Seventh Month, 2006

Seventh Month: Social and Economic Relationships

QUERIES for the Seventh month

• Are you working toward the removal of social injustices?
• Have you attempted to examine objectively their causes, and are you ready to abandon old prejudices and think anew?
• What are you doing as individuals or as a meeting to insure equal opportunities in social and economic life and in education for those who suffer discrimination because of gender, race, creed, or social class?
• Do you take a living interest in the social conditions of the community in which you live?
• Do you seek to promote the welfare of those in any kind of need and to secure a just distribution of the resources of the world?
• Do you regard your possessions as given to you in trust and do you part with them freely for the needs of others?
• Do you recognize that we are a part of the natural world and are you responsible heirs of its resources?
• Are you concerned that our increasing power over nature should be used responsibly with reverence for life and with a sense of the continuing creation of God in which we are called to participate?

ADVICE for the Seventh month:

• Seek to 'live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars.'
• War is contrary to the life and teaching of Jesus.
• Seek through God's power and grace to overcome in your hearts the emotions which lie at the root of conflict.
• Every human being is a child of God, and has that divine spark which claims our reverence. War is a denial of this truth.
• Friends' peace testimony is not negative. It is the positive exercise of good will calling us to lend our influence to all that strengthens the growth of international friendships and understanding.
• Cultivate an active spirit of love and peace.
• Show a loving consideration for all creatures, cherishing the beauty and wonder of all God's creation.
• As parents and teachers, share this sense of reverence and stewardship.

"The question now is not whether we will be extremists but what kind of extremist we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice - or will we be extremists for the cause of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill, three men were crucified. We must not forget that all three were crucified for the same crime - the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thusly fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment."

- Martin Luther King

Calendar Notes

• First-Day School (older children): We have looked the Protestant Reformation and the movement to "purify" the Church of England during the rule of the Tudors. We also looked at the development of the Anabaptist movement in England at that time. We have reviewed Quaker belief and testimonies and are finding that they have their roots in the Bible ("Light"), Puritanism (Simplicity), and Anabaptism (silent meditation and Peace). While Puritans used the Bible to simplify the church and service, Anabaptists used the Bible to learn to live by the teachings of Jesus, especially the Sermon on the Mount. Now we are looking at the Sermon on the Mount to find other testimonies. Then we will move into the rule of the Stuarts and the chaos of the middle of the 17th century, the time in which Quakerism and William Penn were born. (Connie Ray)
• Solutions to Violence Discussions: The Peace and Social Concerns Committee, in conjunction with the ad hoc Gainesville Interfaith Peace Center Committee, is hosting a series of discussions titled "Solutions to Violence," to be held at the meetinghouse from 10-11:30 a.m. The remaining 4 meetings will occur on July 8 and 22, and August 12 and 26. The July 8th session will focus on the philosophy of Martin Luther King; the July 22 session will focus on the writings and peace work of Joan Baez. The sessions are guided by the outline of Colman McCarthy's 14-week course on "Peace and World Order." Colman McCarthy is the founder of the Center for Teaching Peace in Washington, D.C, and the compiler of the text "Solutions to Violence," which is the basis of the summer sessions. Don Smith will lead the discussions. Don notes that this series should not be seen as being in competition with the Quaker Study Group in that it is interfaith, and its ultimate goal is to influence people who are not yet committed to a nonviolent lifestyle. The hope is that it will spawn a number of outreach efforts, that is, courses held at other sites on related topics led by a number of other people. (Don Smith)
• Meeting Workday: Saturday, July 8, starting at 8:00 a.m. We plan to spruce up the grounds and meetinghouse so it looks nice for Christi's party on July 9. We are starting early when it is still cool. Come when you can and be prepared for a job you would like to do. The routine cleaning in the meetinghouse is done by the cleaning committee, but the windows and exterior doors could use washing. There are a variety of gardening tasks to be done: the walkways need sweeping, the edges of the lawn need trimming, the mulched areas need weeding, the lawn almost surely could use mowing. I will be gardening, so I plan to wear long, loose clothing and a hat for sun protection, and wear gloves to protect my hands. I have my favorite weed-digging tool and a pair of grass shears that I use around the edges. If you have favorite garden tools or a squeegee that works really well on windows, bring them along and show us how they work.
  -Jean Larson
• Quakerism 101 will meet on Sunday, July 9, at 9:15 a.m. We are reading the first two chapters of The Journal of George Fox. Please feel free to join us whether you are a newcomer or a long-time member. Look for the "openings" or revelations or insights that Fox had in his youth. Keep a notebook to record any questions or concerns you may have about Fox's 17th-century words and "Bible talk." Also write down the "openings" that you find most meaningful today. We will discuss these, if you are willing to share, and then there is more "lecture" stuff I will read, time permitting. The Journal of George Fox can be read free on-line at http://www.strecorsoc.org/gfox/title.html. The "Journal" should also be available at the UF library. The UF library has a copy of A Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly. A Testament of Devotion can be bought used from http://www.abebooks.com. UF library also has a copy of Encounter with Silence by John Punshon. Encounter with Silence can be purchased used for $6 to $12 at www.amazon.com . Please note that that folks could make announcements after meeting for worship if they would like to see if a meeting member has a copy available to borrow.
  - (Connie Ray)
• Welcoming Party! for Christi and Her Parents: Please join the Gainesville Friends Meeting and its members Karen and Jim Porter for the celebration of Christi's adoption. Joyous festivities will begin at the rise of meeting on July 9th.
• Quaker Market Dinner: Quaker Market will host a dinner on Saturday, July 22, 6 p.m., at the meetinghouse. The menu will consist of miso soup, a medley of summer salads, crusty French bread, and ice cream sundaes. There will be a variety of games. Quaker Market dinners are a fundraising effort for the new meetinghouse. Suggested donations are $10.00 per adult, $5.00 for children over 5 years old, and free for those under 5. For more information, please call Gene Beardsley, 386-462-3201.
  - (Gene Beardsley)
• A "Community Brainstorm" will be held at the FCPJ Peace Farm on Saturday, July 22, from 1 to 5 p.m., with a potluck to follow. Folks from the local area who are forming intentional communities will be in attendance; anyone else interested in community is encouraged to come. We are located 5 miles north of Waldo. Turn left off 301 at the Gate Station (CR 18), follow 18 to the T-intersection and turn left. We are the first driveway on the left. For other directions, call Chris or Helen Hooley at 352 468-3390. (Helen Hooley)
• Beach Party!: It's summer surf, sun, and fellowship time at the annual Gainesville Friends Meeting beach day at the Winefordner house (1512 South Central Avenue, Flagler Beach, Fla., 386-439-2898) on July 29. Lunch will be around 2 p.m. Please bring food to share and whatever you want to drink. Refrigerator space is limited, so ice chests and ice are helpful. If there is sufficient interest and space, people can stay overnight Friday, Saturday, or both. For overnight reservations or for further information, please contact Laura at laura34@bellsouth.net or 372-3972. DIRECTIONS: Gainesville to Palatka (through either Melrose or Hawthorne), take Rt. 100 through San Mateo and Bunnell to Flagler Beach. As you approach Bunnell, turn left at the traffic light, then turn left a second time at the next traffic light. (These lefts keep you on Rt. 100.) In Flagler Beach, turn right on South Central Ave., one block west of A1A. Go to 1512, a two-story house on the west side of the street. Parking spaces are in front of the house and in the rear, reached by the alley. (About 85 miles from G-ville to Flagler Beach!).
  - (Laura Winefordner)

Meeting News

From Business Meeting

• We had $17,321.28 in our accounts as of the end of May, but we still do not have a mortgage. We approved changes to the Nominating Committee report. Manuals for appliance use and a daily use checklist are in place. We agreed to adopt the Meetinghouse Committee's recommendation that any committee using the meetinghouse have one member of the committee be named responsible to ensure clean-up occurs after the meeting or event, to provide hospitality, and to follow the "Daily Use Checklist" before leaving. We set the date for our "Open House/Activity Day" for October 29. An Ad Hoc Committee consisting of one member from each standing committee will work on this project.
• Tim Fogarty, Tracy Skidmore, and Dick Beardsley were thanked for volunteering to mow the grass.
• A Meetinghouse Workday is scheduled for Saturday, July 8, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Peace and Social Concerns committee members have chosen two areas to work on in the coming year: peace education and Pro-Nica. They are planning a forum on Pro-Nica. The Quaker Earthcare Witness committee is sponsoring a forum by Betty Odum on the "Prosperous Way Down" (editor note: this already occurred). The garbage collection issue is being referred to the Meetinghouse Committee. All after-worship activities in the month of July are being postponed for one week so that we can participate in a celebration of the adoption of Christi by the Porters on July 9 at the rise of meeting. Cheryl Demers will be married in August.

The Prosperous Way Down

In July, Earthcare Witness will discuss these ideas further, as well as a possible fund-raiser for the meetinghouse (cloth grocery bags), composting, future guided tour of our natural grounds, books we can use for discussion, and so forth.

- (Arlene Epperson)

"This is the word of the Lord God to you all, and a charge to you all in the presence of the living God: Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering to that of God in every one."
- George Fox

Ministry and Nurture

- Annie McPherson, Arnold von der Porten, Bill Mitchell, Connie Ray, Helen Hooley, Karen Porter, Walter Morris -

The Man Watching

I can tell by the way the trees beat, after
so many dull days, on my worried windowpanes
that a storm is coming,
and I hear the far-off fields say things
I can't bear without a friend,
I can't love without a sister.

The storm, the shifter of shapes, drives on
across the woods and across time,
and the world looks as if it had no age:
the landscape like a line in the psalm book,
is seriousness and weight and eternity.

What we choose to fight is so tiny!
What fights us is so great!
If only we would let ourselves be dominated
as things do by some immense storm,
we would become strong too, and not need names.

When we win it's with small things,
and the triumph itself makes us small.
What is extraordinary and eternal does not want to be bent by us.
I mean the Angel who appeared
to the wrestlers of the Old Testament:
when the wrestler's sinews
grew long like metal strings,
he felt them under his fingers
like chords of deep music.

Whoever was beaten by this Angel
(who often simply declined the fight)
went away proud and strengthened
and great from that harsh hand,
that kneaded him as if to change his shape.
Winning does not tempt that man.
This is how he grows: by being defeated, decisively,
by constantly greater beings.