Fourth Month, 2005

QUERIES for the Fourth Month: MUTUAL CARE

• How do we foster a spirit of community among the Meeting's members and attendees?
• Do we keep in contact with all of the Meeting's members and attendees?
• How does the Meeting assist couples and families to communicate, grow together, and rear children in a loving environment?
• Does the community nurture the Meeting's children?
• How does the Meeting care for those who live alone, the sick, the aging, the widowed, the separated or divorced, and others with families affected by disruption?
• Do we assist Friends in need as their circumstances require?
• How do we labor with and care for those whose conduct or manner of living give grounds for concern?
• How are visitors to our Meeting made to feel welcome?

CALENDAR NOTES

• Amy and Arnold Von der Porten have invited us to have the April and May business meetings at their home. Call (352) 373-6210 for directions.
• For good food and deep spiritual fellowship, join us at the Buskirk's house for Children's Book Night. Bring to share a favorite children's book that addresses Quaker ideas or values.

MEETING NEWS

• You are invited to join us on Tuesday evening, April 5, for an evening with Julie Harlow. She has a traveling minute from Pacific Yearly Meeting and is here in the US on a six-month sojourn as a representative of Friends House Moscow. She will join us for a potluck at 6: 00 pm at the home of Joan Andrews. We will plan to start Julie's talk at about 7:30 p.m. You are welcome to join us at any time. She writes:

  I want to share with Friends the work that we are doing in Russia supporting the development of Quakerism and working with AVP (Alternatives to Violence Project), Conscientious Objectors, orphans, refugees, the disabled, victims of violence, and many others. I have been involved in Soviet-American relations since 1984, before the beginning of Friends House Moscow, and I can answer questions about the Soviet Period, the development of FHM, and its past and current challenges as well as the development of and current situation for the Moscow Monthly Meeting. I have traveled to the USSR and Russia 20 times (leading 3 tours for Quakers) and can also address the changes over the past 20 years.

  I look forward to hearing from you. Building a new meetinghouse is a very exciting process. I would love to learn more about your discernment process, as there are many meetings that struggle with this issue.

  Sincerely, Julie

• Welcome, little Hoyt Franklin Cotter! Congratulations to Jen and Bryan, on the Feb 6 birth of your beautiful baby son.

• At 1:00 p.m. Sunday, March 20, the Gainesville Religious Society of Friends held a ground-breaking ceremony at the site of our new meetinghouse. Even a spray- painted gold or silver shove hardly seems in keeping with the Quaker tradition of simplicity, so Dick Beardsley found an ancient, mud spattered spade which was stored in the garden shed at the old meetinghouse. Jean Larson delivered a history of the project up to this point and then turned the first spade of dirt.

  Helen Westie

• Advance Notice! COOKBOOK II : MEETING FOR EATING: POTLUCK will be available for $10.00 per copy in time for Mother's Day, May 8. Add $1:00 for shipping. See Sybil Brennan to order. Proceeds go to the Quaker Market Building Fund.
• The St. Patrick's Day celebration hosted by Quaker Market was an outstanding success, drawing members of the community as well as Meeting members. The food was truly delicious and Annie and David's music had everyone singing and tapping. Ireland never had it so good! Thanks to Betty Odum, Karen Porter, Mona Morris, Arlene Epperson and everyone else who helped cook and decorate. The proceeds of $340 go toward the new meetinghouse.

  Sorry, Quaker Market has to skip a month , but you can count on another delicious dinner and fun event in May.

• Don't forget! Wedding celebration for newlyweds, Marilyn Muller and Philip Hall on April 9 from 7-11 pm at 921 SW 8th Avenue in Gainesville. Free parking available at parking garage on corner.

  In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.

  --Mahatma Gandhi

• March has been an exciting month for the meeting. Learning, with a short lead time, that we would be unable to meet in Hillel when the campus is closed, we enjoyed the hospitality of the Chalmers for two meetings. Our builder, Gary Anglin, worked on items allowed without a building permit (e.g. erecting barriers around trees) to get a headstart on the project while we waited for a building permit.

  Wachovia bank has agreed to make us a direct loan as needed. All we lack now is the building permit, which is expected any day.

  We held a ground-breaking ceremony on March 20 after meeting for worship. We had a chance to meet and talk with our architects, Karl Thorne and Mick Richmond, and our builder, Gary Anglin. We turned over a few shovels of dirt, took lots of pictures and enjoyed the treats that many people prepared. It was great just spending time in this beautiful place!

  Jean Larson

THOUGHTS ON SPEAKING OUT OF THE SILENCE

I would like to avoid the sterile silence characteristic of the quietest period in Quakerism of the 1800's. Even though I have an immense regard for silent worship (and it's one of the most attractive aspects of Quaker worship for me), I don't care for a censoring quality or a fear of breaking the silent atmosphere. I especially don't want a "worship of silence" attitude because it is what comes out of the silence that gives the silence its meaning. The silence frames the spoken word with reverence and sacredness.

The silence is a sacred space available to share religious experience - a sharing that is respected with spaces of silence around each spoken offering. The silence should feel safe and informal - a space where one can share heartfelt expressions no matter how halting, stumbling, inarticulate or emotional. The words may tumble out. [In meeting] we listen with love, not judgment. The most awkward expression may be the richest in spiritual content. Sharing with others, in this environment, has often been a spiritually transforming, liberating, and healing experience for me.

SOUND BREAKS THE SILENCE
MOTION BREAKS THE STILLNESS
LOVE BREAKS THE HEART OPEN FOR GIVING

Phil Buskirk

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Joan Andrews, editor jandrews1@cox.net
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