has faulted the U.S. government for its use
of torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo, saying these actions not only
defy international law, but establish a destructive and dangerous
precedent that brutal systems are only to happy to imitate:
The U.S. government’s systematic use of coercive interrogation has
weakened a pillar of international human rights law — the requirement
that governments should never subject detainees to torture or other
mistreatment, even in the face of war or other serious threat. Yet in
fighting terrorism, the U.S. government has treated this cornerstone
obligation as a matter of choice, not duty.
By ignoring human rights standards in its reaction to September 11, the
Bush administration has made it easier for governments around the world
to cite the U.S. example as an excuse to ignore human rights. Egypt has
defended a decision to renew its problematic “emergency law” by
referring to U.S. anti-terror legislation. The Malaysian government
justifies detention without trial by invoking Guantánamo. Russia cites
Abu Ghraib to blame abuses in Chechnya solely on low-level soldiers.
Cuba now claims the Bush administration had “no moral authority to
accuse” it of human rights violations.
“Governments facing human rights pressure from the United States now
find it easy to turn the tables,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director
of Human Rights Watch. “Washington can’t very well uphold principles
that it violates itself.”
Human Rights Watch’s 2005 Report (http://www.hrw.org/)
One organization, Physicians for Human Rights, confronts this issue and
urges Americans to speak out against torture. Their website suggests
leaving the following phone message for President Bush (202-456-1111):
“I am calling from (city, state) to ask President Bush for an absolute
prohibition of torture in all forms, including stress and duress
techniques, and to request that the US government reveal techniques
being used in detention centers.”
To learn more about Physicians for Human Rights and their position on
this issue, go to
http://www.phrusa.org/research/torture/action06012004.html.
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5, Getting to know Victoria Burke
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Thanks to Victoria for sharing this bit of her spiritual history.
There’s more to her story, and we may look forward to another
installment in a future issue. —A. Cooper
I was raised a Roman Catholic and, as a young child, wanted to
convert everyone to the "one true faith.” As a teen I "fell away," as
the Catholics used to say, and it wasn't until my 30s that I got into a
Unitarian Universalist Church in Manhattan. I was there for about 20
years, met and married Robert Martin, and we had a daughter, Elizabeth.
My first experience of Meeting for Worship with Friends was
during these years when I visited Powell House* in New York City. We
gathered for an hour of total silence. I sat on what looked like an
adequate window seat. It was an hour of boredom and backache during
which I thought, “My God, how can they do this? I know I’ll never do it
again.”
Over the years, I visited Powell House more and learned that I
like a lot of things that seemed to define Friends. I knew I was being
drawn in gradually, and I suspected that eventually I might… but, “Oh
no! I could never sit through the meetings.” God had some good laughs
then, if she looked ahead and saw my path.
Now the funny thing about my experiences at Powell House was that
I had a sense of being drawn to Quakers and of seeing myself pulled, but
not being there yet. The two things that I saw were the peace testimony
and the silent meetings. Both seemed appealing but I wasn't ready for
either.
But life went on and I finally learned to meditate. It was
something I had tried before but under the tutelage of someone I love
and trust (Christa) I found that I could, at that time, get onto a
meditation bench on the floor and settle in. It was taught this way:
Settle down into a good position for you, either on pillow, bench or
chair. Place your right hand in your left hand, place feet flat on floor
in a relaxed posture, sit up straight enough, focus on a place in your
back and wait for a word or image from God. And stay still no matter
what! I was amazed at how well that practice worked for me and still
does when I have the discipline to do it.
I learned to listen and that brought me out to Indiana and into
the Earlham School of Religion. There I was surprised and delighted to
find that I experienced Friends Meeting in a different way. I knew what
it was and I liked it and ... you get the picture.
So, though I came to ESR as a UU, within months I asked to join
Clear Creek Monthly Meeting** and did become a member of the Religious
Society of Friends sometime in 1997.
So that's a bit of my story friends. –Victoria Burke
* Powell House is the conference and retreat center of New York
Yearly Meeting. Visit http://www.powellhouse.org/
** Clear Creek Friends Meeting is in Richmond, on the Earlham campus.
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6. Miami Quarterly Meeting
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February 20 Mills Lawn Elementary School in Yellow Springs
9:00-10:00 Set-up
10:00-11:00 Friends of all ages arrive at Mills Lawn to socialize and
sing
11:00-noon Meeting for Worship
11:15 Children leave Meeting
Noon Lunch, following the rise of Meeting
1:00 Meeting for Worship with Attention to Business, Adult program,
Whitewater Quarter’s Assessment Minute
Yellow Springs Friends will provide the main meal, drinks, and table
service for the potluck lunch. Friends are asked to bring desserts,
salads, other side dishes and breads. There are no facilities at the
school for cooking. No microwaves or refrigerators are available.
Crock-pots may be plugged in, and ice chests are welcome.
Contact Susan Hyde if you would be able to help, 767-7756
Additional contact information:
Yellow Springs contacts: Dale Blanchard dablan-@aol.com and
767-7891 and Susan Hyde susan-@aol.com and 767-7756
Miami Quarter Clerk: Ben Griffith, beng-@aol.com, 502-223-7418
Children’s Program: Dayton Friends Meeting, Nikki Tousley
nikkit-@hotmail.com
Middle Youth Program: Lou Bucklin lbuc-@indiana.edu and Heidi Eastman
eastma-@hotmail.com and 767-7592.
Youth Program: OVYM Youth Secretary, James Taylor jagu-@earthlink.net
Updated info on our website: http://quakershaker.net/Quarterly.htm
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7. What is the Quarterly Meeting?
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The Quarterly Meeting is designed to bring together for inspiration and
counsel a larger group, and to consider more varied interests than any
single meeting embraces. It is composed of constituent Monthly Meetings,
each of which shall appoint representatives to attend it.
Its form of organization should be similar to that of the Monthly
Meeting. It is to receive and forward reports from Monthly Meetings to
the Yearly Meeting, and to appoint representatives thereto. It may hold
property and trusts and appoint for specific services committees over
which it shall have original and final jurisdiction. Its most helpful
function should be to aid and encourage the Monthly Meetings composing
it to greater interest and service, and to give its members an
increasing vision of the truth. It should be diligent in seeking
opportunities to gather together groups which may be organized into
meetings and should always be ready to help Monthly Meetings whenever
they ask for advice or assistance. –Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting Book of
Discipline
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1658—Art & Entertainment as Bad Influence
All ye Poets, Jesters, rhimers, makers of Verses and Ballads, who bend
your wits to please novelties, light minds, who delights in jests and
toyes, more than in the simple naked truth which you should be united
to, you are for the undoing of many poor souls, it is your work to
tickle up the ears of people with your jests and toyes; this proceeds
from a wrong heart where dwells the lust, and feeds the wrong heart and
mind and wits, which brings them to the grave and dust, and there buries
the minds and clogs the nature, which is a shame to all that be in the
modesty and pure sincerity & truth and cleaness of mind....
George Fox, 1658
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Friends Music Camp
http://www.quaker.org/friends-music-camp
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Quakers, Beauty & Fun, Several Centuries Later God is in all beauty, not
only in the natural beauty of earth and sky, but in all fitness of
language and rhythm, whether it describe a heavenly vision or a street
fight, a Hamlet or a Falstaff, a philosophy or a joke; in all fitness of
line and colour and shade, whether seen in the Sistine Madonna or a
child's knitted frock; in all fitness of sound and beat and measure,
whether the result be Bach's Passion music or a child's nursery
jingle. The quantity of God, so to speak, varies in the different
examples, but His quality of beauty in fitness remains the
same.—Caroline Graveson, 1937
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Quakers Boldly “tickling up the ears” in 2005
An old Quaker farmer heard some rustling in his barn. He grabbed his gun
and investigated. Finding a man stealing from him yet wishing to adhere
to the Friend's Peace Testimony, the old Quaker said very kindly,
"Friend, I mean thee no harm, but I about to shoot where thee art
standing."
A Definition Enthusiasm: Self-generated energy, or the assertion of
self, instead of waiting to speak in the Light. —from Daughters of
Light: Quaker Women Preaching and Prophesying in the Colonies and
Abroad, 1700-1775
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Weapons of Mass Instruction: Anti-War Books for Young People
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Young readers, their parents, teachers and librarians will be interested
in this site that provides a list of books about war and its
consequences. The site also lists books in Spanish and Japanese, as well
as related peace education resources.
http://www.sol-plus.net/peace.htm
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8. New Time for Dances of Universal Peace
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The Dances of Universal Peace and the Abwoon Study Circle will
now be held at Rockford, on Saturdays, from 4 to 6 pm. Upcoming dates
include Feb. 26, Mar. 26.
A dance leader in Columbus says, "In this time of intense pain in
the world, from tsunami victims to the war-torn Middle East, there can
be something that emerges from our gathering with intention for peace
that makes a difference. Whether at the inner level for an individual's
sense of purpose and action, or whether a sense of community that
strengthens us to continue with choice and direction, or whether
something solely in the realms of vibrational reality, we pray that
there be something for each one who contributes their voice, heart,
mind, and body to prayers of peace." (The Rev. Elizabeth Reed, PhD)
The Abwoon Study Circle will continue with the Prayers of the
Cosmos/ Healing Prayer series by Neil Douglas-Klotz and meet before the
Dances, 3-4 pm.
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9. One Body —Hazel Tulecke
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I have a picture gallery in my head
Full of pictures placed there by my life.
Now sometimes a light turns on
and I see one come alive.
One of these first appeared there about fifty years ago
(You may have heard about it if you’ve known me for a while.)
It’s been lit up a lot for me lately.
It’s a bigger-than-life portrait of woman in anguish.
Holding the limp dead body of her small child
who’d been killed in Hiroshima—or some other attack.
When this first appeared, I had two small children—so I knew.
I knew in my own belly: I am this woman.
This child is my child. And I CRIED.
In the bible, Paul says, the body is one and though it has different
members which do different things—
all are members of our body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free.
I read in a book by a Buddhist woman—about a man—
Yes a tender man. (Thank goodness there are many these days!)
Chancing by the television he watched small children’s bodies being
carried out of the Oklahoma City Bombing. He too had recently had
children of his own. These children he saw on TV were as if his own
children. And he was their father. And he CRIED.
How did we ever get to thinking that we are separate? That killing
Iraqis
or Palestinians or Colombians can leave us still alive & well?
When once we know otherwise—when we know we are one body
we may each find out our next step, and the next,
and the next — and the next.
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For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not
have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and
individually members one of another. Romans 12:4-5 New
American Standard Bible
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10. Monthly Meeting for Business January 2, 2005
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Yellow Springs Friends met for business at Rockford, January 2, 2005.
Present were: Dale Blanchard (clerk), Tucker Malishenko, Terry Snider,
Don Hollister, Kay Hollister, Betty Wagner, Paul Wagner, Carl Hyde,
Bruce Heckman, Cindy Butler-Jones, Peg Champney, Irwin Abrams, Carolyn
Treadway, Jane Morgan, Denise Runyon, Billie Eastman, Hazel Tulecke,
Dick Eastman, Joan Brucker, Ellen Duell, Claire Winold, Kathy Angel,
Victoria Burke, Iris Morand, Eva Paige, Carol Simmons, Allen Treadway.
The meeting opened in silent worship. Out of the silence, the clerk read
the First Query on Silent Worship and Ministry from the Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting Faith and Practice. Friends offered a variety of
responses on both the query itself and to the clerk’s reading of an
alternative query on corporate spirituality.
Minutes. The clerk read the minutes from the December 5, 2004, Meeting
for Worship with Attention to Business. We noted that Victoria Burke was
listed as being present when in fact she was not. We also relocated the
last sentence from item #7 to the end of item #5.
1. Request for membership. The clerk read a letter from Katy Kola
requesting membership and referred it to the Membership and Pastoral
Care Committee.
2. Circle of Reconciliation. Denise Runyon reported that Raymond Ruka
had agreed to hold a Circle of Reconciliation at Rockford. She described
something of this tradition. We agreed on January 30 as a date for
holding this event and agreed to invite others in the community through
Yellow Springs Interfaith Council. Denise will make arrangements with
Raymond and see that it is announced in the Yellow Springs News.
3. Discussion of Whitewater Minute. Speaking for the Ministry and
Advancement Committee, Cindy Butler-Jones announced that the Yellow
Springs Friends Meeting would be discussing the Whitewater Quarterly
Meeting minute regarding contributions to Yearly Meeting after a potluck
on January 16.
4. Letters to the clerk. The clerk read a letter from Gene Kingsburg in
Guatemala seeking that we give greater attention to peace-related
concerns. The clerk will send him a letter thanking him for his letter.
The clerk also read a letter from the Dayton office of the AFSC about
being socially active after the election and passed it to the Peace and
Social Concerns Committee.
5. Membership and Pastoral Care Committee. Carol Simmons reported that
the Committee had taken up the concern referred to it at the December
Meeting for Business regarding the John and Terry Eastman wedding. She
read a minute adopted by the Committee. In giving consideration to the
Committee’s minute, Friends affirmed the importance of inclusiveness and
good communication between the marriage committee, the wedding couple
and the Meeting. We referred the minute back to the Committee and ask
that it give it further consideration and bring it back to the Meeting
for Business when they are able.
6. Snow removal. Don Hollister reported on recent events and
communications with the Village and Antioch regarding snow removal and
access to Rockford. We agreed that the Meeting should communicate its
gratitude to the Village for volunteering to remove snow on Antioch’s
behalf. We also affirmed the importance of good and continuing
communication with the University regarding the history of the
relationship between the Meeting and the University and our respective
responsibilities for the care and maintenance of Rockford. We asked the
Building Committee to handle communication with the University as the
Committee sees fit.
7. Quarterly Meeting. The clerk reported on the status of the February
20th Quarterly Meeting, which our Meeting has been asked to host. We
agreed to accept this responsibility. Carolyn Treadway and Don Hollister
volunteered to assist Susan Hyde who has already been working on this.
We understand that our hosting the February Meeting will replace our
responsibility for hosting in May.
The meeting closed in silent worship.
The next meeting for business will be Sunday, February 6, 2005 at 1:00
PM at Rockford.
Bruce Heckman, substitute recording clerk
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Teach me, O God, not to torture myself, not to make a
martyr out of myself through stifling reflection, but rather teach me to
breathe deeply in faith.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
O Lord and Master of my life,
give me not a spirit of sloth,
vain curiosity, lust for power and idle talk.
But give to me, your servant,
a spirit of soberness,
humility, patience and love.
Yea, O Lord and King,
grant me to see my own faults,
and not to condemn my brother;
for blessed are you to the ages of ages. Amen.
—Saint Ephraim the Syrian (307-373 C.E.)
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11. Second Query: Prayer & Divine Relationship
Do you so order your life as to include reading, meditation and
communion, that you may know more of the presence and guidance of the
Divine Spirit? Do you remember the need to pray for others, holding them
in the presence of God?
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