Fourth Month, 2003

QUERIES for the Fourth Month: UNITY WITHIN THE MEETING

• Are love and unity maintained among you?
• Do you manifest a forgiving spirit and a care for the reputation of others?
• When differences arise are endeavors made to settle them in a spirit of love? Are you patient and considerate towards those whom you find it hard to like or understand?
• Do you respect that of God in each one, though it may be expressed in unfamiliar ways or may be difficult to discern?

CALENDAR NOTES

1. FCNL Representative Karen Putney will show a video of Friends Committee on National Legislation in action and share her experiences with FCNL.
2. Expressing our feelings about U.S. actions in Iraq.
3. Come for all or any part of the Meeting. Held at the Florida United Methodist Life Enrichment Center, Leesburg, Fl, a peaceful, green, spiritual oasis on Lake Griffin. J.Barnard Walton Lecturer: Ben Pink Dandelion, an English Friend and Quaker author. The theme this year is Convincement:

   And from that day forward, our hearts were knit unto the Lord and one unto another in true and fervent love, in the covenant of Life with God; and that was a strong obligation or bond upon all our spirits, which united as one unto another. Francis Howgill (1618-1669)

   Directions and other information are in the brochure on the bulletin board in the kitchen.
4. Bible Seminar: We will conclude our study of the Gospel of John by covering chapters 18 through 21.
5. Nurture body and soul among Friends - After dinner in this month's Quaker Study group meeting at the Buskirks, Bob Allenson will speak on Living as Dual Citizens: the Conflict of Loyalties Between Fortress America and the Beloved Community.

Meeting News

• Showers of Blessings: Sybil and Bud Brennan have been recently blessed with the birth of a grandson to their daughter and her husband in Seattle, Washington, as well as a granddaughter to their son and his wife in Ithaca New York. And their daughter, Kasara Mia Brennan, wed Jeremiah Gage on February 21 in New Hampshire. Congratulations, Sybil and Bud!

• On a recent First Day, Annie McPherson helped the children with a lesson on the Testimonies that they then shared with the Meeting. They passed out a slip of paper to each of us with a suggestion to follow in the upcoming week. Some examples:

  Attend a community event (community)
  Use cold water to wash clothes (simplicity)
  Turn off the TV (simplicity)
  Visit someone who is sick (community)
  Tell someone/hug someone you care about (love)
  Pray for peace (Peace)
  Don't buy anything new (simplicity)
  Plant a tree (stewardship)
  Don't use chemical sprays (stewardship)
  Be kind and civil to all people (Peace)

• Gainesville Community Ministry asks for our support. In the month of January they helped 687 families with food, prescriptions, utilities, housing , clothing . They need donations of food such as powdered milk, canned goods - meat, fruits and vegetables --, personal care items and diapers as well as cash. Web Site www.BetterDay.org or see Gene Beardsley.

• From Southeastern Yearly Meeting: It looks like we will have 2 or 3 "openings" on the SEYM Peace and Social Concerns committee. We traditionally try to have a young Friend on the committee. Hope Bastian has rotated off the committee. We are looking for a young Friend who is interested in peace and social concerns issues AND who can attend our representative meetings.

• From Ministry and Oversight: The Ministry and Oversight Committee is charged with overseeing the spiritual health of the Meeting for Worship. The committee would like to remind everyone that neither people nor their messages should be criticized in meeting for Worship. If you are concerned by anything that happens in Meeting for Worship please speak to a Ministry and Oversight member: Laura Winefordner, Connie Ray, Joan Andrews, Jean Larson, Bill Mitchell, Dick Beardsley and Gene Beardsley.

• Deadlines for the May Gainesville Friends Meeting newsletter are April 20 for hard copy, April 23 for E Mail. Quakerly Contributions are welcome.

WEB SIGHTINGS

Brenda Bayne

In cities all across the country, people are getting together through this site - http://dean2004.meetup.com - to support different causes. I wanted to learn more about Governor Dean and I ran across this meeting in Gainesville. 737 some odd people got together to support Dean in NY through this meetup site and hundreds in other cities too. I find it to be a miracle of modern technology at work. Maybe someday we will have a representative democracy after all.

Marilyn Muller